UND Today

University of North Dakota’s Official News Source

The Minuteman School, where it all began

A graduate takes us back to the 1960s, when the partnership between UND and Grand Forks Air Force Base dawned

These pages from the 1970 Commencement ceremony for the UND-Air Force Institute of Technology Minuteman School are part of the UND Scholarly Commons at the Chester Fritz Library. Click on the image to see the program in full.

Editor’s note: For nearly 60 years, UND and Grand Forks Air Force Base have enjoyed a close and rewarding relationship that has benefitted many thousands of people, including airmen, faculty members and Grand Forks residents alike. Last year, W. Frederick Bartz Jr., a former Air Force officer and a 1971 graduate of the Minuteman School at UND — more about that below — visited UND to research the origins of the unique program through which he’d earned his master’s degree.

Bartz wrote about his findings for the Winter 2022 issue of the UND Alumni Magazine, where this article first appeared. To the best of our knowledge, the Minuteman School was the first cooperative effort in the long and fruitful partnership between UND and Grand Forks Air Force Base. So, UND Today is pleased to reprint Bartz’s article, because of the article’s historical value in describing “where it all began.”

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By W. Frederick Bartz, Jr., ’71

Visiting Grand Forks last spring made me realize that it had been 50 years since Dec. 19, 1971, when I participated in the commencement exercises at the University Fieldhouse on the University of North Dakota campus. That day, I graduated with a Master of Science in Industrial Management, thanks to the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Minuteman School at UND.

I came to Grand Forks Air Force Base (GFAFB) after graduating from Officer Training School and being appointed a missile launch control officer in the Strategic Air Command. I was glad to report to the 447th Missile Squadron of the 321st Strategic Missile Wing in September 1968.

This was my chance to serve my country, as well as advance my education at the University of North Dakota.

The Minuteman Education Program (MEP) was established for launch control officers like me because our missile alerts were scheduled around program classes, and we could study while on duty at the launch control centers. One of the program’s requirements was to complete an independent study. My subject was the Bank of North Dakota, and my faculty advisor was Dr. Richard Larsen, then lieutenant governor of the State of North Dakota.

Prior to receiving my draft notice, I had worked in the procurement function at Diamond Shamrock Corp., after graduating from Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia. The MEP courses helped me understand my employer’s manufacturing processes as well as our supply chain.

I met my wife, Sandy, in 1969, when I was home in Pennsylvania on leave. We married the following year and lived on Grand Forks Air Force Base. She taught at Grand Forks Red River High School.

Diamond Shamrock kept a job open for me, so after graduation and a mandatory extension of my active-duty service, we headed to the new job assignment in Deer Park, Texas, on June I, 1972. My experience set me up for a successful career in procurement and internal audit, starting in the private sector and finishing in the public sector doing performance audits for the Ohio Auditor of State.

Fred Bartz, who was stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base from 1968 to 1972 and earned his master’s degree in the Minuteman Education Program, is shown here in 2022 at UND’s Chester Fritz Library, where he researched the Minuteman program’s history. Photo courtesy of the UND Alumni Association & Foundation.

Unlocking the history

So how was the Minuteman Education Program developed at Grand Forks Air Force Base? Over the course of several days, the professional staff at the Chester Fritz Library’s Elwyn B. Robinson Department of Special Collections helped me identify several pertinent documents that answered my questions.

The 321st Strategic Missile Wing was activated in November 1964 and became operational in December 1966. During this time, Strategic Air Command wanted to offer their missile launch control officers an opportunity to gain educational training.

When plans for a graduate degree in Aerospace Management and an MBA program fell through, UND proposed a program like one the established at Minot Air Force Base in 1962. This program, known as the AFIT/Minuteman School, was organizationally under UND’s accredited Graduate School and offered a master’s degree in Industrial Management. The Air Force Institute of Technology accepted UND’s proposal in late 1965, and the GFAFB/AFIT Minuteman School became a reality with the signing of a contract in January 1966.

Initially, classes and space for faculty and staff were housed in base trailer facilities. Eventually, they were moved to the Grand Forks Air Force Base Education Center that was constructed in a building also used by the 319th Bomb Wing.

Wing Commander Col. Gerald Fall, in an August 1967 memo to 321st Missile Wing officers, expressed his personal support for the MEP. He noted this was an opportunity to expand one’s understanding of management disciplines that contribute uniquely to career progression.

According to UND’s School of Graduate Studies, 119 Master of Science degrees were awarded through the MEP from 1969 to 1977. In addition, UND’s College of Business & Public Administration achieved accreditation in the early 1970s and began an MEP Master of Business Administration degree, with 341 graduates between 1973 and 1985.

Even though the program ended in 1985, it began a long and beautiful relationship between UND and Grand Forks Air Force Base that continues today through education, innovation and research.

I’m glad I took advantage of this opportunity when I was on active duty and have never once regretted it.