Dauphin Island Air Force Station
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (December 2012) ) |
Dauphin Island Air Force Station Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 30°15′01″N 088°04′42″W / 30.25028°N 88.07833°W |
Type | Air Force Station |
Code | ADC ID: TM-196, NORAD ID: Z-196, Z-249 |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Air Force |
Site history | |
Built | 1958 |
In use | 1958-1974 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | 693d Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron 635th Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron |
Dauphin Island Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 1.9 miles (3.1 km) east of Dauphin Island, Alabama, near historic Fort Gaines (Alabama). It was closed in 1980.
Beginning in September 1982, the
History
Dauphin Island Air Force Station came into existence as part of Phase III of the
The
The Ground Air Transmitting Receiving (GATR) Site for communications was located at 30°14′47″N 088°04′56″W / 30.24639°N 88.08222°W, approximately 0.4 mile southeast from the main site. Normally the GATR site was connected by a pair of buried telephone cables, with a backup connection of dual telephone cables overhead. The Coordinate Data Transmitting Set (CDTS) (AN/FST-2) at the main site converted each radar return into a digital word which was transmitted by the GATR via microwave to the Control center.
Dauphin Island AFS began operating an
In 1961 Dauphin Island AFS became a joint-use facility with the
Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars. The Air Force inactivated the 693d on 30 September 1970. In 1972, Dauphin Island became part of the Southern Air Defense Systems (SADS). It was given a new NORAD designation, Z-249. The 635th was inactivated on 1 July 1974.
The radar site became Operating Location G,
Today the station is the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, Alabama's primary marine education and research center. Part of the station also is used by the United States Coast Guard as a recreational facility. Most of the USAF buildings have found new uses, and several radar towers have been re-purposed.
See also
- List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
- List of United States Air Force aircraft control and warning squadrons
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
- Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
- Dauphin Island AFS, AL