Condon Air Force Station is a closed

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

General Surveillance Radar station. It is located west of

Condon, Oregon Condon is a city in and the county seat of Gilliam County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. The population was 682 at the 2010 census. The city, with an historic main street along Oregon Route 19, is a farming and ranching community. The John Day ...

. It was closed in 1970.

History

Condon AFS was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the

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 ...

permanent radar network. Prompted by the start of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, on 11 July 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 21 July, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction. The 636th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to the station on 15 August 1951,Cornett & Johnson, p. 155 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. By 1952 the squadron was 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 State ...

search and AN/FPS-4 height-finder radars at Condon. These sets were replaced in 1957 and 1958 with

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 S ...

radars. In 1959 a second height-finder radar came with the installation of an AN/FPS-6A. During 1960 Condon AFS joined the

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...

(SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-15 at

Larson AFB Larson Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located five miles (8 km) northwest of the central business district (CBD) of Moses Lake, in Grant County, Washington. After its closure in 1966, the airport facility became ...

, Washington. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 636th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 8 September 1960. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 to the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction, altitude, speed, and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile. The AN/FPS-20 subsequently was upgraded in 1961 and redesignated as an AN/FPS-66. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-32. In 1964 an

AN/FPS-27 The AN/FPS-27 Radar was a long-range early warning radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. Westinghouse Electric Corporation built a frequency diverse (FD) search radar designed to operate in the S-band from 2322 to 2670&n ...

search radar was installed and in 1965 the AN/FPS-66 was relocated to

Burns AFS Burns Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located west-southwest of Burns, Oregon. It was closed in 1974. Burns Air Force Station was established as part of the planned deployment b ...

, OR, to replace the AN/FPS-7B search radar there. The Air Force inactivated the 636th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 30 September 1970 as a result of budget restrictions, and the general phase down of air defense radar stations. Most of the site has been redeveloped for commercial use, the housing area being used as single-family homes.

Air Force units and assignments

Units: * 636th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron activated on 21 May 1947 at

Hamilton AFB Hamilton Field (Hamilton AFB) was a United States Air Force base, which was inactivated in 1973, decommissioned in 1974, and put into a caretaker status with the Air Force Reserve Command, Air Force Reserve until 1976. It was transferred to the ...

, CA : Moved to Condon AFS, Oregon from

McChord AFB McChord Field (formerly and still commonly known as McChord Air Force Base) is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord AFB is the home of the 62nd Airlift Wing, ...

, Washington on 27 June 1951 : Redesignated 636th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 8 September 1960 : Inactivated on 30 September 1970 Assignments: *

505th Aircraft Control and Warning Group 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

25th Air Division The 25th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force intermediate echelon command and control organization. It was last assigned to First Air Force, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). It was inactivated on 30 September 1990 at McChord Air ...

, 6 February 1952 *

4702d Defense Wing The 4702nd Defense Wing (Def Wg) is a discontinued wing of the United States Air Force, last assigned to the 25th Air Division at Geiger Field, Washington. It was established in 1952 at Hamilton AFB, California in a general reorganization of Air ...

, 1 January 1953 * 9th Air Division, 8 October 1954 * 25th Air Division, 15 August 1958 *

4700th Air Defense Wing The Spokane Air Defense Sector (SPADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 25th Air Division (25th AD) at Larson Air Force Base in Grant County, Washington History SAGE ...

, 1 September 1958 *

Spokane Air Defense Sector The Spokane Air Defense Sector (SPADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 25th Air Division (25th AD) at Larson Air Force Base in Grant County, Washington History SAGE ...

, 15 March 1960 *

Seattle Air Defense Sector The Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) is a unit of the Washington Air National Guard located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, Washington. As a state militia unit, the Western Air Defense Sector is not in the normal United States Air Force com ...

, 1 June 1963 *

26th Air Division The 26th Air Division (26th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inactiv ...

, 1 April 1966 * 25th Air Division, 15 September 1969 – 30 September 1970

References

* *
Information for Condon AFS, OR
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=autocollapse Installations of the United States Air Force in Oregon Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites Aerospace Defense Command military installations Buildings and structures in Gilliam County, Oregon 1951 establishments in Oregon 1970 disestablishments in Oregon Military installations established in 1951 Military installations closed in 1970

History

Air Force units and assignments

See also

References