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86-549: Ellsworth Air Force Base ( AFB ) ( IATA : RCA , ICAO : KRCA , FAA LID : RCA ) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota , just north of the town of Box Elder . The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing ( 28 BW ). Assigned to the Global Strike Command 's Eighth Air Force , the 28 BW is one of the USAF's two B-1B Lancer wings, along with

172-517: A 16 April 2004 appearance at the base that if he were elected over incumbent Democrat and Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle : "It puts Ellsworth in a lot stronger position than having someone who's going to be in the minority and someone who doesn't have a relationship with the President of the U.S." In a debate between the two men broadcast on KSFY-TV and KOTA-TV television on 17 October 2004, Thune said: "I think we have got to have somebody that has

258-864: A 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing commander killed when his RB-36 Peacemaker aircraft crashed near Burgoyens Cove, Newfoundland , during a training flight. On 2 January 1942 during World War II , the United States War Department established Rapid City Army Air Base to train B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber units to fight the Axis in Europe. The control tower opened on 30 September 1942; runways, quarters, offices, and facilities were complete on 1 October 1942, and five hangars were completed in late 1942. The airfield had three concrete runways, 7050x300 (N/S), 7000x300 (E/W), and 7872x300 (NW/SE). Rapid City AAF

344-466: A flying reserve status) under the able care of its sister unit, the 37th Bomb Squadron. In early 1996 on 26 March, an announcement was made that the 77th Bomb Squadron would soon return to Ellsworth. On 1 April, the squadron again activated at Ellsworth as the geographically separated 34th Bomb Squadron completed its transfer to its new home with the 366th Wing at Mountain Home AFB , Idaho . By June 1998,

430-792: A military department, means the executive part of the department and all field headquarters, forces, reserve components, installations, activities, and functions under the control or supervision of the Secretary of the department. The exclusive responsibilities of the secretary of the Air Force are enumerated in 10 U.S.C.   § 9013(b) of the United States Code . They include, but are not limited to: (1) Recruiting. (2) Organizing. (3) Supplying. (4) Equipping (including research and development). (5) Training. (6) Servicing. (7) Mobilizing. (8) Demobilizing. (9) Administering (including

516-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

602-663: A relationship with the President of the United States, can work constructively across party lines in the Congress to get this done if we're going save Ellsworth" and was later quoted in the "Rapid City Journal" newspaper on 27 October 2004 claiming that: "an all-Democratic congressional delegation would have little political influence if President Bush is elected to a second term." On 24 May 2004 campaigning in South Dakota for Thune, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said of Daschle: "Who

688-442: A small contingent formerly attached to that wing remained behind to continue bomber tactics training and radar munitions scoring from a handful of dispersed detachments. The year also saw the inactivation of one of Ellsworth's oldest units, the 77th Bomb Squadron. While the unit (as an administrative entity) departed to save USAF dollars for development of new follow-on B-1 munitions, the organization's aircraft remained at Ellsworth (in

774-537: A symbolic B-52 Stratofortress , a gift from the citizens of Rapid City. This entrance has recently been replaced. An expansion of a bomber training area encompassing the Northern Plains known as the Powder River Training Complex began in 2008. Ellsworth AFB was established in 1941 as Rapid City Army Air Base ( AAB ). It was later renamed for Brigadier General Richard E. Ellsworth (1911–1953),

860-572: A total death toll of 26, this crash remains the deadliest in B-36 history, surpassing the record set by the crash in Newfoundland the previous year. An investigation revealed multiple factors contributed to the crash. A previous lightning storm had damaged the warning lights on the hillside and they had not been fixed. Additionally, both the plane's altometer and the ground radar had been incorrectly calibrated, causing both pilot and ground control to misinterpret

946-552: A wartime scenario, ALCC No. 3's role would have been to take off and orbit between the Minuteman ICBM Wings at Minot AFB and Grand Forks AFB , North Dakota, providing ALCS assistance if needed. ALCC No. 2's dedicated role was to take off and orbit near the Minuteman ICBM Wing at Malmstrom AFB , Montana, providing ALCS assistance if needed. The 4th ACCS also maintained an EC-135C or EC-135G on ground alert at Ellsworth as

