Mount Laguna Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-76, NORAD ID: Z-76) 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 north-northeast of

Tecate, California Tecate is an unincorporated community in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California, directly adjacent to the Mexican city of Tecate, Baja California. The area is best known for its border crossing between the Unite ...

. It was closed in 1981 by the Air Force, and turned over to the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

(FAA). Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as

Western Air Defense Sector The Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) is a unit of the Washington Air National Guard located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, Washington. As a state militia unit, the Western Air Defense Sector is not in the normal United States Air Force c ...

(WADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-30.

History

Mount Laguna Air Force Station was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the Air Defense Command permanent

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, we ...

network. Prompted by the start of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, on July 11, 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 July 21, the Air Force directed the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

to proceed with construction. The 751st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was initially assigned to Mount Laguna by September 1951.Cornett & Johnson, p. 163 Within months the radar assumed coverage formerly provided by the Minter Field Lashup site (L-34). At that time the 751st AC&W Squadron operated AN/CPS-4 and

AN/FPS-3 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 ...

radars, and initially the station functioned as a

ground control intercept Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

(GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are c ...

toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. An

AN/FPS-8 The AN/FPS-8 Radar was a Medium-Range Search Radar used by the 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 ...

replaced the AN/CPS-4 in 1955. This radar then was converted to an

AN/GPS-3 The AN/FPS-8 Radar was a Medium-Range Search Radar used by the 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 ...

in 1956, and removed in 1960. 1956 also saw the arrival of 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 ...

at the site. During 1961 Mount Laguna 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, feeding data to DC-17 at

Norton AFB Norton Air Force Base (1942–1994) was a United States Air Force facility east of downtown San Bernardino in San Bernardino County, California. Overview For the majority of its operational lifetime, Norton was a logistics depot and heavy-li ...

, California. After joining, the

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

was redesignated as the 751st Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 May 1961. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 to the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile. By 1962 the 751st operated an

AN/FPS-7 The AN/FPS-7 Radar was a Long Range Search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. In the mid-1950s General Electric developed a radar with a search altitude of 100,000 feet and a range of 270 miles. This radar was signific ...

C search radar and AN/FPS-6 and 6B height-finder radars. In 1963 the -6B 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 ...

set. Mount Laguna AFS's site number changed to NORAD ID Z-76 on 31 July 1963. In 1964 the AN/FPS-6 was replaced by an AN/FPS-26A FD height-finder radar; this radar was converted to an AN/FSS-7 SLBM D&W radar in 1966. Mt. Laguna became a joint-use ADC/

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

facility around 1965. In addition to the main facility, Mount Laguna Air Force Station operated several

AN/FPS-14 The AN/FPS-14 was a medium-range search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bendix as a SAGE system gap-filler radar to provide low-altitude coverage. Operating i ...

Gap Filler sites: * Tecate, CA (P-76A) * San Ysidro, CA (P-76B) * Tierra del Sol, CA (P-76C) * Coyote Wells, CA (P-76D) * Moreno, CA (P-76E) 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 751st Radar Sq was inactivated and replaced by the 751st Air Defense Group in March 1970.Cornett, & Johnson,p.86 The upgrade to

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

status was done because of Mount Laguna AFS' status as a Backup Interceptor Control (BUIC) site. BUIC sites were alternate control sites in the event that SAGE Direction Centers became disabled and unable to control interceptor aircraft. The group was inactivated and replaced by the 751st Radar Squadron as defenses against crewed bombers were reduced. The group was disbanded in 1984.Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 575q, 27 Sep 1984, Subject: Disbandment of Units In 1979 Mount Laguna came under Tactical Air Command (TAC) jurisdiction with the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command and the creation of

ADTAC Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC) was a Named Unit of the United States Air Force, and operated at the Numbered Air Force echelon of Tactical Air Command. It was responsible for the air defense of the United States, and was last statione ...

. In the early 1980s the FAA assumed greater control, with the inactivation of the 751st Radar Squadron on 30 September 1981. The FAA replaced the AN/FPS-7E with an

ARSR-3 The Air Route Surveillance Radar is used by the United States Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration to control airspace within and around the borders of the United States. The ARSR-4 is the FAA's most recent (late 1980s, early 1990s) ...

search radar, leaving the Air Force only responsible for the height-finder tower (by then an AN/FPS-116), which was removed c. 1988. In the late 1990s, the

was replaced by the ARSR-4. Today Mount Laguna is an FAA site, tied into the Joint Surveillance System (JSS). The former Air Force Station has been abandoned since 1981, the facilities in disrepair. The buildings that once housed up to 400 Air Force personnel at Mount Laguna are now gutted shells covered with graffiti and filled with

construction debris Construction waste or debris is any kind of debris from the construction process. Different government agencies have clear definitions. For example, the United States Environmental Protection Agency EPA defines construction and demolition materia ...

. For years, U.S. Forest Service officials have wanted to demolish the buildings at the abandoned base, but no money was available. In 2009, funds became available for site restoration and the barracks, administration building, mess hall and other buildings that made up the Laguna Mountain Air Force Base have been torn down using money from $18.2 million in stimulus funds for Forest Service facilities in disrepair in 14 California counties.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

Squadron * Constituted as the 751st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on 14 November 1950 : Activated at

Port Hueneme Port Hueneme ( ; Chumash: ''Wene Me'') is a small beach city in Ventura County, California, surrounded by the city of Oxnard and the Santa Barbara Channel. Both the Port of Hueneme and Naval Base Ventura County lie within the city limits. P ...

, California on 27 November 1950 : Moved to Mount Laguna AFS, September 1951 : Redesignated 751st Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 May 1961 : Inactivated on 1 March 1970 : Redesignated 751st Radar Squadron on 1 January 1974 : Activated on 17 January 1974 : Inactivated on 30 September 1981 Group * Constituted as the 751st Air Defense Group on 13 February 1970 : Activated on 1 March 1970 : Inactivated on 17 January 1975 : Disbanded on 21 September 1984

Commanders

* 751st Radar Squadron : Col. Fred C. Faupel Jr., unknown – 1 March 1970 * 751st Air Defense Group : Col. Fred C. Faupel Jr., 1 March 1970 – unknown * 751st Radar Squadron :Maj. Harlie B. Johnson, August 1964 – August 1965

Assignments

* Squadron :

544th Aircraft Control and Warning Group The 544th Aircraft Control and Warning Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to the 27th Air Division, and last stationed at Norton Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 6 February 1952. This command and ...

, 1 February 1952 : 27th Air Division, 6 February 1952 :

Los Angeles Air Defense Sector The Southwest Air Defense Sector (SWADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 31 December 1994. L ...

, 1 October 1959 : 27th Air Division, 1 April 1966 : 26th Air Division, 19 November 1969 – 1 March 1970 : 26th Air Division, 17 January 1974 – 30 September 1981 * Group : 26th Air Division, 1 March 1970 – 17 January 1974

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Further reading
Grant, C.L., The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, (1961), USAF Historical Study No. 126
* * *
Information for Mount Laguna AFS, CA
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in California Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites 1952 establishments in California 1981 disestablishments in California Military installations established in 1952 Military installations closed in 1981