The 13th Space Warning Squadron (13SWS) is a missile warning unit assigned to the

United States Space Force The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...

and located at Clear Space Force Station 5 miles (8 km) south of Anderson,

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

Mission

The primary mission of the 13th SWS is to provide early warning of

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

s (ICBMs) and

submarine-launched ballistic missile A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from Ballistic missile submarine, submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which ...

s (SLBMs) launches to the Missile Warning Center at

North American Aerospace Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a Combined operations, combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air ...

. The secondary mission of the 13SWS is to provide space surveillance data on orbiting objects to the Space Control Center also located in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.

History

The 13th SWS is controlled by the Missile Warning Center, part of the

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and pr ...

, and by the Space Control Center, part of

United States Strategic Command The United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for Strategic_nuclear_weap ...

. Both agencies are located at the

Cheyenne Mountain Cheyenne Mountain is a triple-peaked mountain in El Paso County, Colorado, southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. The mountain serves as a host for military, communications, recreational, and residential functions. The underground operations c ...

Operations Center in Colorado. Clear accomplishes these missions using the Solid State Phased Array Radar System (SSPARS) radar. Clear's radar was originally located at El Dorado Air Station, Texas as part of the

PAVE PAWS PAVE PAWS (PAVE Phased Array Warning System) is a complex Cold War early warning radar and computer system developed in 1980 to "detect and characterize a sea-launched ballistic missile attack against the United States". The first solid-state ...

program and was only recently transplanted to Alaska to replace the US' last mechanical missile warning radar site.

Assignments

Major Command

Air Force Space Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...

(1 May 1983–Present) *

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

(1 December 1979 – 1 May 1983) *

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...

(later

Aerospace Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was establishe ...

) (1 November 1966 – 1 December 1979)

Wing/Group

21st Space Wing The 21st Wing (21 WG) is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force. It was established in 1953 as the 21st Fighter-Bomber Wing, deploying to Europe to join NATO's Allied Command Europe, before being inactivated in 1958. It reactivated i ...

(15 May 1992–Present) *

1st Space Wing The 1st Space Wing was a wing of the United States Air Force active from 1983 to 1992 at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado as part of Air Force Space Command. The Wing was constituted on 18 Oct 1982 and activated on 1 January 1983 with assignm ...

(1 May 1983 – 15 May 1992) * 71st Missile Warning Wing (1 January 1967-???)

Previous designations

*13th Space Warning Squadron (15 May 1992–Present) *13th Missile Warning Squadron (1 November 1966 – 15 May 1992)

Bases stationed

* Clear Missile Early Warning Station (later Clear AFS, Clear AS, and Clear Space Force Station),

(1 January 1967–Present)

Decorations

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award The Air and Space Outstanding Unit Award (ASOUA) is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It was established in 1954 as the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and was the first independent Air Force ...

**1 October 1997 – 30 September 1999 **1 January 1998 – 31 December 1998 **1 October 1995 – 30 September 1997 **1 May 1983 – 30 April 1984 **1 July 1971 – 30 June 1973 **1 June 1968 – 31 May 1970

List of commanders

* Lt Col

Stephen Whiting Stephen Newman Whiting (born 14 September 1967) is a United States Space Force general who serves as the commander of the United States Space Command. He previously served as the first commander of Space Operations Command from 2020 to 2024. W ...

, July 2004–July 2005 * Lt Col Torrence W. Saxe, June 2011–March 2012 * Lt Col Michael Sowa, ~2010 * Lt Col Matthew A. Morand, June 2012–May 2013 * Lt Col Jason Burch, June 2015 * Lt Col Joel Lane, 13 June 2017 * Lt Col Jeffrey Rutherford, 13 June 2018 * Lt Col Shawn P. Lee, 20 June 2019 * Lt Col Shahn Rashid, 2 July 2020 * Lt Col William Hassey, June 2021 * Lt Col Christopher Castle, 16 June 2022 * Lt Col Stephanie Flowers, June 2023LinkedIn

References

External links

website {{USAF Space Command Squadrons of the United States Space Force Military units and formations in Alaska