The Duluth Air Defense Sector (DUADS) is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

organization. Its last assignment was with the

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...

29th Air Division The 29th Air Division (29th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, being stationed at Duluth International Airport, Minnesota. It was inactivated on 15 November 1969. History ...

, being stationed at Duluth Airport,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. It was inactivated on 1 April 1969.

History

Established in October 1957 assuming control of former ADC Central Air Defense Force units with a mission to provide air defense of most of

and western

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The organization provided command and control over several aircraft and

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

squadrons. In November 1959, the new

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...

(SAGE) Direction Center (DC-10) became operational. DC-10 was equipped with dual AN/FSQ-7 Computers. The day-to-day operations of the command was to train and maintain tactical flying units flying jet interceptor aircraft ( F-94 Starfire;

F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger is an interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair. A member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter op ...

;

F-106 Delta Dart The Convair F-106 Delta Dart is an all-weather interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair. The F-106 was designed in response to the 1954 interceptor program. Envisioned as an imagined "Ultimate In ...

) in a state of readiness with training missions and series of exercises with SAC and other units simulating interceptions of incoming enemy aircraft. In October 1962, during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

, a guard at the Direction Center mistakenly identified a bear trying to climb the security fence as a saboteur and rang the alarm, which automatically triggered similar alarms at other bases in the region. A faulty alarm system at

Volk Field Volk Field Air National Guard Base is a military airport located near the village of Camp Douglas, in Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States., effective 26 January 2023 It is also known as the Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center (CRT ...

in Wisconsin led to nuclear-armed interceptor aircraft nearly being launched. Inactivated April 1966 as part of ADC reorganization and consolidation, the command being redesignated as the

. The SAGE building was remodeled and, in 1985, given to the University of Minnesota Duluth to house the Natural Resources Research Institute signed into legislation to address the struggling economy during the

early 1980s recession The early 1980s recession was a severe economic recession that affected much of the world between approximately the start of 1980 and 1982. Long-term effects of the early 1980s recession contributed to the Latin American debt crisis, long-lastin ...

Lineage

* Established as Duluth Air Defense Sector on 1 October 1957, Inactivated on 1 April 1966

Assignments

37th Air Division The 37th Air Division (37th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Goose Air Force Base, Labrador, Canada It was inactivated on 30 June 1970. History Strategic Air Command Es ...

, 1 October 1957 * 31st Air Division, 20 December 1957 *

, 1 January 1959 *

30th Air Division The 30th Air Division (30th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to Tenth Air Force, being stationed at Sioux City Air National Guard Base, Sioux City Municipal Air ...

, 1 April 1959 – 1 April 1966

Stations

* Duluth Airport, Minnesota, 1 October 1957 – 1 April 1966

Components

Wings

* 56th Fighter Wing (Air Defense): K. I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan, 1 October 1963 – 1 January 1964 * 507th Fighter Wing (Air Defense): Kincheloe AFB, Michigan, 1 October 1963 – 1 April 1966

Group

* 343d Fighter Group (Air Defense): Duluth Airport, Minnesota, 15 November 1959 – 1 April 1966

Interceptor squadrons

18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (18th FIS) is a subordinate unit of the 354th Fighter Wing based at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, and flies the F-16, Block 30 General Dynamics F-16C/D aircraft. Mission The 18th Fighter Interceptor Sq ...

Grand Forks AFB Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and west of Grand Forks. The host unit is the 319th Reconnaissance Wing (319 RW) assigned to the Air Combat ...

, North Dakota, 4 September 1963 – 1 April 1966 * 62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: K. I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan, 16 December 1963 – 1 April 1966

Missile squadrons

* 37th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC): Kincheloe AFB, Michigan, 1 October 1963 – 1 April 1966 * 74th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC): Duluth AF Missile Site, Minnesota, 1 April 1960 – 1 April 1966

Radar squadrons

* 665th Radar Squadron: Calumet AFS, Michigan, 1 October 1963 – 1 April 1966 * 674th Radar Squadron: Osceola AFS, Wisconsin, 1 July 1959 – 1 April 1966 * 676th Radar Squadron: Antigo AFS, Wisconsin, 1 October 1963 – 1 June 1964 * 692d Radar Squadron: Baudette AFS, Minnesota, 1 July 1959 – 1 April 1966 * 707th Radar Squadron: Grand Rapids AFS, Minnesota, 1 July 1959 – 1 August 1963 * 739th Radar Squadron: Wadena AFS, Minnesota, 4 September 1963 – 1 April 1966 * 753d Radar Squadron: Sault Sainte Marie AFS, Michigan, 1 October 1963 – 1 April 1966 * 756th Radar Squadron: Finland AFS, Minnesota, 1 July 1959 – 1 April 1966 * 785th Radar Squadron: Finley AFS, North Dakota, 4 September 1963 – 1 April 1966 *

914th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron The 914th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Duluth Air Defense Sector, Air Defense Command, stationed at Armstrong Air Station, Ontario, Canada. It was inactivated on 1 ...

: Armstrong AS, Ontario, 15 November 1959 – 1 November 1962 * 915th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron: Sioux Lookout AS, Ontario, 15 November 1959 – 1 October 1962

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command. * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
Radomes.org Duluth Air Defense Sector
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed 1959 establishments in Minnesota 1966 disestablishments in Minnesota

Air Defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

Military units and formations in Minnesota