The San Francisco Air Defense Sector (SFADS) is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air 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 of the United States Army Si ...

organization. Its last assignment was with the 28th Air Division, being stationed at

Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located approximately east of Marysville, California. It is located outside Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, and about north of Sacramento. The host ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The sector was established in February 1959 assuming control of former ADC

Western Air Defense Force The Western Air Defense Force (WADF) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on July 1, 1960. History WADF ...

units in California west of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

; north of Santa Barbara and south of Eureka. The organization controlled several aircraft and

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, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

squadrons. On 1 December 1960 the new

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) Direction Center (DC-18) became operational. DC-18 was equipped with dual AN/FSQ-7 Computers. The day-to-day operations of the command was to train and maintain tactical flying units flying jet interceptor aircraft (

F-94 Starfire The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was a first-generation jet powered all-weather, day/night interceptor of the United States Air Force. A twin-seat craft, it was developed from the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star trainer in the late 1940s. It reached ope ...

;

F-102 Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpo ...

;

F-106 Delta Dart The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the United States Air Force from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it proved to be the last specialist interceptor ...

); (2 F-101B Voodoo Squadrons) in a state of readiness with training missions and series of exercises with SAC and other units simulating interceptions of incoming enemy aircraft. The 83d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and 84th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Hamilton AFB, Ca., both were part of the sector's forces, under the command of the 78th Fighter Wing. The Sector was inactivated on 1 August 1963 as part of an ADC consolidation and reorganization; and its units were assigned to 28th Air Division at

Hamilton Air Force Base Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, California.

Lineage

* Established as San Francisco Air Defense Sector on 15 February 1959 : Inactivated on 1 August 1963

Assignments

* 28th Air Division, 15 February 1959 – 1 August 1963

Stations

* Beale AFB,

, 15 February 1959 – 1 August 1963

Components

* 78th Fighter Wing (Air Defense) : Hamilton AFB, California, 1 July 1960-1 August 1963

Interceptor squadrons

82d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

: Travis AFB, California, 1 July 1960-1 August 1963 *

456th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 456th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command San Francisco Air Defense Sector stationed at Oxnard Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 18 J ...

: Castle AFB, California, 1 July 1960-1 August 1963

Radar squadrons

* 634th Radar Squadron : Burns AFS, Oregon, 1 July 1960-1 September 1960 * 658th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Winnemucca AFS, Nevada, 1 July 1960-1 September 1961 * 666th Radar Squadron :

Mill Valley AFS Ground Equipment Facility J-33 is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar station of the Joint Surveillance System's Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) with an Air Route Surveillance Radar (ARSR-4). The facility was previously a USAF gen ...

, California, 1 July 1960-1 August 1963 * 668th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Mather AFB, California, 1 July 1960-1 September 1961 * 682d Radar Squadron :

Almaden AFS Almaden may refer to: Places United States *Almaden Valley, San Jose, California **Almaden Mine, an alternate name for New Almaden Quicksilver Mine **IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose ** Almaden Air Force Station, a former US Air Force statio ...

, California, 1 July 1960-1 August 1963 * 774th Radar Squadron :

Madera AFS Madera Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-74, NORAD ID: Z-74) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located north-northeast of Madera, California. It was closed in 1966. History Madera AFS was one of twenty ...

, California, 1 July 1960-1 August 1963 *

776th Radar Squadron The 776th Radar Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Northeast Air Defense Sector, Air Combat Command, stationed at Bangor Air National Guard Base, Maine, where it was inactivated on 6 September 199 ...

Point Arena AFS Point Arena Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-37, NORAD ID: Z-37) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east of Point Arena, California. It was closed in 1998 by the Air Force, and turned over to the ...

, California, 1 July 1960-1 August 1963 *

821st Radar Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number o ...

Baker AFS A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

, Oregon, 1 July-15 September 1960 * 858th Radar Squadron :

Fallon AFS Naval Air Station Fallon or NAS Fallon is the United States Navy's premier air-to-air and air-to-ground training facility. It is located southeast of the city of Fallon, east of Reno in western Nevada. Since 1996, it has been home to the U.S. Na ...

, Nevada, 1 July-15 September 1960 * 866th Radar Squadron : Tonopah AFS, Nevada, 1 July-15 September 1960

References

* A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command. * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
Radomes.org San Francisco Air Defense Sector
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed

Air Defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

1959 establishments in California 1966 disestablishments in California Military units and formations disestablished in 1966 Military units and formations in California