Minneapolis-Saint Paul Joint Air Reserve Station is one of the most modern and efficient airports in the United States. The station is a combat-ready Air Force Reserve Command flying unit at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Air Reserve Station, Minnesota. The 934th Airlift Wing is the Department of Defense host unit at the Reserve Station. They are sometimes called the “Flying Vikings,” and are Minnesota’s only Air Force Reserve unit.
Location
Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP) Airport:
Terminal 2-Humphrey
7150 Humphrey Drive
Minneapolis, MN 55450
The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) is located near downtown Minneapolis, downtown St. Paul and the Mall of America. Located just south of both downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, MSP is convenient for business and leisure travelers alike. The airport is in the midst of the $2.8 billion MSP 2010 plan, an expansion program encompassing improvements involving the airfield, the Lindbergh and Humphrey Terminals and parking facilities.
History
In 1915, the Twin Cities Motor Club built a 2.5 mile auto speedway where the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP)now sits. The racetrack was unsuccessful and closed. Next, in 1920, the Minneapolis Aero Club leased the land. The dirt area in the center of the track became a landing strip, and the field’s first hangar was established to accommodate the U.S. airmail service.
The field was named Twin Cities Airport – Wold Chamberlain Field in 1923 in honor of two Minnesota aviators, Ernest Wold and Cyrus Chamberlain, who were killed in action in France in World War I. In 1926, Northwest Airways (now Northwest Airlines) won the government’s airmail contract and acquired the only hangar on the field. By 1928 the field had grown to 325 acres and eight hangars and then taken over by the Minneapolis Park Board. The field was renamed: Minneapolis Municipal Airport. Its main terminal, a former park board warming house, was staffed by two employees and a small Northwest staff.
Northwest began passenger service at MSP in 1929 with new 12-passenger Ford Trimotor aircraft. The runways were sod, but a concrete taxiway area had been installed in front of the hangars and terminal building. A procedure of rolling and compacting the snow in winter to mark the landing strips became so successful that requests for details of the procedure came from all over the United States and as far away as the Alaska territory.
By 1938, a U.S. Weather Bureau station and a control tower were operating, and aircraft took off and landed on three 3,000-foot paved runways, which replaced the grass strips of earlier days.
In 1948, the airport acquired its present name – Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport-Wold Chamberlain Field. Massive reconstruction of airport facilities in the early 1960s included the construction of a new main terminal, a maintenance base and headquarters for Northwest Airlines. An upgraded and enlarged runway system and modern equipment have further enhanced airport safety and efficiency. Highway access to and from the airport has been improved and parking facilities at MSP can now accommodate more than 12,000 cars. Today the airport covers 3,400 acres.
During the summer of 2003 nine Air Force Reserve Command installations were re-designated joint bases or stations to reflect the multiservice use of the facilities. The locations and their new designations are: Dobbins Joint Air Reserve Base, Ga.; Grissom JARB, Ind.; Homestead JARB, Fla.; March JARB, Calif.; Minneapolis-St. Paul Joint Air Reserve Station, Minn.; Niagara Falls JARS, N.Y.; Pittsburgh JARS, Pa.; Westover JARB, Mass.; and Youngstown JARS, Ohio.
Mission
The wing’s mission is to fly C-130H cargo aircraft, both airdropping and airlanding cargo and people. Aeromedical evacuation of patients within the theater of operations is another facet of the mission. The 934th Airlift Wing supports the Air Force mission on a daily basis, providing airlift both in the United States and around the world. Members of the wing train according to Air Force regulations and are inspected by active duty Air Force members. Upon mobilization orders, the 934th Airlift Wing would deploy to become part of the active duty Air Force’s Air Mobility Command.
Minneapolis St. Paul ARS Reference Phone Numbers
Base Information (612) 713-1000
Base Exchange (612) 726-9023
Barber Shop (612) 726-9023 (Base Exchange will transfer the call to the Barber Shop)
Base Operations-934th Airlift Wing (AFRC) (612) 713-1719
Base Operations-133rd Airlift Wing (ANG) (612) 713-2474
Casualty Assistance Office (934th Airlift Wing) (612)-713-1164/1165
Civilian Personnel Office (934th Airlift Wing) (612)-713-1492
Command Post (133rd Airlift Wing) (612) 713-2465/2593
Services Club Manager: (612) 713-1674
Cashier: (612) 713-1655
Family Readiness (934th Airlift Wing) (612) 713-1516
ID Cards: 934th Airlift Wing (AFRC) (612) 713-1085
133rd Airlift Wing (ANG) (612) 713-2041/2061
88th Regional Support Command (Army Reserve) (612) 713-3202
Lodging Office “North Country Lodge” (612) 726-9440
Officer’s Club General Manager: 612-767-1960
Red Cross (612) 871-7676
SARC (Sexual Assault Response Coordinator) (612) 290-8785
Space A Information Line (934th Airlift Wing) (612) 713-1741
Space A Line (133rd Airlift Wing) (612)- 713-2450