 The division was activated as the 821st Air Division at Ellsworth in 1959 to command Boeing B-52 Stratofortress units of Strategic Air Command (SAC), which had been dispersed along the northern border of the United States to reduce their vulnerability to Soviet missile attacks.In 1962, the 44th Strategic Missile Wing was activated at Ellsworth and assigned to the division along with a second Minuteman missile wing in Montana.At the same time, the B-52 wings formerly assigned to the division were transferred, except for the 28th Bombardment Wing at Ellsworth.