The 31st Air Division (31st 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 Municipal Airport, Iowa. It was inactivated on 31 December 1969.

31st Air Division
Active1950–1960; 1966–1969
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleCommand of air defense forces
Part ofAir Defense Command
Insignia
31st Air Division emblem (Approved 19 March 1954)[2]

History

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31st Air Division ADC AOR 1950–1960

Assigned to Air Defense Command (ADC) for most of its existence, the division equipped, administered, trained, and provided combat ready forces within an area covering North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and other parts of the Midwest. The division participated in numerous live and simulated exercises such as Creek Chief, Pawnee Knife, and Mandan Hunt.[2]

 
31st Air Division ADC AOR 1966–1969

Later, beginning in 1966, the 31st assumed responsibility for the former Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector and covered an area including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana.[2] Assumed additional designation of 31st NORAD Region after activation of the NORAD Combat Operations Center at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado and reporting was transferred to NORAD from ADC at Ent Air Force Base in April 1966.

Inactivated in December 1969[2] as ADC phased down its interceptor mission as the chances of a Soviet bomber attack on the United States seemed remote, its mission being consolidated into North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

Lineage

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  • Established as the 31st Air Division (Defense) on 7 September 1950
Activated on 8 October 1950
Inactivated on 1 February 1952
  • Organized on 1 February 1952[3]
Inactivated on 1 January 1960
  • Redesignated 31st Air Division and activated on 20 January 1966 (not organized)
Organized on 1 April 1966
Inactivated on 31 December 1969[2]

Assignments

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  • Air Defense Command
Eastern Air Defense Force, 8 October 1950 (attached 30th Air Division, 27 November 1950 – 1 February 1951
Central Air Defense Force, 20 May 1951 – 1 January 1960
  • Air Defense Command, 20 January 1966 (not organized)
Fourteenth Air Force, 1 April 1966 – 1 July 1968 (ConAC)
Tenth Air Force, 1 July 1968 – 31 December 1969[2]

Stations

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Components

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Sectors

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Duluth Municipal Airport, Minnesota
Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota[2]

Groups

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53d Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 1 March 1956
Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa
343d Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 1 January 1959
Duluth Municipal Airport, Minnesota
475th Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 2 January 1958
Minneapolis-Saint Paul Municipal Airport, Minnesota
Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota
Minneapolis-Saint Paul Municipal Airport, Minnesota
Duluth Municipal Airport, Minnesota
Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa[2]

Interceptor squadrons

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Radar squadrons

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See also

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References

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Notes

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  1. ^ Aircraft shown is F-104A, serial 56-821
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Factsheet 31 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency. 5 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  3. ^ The simultaneous inactivation and activation on 1 February 1952 reflects a change between a Table of Organization unit and a Table of Distribution unit.

Bibliography

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  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency