20th Air Division

20th Air Division
F-86D Sabre of the 20th Air Division's 85th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Scott AFB in 1957
Active	1955–1960; 1966–1967; 1969–1983
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Command of air defense forces
Part of	Tactical Air Command
Insignia
20th Air Division Emblem (approved 20 August 1956)[1]

The 20th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida where it was inactivated on 1 March 1983.

During most of the division's history it served with Air Defense Command as a regional command and control headquarters. Between 1955 and 1967 the division controlled air defense units in the central United States. It controlled a slightly different areas of the midwestern US from 1955 to 1960 and again from 1966 to 1967. Its area of responsibility shifted to the east coast if the United States from 1969 to 1983. It was shifted to its final station on paper in 1983 and was immediately inactivated.

The 20th Air Division was assigned to Air Defense Command (ADC) for most of its existence. It served as a regional command and control headquarters, controlling fighter interceptor and radar units over several areas of responsibility during the Cold War. For three years it also commanded a surface-to-air missile squadron.^[1]

The division was initially activated as an intermediate command organization under Central Air Defense Force at Grandview Air Force Base (later Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base) in June 1955.^[2] The division was responsible for the interceptor and radar units within an area that covered parts of Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, and virtually all of Kansas and Missouri.^[3]

On 1 October 1959 ADC activated the Sioux City Air Defense Sector and its Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) DC-22 Direction Center and assigned it to the division.^[4] The 20th also operated a Manual Control Center (MCC-2) at Richards-Gebaur. The division was inactivated in 1960 when ADC reorganized its regional air defense units, and the 33d Air Division assumed command of most of its former units.^[2][5]

The division was reactivated in 1966 under Tenth Air Force as a SAGE organization, replacing the Chicago Air Defense Sector when ADC discontinued its air defense sectors and replaced them with air divisions.^[6] The 20th provided air defense from the Truax Field, Wisconsin DC-7/CC-2 SAGE blockhouse for parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, and all of Illinois.^[3] The division also acted as the 20th NORAD Region after activation of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) Combat Operations Center at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado. Operational control of the division was transferred to NORAD from ADC.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to the active duty interceptor and radar units, the division supervised Air National Guard units that flew interception sorties using (among other aircraft) McDonnell F-101 Voodoos and Convair F-106 Delta Darts. At the same time the division controlled numerous radar squadrons. It was inactivated in 1967^[1] as part of an ADC consolidation of intermediate level command and control organizations, driven by budget reductions required to fund USAF operations in Southeast Asia.^{[citation needed]}

The 20th Air Division was activated for a third time in November 1969 under Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM).^[2] The division provided air defense for virtually all of the southeastern United States, except for most of Louisiana from the SAGE DC-4 blockhouse at Fort Lee Air Force Station, Virginia.^[7] The division also controlled a CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile squadron near Langley Air Force Base until the squadron's inactivation in October 1972.^[8]

ADCOM was inactivated on 1 October 1979. The atmospheric defense resources (interceptors and warning radars) of ADCOM were reassigned to Tactical Air Command, which formed Air Defense, Tactical Air Command as the headquarters to control them.^[9] After 1981, the division controlled units equipped with McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle aircraft. Its subordinate units continued to participate in intensive academic training, numerous multi-region simulated (non-flying) exercises, and flying exercises.^[1]

The division moved to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida in March 1983^[1] where it was inactivated and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the Southeast Air Defense Sector.^[10]

• Established as the 20 Air Division (Defense) on 8 June 1955

Activated on 8 October 1955

Inactivated on 1 January 1960

• Activated on 20 January 1966 (not organized)

Organized on 1 April 1966

Discontinued and inactivated, on 31 December 1967

• Activated on 19 November 1969

Inactivated on 1 March 1983^[11]

• Central Air Defense Force, 8 October 1955 – 1 January 1960
• Air Defense Command, 20 January 1966
• Tenth Air Force, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1967
• Aerospace Defense Command, 19 November 1969
• Air Defense, Tactical Air Command, 1 October 1979 – 1 March 1983^[11]

• Grandview Air Force Base (later, Richards Gebaur Air Force Base0, Missouri, 8 October 1955 – 1 January 1960
• Truax Field, Wisconsin, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1967
• Fort Lee Air Force Station, Virginia, 19 November 1969
• Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, 1 March 1983^[11]

• Sioux City Air Defense Sector: 1 October 1959 – 1 January 1960^[4]

• 48th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 19 November 1969 – 1 March 1983^[18]

Langley Air Force Base, Virginia

• 85th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 March 1956 – 1 July 1959^[19]

Scott Air Force Base, Illinois

• 95th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 19 November 1969 – 31 January 1973^[20]

Dover Air Force Base, Delaware

• 22d Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC): 19 November 1969 – 31 October 1972^[8]

Langley Air Force Base, Virginia

• F-89 Scorpion units of the United States Air Force
• List of Sabre and Fury units in the US military
• List of F-106 Delta Dart units of the United States Air Force
• List of United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command Interceptor Squadrons
• United States general surveillance radar stations

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

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.

Further reading

• Leonard, Barry (2009). History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense (PDF). Vol. II, 1955–1972. Fort McNair, DC: Center for Military History. ISBN 978-1-43792-131-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
• Redmond, Kent C.; Smith, Thomas M. (2000). From Whirlwind to MITRE: The R&D Story of The SAGE Air Defense Computer. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-18201-0.
• Winkler, David F.; Webster, Julie L (1997). Searching the skies: The legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program. Champaign, IL: US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. LCCN 97020912.^{[dead link‍]}
• "ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". The Interceptor (January 1979) Aerospace Defense Command, (Volume 21, Number 1)