9th Space Division

9th Space Division

Emblem of the 9th Space Division
Active 1949–1950, 1954-1958, 1961-1968, 1990-1991
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
Role Command and Control
Part of Continental Air Command
Air Defense Command
Air Force Space Command

The 9th Space Division (9th SD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Force Space Command, being stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 October 1991.

Contents

History

The organization has had several periods of activation over its lifetime. Initially established in April 1949 as the 9th Air Division (Tactical) under Fourteenth Air Force, Continental Air Command at Pope AFB, North Carolina, the command had no units assigned but was to act as a headquarters over tactical units. It was inactivated in August 1950.

It was redesignated and reactivated in October 1954 by Air Defense Command (ADC) and assigned to Western Air Defense Force (WADF) at Geiger Field, Washington, taking over control of air defense units in eastern Washington, Oregon and Idaho from the 25th Air Division (AD), after the 25th AD was realigned over the Washington and Oregon coastal area west of the Cascade Mountains. It participated in the United States Air Force collateral mission of antisubmarine warfare and administered, equipped, and trained for combat. It was inactivated in 1958 when the Spokane Air Defense Sector was established by ADC to take over its responsibilities.

The third incarnation of the organization began in 1961 with its reactivation as the 9th Aerospace Defense Division was associated with the North American Aerospace Defense Command by ADC, assuming responsibility for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, the Missile Defense Alarm System, the Space Detection and Tracking System, the NORAD Combat operations Center, the Bomb Alarm System, and the Nuclear Detonation System. It was inactivated in 1968 when its mission was elevated to a Numbered Air Force level, being assumed by the Fourteenth Aerospace Force on 1 July.

The most recent incarnation the 9th Space Division began in 1990 when Air Force Space Command (AFSPACECOM) reactivated the organization to provide an action mechanism to "operationalize" the space launch capabilities of Eastern Space and Missile Center (ESMC) and Western Space and Missile Center (WSMC) units transferred from Air Force Systems Command to AFSPACECOM during 1990–1991. ESMC and WSMC became respectively the 45th Space Wing and 30th Space Wing within two months of the Division's inactivation in 1991.

Lineage

Activated on 1 May 1949
Inactivated on 1 August 1950
Activated on 8 October 1954
Inactivated on 15 August 1958
Organized on 15 July 1961
Discontinued and inactivated on 1 July 1968
Activated on 1 October 1990
Inactivated on 1 October 1991.

Assignments

Stations

Components

Centers

Patrick AFB, Florida
Vandenberg AFB, California

Wings

Ent AFB, Colorado
Ent AFB, Colorado

Groups

Vandenburg AFB, California
Geiger Field, Washington
Geiger Field, Washington
Larson AFB, Washington

Squadrons

Ent AFB, Colorado
Ent AFB, Colorado
  • 10 Aerospace Defense: 1 August 1964 – 1 January 1967
Vandenberg AFB, California
Larson AFB, Washington
Larson AFB, Washington
Larson AFB, Washington
Larson AFB, Washington
  • 4755th Ground Observer Squadron: 1 January 1955-25 March 1959
Geiger Field, Washington
McChord AFB, Washington
Condon AFS, Oregon
Othello AFS, Washington
Curlew AFS, Washington
Colville AFS, Washington
Baker AFS, Oregon
Cottonwood AFS, Idaho
Mica Peak AFS, Washington

See also

United States Air Force portal
Military of the United States portal

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links