Rockport Air Force Station
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Rockport Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-191) 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 southwest of
Lamar, Texas Lamar is a small, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Aransas County, Texas, United States, north of Rockport and north of Corpus Christi. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 636. The community was named for ...
. It was closed in 1963.


History

Rockport Air Force Station came into existence as part of Phase III of the Air Defense Command Mobile Radar program. On October 20, 1953 ADC requested a third phase of twenty-five radar sites be constructed. The 813th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned on 1 July 1958. It operated 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 ...
search radar and 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 at the site. 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 addition to the main facility, Rockport operated three
AN/FPS-18 The AN/FPS-18 was a medium-range search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command.http://www.bendixradiofoundation.com/documents/Bendix%20Radio%20Radar%20History.pdf This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bend ...
Gap Filler sites: * Riviera, TX (TM-191A): * Palacios, TX (TM-191B): * Delmita, TX (TM-191C): The Air Force inactivated Rockport AFS on 1 August 1963 due to budgetary constraints. Today, not much of the station remains. A few buildings, some disconnected streets in poor repair and most of the area is overgrown grass adjacent to the
Aransas County Airport Aransas County Airport is in Aransas County five miles (7 km) north of Rockport, Texas. The FAA's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2009–2013 categorized it as a ''general aviation'' facility. Facilities The airport cover ...
is all that remains. The nearby Air Force housing area remains intact, long-ago sold off and being used as single-family housing.


Air Force units and assignments


Units

* Constituted as the 813th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Activated on 18 December 1956 at
Oklahoma City AFS Oklahoma City Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-52, NORAD-ID: Z-52) is a closed Cold War United States Air Force air defense and communications-electronics headquarters and radar station. It was located east-southeast of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, j ...
, OK (not equipped or manned) : Moved to Rockport AFS on assigned 1 July 1958 : Discontinued and inactivated on 1 August 1963


Assignments

*
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 ...
, 1 January 1958 *
Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector The Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector (OCADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command's 29th Air Division at Oklahoma City Air Force Station, Oklahoma. History Oklahoma City A ...
, 1 Jan 1960 *
4752d Air Defense Wing The Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector (OCADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command's 29th Air Division at Oklahoma City Air Force Station, Oklahoma. History Oklahoma City ...
, 1 September 1961 * Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector 25 July 1963 - 1 August 1963


See also

*
List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations United States general surveillance radar stations include Army and USAF stations of various US air defense networks (in reverse chronological order): *Joint Surveillance System (JSS), with radar stations controlled by joint FAA/USAF ROCCs beginnin ...


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 Rockport AFS, TX
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Radar stations of the United States Air Force Installations of the United States Air Force in Texas Aerospace Defense Command military installations 1959 establishments in Texas 1963 disestablishments in Texas Military installations established in 1959 Military installations closed in 1963