11/1/2008:
In support of a Cold War policy of nuclear deterrence, the Strategic Air Command organized the 321st Strategic Missile Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base on this day in 1964.
Three missile squadrons were activated and sent for training in Vandenberg, California while construction was underway on the Minuteman II missile complex in North Dakota. By August of 1965 the Grand Forks base received its first Minuteman II by train from an assembly plant in Utah.
For the US Air Force, the Grand Forks missile wing marked a number of firsts. In 1966, the base received the first Minuteman II missile shipped by aircraft. By December of that year, the 321st Strategic Missile Wing became fully operational; making Grand Forks the first base to deploy the Minuteman II missile.
Sources:
Ravenstein, Charles. Air Force Combat Wings: Lineage and Honors Histories. (Washington , DC: Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, 1984)
The World Almanac and Book of Facts. Luman H. Long, ed. (New York: Newspaper Enterprise Association, Inc., 1967)
"SAC Bases: Grand Forks Air Force Base", Strategic-Air-Command.com. http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Grand_Forks_AFB.htm