60th Anniversary of Berlin Airlift: Wing historian retraces Malmstrom's involvement

  • Published
  • By Frank Kalesnik
  • 341st Missile Wing historian
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  For almost fifty years, Malmstrom Air Force Base has been famous as the home of the 341st Missile Wing, whose Minuteman ICBMs played a significant role in the successful outcome of the Cold War.
 
However, the base's winning record did not begin by providing the "Ace in the Hole" that gave President John F. Kennedy the card he needed to call the Soviet bluff in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis; our first victory came more than a decade earlier in the Berlin Crisis of 1948-1949. 

Malmstrom, then known as Great Falls AFB, served as a training center for the Military Air Transport Service's 1701st Air Transport Wing. The wing's primary mission was training C-54 "Skymaster" crews. On Aug. 13, 1948, this organization assumed responsibility for preparing Airmen for Operation Vittles, otherwise known as the Berlin Airlift. 

When the Second World War ended, Germany was divided into eastern and western halves. The Soviets occupied the east while the Americans, British, and French occupied the west. Berlin sat in the eastern half, but was likewise divided into Soviet, American, British, and French occupied zones connected to western Germany by road. As postwar tensions between the Free and Communist worlds mounted, the Soviets closed the roads, cutting off supplies going into Berlin. Their leader Joseph Stalin hoped the pressure would force the western powers to abandon Berlin, but on June 28, 1948, President Harry Truman said, "We are going to stay, period." 

The similarity between the weather in Great Falls and Berlin made it an ideal training location. The 21-day course established here, designated "Replacement Training Unit for Operation Vittles," included 133 hours of instruction. Radio beacons broadcast on the same frequencies used in Berlin and flight corridors duplicated those in Germany, as did the magnetic heading used on the approach to the runway simulating the one in Tempelhof, Germany . Upon arrival, crews practiced unloading 10-ton cargoes of sandbags with clock-like precision. 

Many pilots were reservists, whose civilian airline employers often cut back on flight schedules during the winter months anyway. These experienced aviators often exceeded the minimum 1200 hours on four-engine aircraft required . Even Navy and Marine Corps Reserve pilots transferred to the Air Force to participate. Planners expected the 19 C-54s assigned to the 1701st Air Transport Wing to train 29 aircrews per week. 

Working in conjunction with Britain's Royal Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force, as well as Canadians, New Zealanders, French and South Africans, American aircraft flew more than 1,500,000 tons of food, fuel, medical and other supplies into the besieged city. Recognizing that their blockade had failed, the Soviets officially lifted it May 12, 1949, although the airlift continued until September 30. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during Operation Vittles; the 101 fatalities recorded included 40 British and 31 American Airmen. 

Operation Vittles not only foiled Communist expansionism in Eastern Europe - it also forged a strong bond with former enemies in Germany, setting a determined tone for the long struggle between freedom and oppression culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall Nov. 9, 1989. 

While Airmen at Malmstrom AFB are warriors first and foremost, the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift should remind us that, sometimes, our greatest victories are humanitarian ones.