Dickinson 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 northeast of

Dickinson, North Dakota Dickinson is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 25,679 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh most populous city in North Dakota. Dickinson, founded in 1881, is also home to Dickins ...

. It was closed in 1965.

History

Dickinson Air Force Station came into existence as part of Phase III 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 ...

Mobile Radar program. On 20 October 1953 ADC requested a third phase of twenty-five radar sites be constructed. It became active in April 1959. The 706th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron activated with

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-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 ...

A height-finder radars, 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. A second AN/FPS-6A height-finder radar was added in 1960. During 1961 Dickinson 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, Montana. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the 706th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 July 1961. 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. By 1963 the radars had been upgraded to AN/FPS-66 search 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, and on 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-177. In addition to the main facility, Dickinson operated three unmanned AN/FPS-18 Gap Filler sites: * Glendive, MT (TM-177A) * Alexander, ND (TM-177B) * McIntosh, SD (TM-177C) All three Gap Filler sites remain with both the

radar tower A radar tower is a tower whose function is to support a radar facility, usually a local airport surveillance radar, and hence often at or in the vicinity of an airport or a military air base. The antenna is often continually rotating. In additio ...

s and support structures intact. The Alexander site is now home to the Watford City

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 ...

(

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 ...

) LRR site (Z-300/J-76). Dickinson was removed from service on 1 March 1965. The 706th Radar Squadron (SAGE) was inactivated 25 June 1965. Today the station is abandoned, being demolished.

Buildings and facilities

Buildings on the station include: * Family Housing * Club and Gymnasium * Telephony Kiosk * Search Radar Tower * Height Finder Radar Tower * (3) Radomes * Heating Plant * Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ) * Barracks * Operations Building * Squadron Headquarters building * Administration building * Power building (also known as the "Diesel Building") One interesting fact about the main station is that the family housing area is approximately one mile west of the operations buildings. The Ground to Air Transmitter-Receiver (GATR) facility was located off-station at , approximately 2700' elevation AMSL, roughly 3 miles north of the main station.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

* 706th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Activated at Malmstrom AFB, Montana, (P-83) on 8 December 1957 (not manned or equipped) : Assigned to Dickinson AFS on 1 July 1958 : Redesignated 706th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 July 1961 : Discontinued and inactivated on 25 June 1965 Assignments: *

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 ...

, 1 July 1958 *

Minot Air Defense Sector The Minot Air Defense Sector (MADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 29th Air Division, being stationed at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. It was inactivated on 1 D ...

(Manual), 1 January 1961 *

Great Falls Air Defense Sector The Great Falls 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 Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. It was inactivate ...

, 25 June 1963 – 25 June 1965

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). * Winkler, David F. & Webster, Julie L.,
Searching the Skies
', The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
Information for Dickinson AFS, ND

External links

US Air Defense Radar museum
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in North Dakota Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites Aerospace Defense Command military installations Buildings and structures in Stark County, North Dakota Dickinson, North Dakota 1959 establishments in North Dakota 1965 disestablishments in North Dakota Military installations established in 1959 Military installations closed in 1965