GRAND FORKS, N.D. — It’s a blast from the past at the Grand Forks Air Force Base. The B-1 bomber returned, exactly 30 years after the last one left.

The beast of a plane, which guzzles a million gallons of gas a month, is helping Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota buy time.

“Ellsworth has to undergo a significant runway repair and upgrade, and in order to do that, they need to temporarily relocate their mission,” Col. Tim Monroe, a commander with the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at the Grand Forks Air Force Base, said Tuesday.

Ellsworth is getting ready to host a fleet of B-21 jets, but the Air Force needs the jets fueled and ready. Luckily, Grand Forks has a deep history of hosting B-1 bombers.

“This is not terribly new to us, but we do have to revisit a lot of basic principles of operating an aircraft like this because this installation, for many years, has operated unmanned systems,” Monroe said.

“Grand Forks quickly became one of the best options that popped up: its proximity to Ellsworth is one of its perks, additionally that it’s got a lot of B-1 infrastructure still existing here,” Lt. Col. Nathaniel Butler, the director of the Commander’s Action Group, said.

Specifically, the quality of the fuel lines and the runway at Grand Forks Air Force Base. The base has the potential to host many more of these, and several hundred airmen, as Ellsworth continues construction.

“It’s going to require some infrastructure updates to the installation, but it’s also going to require everybody to play nice and make sure that we are working cooperatively to sustain two wings’ missions from this base,” Monroe said.

“With every project there’s going to be problems, and some of them comes to funding, and a lot of it comes to contracting timelines, I don’t think that there’s anything that any one person can wave a magic wand and fix.” Butler said.

The Pentagon recently awarded the Grand Forks base more than $61 million dollars for renovation work.

BISMARCK — Five nurses and one paramedic from the North Dakota Medical Reserve Corps deployed to North Carolina on Tuesday, Oct. 1, to help communities recover from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

North Carolina requested help through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC), a mutual aid agreement that coordinates resource sharing across state lines during emergencies or disasters, a Department of Emergency Services news release said.

“North Dakota stands with those impacted by the devastating forces of Hurricane Helene, just as other states have helped our state during past floods and other crises,” Gov. Doug Burgum said in the release.

This deployment marks the second time North Dakota has helped North Carolina as a result of hurricane devastation, with nurses previously traveling there in 2018 following Hurricane Florence.

“This professional team will provide health and medical assistance to North Carolina’s citizens who are currently in shelters,” said Juli Sickler, Director of Emergency Preparedness and Response for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Requests made through the Emergency Management Assistance Compact are approved by governors, and all expenses are reimbursed by the requesting state, the news release said.

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