Malmstrom Air Force Base

Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Cascade County, Montana, United States, adjacent to the city of Great Falls. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom. Malmstrom AFB is the largest of three US Air Force Bases that maintain and operate the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. It is the home of the 341st Missile Wing (341 MW) of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Malmstrom Air Force Base as a census-designated place (CDP). It had a population of 3,472 at the 2010 census.

Malmstrom Air Force Base traces its beginnings back to 1939 when World War II broke out in Europe. Concern about the war caused the local Chamber of Commerce to contact two Montana senators, Burton K. Wheeler and James E. Murray and request they consider development of a military installation in Great Falls. In addition, appeals were made to the Secretary of War, Harry H. Woodring. In 1941, the Civil Aeronautics Authority provided the money for the development of the Great Falls Municipal Airport. In May 1942, construction began on an Army Air Corps base six miles (10 km) east of Great Falls. The base was known as East Base.

In November 1942, a survey team evaluated an area near the Green Mill Dance Club and Rainbow Dam Road approximately six miles (9.7 km) east of Great Falls. Great Falls, along with ten other northern tier sparsely populated sites, was considered for a heavy bomber training base. Construction began on Great Falls Army Air Base (AAB) on 8 June 1942. The base was informally known as East Base since the 7th Ferrying Group was stationed at Great Falls Municipal Airport on Gore Hill (known as Gore Field during its military use). Its mission was to establish an air route between Great Falls and Ladd Field, Fairbanks, Alaska, as part of the United States Lend-Lease Program that supplied the Soviet Union with aircraft and supplies needed to fight the German Army.

Great Falls AAB was assigned to II Bomber Command, Second Air Force. Its initial base operating unit was the 352d Base HQ and Air Base Squadron. Airfield operations began on 30 November 1942 when the first B-17 Flying Fortress landed at the new base. Four Bombardment Groups, the 2nd, 385th, 390th, and 401st, trained at Great Falls AAB from November 1942 to October 1943 under Army Air Force Training Command. Group Headquarters and one of the Groups' four squadrons were stationed in Great Falls with the other squadrons stationed on sub-bases at Cut Bank, Glasgow, and Lewistown, Montana. Aircraft would take off at a predetermined time, form up in squadron formation over their respective location, and later, over central Montana, join up in group formation. These bombardment groups went on to participate in decisive raids over Germany as part of Eighth Air Force opening the door for Allied daylight precision bombing.

Upon completion of the B-17 training program, in October 1943, Great Falls Army Air Base was transferred to the Air Transport Command (ATC) and units from Gore Field were transferred to the base. The base was considerably expanded when more buildings were constructed, including a consolidated mess, a post exchange, a theater, and a 400-bed hospital. Air Transport Command also established aerial port facilities for passengers and cargo, as well as a flight service center. The ATC 90th Ferrying Squadron (7th Ferrying Group) was assigned to the base which performed operations in support of the Lend Lease Program with the Soviet Union.

At Great Falls, P-39 Airacobras, C-47 Skytrains, B-25 Mitchells, and A-20 Havocs aircraft arrived by rail and were assembled on base, along with others that were flown in by both military and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). These aircraft were later flown by U.S. pilots by way of the Northwest Staging Route through Canada, to Fairbanks, Alaska, and transferred to Soviet pilots who in turn flew them into Siberia via the Alaskan-Siberian Route (ALSIB). A total of 1,717,712 pounds (779,141 kg) of cargo containing aircraft parts, tools miscellaneous equipment, explosives and medical supplies were shipped through Great Falls Army Air Base to the Soviet Union.

This included one of the greatest technology transfers (and espionage operations) in the history of the world. According to Richard Rhodes the plans for the atomic bomb, hundreds of tons of nuclear weapons materials, strategic intelligence reports, and the plans for much of the most advanced aviation, electronic, and heavy industrial technology was transferred through Gore Field and East Base in sealed diplomatic containers. Dozens, if not hundreds, of Soviet agents also entered the U.S. through Great Falls as part of the Soviet Lend-lease delegation and staff.

Aircraft shipments to the Soviet Union stopped in September 1945, when World War II ended, with approximately 8,000 aircraft having been processed in a 21-month period.