The City of Duluth purchased the original property for the airport in 1929 from St. Louis County. The airport was constructed on 640 acres (2.6 km2) of land with two 2,650-foot (810 m) sod runways. Subsequently, in 1930, the airfield was dedicated as a public airport. The airport was called the Williamson-Johnson Municipal Airport until 1963 at which time it was renamed Duluth International Airport.
Air Defense Command
11th FIS F-102 Delta Dagger 56-1485 in arctic colors about 1959
After World War II, the
F-106A Delta Dart interceptors. In 1968, the squadron was redesignated the 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and continued to operate F-106s until 1979.[2]
23d Air Division replaced it. The 23d AD which was responsible for the air defense of the upper midwest.[4]
Minnesota Air National Guard
The USAF phased out its Air Defense facilities in 1982,[5] but the Minnesota ANG continues its operations.
Along with its commercial airport usage, the Minnesota Air National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing (148 FW), an Air Combat Command (ACC)-gained unit, is located at the airport. The air national guard base occupies 153.3 acres (620,000 m2) on the northeast corner of the airport.[6] The munitions storage area, which is physically separated from the main base, occupies 16.71 acres (67,600 m2) north of Runway 09/27. The base has a total of 37 buildings; 18 industrial and 19 administrative. Normal ANG population is 320 personnel but surges to 1100 at least once each month during unit training assembly (UTA) drill sessions for the entire wing. The 148th previously flew the F-16A ADF and currently flies the F-16C Fighting Falcon.
Known ADCOM units assigned
23d ADCOM Region, 8 December 1978
Transferred to ADTAC as 23d NORAD Region, 1 October 1979-31 December 1983
^"The Wing". The 148th Fighter Wing. US Air Force. October 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
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.
