Watertown Air Force Station

Closed United States Air Force ADCOM General Surveillance Radar station

For the radar station on Fort Drum that conducted SAC Radar Bomb Scoring[1] (Detachment 11, callsign "Watertown Bomb Plot"), see 1CEVG.

Watertown Air Force Station

Part of
1951-1968: Air Defense Command
1968-1979: Aerospace Defense Command
1979-1984: Air Defense, Tactical Air Command
Watertown, New York

2 radomes and the main gate with guard shack (1975)

Watertown Air Force Station

Coordinates| 43°55′31″N 075°54′33″W﻿ / ﻿43.92528°N 75.90917°W﻿ / 43.92528; -75.90917﻿ (Watertown AFS P-49)
Type| Long Range Radar Site
Code| RP-49: 1950 ADC permanent network[2][3]
Z-49: 1963 July 31 NORAD network
Site information
Controlled by|  United States Air Force
Site history
Built| 1952
Built by| U.S. Air Force
In use| 1952-1979
Garrison information
Garrison| Watertown, New York
Occupants| 655th Radar Squadron

Watertown Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force ADCOM General Surveillance Radar station 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of Watertown, New York. Prior to the Air Defense squadron inactivating on 1 November 1979, the station was reassigned to Tactical Air Command which maintained the Ground Air Transmitter Receiver until early 1984 (now a firefighter training site).[4] A New York State jail opened at the site c. 1983\.

It was a part of the 21st RCC (NORAD Regional Control Center) a SAGE network, located at Stewart AFB.[3]

## History

[edit]

Lashup Radar Network site L-6 was established in June 1950[5] at the Pine Camp military installation (renamed Fort Drum in 1951)[6] and operated by the 655th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron using an RCA AN/TPS-10A Radar. After construction adjacent to Fort Drum in June 1952, the operation moved to the Air Force Station, one of the first twenty-four Air Defense Command radar stations of the permanent network established 1950-1951 after the USAF directed construction of the sites on December 2, 1948.[citation needed] Watertown AFS used AN/FPS-3 and AN/FPS-5 radars for warning and ground-controlled interception. In 1958 this site was operating with AN/FPS-20 search radar and General Electric AN/FPS-6 Radar for height-finding.

During 1959 Watertown AFS began providing Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) data to DC-03 at Syracuse AFS, New York, and the squadron was re-designated as the 655th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1959. In 1959 a 2nd AN/FPS-6 was added and in 1961, the FPS-20 was upgraded to an AN/FPS-66. One height-finder radar was replaced by an Avco AN/FPS-26 Radar in 1963. In 1964 the AN/FPS-66 was replaced by a Westinghouse AN/FPS-27 Radar. The other AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was retired in 1964.[7][verification needed]

In addition to the main facility, the Watertown squadron operated two unmanned AN/FPS-14 (P-49A) and AN/FPS-18 (P-49B) Gap Filler sites:

* Suttons Corner, NY (P-49A) 43°21′17″N 076°17′09″W﻿ / ﻿43.35472°N 76.28583°W﻿ / 43.35472; -76.28583﻿ (P-49A)
* Oswegatchie, NY (P-49B) 44°10′01″N 075°07′08″W﻿ / ﻿44.16694°N 75.11889°W﻿ / 44.16694; -75.11889﻿ (P-49B)

## Air Force units and assignments

[edit]

Units:

* 655th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, activated 8 December 1949 at Pine Camp, NY (L-6)

Moved to Watertown AFS, NY, 1 February 1951
Redesignated 655th Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 February 1959
Redesignated 655th Radar Squadron, 1 February 1974

* Inactivated 1 November 1979

Assignments:

* 540th Aircraft Control and Warning Group (32d Air Division), 18 Dec 1949
* 32d Air Division, 6 February 1952
* 4711th Air Defense Wing, 16 February 1953
* 32d Air Division, 1 March 1956
* Syracuse Air Defense Sector, 1 September 1958
* Boston Air Defense Sector, 4 September 1963
* 35th Air Division, 1 April 1966
* 21st Air Division, 19 November 1969 - 31 December 1979

## References

[edit]

* In March 1949, Congress authorized the construction of a permanent radar network[3] ("ADC radar site" P-1 was at McChord AFB from June 1, 1950, to April 1, 1960.)

