Established in October 1957 assuming control of former ADCCentral Air Defense Force units with a mission to provide air defense of most ofMinnesota and westernWisconsin. The organization provided command and control over several aircraft andradar squadrons.
In October 1962, during theCuban Missile Crisis, a guard at the Direction Center mistakenly identified a bear trying to climb the security fence as asaboteur and rang the alarm, which automatically triggered similar alarms at other bases in the region. A faulty alarm system atVolk Field in Wisconsin led to nuclear-armed interceptor aircraftnearly being launched.[1]
Inactivated April 1966 as part of ADC reorganization and consolidation, the command being redesignated as the29th Air Division. The SAGE building was remodeled and, in 1985, given to the University of Minnesota Duluth to house theNatural Resources Research Institute signed into legislation to address the struggling economy during theearly 1980s recession.
^Approved 7 October 1960. Description: Light blue, indexterchief three stylized aircraftfesswisein bendOr, each emitting a vapor trail to sinister base Azure and Argent, surmounted by inbase an archedmound, with land masses brown, and water area of the third [color mentioned], bearing in dexter base two evergreen trees silhouetted of the last [color mentioned], along the edge of the mound and before a building in perspective of the like [color], a cloud mass of the fourth [color mentioned]; in sinister chief the Dipper constellation of sevenmullets of the last [color mentioned] and all within a diminished border of the second [color mentioned]. Significance: The emblem is symbolic of the sector and its mission. Above a segment of the globe, representingLake Superior and theDuluth area, the SAGE building rises out of a cloud formation. Above the building three stylized flight vehicles which represent both aircraft and missiles are streaking upward across the sky to symbolize the Duluth striking force. The constellation, Big Dipper, long a navigational aid, points the way to the North Star. The emblem bears the Air Force colors, ultramarine blue and golden yellow.
A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.ISBN0-89201-092-4.
Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.ISBN0-912799-12-9.
United States
United States Air Force
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
SAGE facilities