689th Radar Squadron
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The 689th Radar Squadron is an inactive
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 ...
unit. It was last assigned to the 25th Air Division, stationed at Mount Hebo Air Force Station, Oregon. It was inactivated on 30 June 1979.


History

The 689th Radar Squadron's long range radars (LRR) were part of the Air Force
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) computer directed system for air defense. Available squadron electronic equipment was able to support the detection, identification, and destruction of enemy aircraft. This was accomplished by communications between the SAGE computer at
McChord Air Force Base 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, ...
, the radars and communications systems at Mount Hebo Air Force Station, and airborne
interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are c ...
such as the supersonic
Convair F-106 Delta Dart The Convair F-106 Delta Dart is an all-weather interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair. The F-106 was designed in response to the 1954 interceptor program. Envisioned as an imagined "Ultimate I ...
jet. Radar systems operated and maintained by the 689th included the AN/FPS-24 search radar and the
AN/FPS-26 The Avco AN/FPS-26 Radar was an Air Defense Command height finder radar developed in the Frequency Diversity Program with a tunable 3-cavity power klystron for electronic counter-countermeasures (e.g. to counter jamming). Accepted by the Rome Ai ...
A and
AN/FPS-90 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 ...
height finder radars. The FPS-24 was housed in a 5 story tall (85 ft) building with two separate transmitters, a receiver, and special receiver equipment to provide counter measures against enemy jamming. In addition, the radar antenna was housed beneath a rigid radome about 145 ft in diameter and 100 ft tall. Three separate radomes were installed in the period from 1962 to 1965. All three were destroyed by high winds, the last in 1968. As a result, the FPS-24 was removed and a FPS-27 search radar requiring a much smaller radome was installed. Both height finder radar antennas were protected by smaller, inflatable radomes. Each height finder radar was installed in its own building. The FPS-26A radar was later modified beginning in 1967 to an FSS-7 Sea Launched Ballistic Missile detector. All three radar buildings were connected together so that 689th personnel could walk between them and the Operations building and be protected from adverse weather conditions. The 689th Radar Squadron was originally assigned to the SAGE Portland Air Defense Sector at Adair Air Force Station, Oregon, a part of the 25th Air Division SAGE at
McChord Air Force Base 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. Higher headquarters included
4th Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reserv ...
(
Hamilton Air Force Base Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
, California), and
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 ...
(
Peterson Air Force Base Peterson Space Force Base, previously Peterson Air Force Base, Peterson Field, and Army Air Base, Colorado Springs, is a United States Space Force base that shares an airfield with the adjacent Colorado Springs Municipal Airport and is home t ...
, Colorado). As the northernmost LRR site in the sector, the 689th was also able to feed its radar data to the
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 ...
, another adjacent unit of the 25th Air Division. When the sectorsS were absorbed into the 25th Air Division, the radars of the 689th and related units were connected to the computers there. In July 1967, Detachment 2 of the
14th Missile Warning Squadron 14 (fourteen) is the natural number following 13 and preceding 15. Mathematics Fourteen is the seventh composite number. Properties 14 is the third distinct semiprime, being the third of the form 2 \times q (where q is a higher prime). ...
was activated at Mt Hebo to operate a missile warning radar. Table 1. Both squadrons are now inactive. The Air Force equipment and facilities at Mt Hebo have been removed and the site returned to its natural state. A plaque is virtually all that remains of the radar station. It is dedicated ''In Memory Of Those Who Served At Mt. Hebo AFS, Oregon. 689th Radar Sq., Oct.1956-June 1979. Det.2 14th MWS July 1967 - Sep.1980''. Squadron responsibilities included operation and maintenance of the installed
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
and communications equipment, and various support activities including food service, supply, power production, civil engineering, administration, transportation, and personnel services. Available facilities included buildings for the radar and communications equipment, barracks for personnel, family housing, a power plant, dining hall, gym, motor pool, and administrative activities. The Squadron had all the functions and capabilities of a small town.


Lineage

* Established as 689th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Activated on 1 October 1953 : Redesignated as 689th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 July 1960 : Redesignated as 689th Radar Squadron on 1 February 1974 : Inactivated on 30 June 1979Cornett & Johnson, p. 161


Assignments

* 4704th Defense Wing, 1 October 1953 * 25th Air Division, 8 October 1954 * Portland Air Defense Sector, 1 March 1960 * 25th Air Division, 1 April 1966 – 30 June 1979


Stations

* Portland Air Force Base (later Portland International Airport), Oregon, 1 October 1953 * Mount Hebo Air Force Station, Oregon, 1 July 1956 – 30 June 1979


References


Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations


Bibliography

* * * ; Further reading * {{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Radar squadrons of the United States Air Force 1953 establishments in Oregon