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1032-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

1118-544: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

1204-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

1290-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

1376-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

1462-470: Is the president going to listen to more? The majority leader of the Senate, who he works with on almost a daily basis, or a senator from another party who every day is saying things on the floor that demonstrate a lack of support?" also adding: "This time around, the President is appointing who's on that BRAC commission , all of them." Thune defeated Daschle with 51% of the vote in the election, and president Bush

1548-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

1634-621: The 66th Missile Squadron , the first of three such units slated to operate 150 LGM-30B Minuteman I ICBMs under the 44th Strategic Missile Wing (SMW). The 67th Missile Squadron joined the 44th in August, followed by the 68th Missile Squadron in September 1962. The older Titan I's were inactivated in March 1965. On 1 June 1971, SAC inactivated the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division and by October of that year, an upgraded LGM-30F Minuteman II also replaced

1720-443: The 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess AFB , Texas . In 2023, the 28th Bomb Wing is commanded by Colonel Derek Oakley; its command chief master sergeant was Chief Master Sergeant Adam Vizi. Ellsworth has a population of about 8,000 military members, family members and civilian employees. Rapid City itself has a population of 78,824. There are about 3,800 military retirees in western South Dakota. For decades, Ellsworth's main entrance included

1806-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

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1892-564: The National Park Service for preservation as part of the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site . In March 1994, Ellsworth welcomed the 34th Bomb Squadron, a Geographically Separate Unit (GSU) that was awaiting airfield upgrades before it could return to its parent organization, the 366th Wing (366 WG), at Mountain Home AFB , Idaho . While under the aegis of the 366 WG, the 34th's B-1Bs were part of one of

1978-482: The September 11, 2001 attacks , Ellsworth deployed a number of B-1s in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . Aircraft from the 37th BS at Ellsworth AFB joined additional B-1s from the 34th BS at Mountain Home AFB and formed the 34th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron. This squadron, along with other elements from Ellsworth, deployed to Diego Garcia and joined the 28th Air Expeditionary Wing. Their combat mission effectiveness

2064-406: The chain of command for Air Force and Space Force units for other purposes than the operational direction goes from the president to the secretary of defense to the secretary of the Air Force to the commanders of Air Force and Space Force Commands . Air Force and Space Force officers have to report on any matter to the secretary, or the secretary's designate, when requested. The secretary has

2150-469: The secretary of defense and/or the deputy secretary of defense , and is by statute responsible for and has the authority to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Air Force. The secretary works closely with their civilian deputy, the under secretary of the Air Force ; and their military deputies, the chief of staff of the Air Force and the chief of space operations . The first secretary of

2236-541: The "Space Age," with the activation of the 850th Strategic Missile Squadron , initially assigned to the 28 BMW. For more than a year this squadron prepared for the emplacement of HGM-25A Titan I intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), which finally arrived in 1962, shortly after the activation of the 44th Strategic Missile Wing (44 SMW) in January. Headquarters SAC named the 44th SMW 'host wing' at Ellsworth. The Titan I Missile retired in 1965. In July 1962, SAC activated

2322-509: The 12th Air Division with the Strategic Warfare Center (SWC), which provided operational command and administrative control over Ellsworth's subordinate units. Then, as part of SAC's intermediate headquarters and base-level reorganization plan, on 1 September 1991, SAC renamed the 28 BMW the 28th Wing (28 WG), the 44 SMW the 44th Wing (44 WG) and the 99 SWW the 99th Tactics and Training Wing (99 TTW). Ten days later, SAC inactivated both

2408-613: The 225th AAFBU was inactivated and Rapid City AAB was placed on standby status as the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) began to demobilize. Rapid City AAB was reactivated on 11 October 1945 and was assigned to Continental Air Forces . It was designated a permanent facility by the USAAF. The base briefly trained weather reconnaissance and combat squadrons using P-61 Black Widow , P-38 Lightning , P-51 Mustang , and B-25 Mitchell aircraft. From September 1946 to March 1947,

