The Air Force will move 17 B-1 bombers and more than 800 Airmen to Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., for the next 10 months starting this week, so that Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., can undergo construction to host the new B-21 Raider.
The service first announced plans for the temporary move in August, contingent on a final environmental assessment and legal review. The 319th Reconnaissance Wing, the host unit at Grand Forks, confirmed the final basing decision Dec. 2, and a spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the first two bombers are set to arrive this week, depending on weather conditions.
Those first aircraft will help prepare Grand Forks for maintenance operations, while the rest of the fleet will follow in January, the spokesperson said. Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the B-1 fleet, previously said the relocation would start in February 2025.
Construction at Ellsworth related to the B-21 has been ongoing for a few years now, but the B-1 relocation is necessary now to complete a runway construction project.
Grand Forks is the closest Air Force base to Ellsworth with a paved runway for fixed-wing aircraft. The two installations are separated by about 400 miles.
Grand Forks has a long history with bombers. Beginning in 1963, the base housed B-52 bombers under the 319th Bomb Wing until it transitioned to B-1 missions in 1986. The last B-1s departed in 1994 and the wing was re-designated as the 319th Reconnaissance Wing. It currently hosts RQ-4 Global Hawk drones.
The base still meets many requirements to host the B-1, such as minimum runway lengths and facilities for refueling and storing munitions.
“There’s no doubt integrating the B-1 community into our Grand Forks Unmanned Aerial System ecosystem will pay dividends for everyone involved,” said Col. Tim Monroe, 319th Reconnaissance Wing commander. “This temporary relocation is the vanguard of Air Force integration, readiness, and agile combat employment, and epitomizes the mantra of One Team, One Fight.”
A B-1 from Ellsworth landed at Grand Forks to conduct a hot-pit refueling operation in preparation for the move, and in November, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife met with civic leaders from Grand Forks, N.D.
The 17 B-1s heading to North Dakota represent more than a third of the Lancer fleet, which will stand at 44 aircraft following several recent crashes and regenerations from the “Boneyard.”
This is not the first time Ellsworth B-1s and Airmen have had to relocate. A crash in January closed the base’s runway and forced some of the bombers to move for a few weeks to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, the other main B-1 base.