Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom, born July 14, 1907, in
Chicago, enlisted as a private in the Washington
State National Guard on May 12, 1929, and was
commissioned a second lieutenant on May 25, 1931.
He was called to active federal service at Parkwater,
Wash., on Sept. 16, 1940, as a first lieutenant. In May
1943, he moved to the European Theater of
Operations, and assumed command of the 356th
Fighter Group in November.
On April 24, 1944, while flying his 58th combat
mission, he was shot down over France and taken
prisoner of war. During the year he spent as a
prisoner, he was American commander of the south
compound, POW Camp Stalag Luft 1, Barth,
Germany. For this duty, he was awarded the Bronze Star.
Returning to the U.S. in May 1945, he was assigned as air inspector for the 312th Base Unit,
Barksdale, La., the 19th Tactical Air Command, Biggs Field, Texas, and at Granville, S.C.
Moving to Langley AFB, Va., Colonel Malmstrom served as deputy for reserve forces, 9th AF,
until August 1949 when he was enrolled as a student at the Air War college. After completing the
course, he was assigned as senior Air Force instructor at the Army War College for three years.
From this post he was sent to Lockbourne AFB, Ohio, as division director of personnel, serving
in that capacity until he was transferred to the 407th Strategic fighter Wing at Great Falls AFB,
Mont., on Feb. 1, 1945. Here he served as deputy wing commander.
Colonel Malmstrom was killed in an aircraft accident on Aug. 21, 1954, near the city of Great
Falls. He was survived by his wife Kathryn, a son and a daughter.
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE
When world War II broke out and conditions worsened in Europe, many U.S. citizens became
concerned.
This concern was felt in Great Falls and caused the Chamber of Commerce to urge senators
Burton K. Wheeler and James E. Murray of Montana and Maj. Gen. Oscar Westover, chief of the
Air Corps, to consider the development of the Great Falls Airport for use as a national defense
base.
In 1939, the Great Falls Airport commission appealed to Harry H. Woodring, Secretary of War,
to locate an Air Corps squadron at Great Falls. In 1941, the Civil Aeronautics Authority provided
the money for the development of the Great Falls Municipal Airport.
In May 1942, construction began on an Army Air corps base six miles east of Great Falls. The
base was known as East Base.
Soon after the work was started, the Air Transport Command's 7th Ferrying Group was assigned
to the Municipal airport. their mission was to establish an air route between Great Falls and
Ladd Field, Fairbanks, Alaska, as part of the lend-lease operations with the Soviet Union.
On July 6, 1942, Great Falls Army Air Base was assigned to 2nd Air force with Maj. John L.
Eaton as its first commander.
The initial physical makeup of the base consisted of four 8,850-foot runways with connecting
taxiways leading to a parking apron.
On the northern edge of the apron were two hangars, a control tower and an operations office. A
spur of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad the base and paved roads connected
it with U.S. Highway 87 and 89.
While the base was assigned to 2nd AF, numerous bombardment groups were trained at Great
Falls. Two of these bombardment groups, the 385th and 390th, went on to participate in decisive
raids over Germany that opened the door for Allied daylight precision bombing. These bomb
groups were trained in successive groups from November 1942 to October 1943.
In 1943, the Great Falls AAB saw the establishment of Station 5, Alaskan Wing, Air Transport
Command, and a change of command from 2nd AF to the Air Service Command.
More buildings were built this year, including a consolidated mess, a post exchange, a theater and
a 400-bed hospital. The Air Service command then moved its units from Gore Field (the
Municipal Airport) to the base.
In January 1944, the base was reassigned to the Air Transport command to continue its mission of
ferrying lend-lease aircraft to the Soviet Union.
Col. Anatol N. Kotikov was the Soviet Union representative at Great Falls AAB during 1944 in
the lend-lease program. During this year, he supervised the departure of 3,204 aircraft to Russia.
The aircraft included P-39's, C-47's, B-25's, and A-20's.
Also shipped was a total of 1,717,712 pounds of Russian-bound cargo containing aircraft parts,
tools miscellaneous equipment, explosives, medical supplies, and diplomatic and personal mail.
Other events during 1944 were the deactivation of Station 5 and the assignment of its people to
the 1455th Army Air Forces Base Unit that was organized at the base, and the beginning of
modification of the 103 C-54s and 70 P-38L's for assignment to other units.
World War II ended and aircraft shipments to the Soviet Union were stopped in September 1945
after over 7,000 aircraft had been processed in a 21-month period.
Following WW II, Great Falls, Great Falls AAB assumed a mission of support for military
people assigned to the Alaskan bases. A reserve training unit was established for the 4th AF from
Oct. 10, 1946, to March 6, 1947.