2494-490: The 28 BW and Ellsworth, relying on extensive personnel, technical and logistical support from sister B-1 units at McConnell , Grand Forks and Dyess Air Force Bases, passed the test "with flying colors"; and proved the B-1 to be a reliable and capable weapons system; the mainstay of America's heavy bomber fleet for years to come. In 1995, the 99th Wing departed Ellsworth for a new assignment at Nellis Air Force Base , Nevada , although

2580-451: The 28th BMW, provided airborne command post responsibilities with specially modified Boeing EC-135 airborne command post aircraft for Strategic Air Command . The 4th ACCS was the workhorse of Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) operations. Three dedicated Airborne Launch Control Centers (ALCC) (pronounced "Al-see"), designated ALCC No. 1, ALCC No. 2, and ALCC No. 3 were on ground alert around-the-clock providing ALCS coverage for five of

2666-591: The 740th was discontinued. After M-97 closed, coverage was assumed by Sundance AFS , Wyoming (TM-201/Z-201). To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the Ellsworth AFB Defense Area in 1957 and constructed Nike-Ajax surface-to-air missile sites. Sites were located near Ellsworth AFB: E-01 was north 44°12′09″N 103°05′50″W  /  44.20250°N 103.09722°W  / 44.20250; -103.09722 , E-20

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2752-627: The 77th had six of its B-1Bs out of the reconstitution reserve. This number balanced those lost by the 34th BS. In March 1999, the USAF announced a reorganization plan that makes Ellsworth AFB and the 28 BW partners in the new Expeditionary Air Force (EAF) concept, now known as the Air & Space Expeditionary Force (AEF). The 28 BW was named a lead wing in the EAF, which enabled the 77 BS to gain six additional B-1Bs, and Ellsworth AFB to gain about 100 additional military personnel. The expeditionary force construct enables

2838-425: The 99th Tactics and Training Wing (later to become the 99th Wing) also continued, albeit slightly modified to fit the requirements of the new force concept. The 44th Missile Wing, however, had ably accomplished its deterrence mission. On 3 December 1991, the wing permanently pulled the first Minuteman II missile from its silo and on 6 April 1992, the first Minuteman II launch control center shut down. Inactivation of

2924-680: The Air Defense Command general surveillance radar facilities . The AADCP ceased all operations when the ADC radar site shut down in 1962. After the Army closed their facilities, the military housing at the Nike Integrated Fire Control sites was transferred to control of Ellsworth, and was used as USAF military family housing until about 1990. From 1 April 1970 to 30 September 1992, the 4th Airborne Command and Control Squadron (ACCS), part of

3010-629: The Air Force , sometimes referred to as the Secretary of the Department of the Air Force , ( SecAF , or SAF/OS ) is the head of the Department of the Air Force and the service secretary for the United States Air Force and United States Space Force . The secretary of the Air Force is a civilian appointed by the president , by and with the advice and consent of the Senate . The secretary reports to

3096-407: The Air Force may also be assigned additional responsibilities by the president or the secretary of defense, e.g. the secretary is designated as the " DoD Executive Agent for Space ", and as such: ... shall develop, coordinate, and integrate plans and programs for space systems and the acquisition of DoD Space Major Defense Acquisition Programs to provide operational space force capabilities to ensure

3182-539: The Air Force, Stuart Symington , was sworn in on September 18, 1947, upon the split and re-organization of the Department of War and Army Air Forces into an air military department and a military service of its own, with the enactment of the National Security Act . On July 26, 2021 the United States Senate confirmed Frank Kendall III as the next Secretary of the Air Force. On July 28, 2021, Kendall

3268-532: The Air Staff reassigned the base from 15th Air Force to 8th Air Force . In March 1953, an RB-36 crashed in Newfoundland while returning from a routine exercise in Europe, killing all 23 aboard, including brigadier general Richard E. Ellsworth , commander of the 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. On 13 June 1953, president Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the base to re-dedicate it in memory of Ellsworth. The base

