Fort Fisher Air Force Station

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Fort Fisher Air Force Station
Part of
Kure Beach, North Carolina.
Cover of welcome brochure, 701st Radar Squadron
Coordinates33°59′24″N 077°55′06″W / 33.99000°N 77.91833°W / 33.99000; -77.91833 (Fort Fisher AFS)[2]
TypeAir Force Station
CodeADC ID: M-115, NORAD ID: Z-115
Currently JSS ID: J-02
Site information
Controlled by United States Air Force]
Site history
Built1955
In use1955-1988 June 30[3]
Garrison information
Garrison701st Air Defense Group
701st Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron
Fort Fisher AFS is located in North Carolina
Fort Fisher AFS
Fort Fisher AFS
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Location of Fort Fisher AFS, North Carolina
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Fort Fisher Air Force Station was a

Kure Beach, North Carolina. Its primary mission was as a radar complex. It was closed on 30 June 1988 by the Air Force, and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA).

Today the radar installation that was the main part of the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-02.

History

Camp Davis had 5 live anti-aircraft ranges,[citation needed] including one named for Fort Fisher and which became the main AA range for the camp.[note 1]

Fort Fisher AAF

Fort Fisher Army Airfield (Fort Fisher AAF) was established at the Fort Fisher anti-aircraft range and included construction of 48 frame buildings, 316 tent frames, showers and latrines, mess halls, warehouses, radio and meteorological stations, a post exchange, photo lab, recreation hall, outdoor theater, guardhouse, infirmary, and an administration building.[5] The site had a 10,000-gallon water storage tank, a motor pool, a large parade ground, three steel observation towers along the beach, and a 2,500 ft (760 m) unpaved runway (the Shepard's Battery earthworks were leveled for the runway.)[4] Today,[when?] the parking lot and visitor center for Fort Fisher sit on the remains of the runway.

When Camp Davis closed in 1944,[specify] Fort Fisher AAF had an 80-seat cafeteria, a 350-bed hospital and dental clinic, and covered an area of several hundred acres.[specify]

Fort Fisher AFS

Fort Fisher Air Force Station was opened in 1955 on part of the Fort Fisher AAF installation as USAF

Air Defense Command (ADC) as part of a planned deployment of forty-four Mobile radar stations. Fort Fisher AFS was designed as site M-115 and the 701st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned on 1 August 1955.[8]

ADC initially installed

AN/MPS-14
had been added.

In 1962 an

Fort Lee AFS, Virginia. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 701st Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 July 1962.[8]
The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile.

On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-115. The station was supported logistically by nearby Myrtle Beach Air Force Base South Carolina.

SLBM surveillance

The Fort Fisher AFS

Fourteenth Aerospace Force as part of the Avco 474N SLBM Detection and Warning System that "became operational in Mid-1972".[9][10]
In addition to the main facility, Fort Fisher AFS operated several unmanned Gap Filler sites:

Myrtle Beach operated an

AN/FPS-18. In addition, with the closure of ADC facilities at MCAS Cherry Point (M-116), the AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler at Holly Ridge, NC 34°30′50″N 077°32′08″W / 34.51389°N 77.53556°W / 34.51389; -77.53556 (M-116C/M-115C)
was redesignated Z-115C in 1963.

The first

Air Defense Command was at Fort Fisher AFS.[11]

The 701st Radar Squadron (SAGE) was inactivated

group status was done because of Fort Fisher AFS' status as a Backup Interceptor Control (BUIC) site. BUIC sites were alternate control sites in the event that SAGE Direction Centers became disabled and unable to control interceptor aircraft. The group was inactivated and replaced by 701st Radar Squadron (SAGE) in January 1974.[8][12] in reductions to defenses against manned bombers. The group and squadron shared a second AF Outstanding Unit Award for the period 1 January 1973 through 31 December 1974.[13]

Fort Fisher AFS came under

ADTAC
.

The "Fuzzy-7" was deactivated after the Raytheon AN/FPS-115 PAVE PAWS Radar at Robins Air Force Base was completed on 5 June 1986,[14] and the base closed on 30 June 1988,[15] and the USAF retained the housing complex and converted it into the Fort Fisher Air Force Recreation Area[16] which transferred to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base when Myrtle Beach AFB closed in 1993.

FAA facility

Ground Equipment Facility J-02 continued use of the USAF radar in the

AN/FPS-91A performed search duties."[1] A portion of the base was returned to the state of North Carolina which turned much of it into the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area
and historic site.

The Fort Fisher site[

which?] is used by the National Guard as a training area and also hosts the Annual Seafood, Blues and Jazz Festival.[17][verification needed
]

Air Force units and assignments

Emblem of the 701st Radar Squadron
(Subdued emblem version)

Units

Squadron[8]

  • Constituted as 701st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
Activated 1 December 1953 at
Dobbins Air Force Base
(M-87), GA (not manned or equipped)
Moved to Fort Fisher AFS on 1 August 1955[18]
Redesignated
701st Radar Squadron
(SAGE), 1 July 1962
Inactivated on 1 March 1970
Redesignated 701st Radar Squadron on 1 January 1974
Activated on 17 January 1974
Inactivated on 30 June 1988

Group[12]

  • Constituted as 701st Air Defense Group on 13 February 1970
Activated on 1 Mar 1970
Inactivated on 17 Jan 1974
Disbanded on 27 September 1984

Assignments

Awards

Award streamer Award Dates Notes
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
 1 October 1962-31 December 1963 701st Radar Squadron[19]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 December 1968-28 February 1970 701st Radar Squadron[13]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 17 January 1974-31 December 1974 701st Radar Squadron[13]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 January 1973-17 January 1974 701st Air Defense Group[13]

See also

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

  1. First Army, Fourth Corps Area using more than 3,000 buildings on 45,538 acres (184.3 km2) and new railroad spurs into the camp. Camp Davis' 4 other live anti-aircraft ranges were outside of the main post along the southern coast of North Carolina at Sears Point, New Topsail Inlet, Maple Hill, and Holly Shelter.[citation needed] The Fort Fisher range became the main range for Camp Davis and then was used for a United States Army Air Forces airfield.[full citation needed
    ]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Winkler & Webster[full citation needed]
  2. ^ "Information for Fort Fisher AFS, NC". Radomes, Inc.
  3. ^ "Deactivation Ceremony Program". Radomes, Inc. 30 June 1988.
  4. ^ a b "Fort Fisher During World War II". North Carolina Office of Archives and History. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  5. ^ Freeman, Paul (2002). "Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields, Southeastern North Carolina". Paul Freeman.
  6. ^ Leonard, Vol I. 1945-1955, p. 66
  7. ^ Grant[full citation needed]
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cornett & Johnson, p.162
  9. ^ Leonard, Vol II, 1955-1972, p. 226
  10. ^ reference 3
  11. ^ "First BUIC Site Opens: Ft. Fisher first in ADC To Get New Defense System". The Command Post. Stewart AFB, NY. January 1969.
  12. ^ a b c d Cornett & Johnson, p.86
  13. ^ a b c d e AF Pamphlet 900-2, Vol. II, pp 87,449
  14. Navy's Spasur
    .
  15. ^ Murdock, Scott D. "Trip report - Kitty Hawk at last: Saturday, 6 May 2006". Airforcebases.net. Retrieved 21 January 2008.
  16. ^ See "Fort Fisher AF Recreation Area". The Website Factory. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
  17. ^ Information on Fort Fisher's military uses
  18. ^ See Mueller, p. 109
  19. ^ AF Pamphlet 900-2, Vol. I, p. 449

Bibliography

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

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