Trip Report: Why not Minot?
First published in 2005. Reformatted 2025. Freezin's the Reason! Anyone who's been in the Air Force probably knows the answer to that question! Business travel to Minot gave me my first ever visit to North Dakota and those bastions of the Northern Frontier, Minot AFB and Grand Forks AFB. I traveled up a day early, to allow for some quick personal visits before settling in for a week of hard work. Just a reminder PIN means Permanent Installation Number and ILC means Installation Location Code; I include these for Air Force properties when I know them.Saturday, 1 October 2005
From DFW, I flew to Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), and connected to Minot International Airport (MOT). After renting a car, I drove 200 miles east to Grand Forks, where I spent the night.Sunday, 2 October 2005
First stop in the morning was Grand Forks AFB, where I visited the Shoppette for some snacks and coffee, then headed north. Edinburg Communications Site GWEN 870 ND, ILC FSGR, 48-28-11, 97-58-23. My first stop was a former Ground Wave Emergency Network relay node site north of Grand Forks. The site was established in 1991 and disposed of in 1999. The chain link fence enclosures remained, but the tower was gone. A local lady stopped to see what I was up to, and she told me the tower was removed between 2 and 5 years ago.Gate
General view
General view Crystal Communications Site GWEN 848 ND, ILC EXXK. From there it was a short drive to the next stop. At this one, the tower still stands. The site, sometimes referred to as Langdon, was established in 1991 and disposed of in 1999.
General view
Short tower and equipment shelters
Top of main tower Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex RSL No. 3 ND, ILC UQDW. My next stop was one of four Remote Sprint Launch annexes. Sprint was a high-speed, close range interceptor missile with a nuclear warhead.
Gate
General view
General view Grand Forks AF Missile Site B-00 ND, ILC JFTA, 40-45-48, 98-11-36. This is one of the 15 Launch Control Facilities (LCFs) that formerly controlled Minuteman missiles out of Grand Forks AFB. The launch control building, storage building, and garage were in good shape, and the hardened UHF antenna was still in place. The various Grand Forks missile sites were assigned c. 1966, and inactivated c. 1996.
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Launch control building
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Hardened UHF antenna Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex RSL No. 2 ND, ILC UQDV. Then it was north to another Sprint launch site.
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Gate and signs
Building Grand Forks AF Missile Site A-05 ND, ILC JFSU, 48-49-49, 98-22-05. I saw several of the former Grand Forks launch facilities, but I only stopped to photograph the remains of this one.
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General view Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex Missile Site Radar ND, ILC UQDT. This was the main component of the SRMSC, and it has a distinctive pyramidal concrete radar building that is visible for miles. This is still an active Army installation, even though the radar itself has been out of service for decades. In addition to the very distinctive concrete radar building, Sprint and Spartan missile launchers were located on this site. Spartan was a larger, longer-range missile than the Sprint.
Missile Site Radar building
General view Grand Forks AF Missile Site D-00 ND, ILC JFTY, 48-33-14, 98-22-50. Although the underground launch control center was rendered inoperable and closed off, the aboveground buildings including the garage and storage building were left relatively intact.
Launch control building
General view
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Garage and storage building Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex RSL No. 4 ND, ILC UQDX. On to another remote Sprint site.
Gate and signs
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General view Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex RSL No. 1 ND, ILC UQDU. Then the last of the four remote Sprint missile sites.
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Access road and sign
Building Minot Air Force Station ND, PIN 1445, ILC QJVM, 48-00-12, 101-17-40. After that I drove to Minot and headed south out of town to this former long range radar site. It was identified as P-28, then Z-28, and it served from 1951 to 1979. A portion of the property was reactivated in 1984 as the Minot Communications Site and served until 1997. The gate was locked and no specific reuse was evident from outside the fence, aside from storage of some buildings. The housing area, to the south, continues in residential use.
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Dormitory
Gate and signs
Housing Then it was time to end the day's drive, so I headed north to Minot Air Force Base. This is where I would stay and work for the next week. This was an eight-hour day, covering just more than 400 miles. Updated March 29, 2025
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