The year 1947 brought the advent of the United States Air Force and a variety of mission changes
for Great Falls Air Force Base.
Despite the ending of W.W.II in 1945, the world was still not at peace in 1948.
The Cold War of bluff and threats between the Soviet Union and the United States propelled
international politics into the age of deterrence---an era when the U.S. military prepared not only
to win a major war, but to prevent war as well.
In 1948, the Soviet Union closed all land travel between West Germany and West Berlin. The
United States and Britain vowed not to abandon the West Berliners to the Berlin Blockade, but
also realized that any attempt to bludgeon a corridor through Russian lines could ignite World
War III.
Operation Vittles was born. Vittles was the strategic airlift of supplies to a city of over 2,000,000
inhabitants.
Now Great Falls AFB assumed critical importance.
Officials selected the base as the training site for Berlin Airlift C-54's due to good flying weather
and a runway that was not shared with another flying unit.
On Aug. 13, 1948, the 1701st was deactivated and replaced by both the 1300th Air Base Wing and
the 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Squadron.
This splitting of a complex organization into more manageable parts reflected the new Air Force
way of thinking and resulted in the organizational structure which still exists in some ways today.
Even as new weapon systems were being developed and debates raged over the effectiveness of the
manned bomber, the Strategic Air Command activated the 407th Strategic Fighter Wing to
provide protection for the bombers. SAC then ordered the 407th to Great Falls AFB.
The base had just completed a $2 million runway in July 1952, and with its modernized facilities
would provide an excellent strategic air base. In January 1954, SAC replaced MATS as the
command in charge of the base.
Col. Lester Harris arrived as the new wing commander, accompanied by Col. Einar Axel
Malmstrom, his vice wing commander. The C-54 workhorses of yesterday were replaced with
F-84F and G fighters.
More units continued to arrive at Great Falls AFB. In March 1954, the 91st Strategic
Reconnaissance Squadron, with its fleet of KB-29 aircraft, began operations at the base. Now the
whine of the F-84 fighters was complemented by the deeper rumble of the 10 propdriven planes.
On Aug. 21, 1954, the history of Great Falls AFB took on new meaning when a plane crash
claimed the life of Colonel Malmstrom.
In the short period of his tenure as vice wing commander, Colonel Malmstrom endeared himself
to the local community.
Saddened by the loss, the people of Great Falls began a drive to rename the base after him.
On June 15, 1956, Great Falls AFB was officially dedicated as Malmstrom AFB, and the 4061st
Air Refueling Wing arrived with its contingent of KC-97 tankers the next year.
Malmstrom's mission changed again when SAC realized that fighter escorts would not be able to
keep up with the new B-52 bombers.
Malmstrom officially entered the ICBM age with the activation of the 341st Strategic Missile
Wing from Dyess AFB, Texas, where it had previously operated as the 341st Bombardment Wing.
The 341 SMW and Malmstrom AFB became the nation's first "Ace in the Hole," dubbed by
President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crises.
The wing has Minuteman missiles spread across 23,000 square miles of Montana. The 10th, 12th,
and 490th Strategic Missile Squadron are equipped with the Minuteman II, and the 564th has the
Minuteman III.
On January 5, 1988, Malmstrom gained its first flying wing since the 4061st was inactivated in
1961. The 301st Air Refueling Wing is responsible for the operation of KC-135R Stratotankers,
which refuel fighter, bomber and transport aircraft worldwide.
Malmstrom entered another era on July 7, 1989, when the 40th Air Division was reactivated.
The 40th Air Division began as the 40th Bombardment Wing on January 15, 1943, at MacDill
Field, Fla. After several inactivation's and reactivations, the division called Malmstrom its home
for 2 years before being inactivated on June 14, 1991, as a result of an Air Force-wide force
structure reorganization. Under this reorganization, the refueling wing became the host unit and
the Space Wing became an associate unit and renamed the 341st Space Wing.
With the deactivation of the Strategic Air Command June 1, 1992, Malmstrom became an Air
Mobility Command base. The 301st was renamed the 43rd Air Refueling Wing and reporting to
15th Air Force, located at March AFB, CA. The 341st MW came under the Air Combat Command
and reported directly to 20th Air Force located at F.E. Warren AFB, WY. The Space Wing
moved under Air Force Space Command located at Peterson AFB, CO., in mid 1993 under a move
that merged missile and space operations under one command.
The 341st MW assumed host unit responsibilities from the 43rd ARW July 1 1994. Under a
restructuring move the 43rd ARW was redesignated as the 43rd Air Refueling Group when part
of the 43rd ARW moved to Fairchild AFB, WA.
