After a half-century of service, the tanker mission at Grand Forks Air Force Base officially will end this weekend.
Base leaders, civic and government officials, along with Airmen and their families will celebrate the official completion of the KC-135 Stratotanker mission at Grand Forks Air Force Base in a ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday.
The closing of the tanker mission is part of a transition to the base's next phase, as the host of an unmanned aerial system wing that will include Predator and Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.
The first of the KC-135s departed in 2007 as part of the transition. The last will leave the base about noon Saturday, making a flyover over Grand Forks and East Grand Forks as the mission's final act, said Airman 1st Class Rachel Waller, of the base's public affairs department.
The official closing ceremony on Friday will recognize the completion of 50 years of tanker flight and maintenance operations at the base.
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"Other aircraft have come and gone from Grand Forks AFB including the B-1B Lancer and the B-52 Stratofortress, but the KC-135s and the 905th Air Refueling Squadron has been here from the beginning," said Lt. Col. Noel Bradford, 905th ARS commander.
50-year history
The 905th ARS was established Oct. 12, 1959, and received its first tanker May 6, 1960.
"The tanker has been a maintainer's dream over the last 50 years," said Lt. Col. Gary Wiley, 319th Maintenance Group commander. "It has been reliable and easy to maintain, which has enhanced the missions of global reach and global power."
The Heartland of America Band will provide music along with remarks from Col. Don Shaffer, 319th Air Refueling Wing commander, and Gen. Raymond Johns, head of Air Mobility Command.
The transition from the 319th to unmanned aircraft began in 2005, as a result of the federal Base Realignment and Closure process.
The last of the estimated 1,200 Airmen and 2,200 dependents and civilian workers associated with the 319th are expected to be transferred by the end of December.
New personnel will start arriving in January to prepare for the July arrival of the first Global Hawk, the nation's most advanced unmanned spy plane.
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The base already hosts Predator unmanned aircraft owned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and will host more Predators flown by the National Guard's 119th Wing in Fargo.
