Malmstrom Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 3,573 acres (1,446 hectares), W central Mont., E of Great Falls; est. 1942. During World War II, it was the takeoff point for Soviet-bound lend-lease materiel; after the war it was a training base for crews in the Berlin Airlift. The now-dissolved Strategic Air Command (SAC) assumed command in 1954; SAC's first Minuteman missile wing was established there in 1961. The missile complex adjoining the base is one of the largest in the world.