Port Austin Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-61, NORAD ID: Z-61) 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 south-southwest

Port Austin, Michigan Port Austin is a village in Huron County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 664 at the 2010 census. The village is within Port Austin Township. Geography * According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total a ...

. It was closed in 1988 by the Air Force. After the station's closure, it was replaced by 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) at Canton, Michigan (near Detroit) as part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as

Eastern Air Defense Sector The Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) is a United States Air Force unit of Air Combat Command (ACC), permanently assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). A joint, bi-national military organization, EADS is composed of U ...

(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 Air Defense Command permanent radar 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 Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction. The 754th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was initially activated on 27 November 1950 at a temporary site at Oscoda AFB, Michigan (L-20) with an

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 ...

B radar. It was assigned to Port Austin in July 1951 and began operating an AN/TPS-1C. The site then joined the ''Permanent'' radar network, and the squadron began using an

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 ...

set, 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. An AN/CPS-4 was added in 1954. This radar was replaced in 1957 by 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. A second AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was added a year later. In 1958 this site began operating 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 ...

radar, which replaced the AN/FPS-3. During 1959 Port Austin 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-06 at

Custer AFS Custer Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-67 DC-6, NORAD ID: Z-67, DC-6) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar and Direction Center station. It is located west-northwest of Battle Creek, Michigan. It was closed in 1969. ...

, Michigan. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 754th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 September 1959. 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 early 1962 the site received and operated an AN/FPS-24 search radar, and the AN/FPS-20 was retired. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-61. In 1963 an AN/FPS-26A height-finder radar (serial # 51) 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 Tactical Air Command control in October 1979 with the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command and the transfer of the site to Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (

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 ...

). Circa 1982, the main bearing of the AN/FPS-24 search radar failed catastrophically. The

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 ...

long-range radar site at Canton (Detroit), MI, was then used as a temporary data-tie site until an

AN/FPS-91 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 ...

A search radar could be installed at Port Austin AFS in 1983. Also, the AN/FPS-26A was replaced by an

AN/FPS-116 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 for the JSS Program. The site remained in use as an Air Force site until 30 September 1988 when it was closed altogether, again replaced by the FAA radar site at Canton.

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 : Moved to Port Austin AFS on 20 July 1951 : Redesignated 754th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 September 1959 : Redesignated 754th Radar Squadron on 1 February 1974 : Inactivated on 30 September 1988

Assignments

541st Aircraft Control and Warning Group The 541st Aircraft Control and Warning Group (AC&WG) is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 30th Air Division, stationed at Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan. It was inactivated on 6 February 1952 and disbanded ...

, 1 January 1951 *

30th Air Division The 30th Air Division (30th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to Tenth Air Force, being stationed at Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa. It was inactivated on ...

, 6 February 1952 *

4708th Defense Wing The 4708th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 30th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at Selfridge Air Force Base (AFB), Michigan, where it was discontinued in 1956. ...

, 16 February 1953 * 30th Air Division, 8 July 1956 *

Detroit Air Defense Sector The Detroit Air Defense Sector (DEADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command (ADC) 26th Air Division at Custer Air Force Station (AFS), Michigan. It was inactivated on 1 Apri ...

, 1 April 1959 *

34th Air Division The 34th Air Division (34th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Custer Air Force Station, Michigan. It was inactivated on 31 December 1969. History Assigned to Air De ...

, 1 April 1966 *

29th Air Division The 29th Air Division (29th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, being stationed at Duluth International Airport, Minnesota. It was inactivated on 15 November 1969. History ...

, 14 November 1969 * 23d Air Division, 19 November 1969 *

21st Air Division The 21st Air Division (21st AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command, being stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 23 September 1983. History World W ...

, 1 August 1981 * 24th Air Division, 1 September 1983 *

Northeast Air Defense Sector The Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) is a United States Air Force unit of Air Combat Command (ACC), permanently assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). A joint, bi-national military organization, EADS is composed of US ...

, 1 December 1987 – 1 October 1988

Notes

References

* Grant, C.L.
The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, (1961), USAF Historical Study No. 126
* * * 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 Port Austin AFS, MI
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in Michigan Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites Aerospace Defense Command military installations Military installations established in 1951 Military installations closed in 1988 1951 establishments in Michigan 1988 disestablishments in Michigan