Cut Bank Air Force Station
 | This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2012) ) |
| Cut Bank Air Force Station 681st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
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Cut Bank Air Force Station (Perm ID: P-24, SAGE ID: Z-24) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 30.4 miles (48.9 km) northwest of Cut Bank, Montana. It was closed in 1965.
History
The facility was hosted by the 681st Aircraft Control and Warning (AC&W) Squadron,
Air Defense Command
between April 1952 and June 1965. Cut Bank AFS replaced an earlier radar site at Del Bonita, Montana (LP-24) which had opened in March 1951.
The 681st AC&W Squadron started operating
AN/FPS-6
B height-finder radars superseded the AN/FPS-4.
In 1961 this site was integrated into the SAGE system, the squadron being re-designated as the
AN/FPS-26
A height-finder radar was installed.
In addition to the main facility, Cut Bank operated an
AN/FPS-14
Gap Filler site:
- Browning, MT (P-24A) 48°52′14″N 113°10′22″W / 48.87056°N 113.17278°W
- Sweetgrass, MT (P-24C) 48°58′49″N 111°57′43″W / 48.98028°N 111.96194°W
The station was closed on 1 March 1965 as part of a general reduction of ADC. Today it is largely intact, and abandoned.
Air Force units and assignments
Units
- Established as 681st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
- Activated 1 March 1951 at Del Bonita (renamed Cut Bank Air Force Station, Montana on 1 December 1953)
- Redesignated as 681st Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 March 1961
- Discontinued and inactivated on 25 June 1965
Assignments:
- 545th Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 1 March 1951
- 29th Air Division, 6 February 1952
- Great Falls Air Defense Sector, 1 July 1960 – 25 June 1965
See also
- List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
References
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 Cut Bank AFS, MT
