Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce

71 Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce www.greatfallschamber.org M I L I TA RY Great Falls Military Mission Photo by Devin Doskey The heavy presence of the United States Department of Defense in the Great Falls area is a critical component of national security infrastructure, responsible for strategic deterrence to potential threat nations all over the world. More military personnel, across all the service branches, live and work in Cascade County than any other community in Montana. The United States Air Force's Global Strike Command (AFGSC) provides this capability through the 341st Missile Wing, headquartered at Malmstrom Air Force Base on the east side of Great Falls. The base fields the personnel responsible for maintaining, transporting, securing, and employing more than 100 Minuteman III Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) from launch sites scattered across north central Montana. In fact, if you were to combine Malmstrom's missile field into one congruent land mass, it would be the approximate size of the forty-first state in the country. Malmstrom, once home to fixed-wing strategic assets, has a runway, but its air operations component lies dormant, save for the 40th Helicopter Squadron. That unit, currently fielding eight Vietnam-era UH-1N helicopters, provides air support and transportation to the base's Tactical Response Force, the entity responsible for responding to security incidents in the missile field, or any attempt to disrupt the movement of said missiles from one location to another. The base will also be the first in the AFGSC to receive the MH-139 Grey Wolf helicopter, a significant upgrade in capability over the venerable Iroquois. Eleven of the new aircraft are slated to arrive and reach full operational capability by 2023. Malmstrom is also home to a specialized deployable construction unit, the 819th Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE, or RHS), and the 22nd Space Operations Squadron (SOPS) Detachment 1. These units deploy airmen year-round in support of national security interests and contingency operations. In addition to playing its pivotal role in the National Defense Strategy, Malmstrom Air Force Base and its airmen contribute an amount estimated to be more than $300 million annually to the local economy in Great Falls. Additionally, the 40th Helicopter Squadron is a search and rescue (SAR) capable unit providing a critical mission capability through partnerships with the area Sheriff Offices SAR teams. The squadron is also tasked to augment The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for any Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Response (HADR) contingencies. By the numbers, Malmstrom is home to 3,273 military personnel and 645 civilians, for a total of 3918 individuals employed on base. In addition, there are 130 "non-appropriated civilians," meaning positions funded by non-appropriated funds, or NAF. Furthermore, the base is home to 108 contract or private businesses. All told, approximately ten percent of Cascade County's population has some connection to Malmstrom.

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