3354-549: The B-52 fleet and become the second home for the advanced B-1B Lancer bomber. Contractors completed new unaccompanied enlisted dormitories in March, a new security police squadron headquarters in October, and gave Ellsworth's 13,497-foot (4,114 m) runway a much-needed facelift. In addition, they completed new aircraft maintenance facilities for the complex new aircraft. The last of the 28 BMW's B-52Hs left in early 1986 and in January 1987,

3440-646: The Minuteman I missiles. Ellsworth soon became known as one of "The Showplaces of SAC" along with Minot AFB and Grand Forks AFB as it continued to fight the Cold War by maintaining two legs of America's strategic triad: strategic bombardment and ICBMs. It carried out these missions for more than 15 years with relatively little change. The 1980s brought many new challenges. After the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989, presaging

3526-508: The SWC and the 812 SSW. Once again, the 28th became Ellsworth's host organization and it soon absorbed all previous 812 SSW functions. It was also during this period that, in acknowledgment of the elimination of the Warsaw Pact , that the President, via the Secretary of Defense , ordered all strategic nuclear alert operations to stand-down. The decades-long Cold War was over. On 1 June 1992, as part of

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3612-522: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Secretary of the Air Force The Secretary of

3698-501: The USAF to respond quickly to any worldwide crisis while making life more predictable for military members. The summer of 2007 marked the last time that Ellsworth hosted a college/university level Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Field Training (FT) encampment. All college AFROTC FT encampments were subsequently consolidated at the Air Force Officer Training School at Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama. It

3784-488: The USAF's composite wings, which also included C/D and E model F-15 Eagles , C/D model F-16 Fighting Falcons , and R model KC-135 Stratotankers . Also during 1994, the USAF selected Ellsworth as the exclusive location from which to conduct a Congressionally mandated operational readiness assessment of the B-1B, known locally as "Dakota Challenge." After six months of hard work, under both peacetime and simulated wartime conditions,

3870-462: The United States has the space power to achieve its national security objectives. The secretary of the Air Force's principal staff element, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force , has responsibility for acquisition and auditing, comptroller issues (including financial management), inspector general matters, legislative affairs, and public affairs within the Department of the Air Force. The Office of

3956-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

4042-600: The West Auxiliary Airborne Command Post (WESTAUXCP), which was a backup to SAC's Looking Glass Airborne National Command Post (ABNCP), as well as a radio relay link between the Looking Glass and ALCCs when airborne. Although equipped with ALCS, the WESTAUXCP did not have a dedicated Minuteman ICBM wing to provide ALCS assistance to. In 1986, the base and the 28 BMW made extensive preparations to phase out

4128-599: The airfield was shut down for major improvements to accommodate the B-29 Superfortress . An extension to the runway was completed in spring 1948. When operations resumed in 1947, its primary unit was the new 28th Bombardment Wing (28 BMW) flying the B-29. The installation changed names a few more times during its early years. In January 1948, Air Force Chief of Staff general Carl A. Spaatz renamed it Weaver Air Force Base in honor of brigadier general Walter R. Weaver , one of

4214-532: The airplanes from one very, very good base to another very, very good base, which are essentially equal." Senator Thune called the move a good, nonpolitical decision. Since 2008, a bomber training area Powder River Training Complex is being expanded to about 28,000 square miles, including portions of Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas. On 1 October 2015, Ellsworth became part of the Eighth Air Force and fell under

4300-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

4386-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

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4472-512: The authority to detail, prescribe the duties, and to assign Air Force and Space Force service members and civilian employees, and may also change the title of any activity not statutorily designated. The secretary has several responsibilities under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) with respect to Air Force and Space Force service members, including the authority to convene general courts martial and to commute sentences. The secretary of

4558-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

4644-834: The command of Global Strike Command . A Rockwell B1 plane crash landed in January 2024. All occupants managed to eject. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

4730-426: The command of the 821st Strategic Aerospace Division , headquartered at Ellsworth. Air Defense Command (ADC) activated the 740th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Rapid City AFB on 1 February 1953 under the ADC 31st Air Division . The site was located on the base, and was given designation M-97. The site was part of the ADC's planned deployment of 44 mobile radar stations across the United States to support

