Finley Air Force Station
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| Finley Air Force Station 785th Radar Squadron |
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Finley Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west-northwest of Finley, North Dakota. It was closed in 1979 by the Air Force, and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) Ground Equipment Facility.
History
Finley Air Force Station was part of the last batch of twenty-three radar stations constructed as part of the
The 785th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operations with an
At the end of 1959 Finley AFS joined the
In 1962 Finley operated an
In addition to the main facility, Finley operated four unmanned
- Sheyenne, ND (P-29A) 47°49′41″N 099°23′54″W / 47.82806°N 99.39833°W
- Grafton, ND (P-29B) 48°24′43″N 097°22′05″W / 48.41194°N 97.36806°W
- Valley City, ND (P-29C) 46°50′53″N 098°03′09″W / 46.84806°N 98.05250°W
- Middle River, MN (P-29D) 48°32′09″N 096°00′55″W / 48.53583°N 96.01528°W
The Ground to Air Transmitter-Receiver (GATR) facility was located off-station at 47°30′40″N 097°54′05″W / 47.51111°N 97.90139°W, roughly one mile northwest of the main station.
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 site was transferred to the
The new Finley JSS site (Z-303/J-75) began operations with an
Air Force units and assignments
Units
- Constituted as the 785th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
- Activated on 10 April 1951
- Redesignated as 785th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 January 1960
- Inactivated on 1 January 1980
Assignments
- 543d Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 10 April 1951
- 31st Air Division, 6 February 1952
- 29th Air Division, 16 February 1953
- 31st Air Division, 1 March 1956
- 29th Air Division, 1 January 1959
- Grand Forks Air Defense Sector, 1 April 1959
- Duluth Air Defense Sector, 4 September 1963
- 29th Air Division, 1 April 1966
- 28th Air Division, 15 September 1969
- 24th Air Division, 19 November 1969 – 1 January 1980
Commanders
- Lt. Col. William Joseph Pruitt c. 1969-1971
- Major Michael Pennefather c. 1972-1974
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
- Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980 Archived 13 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO (1980)
- Winkler, David F.; Webster, Julie L. (1997). Searching the skies : the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Champaign, IL: US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. ]
- Information for Finley AFS, ND
