Biggs Air Force Base The
810th Air Division was activated in 1952 at
Biggs Air Force Base, Texas when Strategic Air Command (SAC) departed from the
wing base organization system and created
air divisions as the headquarters on bases with two operational wings. The
division's components were the
95th and
97th Bombardment Wings, and the newly activated 810th Air Base Group. The 97th Bomb Wing's tactical squadrons flew the
Boeing B-50 Superfortress and it was also assigned a refueling squadron with
Boeing KB-29 Superfortress tankers. As the 340th re-equipped with jet bombers, SAC formed the 4024th Bombardment Squadron to operate these planes. Although the 4024th was assigned directly to the division, Once the 97th converted to B-47s, it deployed as a unit to
RAF Upper Heyford from May to July 1956. Although deployments of its planes and
crews continued, that was the only deployment as a complete wing while assigned to the 810th Air Division. Two of the 95th wing's three bombardment squadrons moved, one to
Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas and the other to
Turner Air Force Base, Georgia. The move of the 97th Bomb Wing left only a single wing, the 95th, at Biggs. The 810th transferred support responsibilities at Biggs to the 95th wing and assumed a new role as an operational headquarters only for B-52 wings at multiple bases in July 1959, when the
4128th Strategic Wing at
Amarillo Air Force Base was assigned in place of the 97th. The 4128th was a strategic wing that had been organized when B-52s at
Ellsworth Air Force Base were dispersed. Although division aircraft had previously deployed to Guam and England to stand
alert, starting in 1960, a portion of division aircraft began to stand alert at their home stations to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.
Minot Air Force Base On 1 July 1962, SAC assumed host responsibility at
Minot Air Force Base from
Air Defense Command (ADC) and the division moved to Minot from Biggs. the 4136th at Minot, the 4141st at
Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana and the 4133d at
Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota. SAC maintained the increased airborne alert until 21 November, when it returned to normal airborne alert posture and assumed DEFCON 3. On 27 November, SAC returned to normal ground alert posture. In November, in the middle of the
Cuban Missile Crisis, a second wing was organized at Minot, the
455th Strategic Missile Wing, equipped with the
LGM-30A Minuteman I. In anticipation of the second wing at Minot, the division was assigned the 862d Combat Support Group and host base responsibility for Minot. SAC units with responsibility for both aircraft and missiles at this time included the term "
aerospace" in their names, and the 810th was redesignated as a Strategic Aerospace Division. SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue them and activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units to replace them without altering their missions. On 1 February 1963, the
450th Bombardment Wing replaced the 4136th at Minot, the
91st Bombardment Wing replaced the 4141st at Glasgow and the
319th Bombardment Wing replaced the 4133d at Grand Forks. During the 1960s, various shifts in SAC's division alignment resulted in wings not stationed at Minot being assigned to and reassigned from the wing. The division briefly commanded two wings equipped with
SM-65 Atlas missiles between 1964 and 1966. These wings also returned the B-47 to the division's equipment, the
98th Strategic Aerospace Wing in the bomber role, and the
55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing in reconnaissance and ferret roles. while the 91st and
341st Strategic Missile Wings were transferred to the
4th Strategic Missile Division. On 30 November 1972, SAC tested a revival of the use of air divisions on its multi-wing bases, forming the
Air Division, Provisional, 810th at Minot and attaching the 5th and 91st wings to it. The test and the provisional division were discontinued on 14 January 1973. Despite the similarity in names and basing, the provisional division is unrelated to the 810th Strategic Aerospace Division. ==Lineage==