The Spokane Air Defense Sector (SPADS) 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 ...

organization. Its last assignment was with 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 ...

25th Air Division (25th AD) at Larson Air Force Base in Grant County, Washington

History

SAGE Air Defense Sector

SPADS was established in September 1958, assuming responsibility for

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the H ...

, North Idaho, and Western Montana. The organization eventually also provided command and control over several

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 ...

and

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 ...

squadrons. On 8 September the new

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) Direction Center (DC-15) became operational. DC-15 was equipped with dual AN/FSQ-7 Computers. The day-to-day operations of the command was to train and maintain tactical flying units flying jet interceptor aircraft ( F-94 Starfire; F-102 Delta Dagger; F-106 Delta Dart) in a state of readiness with training missions and series of exercises with SAC and other units simulating interceptions of incoming enemy aircraft. However, until March 1960, SPADS did not have operational command over the radar and interceptor aircraft it directed. Instead, they were assigned to the 4700th Air Defense Wing until March 1960. The 4700th was transferred from direct assignment to 25th AD to SPADS briefly before being discontinued in July. The Sector was inactivated on 1 September 1963 and its units were assigned to the 25th AD.

4700th Air Defense Wing

The Sector's only

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

was designated and organized as 4700th Air Defense Wing at Geiger Field Washington to provide

of the northwestern United States on 1 September 1958. It was assigned two fighter groups flying fighter

( F-102 Delta Dagger, F-104 Starfighter, and F-106 Delta Dart) and ten

squadrons to accomplish its mission. When its 498th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (part of the 84th Fighter Group) converted to F-106As, it became the first combat ready squadron flying Delta Darts. In May 1959, the wing's 4721st Air Defense Group at Larson was discontinued and its 538th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron transferred directly to the wing On 15 March 1960, the wing's 636th,Cornett & Johnson, p. 155 637th, 822dCornett & Johnson, p. 171 and 823d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons and 538th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron were transferred to SPADS. Other radar units assigned to the wing, however, were transferred to other ADC organizations. The 634th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Burns AFS, Oregon, in May 1960; the 638th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Curlew AFS, Washington in December 1959, the 680th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Yaak AFS, Montana in July 1960; the 716th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Geiger Field, Washington in May 1959 and the 821st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron at Baker AFS, Oregon in May 1960. In May, the wing and its 84th Fighter GroupCornett & Johnson, p. 74 were also transferred, leaving the wing without an operational mission, and it was discontinued on 30 June 1960.

Lineage

* Established as Spokane Air Defense Sector on 8 September 1958 : Inactivated on 1 September 1963

Assignments

* 25th Air Division, 8 September 1958 – 1 September 1963

Stations

* Larson AFB, Washington, 8 September 1958 – 1 September 1963

Components

Wing

* 4700th Air Defense Wing : Geiger Field, Washington, 15 May 1960 – 1 July 1960

Group

* 84th Fighter Group (Air Defense) : Geiger Field, Washington, 1 July 1960 – 15 July 1963

Interceptor squadron

* 538th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron : Larson AFB, Washington, 15 May 1960 – 1 July 1960

Radar squadrons

* 636th Radar Squadron : Condon AFS, Oregon, 15 March 1960 – 1 June 1963 * 637th Radar Squadron : Othello AFS, Washington, 15 March 1960 – 1 June 1963 * 760th Radar Squadron : Colville AFS, Washington, 15 March 1960 – 1 June 1961 * 822d Radar Squadron : Cottonwood AFS, Idaho, 1 June 1963 – 25 June 1965 *

823d Radar Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

: Mica Peak AFS, Washington, 15 March 1960 – 1 June 1963 * 825th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Kamloops AS, British Columbia, 15 March 1960 – 1 April 1962 * 919th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Saskatoon Mountain AS, Alberta, 15 March 1960 – 1 April 1963

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * Further Reading * * *
Radomes.org Spokane Air Defense Sector
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Spok 1958 establishments in Washington (state) Military units and formations in Washington (state) 1963 disestablishments in Washington (state) Military units and formations established in 1958