The

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 ...

's 9th Space Warning Squadron (9 SWS) was a

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

warning unit located at

Robins AFB Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

History

The 9th Space Warning Squadron was originally constituted as the 9th Missile Warning Squadron (9 MWS) on 4 January 1985, and activated at

on 1 July 1985. The 9 MWS controlled the Southeast facing AN/FPS-123

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 ...

radar site, providing warning to detect sea-launched and intercontinental ballistic missiles. The site went mission operational on 10 November 1986. Later use of the radar included support for the

USAF 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 ...

space surveillance network The United States Space Surveillance Network (SSN) detects, tracks, catalogs and identifies artificial objects orbiting Earth, e.g. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentation debris. The system is the responsibility of Uni ...

by providing satellite vehicle surveillance, tracking, and radar space object identification. With these added mission areas, the unit was redesignated 9th Space Warning Squadron (9 SWS). As the likelihood of sea-based missile attacks from the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

decreased, and the low probability of missile attacks from the South, the

decided to close southern-facing

sites at

and Eldorado AS,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Two radar faces, one each from

and Eldorado AS, were moved to Clear AFS,

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 ...

as part of the

BMEWS The RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS, 474L System, Project 474L) was a United States Air Force Cold War early warning radar, computer, and communications system, for ballistic missile detection. The network of twelve radar ...

upgrade in 1998.Globalsecurity.org: "AN/FPS-115 PAVE PAWS"
/ref>

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 ...

(4 Jan 1985-1995)

Wings/Groups

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 – 1995) *

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 Nov 1985 – 15 May 1992)

Previous designations

*9th Space Warning Squadron (15 May 1992 – Present) *9th Missile Warning Squadron (4 Jan 1985 – 15 May 1992)

Equipment Operated

* AN/FPS-123

(1986–1995)

References

External links

Robins AFB home page
Military units and formations in Georgia (U.S. state) Space Warning 0009 {{USAF-stub