4816-460: The demise of the Soviet Union , the USAF reshuffled its organizations and resources to meet a shifting, diminishing, threat. On 3 January 1990, SAC re-designated the 812th Combat Support Group as the 812th Strategic Support Wing (812 SSW), which, for a short time, became Ellsworth's fourth wing. The 812 SSW consolidated all combat support activities into one organization. On 31 July 1990, SAC replaced

4902-430: The distance nd angle at which the aircraft was approaching. Headquarters Strategic Air Command (SAC) reassigned the 28 BMW from 8th Air Force back to 15th Air Force in October 1955. About one year later, SAC set plans in motion to replace the 28th's B-36s with the new all-jet B-52 Stratofortress . The last B-36 left Ellsworth on 29 May 1957 and the first B-52 arrived sixteen days later. In 1958, all base units came under

4988-919: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

5074-534: The entire missile complex ended in April 1994. In keeping with its patriotic Minuteman tradition, the 44th Missile Wing formally inactivated on 4 July 1994. Under conditions of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty , all of the 44th Missile Wing's Minuteman silos and launch control centers were slated for demolition with the exception of Sites Delta-01 and Delta-09. These latter two sites were turned over to

5160-419: The first major reorganization since the creation of USAF, the Air Force inactivated Strategic Air Command and assigned Ellsworth's organizations (including a renamed 28th Bomb Wing (28 BW)) to the newly activated Air Combat Command (ACC). After less than a year under the new command, the 28th's mission changed from that of strategic bombardment to one of worldwide conventional munitions delivery. The mission of

5246-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

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5332-474: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

5418-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

5504-451: The globe. On 19 September 2001 the "Thunderbirds" of the 34th Bomb Squadron arrived from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho to rejoin the Ellsworth team. Due to a drawdown in the number of active B-1B aircraft in the USAF inventory, the 77th BS at Ellsworth was inactivated. During the 2004 Senate race in South Dakota, Republican challenger John Thune made Ellsworth a campaign issue, stating in

5590-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

5676-403: The morale and welfare of personnel). (10) Maintaining. (11) The construction, outfitting, and repair of military equipment. (12) The construction, maintenance, and repair of buildings, structures, and utilities and the acquisition of real property and interests in real property necessary to carry out the responsibilities specified in this section. By direction of the secretary of defense,

5762-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

5848-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

5934-405: The permanent air defense radar network established during the Cold War . The squadron was reassigned to the 29th Air Division on 16 February 1953, and Rapid City AFB was re-designated Ellsworth AFB. The 740th AC&W Squadron began operations in 1955 with AN/MPS-7 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a ground-controlled interception (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station,

6020-527: The pioneers in the development of the United States Air Force as an independent service. In June of that year, in response to overwhelming public appeals, Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington returned the base name to its previous name of Rapid City AFB. More runway improvements were completed in July 1949, allowing the 28 BMW to switch from B-29s to the huge B-36 Peacemaker . In April 1950,

6106-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

6192-472: The secretary of the Air Force assigns military units of the Air Force and Space Force, other than those who carry out the functions listed in 10 U.S.C.   § 9013(b) , to the Unified and Specified Combatant Commands to perform missions assigned to those commands. Air Force and Space Force units while assigned to Combatant Commands may only be reassigned by authority of the secretary of defense. However,

6278-597: The six Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Wings. These dedicated ALCCs were mostly EC-135A aircraft but sometimes were EC-135C or EC-135G aircraft, depending on availability. ALCC No. 1 was on ground alert at Ellsworth and during a wartime scenario, its role would have been to take off and orbit between the Minuteman Wings at Ellsworth AFB and F.E. Warren AFB , Wyoming, providing ALCS assistance if needed. ALCCs No. 2 and No. 3 were routinely on forward deployed ground alert at Minot AFB , North Dakota. During

