Finley 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-northwest of

Finley, North Dakota Finley is a city in Steele County, North Dakota. It is the county seat of Steele County. The population was 401 at the 2020 census. Finley was founded in 1897. History Finley was founded in 1897. In 1911, a train wreck in Finley caused by a br ...

. It was closed in 1979 by the Air Force, and turned over to the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

(FAA). Today the site is part of the

Joint Surveillance System The Joint Surveillance System (JSS) is a joint United States Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration system for the atmospheric air defense of North America. It replaced the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system in 1983. Overvie ...

(JSS), designated by

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 ...

Western 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 ch ...

(WADS) Ground Equipment Facility.

History

Finley Air Force Station was part of the last batch of twenty-three radar stations constructed as part 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 network. It was activated in April 1951, and declared completely operational in late 1952, and initially the station functioned as a

Ground control intercept Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was ...

(GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide

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 ...

toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. The 785th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operations with an

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 radar and AN/FPS-4 from the site in April 1952. In 1957 an

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 ...

replaced the AN/FPS-4 height-finder radar, and an

AN/FPS-8 The AN/FPS-8 Radar was a Medium-Range Search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. The radar was a medium power D-Band search radar designed for aircraft control and early warning, and was installed at commercial airport ...

search radar saw brief service. At the end of 1958 this site was operating an

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 ...

radar. A second height-finder (

B?) was added during 1959. At the end of 1959 Finley 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, initially feeding data to DC-20 at

Malmstrom AFB Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Cascade County, Montana, United States, adjacent to the city of Great Falls. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom. It is the home of the 341st Mi ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 785th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 January 1960. SAGE data was switched to DC-10 at

Duluth AFS Duluth Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base located on the grounds of Duluth International Airport. It is home to the 148th Fighter Wing. History The City of Duluth purchased the original property for the airport in ...

, Minnesota in 1963. 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. In 1962 Finley operated an

AN/FPS-35 The AN/FPS-35 frequency diversity radar was a long range search radar used in the early 1960s. It was one of the largest air defense radars ever produced, with its antenna and supporting structure mounted on one of the largest rolling-element bear ...

search radar plus

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 AN/FPS-6 was removed in 1969. Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars. In addition to the main facility, Finley operated four unmanned

AN/FPS-14 The AN/FPS-14 was a medium-range search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bendix as a SAGE system gap-filler radar to provide low-altitude coverage. Operating ...

(P-29A/B) and

AN/FPS-18 The AN/FPS-18 was a medium-range search radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bendix as a SAGE system gap-filler radar to provide low-altitude coverage. Operating in ...

(P-29C/D) Gap Filler sites: * Sheyenne, ND (P-29A) * Grafton, ND (P-29B) * Valley City, ND (P-29C) * Middle River, MN (P-29D) The Ground to Air Transmitter-Receiver (GATR) facility was located off-station at , roughly one mile northwest of the main station. Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars. The site was transferred to the

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Lang ...

in October 1979 with the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command, being assigned to

ADTAC Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC) was a Named Unit of the United States Air Force, and operated at the Numbered Air Force echelon of Tactical Air Command. It was responsible for the air defense of the United States, and was last statione ...

. The 785th Radar Squadron (SAGE) was inactivated, and radar operations at Finley AFS (Z-29) ceased, on 30 December 1979 when a new

(JSS) was activated at the former GATR site about a mile to the northwest. The new Finley JSS site (Z-303/J-75) began operations with an FAA

ARSR-3 The Air Route Surveillance Radar is a long-range radar system. It is used by the United States Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration to control airspace within and around the borders of the United States. The ARSR-4 is the FAA's mos ...

search radar and an Air Force

AN/FPS-116 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 radar (removed c. 1988). That site now operates an

ARSR-4 The Air Route Surveillance Radar is a long-range radar system. It is used by the United States Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration to control airspace within and around the borders of the United States. The ARSR-4 is the FAA's mos ...

. The main station equipment, buildings, fixtures, furnishings, and land was auctioned off in

public auction A government auction or a public auction is an auction held on behalf of a government in which the property to be auctioned is either property owned by the government or property which is sold under the authority of a court of law or a governmen ...

on 9 July 2000. It is now being demolished.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

* Constituted as the 785th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Activated on 10 April 1951 : Redesignated as 785th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 January 1960 : Inactivated on 1 January 1980

Assignments

543d Aircraft Control and Warning Group The 543d Aircraft Control and Warning Group is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 31st Air Division, Air Defense Command, stationed at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. It was inactivated on 10 February 1952. History T ...

, 10 April 1951 *

31st Air Division The 31st Air Division (31st 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 3 ...

, 6 February 1952 *

29th Air Division The 29th Air Division (29th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, being stationed at Duluth International Airport, Minnesota. It was inactivated on 15 November 1969. History ...

, 16 February 1953 * 31st Air Division, 1 March 1956 * 29th Air Division, 1 January 1959 *

Grand Forks Air Defense Sector The Grand Forks Air Defense Sector (GFADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 29th Air Division, being stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota. It was inact ...

, 1 April 1959 *

Duluth Air Defense Sector The Duluth Air Defense Sector (DUADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 29th Air Division, being stationed at Duluth Airport, Minnesota. It was inactivated on 1 April 1969 ...

, 4 September 1963 * 29th Air Division, 1 April 1966 *

28th Air Division The 28th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It was inactivated on 29 May 1992. History Established in December 1 ...

, 15 September 1969 *

24th Air Division The 24th 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 Griffiss Air ...

, 19 November 1969 – 1 January 1980 Commanders * Lt. Col. William Joseph Pruitt c. 1969-1971 * Major Michael Pennefather c. 1972-1974

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) *
Information for Finley AFS, ND

External links

US Air Defense Radar museum
{{Aerospace Defense Command Installations of the United States Air Force in North Dakota Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites Air Defense Command radar stations Buildings and structures in Steele County, North Dakota 1952 establishments in North Dakota 1979 disestablishments in North Dakota Military installations established in 1952 Military installations closed in 1979