Naselle Air Force Station

Naselle Air Force Station
Air Defense Command (ADC)
Naselle Air Force Station Air Defense Command (ADC)
Site information
Type	Air Force Station
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Location
	Naselle AFS Location of Naselle AFS, Washington
Coordinates	46°25′19″N 123°47′53″W / 46.42194°N 123.79806°W
Site history
Built	1950
In use	1950–1966
Garrison information
Garrison	759th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

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Naselle Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-57, NORAD ID: Z-57) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 3.9 miles (6.3 km) north of Naselle, Washington. It was decommissioned by the Air Force in 1966 and later used for commercial and recreational uses.

History

Naselle Air Force Station was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the

Air Defense Command permanent radar network. Prompted by the start of the Korean War

, on 11 July 1950, the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of the permanent network. Receiving the Defense Secretary's approval on 21 July, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction at the site. The radars being located on a mountain peak about 4 miles north of Naselle, Washington; the station and support facilities being located at the base of the mountain. Some of the original buildings still stand and are part of Naselle Youth Camp, a state operated forestry camp for juvenile inmates.

The 759th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (AC&W Sq) was assigned to Naselle AFS on 27 November 1950. The squadron began operating

AN/FPS-5 height-finder radars, which allowed for the closing of the temporary Lashup Radar Network

sites at Fort Stevens, Oregon (L-36), and Pacific Beach, Washington (L-35), which had been operated beginning in September 1950. Initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes.

In 1955 an

AN/FPS-67

radar.

In February 1960 Naselle AFS joined the

AN/FPS-26

A height-finder was added to the site. The AN/FPS-6A was retired in early 1966.

Naselle Air Force Station was closed on 30 June 1966 due to budget reductions, and the squadron was inactivated. The radar site is a commercial transmitter site. The original Air Force station facilities (Lashup site) have been incorporated into the Fort Stevens Historic Site, the latter converted into Washington State operated Naselle Youth Camp.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

Constituted as the 759th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on 15 November 1950

Activated at Naselle AFS on 27 November 1950

Redesignated 759th Radar Squadron on 1 April 1960

Inactivated on 25 June 1966

Assignments

505th Aircraft Control and Warning Group
, 1 January 1951
25th Air Division, 6 February 1952
4704th Defense Wing, 1 January 1953
25th Air Division, 8 October 1954
Seattle Air Defense Sector
, 1 March 1960
25th Air Division, 1 April – 25 June 1966

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 Naselle AFS, WA

History

Air Force units and assignments

Units

Assignments

See also

References