Port Austin Air Force Station
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2012) |
Port Austin Air Force Station Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 44°01′49″N 083°00′06″W / 44.03028°N 83.00167°W |
Type | Air Force Station |
Site information | |
Controlled by | United States Air Force |
Site history | |
Built | 1951 |
In use | 1951–1988 |
Garrison information | |
Garrison | 754th Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron |
Port Austin Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-61, NORAD ID: Z-61) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 1.2 miles (1.9 km) south-southwest Port Austin, Michigan. It was closed in 1988 by the Air Force.
After the station's closure, it was replaced by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at Canton, Michigan (near Detroit) 42°16′36″N 083°28′27″W / 42.27667°N 83.47417°W as part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-62.
History
Port Austin Air Force Station was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the
The 754th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was initially activated on 27 November 1950 at a temporary site at
An
During 1959 Port Austin AFS joined the
In early 1962 the site received and operated an
was installed, and one AN/FPS-6 was removed later that year. The other AN/FPS-6 was removed in 1968.
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 came under
Circa 1982, the main bearing of the AN/FPS-24 search radar failed catastrophically. The
Air Force units and assignments
Units
- Constituted as the 754th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on 14 November 1950
- Activated 27 November 1950 at Oscoda AFB, MI[2]
- Moved to Port Austin AFS on 20 July 1951[2]
- Redesignated 754th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 September 1959[1]
- Redesignated 754th Radar Squadron on 1 February 1974[1]
- Inactivated on 30 September 1988
Assignments
- 541st Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 1 January 1951[1]
- 30th Air Division, 6 February 1952[1]
- 4708th Defense Wing, 16 February 1953[1]
- 30th Air Division, 8 July 1956[1]
- Detroit Air Defense Sector, 1 April 1959[1]
- 34th Air Division, 1 April 1966[1]
- 29th Air Division, 14 November 1969[1]
- 23d Air Division, 19 November 1969[1]
- 21st Air Division, 1 August 1981
- 24th Air Division, 1 September 1983
- Northeast Air Defense Sector, 1 December 1987 – 1 October 1988
See also
- List of United States Air Force aircraft control and warning squadrons
- United States general surveillance radar stations
Notes
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Grant, C.L., The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, (1961), USAF Historical Study No. 126
- Leonard, Barry (2009). History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense (PDF). Vol. I. 1945–1955. Fort McNair, DC: Center for Military History. ISBN 9781437921311.
- Leonard, Barry (2009). History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense (PDF). Vol. II, 1955–1972. Fort McNair, DC: Center for Military History. ISBN 9781437921311.
- 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 Port Austin AFS, MI