6364-520: The squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. An AN/MPS-14 height-finder radar was added in 1956. In 1959 an AN/FPS-20 A search radar replaced the AN/MPS-7 set. The squadron was reassigned to the Minot Air Defense Sector on 1 January 1961. Air Defense Command deactivated the Ellsworth radar site on 15 August 1962 and

6450-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

6536-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

6622-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

6708-469: The wing received the first of 35 B-1B bombers. The 12th Air Division moved to Ellsworth on 15 July 1988. This organization was responsible for training B-1B, B-52, and KC-135 Stratotanker aircrews at Ellsworth and other SAC bases in the region. Headquarters SAC activated a third wing, the 99th Strategic Weapons Wing, at Ellsworth on 10 August 1989. This wing assumed primary responsibility for B-1B advanced aircrew training. In October 1960, Ellsworth entered

6794-533: Was assigned to the 17th Bombardment Training Wing , II Bomber Command . The 88th Bombardment Group was reassigned to the new base in October 1942 to be the base's Operational Training Unit. In March 1944, the 225th Army Air Force Base Unit switched from training entire units to training individual replacement personnel to send to units deployed overseas. The field's instructors taught thousands of pilots, navigators, radio operators and gunners from nine heavy bombardment groups and numerous smaller units. On 15 July 1945,

6880-473: Was converted to fire Nike Hercules missiles. This battery remained in service until 1961 as part of the reduction of the air defenses in the United States against aircraft. An Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) was established at Ellsworth in 1960 for Nike missile command-and-control functions. The site was equipped with the AN/GSG-5(V) BIRDIE solid-state computer system. The AADCP was integrated with

6966-551: Was east-northeast 44°09′02″N 103°00′10″W  /  44.15056°N 103.00278°W  / 44.15056; -103.00278 , E-40 was south-southeast 44°06′14″N 103°05′54″W  /  44.10389°N 103.09833°W  / 44.10389; -103.09833 , and E-70 was west-southwest 44°09′12″N 103°12′59″W  /  44.15333°N 103.21639°W  / 44.15333; -103.21639 . Headquarters facilities were located at Ellsworth. In 1958, batteries E-20, E-40, and E-70 were removed from service and E-01

7052-459: Was elected to a second term. Nevertheless, on 13 May 2005, the Department of Defense recommended that Ellsworth Air Force Base be closed. Thune stated in protest he would vote against confirmation of the president's nominee for United Nations Ambassador , John Bolton . On 26 August 2005 the nine-member BRAC commission voted 8–1 to spare Ellsworth from the closure list. Commissioner Harold Gehman said, "We have no savings, we're essentially moving

7138-491: Was greater than 95% and they flew 5% of the total strike aircraft missions. They dropped 39% of the total tonnage of bombs, which was more than any other platform. During their deployment the 28th EBS dropped 2,974 JDAMs , 1,471 Mk-82 , 135 Mk-84 , and 70 CBU-87 bombs . Currently, the 28th Bomb Wing and personnel from Ellsworth Air Force Base continue to be the lead wing for AEF 8, and Ellsworth personnel continue to prepare for ongoing deployments in support of operations around

7224-609: Was not long before Ellsworth and the 28th Bomb Wing were taking the lead in the AEF concept. Five B-1Bs from the 28th Bomb Wing joined NATO forces in Operation Allied Force and began striking military targets in Kosovo on 1 April 1999. By the end of the conflict in June 1999, B-1Bs from Ellsworth had flown 100 combat missions and dropped over 1,260 tons of Mk 82 general-purpose bombs. After

7310-434: Was subsequently renamed Ellsworth AFB, and unlike the previous local controversy in 1948, there was no community objection to the name change. On August 27, 1954, another RB-36H crashed into a hill while performing a landing, following a routine training mission. 24 of the 27 crewmembers were killed in the initial crash, and the remaining 3 were critically injured; 2 later died from their injuries, leaving only one survivor. At

7396-570: Was sworn in as the 26th Secretary of the Air Force. The secretary is the head of the Department of the Air Force. The Department of the Air Force is defined as a Military Department . It is not limited to the Washington headquarters staffs, rather it is an entity which includes all the components of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force, including their reserve components: The term 'department', when used with respect to

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