Mount Laguna Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-76, NORAD ID: Z-76) is a closed

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

General Surveillance Radar station. It is located north-northeast of

Tecate, California Tecate is an unincorporated community in the Mountain Empire area of southeastern San Diego County, California, directly adjacent to the Mexican city of Tecate Tecate () is a city in Tecate Municipality, Baja California. It is across ...

. It was closed in 1981 by the Air Force, and turned over to the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

(FAA). Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), 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 protection ...

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 cha ...

(WADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-30.

History

Mount Laguna Air Force Station 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 of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly ina ...

permanent

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

network. Prompted by the start of the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

, on July 11, 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 July 21, the Air Force directed the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

to proceed with construction. The 751st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was initially assigned to Mount Laguna by September 1951.Cornett & Johnson, p. 163 Within months the radar assumed coverage formerly provided by the Minter Field Lashup site (L-34). At that time the 751st AC&W Squadron operated AN/CPS-4 and AN/FPS-3 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 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 ...

toward unidentified

intruder Intruder may refer to: Film and television * ''The Intruder'' (1914 film), directed by Wallace Reid * ''The Intruder'' (1933 film), an American film by Albert Ray * ''The Intruder'' (1939 film), ''La intrusa'', an Argentine film by Julio Sa ...

s picked up on the unit's radar scopes. 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 Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activat ...

replaced the AN/CPS-4 in 1955. This radar then was converted to an

AN/GPS-3 The AN/FPS-8 Radar was a Medium-Range Search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continen ...

in 1956, and removed in 1960. 1956 also saw the arrival of an AN/FPS-6 at the site. During 1961 Mount Laguna AFS joined the

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. SA ...

(SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-17 at Norton AFB, California. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 751st Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 May 1961. 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. By 1962 the 751st operated an

AN/FPS-7 The AN/FPS-7 Radar was a Long Range Search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continenta ...

C search radar and AN/FPS-6 and 6B height-finder radars. In 1963 the -6B was upgraded to an AN/FPS-90 set. Mount Laguna AFS's site number changed to NORAD ID Z-76 on 31 July 1963. In 1964 the AN/FPS-6 was replaced by an

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 FD height-finder radar; this radar was converted to an AN/FSS-7 SLBM D&W radar in 1966. Mt. Laguna became a joint-use ADC/ FAA facility around 1965. In addition to the main facility, Mount Laguna Air Force Station operated several AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler sites: * Tecate, CA (P-76A) * San Ysidro, CA (P-76B) * Tierra del Sol, CA (P-76C) * Coyote Wells, CA (P-76D) * Moreno, CA (P-76E) 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 751st Radar Sq was inactivated and replaced by the 751st Air Defense Group in March 1970.Cornett, & Johnson,p.86 The upgrade to group status was done because of Mount Laguna AFS' status as a Backup Interceptor Control (BUIC) site. BUIC sites were alternate control sites in the event that SAGE Direction Centers became disabled and unable to control interceptor aircraft. The group was inactivated and replaced by the 751st Radar Squadron as defenses against crewed bombers were reduced. The group was disbanded in 1984.Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 575q, 27 Sep 1984, Subject: Disbandment of Units In 1979 Mount Laguna came under

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 J ...

(TAC) jurisdiction with the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command and the creation of ADTAC. In the early 1980s the FAA assumed greater control, with the inactivation of the 751st Radar Squadron on 30 September 1981. The FAA replaced the AN/FPS-7E with an ARSR-3 search radar, leaving the Air Force only responsible for the height-finder tower (by then an AN/FPS-116), which was removed c. 1988. In the late 1990s, the ARSR-3 was replaced by the ARSR-4. Today Mount Laguna is an FAA site, tied into the Joint Surveillance System (JSS). The former Air Force Station has been abandoned since 1981, the facilities in disrepair. The buildings that once housed up to 400 Air Force personnel at Mount Laguna are now gutted shells covered with graffiti and filled with construction debris. For years, U.S. Forest Service officials have wanted to demolish the buildings at the abandoned base, but no money was available. In 2009, funds became available for site restoration and the barracks, administration building, mess hall and other buildings that made up the Laguna Mountain Air Force Base have been torn down using money from $18.2 million in stimulus funds for Forest Service facilities in disrepair in 14 California counties.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

Squadron * Constituted as the 751st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on 14 November 1950 : Activated at Port Hueneme, California on 27 November 1950 : Moved to Mount Laguna AFS, September 1951 : Redesignated 751st Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 May 1961 : Inactivated on 1 March 1970 : Redesignated 751st Radar Squadron on 1 January 1974 : Activated on 17 January 1974 : Inactivated on 30 September 1981 Group * Constituted as the 751st Air Defense Group on 13 February 1970 : Activated on 1 March 1970 : Inactivated on 17 January 1975 : Disbanded on 21 September 1984

Commanders

* 751st Radar Squadron : Col. Fred C. Faupel Jr., unknown – 1 March 1970 * 751st Air Defense Group : Col. Fred C. Faupel Jr., 1 March 1970 – unknown * 751st Radar Squadron :Maj. Harlie B. Johnson, August 1964 – August 1965

Assignments

* Squadron :

544th Aircraft Control and Warning Group The 544th Aircraft Control and Warning Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was assigned to the 27th Air Division, and last stationed at Norton Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 6 February 1952. This command and ...

, 1 February 1952 :

27th Air Division The 27th Air Division was a United States Air Force numbered air division and the geographic Air Defense Command region controlled by the 27th AD. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command (ADC)'s Tenth Air Force, at Luke Air Force Base ...

, 6 February 1952 : Los Angeles Air Defense Sector, 1 October 1959 : 27th Air Division, 1 April 1966 :

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 inac ...

, 19 November 1969 – 1 March 1970 : 26th Air Division, 17 January 1974 – 30 September 1981 * Group : 26th Air Division, 1 March 1970 – 17 January 1974

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Further reading
Grant, C.L., The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, (1961), USAF Historical Study No. 126
* * *
Information for Mount Laguna AFS, CA
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in California Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites 1952 establishments in California 1981 disestablishments in California Military installations established in 1952 Military installations closed in 1981