Cottonwood Air Force Station
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2024) |
| Cottonwood Air Force Station Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
|---|---|
| Cottonwood Butte, Idaho County, Idaho,  United States | |
 Cottonwood AFS, c. 1964, with large FPS-24 radome dwarfing FPS-6 radome alongside. | |
  Cottonwood AFS Location of Cottonwood AFS, Idaho | |
| Coordinates | 46°04′01″N 116°27′51″W / 46.06694°N 116.46417°W |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Code | ADC ID: SM-150 |
| Site information | |
| Owner | State of Idaho (1974-present) |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Condition | Closed; now a minimum-security state correctional facility[1] |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1955-1958[2][3] |
| In use | 1958-1965 |
| Events | Cold War |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 822d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
| Occupants | 135 |
Cottonwood Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. The radar site was located at the summit of Cottonwood Butte, 5.7 miles (9.2 km) west-northwest of Cottonwood in Idaho County, Idaho. It was closed in 1965 and transferred to the state of Idaho in 1974, when it was converted to its present use as a minimum-security correctional facility.[1]
Cottonwood Peak Air Force Station was initially part of Phase II of the
History
The station became operational on 1 July 1958 when the 822d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (AC&W Sq) was assigned to the new station. The station consisted of 66 buildings, including operation and administrative facilities, 3 dormitories, 27 family housing units, 3 radar domes, and the normal support facilities/utilities. The site was divided into three general areas: the operations area at the summit,
During 1960 Cottonwood AFS joined the
In addition to the main facility, Cottonwood operated an
- Waha, ID (SM-150A) 46°17′30″N 116°53′01″W / 46.29167°N 116.88361°W
The closure of the base was announced in November 1964.[4] A catastrophic bearing failure in the AN/FPS-24 antenna pedestal led to an early shutdown of the station and the inactivation of the 822d Radar Squadron on 25 June 1965 (only two or three years after the AN/FPS-24 radome was installed over the antenna) as part of fiscal year 1965 cutbacks.
The Cantonment Area was used from 1965 to 1974 by the Office of Economic Opportunity as a Job Corps Center. The State of Idaho Dept. of Corrections acquired the property in 1974, and has occupied the site ever since as North Idaho Correctional Institution.[1][5] This is a program-specific prison designed for male offenders sentenced to a retained jurisdiction commitment by the court. It provides a sentencing alternative for the courts to target those offenders who might, after a period of programming and evaluation, be viable candidates for probation rather than incarceration.
Today most of the radar site on the mountain summit is torn down. The AN/FPS-24 tower still stands but little else, as only building foundations and deteriorated streets remain.
Air Force units and assignments
Units
- Constituted as the 822d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
- Activated at Geiger Field, Washington on 1 February 1957
- Moved to Cottonwood AFS on 1 July 1958
- Redesignated as the 822d Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 September 1960
- Discontinued and inactivated on 25 June 1965
Assignments
- 9th Air Division, 1 July 1958
- 25th Air Division, 15 August 1958
- 4700th Air Defense Wing, 1 September 1958
- Spokane Air Defense Sector, 15 March 1960
- Seattle Air Defense Sector, 1 June 1963 – 25 June 1965
See also
- List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
References
- ^ a b c Idaho Department of Corrections - North Idaho Correctional Institution - accessed 2011-11-27
- ^ "Air Force to construct station near Lewiston". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. 11 June 1955. p. 5.
- ^ "Bids to be opened for Air Force radar station at Cottonwood Butte". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. 21 July 1955. p. 16.
- ^ "Cottonwood radar station caught in Defense Department cutback". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. 20 November 1964. p. 16.
- ^ "State signs lease on Job Corps site". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. 15 November 1974. p. 16A.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980 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[dead link], The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
- Information for Cottonwood AFS, ID
