Reporting directly to HQ Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, Detachment 460 is the largest field detachment of AFTAC and the only detachment with three distinct mission areas.

Primarily, Det. 460 operates and maintains the largest and northernmost
seismic network in the United States Atomic Energy Detection System.

Secondly, the detachment operates and maintains a network of gaseous and particulate air sampling units to detect airborne signatures of nuclear events.

Lastly, it is a field backup to AFTAC's operations center for analysis of foreign nuclear weapons tests. Stretching from Point Barrow above the Arctic Circle, to the Canadian border and to the most distant Aleutian Island of Attu, Det. 460's area of responsibility comprises a vast and unique set of challenges with the varied geography, climate and cultures of the largest state in the Union.

The detachment has a long and distinguished history at Eielson. Its roots derive from several AFTAC detachments originally scattered across the Last Frontier.

At its height, there were six detachments and about 200 AFTAC people in Alaska.