Mount Lemmon Air Force Station

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Mount Lemmon Air Force Station Air Defense Command (ADC)
Mount Lemmon AFS Location of Mount Lemmon AFS, Arizona
Coordinates	32°26′30″N 110°47′22″W / 32.44167°N 110.78944°W / 32.44167; -110.78944 (Mount Lemmon AFS M-92)
Type	Air Force Station
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1956
In use	1956-1969
Garrison information
Garrison	684th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Mount Lemmon Air Force Station (ADC ID: M-92, NORAD ID: Z-92) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 17.2 miles (27.7 km) north-northeast of Tucson, Arizona. It was closed in 1969.

History

Mount Lemmon Air Force Station was established in 1954 by

as one of a planned deployment of forty-four mobile radar stations to support the permanent ADC Radar network in the United States sited around the perimeter of the country. This deployment was projected to be operational by mid-1952. Funding, constant site changes, construction, and equipment delivery delayed deployment.

This site became operational on 1 April 1956 when the 684th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned by the

had replaced the AN/MPS-7 search radar.

The Ground Air Transmitting Receiving (GATR) Site (R-92) for communications was located at 32°26′23″N 110°47′11″W / 32.43972°N 110.78639°W / 32.43972; -110.78639 (Mount Lemmon AS GATR), 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.

During 1961 Mount Lemmon AFS joined the

was upgraded to become an AN/FPS-67. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-92. The AN/FPS-6 was removed in 1968.

In addition to the main facility, Mount Lemmon operated several

Gap Filler sites:

• Sells, AZ (M-92A): 32°06′44″N 112°04′29″W / 32.11222°N 112.07472°W / 32.11222; -112.07472 (M-92A)
• Benson, AZ (M-92C): 31°59′00″N 110°12′03″W / 31.98333°N 110.20083°W / 31.98333; -110.20083 (M-92C)
• Globe, AZ (M-92D): 33°39′36″N 110°33′40″W / 33.66000°N 110.56111°W / 33.66000; -110.56111 (M-92D)

The 684th was inactivated in December 1969. However, the GATR facility (R-92) was later reactivated, and is still in use as site G-29 by the 355th Communications Squadron,

.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

• 684th Aircraft Control and Radar Squadron (Assigned on 1 April 1956)

Activated at

Geiger Field

, Washington on 1 December 1953

Moved to

Kirtland AFB

, New Mexico on 1 January 1954

Moved to

Davis Monthan AFB

, Arizona on 1 April 1954

Redesignated 684th Radar Squadron (SAGE), 15 October 1961

Inactivated on 31 December 1969

Assignments

• 34th Air Division, 1 April 1956
• Los Angeles Air Defense Sector
  , 1 January 1960
• Phoenix Air Defense Sector, 1 May 1961
• 27th Air Division, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1969

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, 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 Mount Lemmon AFS, AZ