Houma Air Force Station (ADC ID: M-126 NORAD ID: Z-126) is a closed

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

General Surveillance Radar station. It is located southeast Houma, Louisiana. It was closed in 1970.

History

Houma Air Force Station was established as part of the planned deployment by Air Defense Command of forty-four Mobile radar stations across the United States to support the permanent Radar network established during the Cold War for air defense of the United States. This deployment had been projected to be operational by mid-1952. Funding, constant site changes, construction, and equipment delivery delayed deployment. Operational status was achieved in March 1955 after the 657th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was moved to the station from Tinker AFB, Oklahoma by the

33d Air Division The 33rd Air Division (33d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at Fort Lee Air Force Station, Virginia. It was inactivated on ...

. The squadron began operations using

AN/MPS-14 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United St ...

AN/TPS-1 The AN/TPS-1 Radar was an early warning and tactical control radar developed by Bell Labs and the MIT Radiation Laboratory during World War II. Initially used by the US Army, it was later used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, a ...

D, and AN/TPS-10D radars, and 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 1958 an

AN/FPS-20 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United States, a ...

search radar was in operation along with

and AN/MPS-7 units. The prototype AN/FPS-28 FD search radar was placed at Houma AFS in late 1959 for field testing. In 1960 an

AN/FPS-6 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United Stat ...

height-finder radar was added. During 1961 Houma AFS joined the

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. SA ...

(SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-09 at

Gunter AFB Gunter Annex is a United States Air Force installation located in the North-northeast suburbs of Montgomery, Alabama. The base is named after former Montgomery mayor William Adams Gunter. Until 1992 it was known as Gunter Air Force Base or Gun ...

, Alabama. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the 657th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 March 1961. 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. In 1962 the search radar was upgraded to an

AN/FPS-67 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United States, ...

, and the AN/FPS-6B height-finder radar was upgraded to an

AN/FPS-90 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United Stat ...

. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-126. In addition to the main facility, Houman operated an unmanned Gap Filler site: * Camp Leroy Johnson, New Orleans, LA (M-196A): The AN/FPS-28 was deactivated in May 1965. The AN/FPS-67 search radar was then upgraded to an

B in 1966. In 1968, the AN/MPS-14 was removed from service, and the AN/FPS-90 was deactivated a year later. The 657th Radar Squadron was inactivated in September 1970. Today the site is the location of the Terrebonne Vocational School. Many buildings remain in use and are in good repair, along with several radar towers.

Air Force units and assignments

Units: * 657th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Activated at Fort Williams, Maine on 27 November 1950 : Inactivated 18 October 1951 : Activated at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, 18 June 1953 : Moved to Houma AFS, Louisiana, 1 March 1955 : Redesignated 657th Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 March 1961 : Inactivated 30 September 1970 Assignments: *

540th Aircraft Control and Warning Group The 540th Aircraft Control and Warning Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to the 32d Air Division, stationed at Stewart Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 6 February 1952. This command and control orga ...

, 27 November 1950 - 18 October 1951 *

, 19 June 1953 *

35th Air Division The 35th Air Division (35th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force, at Hancock Field, New York. It was inactivated on 19 November 1969. History ...

, 10 April 1955 *

32d Air Division The 32d Air Division (32d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was last active with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force at Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama, where it was inactivated on 31 December 1969. The di ...

, 15 November 1958 *

Montgomery Air Defense Sector The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2005, ...

, 1 November 1959 * 32d Air Division, 1 April 1966 * 33d Air Division, 14 November 1969 *

20th Air Division The 20th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida where it was inactivated on 1 March 1983. During most of the division's history it ...

, 19 November 1969 – 30 September 1970

References

* 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
', The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
Information for Houma AFS, LA
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in Louisiana Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites Aerospace Defense Command military installations 1955 establishments in Louisiana 1970 disestablishments in Louisiana Military installations established in 1955 Military installations closed in 1970

History

Air Force units and assignments

See also

References