1. ^ "Google".
2. ^ In March 1949, Congress authorized the construction of a permanent radar network ("ADC radar site" P-1 was at McChord AFB from June 1, 1950, to April 1, 1960.)
3. ^ a b c Winkler, David F; Webster, Julie L (June 1997). Searching the Skies: The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program (Report). U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-26.[verification needed]
4. ^ "Information for Watertown AFS, NY". Air Defense Radar Stations. Radomes.org. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
5. ^ [specify] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
6. ^ compiled by EM, Marc. "[untitled webpage 5]". A History of the Jefferson County Region. MarcMNY.tripod.com. p. 5. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
7. ^ compiled by Johnson, Mildred W. (31 December 1980) [February 1973: Cornett, Lloyd H. Jr]. A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980 (PDF). Peterson Air Force Base: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. p. 33 ("1961…1 April - Los Angeles ADS became operational."). Retrieved 2012-03-26.

## External links

[edit]

* [dead link]https://web.archive.org/web/20091023220116/http://geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/3548/facility/watertown.html

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Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)

Bases|

| CONUS|

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|

Overseas|

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Stations|

| CONUS|

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|

Overseas|

* Armstrong
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Air
Defense
units|

| Forces|

* Central Air Defense
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* Iceland
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* First
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* Tenth
* Fourteenth

|

Air
Divisions|

* 8th
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* 23d
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* 31st
* 32d
* 33d
* 34th
* 35th
* 36th
* 37th
* 58th
* 64th
* 73d
* 85th

Sectors|

* Albuquerque
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* Grand Forks
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* Kansas City
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* Phoenix
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* San Francisco
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* Sioux City
* Spokane
* Stewart
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Wings|

* Fighter 1st
* 4th
* 23d
* 32d
* 33d
* 50th
* 52d
* 56th
* 78th
* 81st
* 325th
* 328th
* 507th

* Detection and Control 71st
* 73d
* 551st
* 552d

* Air Defense 46th
* 4620th
* 4621st
* 4622d
* 4624th
* 4625th
* 4627th
* 4628th
* 4683d
* 4700th
* 4702d
* 4703d
* 4704th
* 4705th
* 4706th
* 4707th
* 4708th
* 4709th
* 4710th
* 4711th
* 4750th
* 4751st
* 4752d
* 4756th
* 4780th

Groups|

* Fighter 1st
* 4th
* 14th
* 15th
* 23d
* 32d
* 33d
* 50th
* 52d
* 53d
* 54th
* 56th
* 57th
* 78th
* 79th
* 81st
* 82d
* 84th
* 325th
* 326th
* 327th
* 328th
* 329th
* 337th
* 343d
* 355th
* 408th
* 412th
* 414th
* 473d
* 475th
* 476th
* 478th
* 507th

* Air Defense 10th
* 500th
* 501st
* 502d
* 503d
* 514th
* 515th
* 516th
* 517th
* 518th
* 519th
* 520th
* 521st
* 525th
* 527th
* 528th
* 529th
* 530th
* 533d
* 534th
* 564th
* 566th
* 567th
* 568th
* 575th
* 637th
* 665th
* 678th
* 692d
* 701st
* 751st
* 762d
* 765th
* 778th
* 780th
* 827th
* 858th
* 4606th
* 4620th
* 4676th
* 4700th
* 4721st
* 4722d
* 4727th
* 4728th
* 4729th
* 4730th
* 4731st
* 4732d
* 4733d
* 4734th
* 4735th
* 4750th
* 4756th

* Aircraft Control & Warning 503d
* 505th
* 540th
* 541st
* 542d
* 543d
* 544th
* 545th
* 546th
* 563d
* 564th
* 565th
* 566th

Squadrons|

* Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons
* Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons

Major
weapon
systems|

| Electronic|

* TB-29
* EB-57
* EC-121

|

Fighters|

* Propeller:
* F-47
* F-51
* P-61
* F-82

* Subsonic Jet:
* P-80
* F-84
* F-86
* F-89
* F-94

* Supersonic Jet:
* F-101
* F-102
* F-104
* F-106

Missiles|

* AIM-4
* AIM-26
* AIR-2
* CIM-10

Ships|

* Guardian
* Interceptor
* Interdictor
* Interpreter
* Investigator
* Locator
* Lookout
* Outpost
* Pickett
* Protector
* Scanner
* Searcher
* Skywatcher
* Tracer
* Watchman
* Vigil

Texas Towers|

* Texas Tower 2
* Texas Tower 3
* Texas Tower 4

Miscellaneous|

* Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons)
* General Surveillance Radar Stations

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