Snow Mountain Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-82, NORAD ID: Z-82) 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 west-southwest of

Godman Army Airfield Godman Army Airfield is a military airport located on the Fort Knox United States Army post in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. It has four runways and is used entirely by the United States Army Aviation Branch The United States Arm ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. It was closed in 1968.

History

Snow Mountain AFS was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the Air Defense Command permanent radar network, primarily to provide air defense radar coverage for Fort Knox. 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. On 16 April 1951 the 784th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was initially activated at Godman Field, KY (LP-82) on Fort Knox where it operated a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

-era

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 ...

C radar, 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. It was moved to the new Snow Mountain site, also on the Fort Knox Reservation on 30 April 1952. This site became a separate Air Force installation, Snow Mountain Air Force Station in the summer of 1956.''Ibid.'' At Snow Mountain it began operating

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 ...

and

AN/FPS-4 The AN/FPS-4 Radar was a Height-Finder 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 unifor ...

radars at Snow Mountain. In 1958 these radars were replaced by

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 ...

and

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 ...

sets. A second AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was added in 1961. In 1962 the search radar was upgraded to become 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, ...

. During 1962 Snow Mountain 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-22 at Truax Field, Wisconsin. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 784th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 May 1962. 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. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-82. In 1965 the search radar was again upgraded to become an

B. In addition to the main facility, Snow Mountain operated four unmanned

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: * Odon, IN (P-82A) * Kingston, IN (P-82C) * Madisonville, KY (P-82D) * Owingsville AFS (P-82B) was assigned as a Gep Filler site upon its closure in 1957. It is unclear if it ever was equipped or became operational. The 784th Radar Squadron was inactivated on 18 June 1968 with the closure of Snow Mountain Air Force Station due to the perceived remote threat of an aircraft attack on Fort Knox.

Air Force units and assignments

784th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron - Emblem

Units

* Constituted as the 784th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Activated at Godman Field (LP-82), Fort Knox, KY on 16 April 1951 : Moved to Snow Mountain, Fort Knox, KY on 30 April 1952 : Redesignated as 784th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 May 1962 : Discontinued and inactivated on 18 June 1968

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 ...

, 16 April 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 *

4706th Defense Wing The 4706th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force (USAF) organization. Its last assignment was with the 37th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at O'Hare International Airport (IAP), Illinois where it was discontinued i ...

(later 4706th Air Defense Wing), 16 February 1953 *

58th Air Division The 58th Air Division (58th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, based at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. It was inactivated on 1 February 1959. History World War II B-29 ...

, 1 March 1956 * 35th Air Division, 1 September 1958 * 32d Air Division, 15 November 1958 * Chicago Air Defense Sector, 1 June 1961 * Detroit Air Defense Sector, 1 August 1961 * Chicago Air Defense Sector, 25 May 1962 * 34th Air Division, 1 April 1966 – 18 June 1968

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 Snow Mountain AFS
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in Kentucky Buildings and structures in Hardin County, Kentucky Military installations in Kentucky Permanent System radar stations Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites 1952 establishments in Kentucky 1968 disestablishments in Kentucky

History

Air Force units and assignments

Units

Assignments

See also

References