Submitted Photo Sen. John Hoeven, center, and Gen. James Slife, vice chief of staff of the Air Force, right, visited Minot Air Force Base this past weekend. At the left is Minot Mayor Tom Ross. Hoeven and Slife reviewed efforts to modernize the dual-mission at Minot AFB during their visit.

MINOT AIR FORCE BASE – Upgrades to the nuclear mission at Minot Air Force Base and the two other intercontinental ballistic missile bases must be done concurrently at all three bases and not sequential, Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, said during a visit to Minot AFB. Hoeven visited the base with Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James Slife on Saturday.

“That’s vitally important. We’ve identified how to do it, we can save time and save money,” Hoeven said referring to having the upgrades done concurrently instead of sequential.

Hoeven and Slife reviewed efforts to modernize the dual-mission at Minot AFB during their visit and met with military and local leaders.

Minot AFB, F.E. Warren AFB in Wyoming and Malmstrom AFB in Montana are slated for the Sentinel program, the new weapon system to replace the Minuteman III ICBMs.

The Minuteman III ICBMs have been in service in the Minot missile field for more than 50 years.The 741st Strategic Missile Squadron, a unit of the 91st Strategic Missile Wing, became the first operational Minuteman III squadron in 1970. Prior, the wing had Minuteman III ICBMs, according to Minuteman III history.

At a news conference held in Minot late last year, Hoeven said the original plan was to have bases transition sequentially, but after the completion of the Nunn-McCurdy review of the Sentinel program, the option for partial concurrent construction at the three bases looked to be what would be done, reported The Minot Daily News in its Nov. 1, 2024, edition. William LaPlante, under secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, and Hoeven visited the base at that time to review efforts for the transition to the Sentinel ICBM.

The Sentinel project includes replacing all land-based Minuteman III ICBMs deployed in the continental United States with Sentinel ICBMs, according to Air Force Global Strike Command information.

As a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, Hoeven has been working to accelerate the schedule for deploying the Sentinel by identifying additional cost savings to address increased construction costs and pushing for concurrent construction of facilities at all three missile bases with officials at the Department of Defense and Northrop Grumman, according to information from his office.

Minot AFB is the only nuclear-capable base in the Air Force, hosting two legs of the U.S. Nuclear Triad. The 5th Bomb Wing operates B-52 bombers and the 91st Missile Wing operates, maintains and secures Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles in the Minot missile field.

During Saturday’s visit to the base Hoeven also said the Air Force needs to request money in the next budget cycle for the Weapons Storage facility at Minot AFB so work can begin on facilities for the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile.

Hoeven authored a provision in the fiscal year 2025 Military Construction bill to help ensure Minot has the facilities needed to operate and maintain the new LRSO missile, which will be carried on the B-52, as soon as the weapon is ready to enter service, according to information from Hoeven’s office.

“Minot Air Force Base is the only dual nuclear base in the nation,” Hoeven said in a news release. “We’ve made important investments in upgrading and modernizing our nuclear forces and we appreciate General Slife visiting Minot Air Force Base to see the importance of these projects firsthand. Our nuclear forces are a vital deterrent to our adversaries and we need to keep our modernization efforts moving forward. That’s why we made a strong case for the Air Force to budget for upgraded facilities that will ensure Minot can operate the next nuclear cruise missile as soon as it is fully developed. At the same time, we continue making the case for the Air Force to keep the Sentinel program on track by concurrently building infrastructure at Minot and the other two missile bases. This will help reduce costs on this vital defense asset.”

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, also took part in visits to Grand Forks and Minot AFB with Slife over the weekend. Cramer said he was on the flight from Joint Base Andrews in the Washington, D.C., area with Slife when they discussed “the very bright future of North Dakota’s Air Force Bases as we imagined new ways to position GFAFB (Grand Forks Air Force Base), Team Minot (Minot Air Force Base), which was the second stop on our Valentine’s Day Weekend tour, and the 119th Wing North Dakota Air National Guard to meet the growing demands of modern warfare. General Slife is one of the most thoughtful leaders we have in our military. I consider him a mentor and friend.”

Cramer is chair of the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee.