Minot Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation in Ward County, North Dakota, thirteen miles (20 km) north of the city of Minot via U.S. Route 83. In the 2020 census, the base was counted as a CDP with a total population of 5,017, down from 5,521 in 2010. Minot AFB is the home of two major wings: the 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Missile Wing, both of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).
A B-52H Stratofortress of the 5th Bomb Wing sits on the MAFB flight-line as another takes off
Minuteman III in silo (1989, Grand Forks AFB)
Approaching runway 29 at Minot AFB in 1973, alert ramp "Christmas tree" at bottom center
A B-52H Stratofortress taxis during an alert exercise at Minot Air Force Base during March 2006.
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces in 1947 with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.
The first F-35 Lightning II of the 33rd Fighter Wing arriving at Eglin AFB
An Air Force RQ-4 strategic reconnaissance aircraft
An Air Force KC-46 Pegasus refuels a C-17A Globemaster III
An Air Force A-10 demonstrating close air support at Nellis AFB