Watertown Air Force Station
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Watertown Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force ADCOM General Surveillance Radar station 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of Watertown, New York. Prior to the Air Defense squadron inactivating on 1 November 1979, the station was reassigned to Tactical Air Command which maintained the Ground Air Transmitter Receiver until early 1984 (now a firefighter training site).[1] A New York State jail opened at the site c. 1983.
It was a part of the 21st RCC (NORAD Regional Control Center) a SAGE network, located at Stewart AFB.[2]
History
Lashup Radar Network site L-6 was established in June 1950[3] at the Pine Camp military installation (renamed Fort Drum in 1951)[4] and operated by the 655th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron using an RCA AN/TPS-10A Radar. After construction adjacent to Fort Drum in June 1952, the operation moved to the Air Force Station, one of the first twenty-four Air Defense Command radar stations of the permanent network established 1950-1951 after the USAF directed construction of the sites on December 2, 1948.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Watertown AFS used AN/FPS-3 and AN/FPS-5 radars for warning and ground-controlled interception. In 1958 this site was operating with AN/FPS-20 search radar and General Electric AN/FPS-6 Radar for height-finding.
During 1959 Watertown AFS began providing Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) data to DC-03 at Syracuse AFS, New York, and the squadron was re-designated as the 655th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1959. In 1959 a 2nd AN/FPS-6 was added and in 1961, the FPS-20 was upgraded to an AN/FPS-66. One height-finder radar was replaced by an Avco AN/FPS-26 Radar in 1963. In 1964 the AN/FPS-66 was replaced by a Westinghouse AN/FPS-27 Radar. The other AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was retired in 1964.[5]Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
In addition to the main facility, the Watertown squadron operated two unmanned AN/FPS-14 (P-49A) and AN/FPS-18 (P-49B) Gap Filler sites:
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- Oswegatchie, NY (P-49B) Script error: No such module "Coordinates".
Air Force units and assignments
Units:
- 655th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, activated 8 December 1949 at Pine Camp, NY (L-6)
- Moved to Watertown AFS, NY, 1 February 1951
- Redesignated 655th Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 February 1959
- Redesignated 655th Radar Squadron, 1 February 1974
- Inactivated 1 November 1979
Assignments:
- 540th Aircraft Control and Warning Group (32d Air Division), 18 Dec 1949
- 32d Air Division, 6 February 1952
- 4711th Air Defense Wing, 16 February 1953
- 32d Air Division, 1 March 1956
- Syracuse Air Defense Sector, 1 September 1958
- Boston Air Defense Sector, 4 September 1963
- 35th Air Division, 1 April 1966
- 21st Air Division, 19 November 1969 - 31 December 1979
References
- In March 1949, Congress authorized the construction of a permanent radar network[2] ("ADC radar site" P-1 was at McChord AFB from June 1, 1950, to April 1, 1960.)
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External links
- Script error: No such module "Unsubst".https://web.archive.org/web/20091023220116/http://geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/3548/facility/watertown.html
- Pages with script errors
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Installations of the United States Air Force in New York (state)
- 1952 in military history
- 1952 establishments in New York (state)
- 1979 in military history
- 1979 disestablishments in New York (state)
- Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, New York
- Federal Aviation Administration
- History of Los Angeles
- Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites