During the height of the Cold War, the United States started to develop and expand its air defense capabilities to knock down Russian Air Force nuclear-armed bombers flying over the North Pole, across Canada, and into the northern United States to attack US military targets and major cities. The Air Defense Command created air command centers, radar stations, ground observer corps, and fighter-interceptor squadrons. The 54th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (54th FIS), based at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, protected the Strategic Air Command's assets at Ellsworth AFB (nuclear alert bombers and tankers and intercontinental ballistic missiles). From 1951 to 1960, the men of the 54th FIS protected North America from possible air attack by long-range Russian Air Force bombers. The threat was deemed real at the time, only later shown to be less serious as the CIA overflew the Soviet Union with high-flying Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.

This book covers the history of Dyess Air Force Base from 1941 to the present. The reader is led from the construction and World War II training operations through the Cold War with the Soviet Union, to bomber and missile nuclear alert, and to the transition of a world-wide conventional weapons response capability with the B-1B and air mobility options provided by the C-130 Hercules transport. The book includes a photo tour of the base as well as information on topics such as: Abilene Air Force Base, 96th Bombardment Wing and the Boeing B-47E Stratojet, Boeing KC-97G Stratofreighter and the 11th Aerial Refueling Squadron, 578th Strategic Missile Squadron and the Atlas F Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, 4th Strategic Support Squadron and the Douglas C-124C Globemaster II, the Nike-Hercules Surface-to-Air Missile, 96th Bombardment Wing and the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, and the Special Weapons Storage Area.

Until now, Army Air Force Bases in Nebraska during World War II had never before been presented in a single book (most of the photographed structures are no longer visible). These stories and photographs mostly focus on America s Greatest Generation, which fought and won World War II. Also included are information on and images of the Martin B-26/Martin-Boeing B-29 Superfortress production plant at Fort Crook. One section deals with the building of modified B-29s for the 509th Composite Group, referred to after the war as the Atomic Bomb Group, which dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan, ending World War II. Also learn about German and Italian Prisoner of War camps, where POWs contributed to agricultural production in Nebraska, helping feed American troops, Allied troops, and civilian populations around the world. Most Americans are not aware of the huge numbers of Axis POWs held in America during the war."

This complete history of Ellsworth Air Force Base tells the story of the base, units, and personnel that have been defending the United States for over seventy years, and traces the proud heritage of this South Dakota military facility beginning in World War II. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, Convair B-36 Peacemakers, and Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers have all stood at the ready on Ellsworth's runway. The current bomber out of Ellsworth is the B-1B Lancer, flown by the 28th Bomb Wing who continues to defend America now and into the future.