| Ellsworth AFB | ||
Titan I and Minuteman ICBM base. On 2 January 1942 the U.S. War Department established an air base at this location for training of B-17 bomber crews. The base was shut down after the war, but was reactivated in 1947 as a B-29 bomber base. These aircraft were succeeded by the B-36 in 1949, the B-52 in 1957, and the B-1B in 1986. In January 1962 the 44th Strategic Missile Wing was activated at Ellsworth, initially equipped with Titan 1 ICBM's. These were supplemented with 150 Minuteman 1 ICBM's in later years. By October 1971 these were replaced with Minuteman 2's. In 1991, the Cold War over, these missiles were taken off alert status. By 1994 the silos had been destroyed and the ICBM mission was over. Ellsworth hosted the unique 'Long Life' test of a Minuteman ICBM in 1965. This was the only launch of an ICBM from an operational inland US missile site. Launch Pads
Ellsworth AFB Chronology and Launch Log
Bibliography and Further Reading
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