CFS Kamloops
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2012) ) |
CFS Kamloops | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 50°48′08″N 120°07′36″W / 50.80222°N 120.12667°W |
Type | Radar Station |
Site information | |
Controlled by | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Site history | |
Built | 1957 |
In use | 1957-1988 |
Demolished | 2005 |
Canadian Forces Station Kamloops (ADC ID: SM-153/C-153) is a closed General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 12.8 miles (20.6 km) northeast of
It was operated as part of the Pinetree Line network controlled by NORAD.
History
As a result of the
In September 1957, operations began at the unit's permanent home. The station was equipped with
As a GCI base, the 918th's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. These interceptors were based at the 25th Air Division, Larson Air Force Base in Washington.
In the early 1960s, the USAF relinquished control of the base to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). This was part of an arrangement with the United States that came as a result of the cancellation of the
Upon hand-over on 1 April 1962, the operating unit was inactivated and replaced by the RCAF No. 56 Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron and the base became RCAF Station Kamloops. Radars at the station were also upgraded to the following:
- Search Radars: AN/FPS-87A
- Height Radars: AN/CPS-6B, AN/FPS-507
Radar operations at 56 Squadron were automated on 1 May 1963 by the
As a result of the
A small trailer park called McNair Park was established on the site for married personnel and workers who had their own mobile homes. McNair Park has been fully decommissioned and no longer exists.
Beginning in 1983 the station began reporting to Canada West ROCC. CFS Kamloops closed on 1 April 1988, the 64th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The Station briefly came back to life when the movie "Cadence", starring Charlie Sheen and Laurence Fishburne, was filmed at the site in 1990. All structures on site were fully demolished in 2005, and after extensive environmental remediation and 26 years of petitioning, the land was returned to the Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc and officially incorporated into Kamloops Indian Reserve #1 on 20 August 2012.
Today, the site is now used by
History of Canadian Forces Station Kamloops 1957-1988. Construction of the radar station at Kamloops Commenced in 1956, with the unit being designed as an early warning radar site to augment the Pine Tree Radar Chain. A limited degree of operations was achieved by December 1958. The station was first manned by American Air Force personnel and became home of the 825th Radar Squadron. On 1 April 1962, the Royal Canadian Air Force accepted responsibility for the manning of the radar station. This brought about the disbandment of the American squadron and the formation of 56 AC and W Squadron, RCAF Station Kamloops. The 56 AC and W remained in existence until 30 August 1967, when as a result of unification of the forces, the unit was officially redesignated Canadian Forces Station Kamloops. The station motto 'ILS NE PASSERONT PAS" translates to 'THEY SHALL NOT PASS'. The Canadian military and civilians manned the site around the clock to provide for Canadian defence as part of North American Air Defence NORAD. Operations ceased on April 1988 and the station closed on August 1, 1988.
See also
- List of Royal Canadian Air Force stations
- List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ "Bendix AN/FPS-20 — Kamloops, BC - Preserved Machines on Public Display on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, [1] Archived 2016-02-13 at the Wayback Machine Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO (1980).
- Winkler, David F. & Webster, Julie L., Searching the Skies, The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, [2][dead link] US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
- Information for Kamloops AS, BC
- Kamloops Museum and Archives, Mount Lolo Radar Station, Collection 2018.031,[3]