Stewart SAGE Direction Center DC-02

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Stewart SAGE Direction Center DC-02 (1956-1969) - A Cold War SAGE System Direction Center first established in 1956 on Stewart AFB, Newburgh, Orange County, New York. Named Stewart SAGE Direction Center after the location. Assigned a Sage ID of DC-02. Deactivated as a SAGE Direction Center in 1969.

Stewart SAGE Direction Center Entrance.
Stewart SAGE Direction Powerhouse.
Abandoned Stewart SAGE Direction Center DC-02.

History of Stewart SAGE Direction Center

Established in 1956 and became operational on 8 Jan 1957 as Stewart SAGE Direction Center DC-02. The direction center was housed in a purpose-built, square four-story reinforced concrete blockhouse.

SAGE System Data Flow

Direction center equipment included the duplex FSQ-7 computer system and associated communication equipment. The FSQ-7 computer system assembled digitized inputs from USAF Radar Sites to provide tracking and identification of all aircraft within their sector of responsibility. The digitized radar inputs came from USAF Radar Sites, airborne radar pickets, Texas Towers, Gap Filler Radar Sites and other radar sources. The total picture of aircraft in the sector was assembled and any unknown aircraft were checked out and hostile aircraft were engaged by USAF fighter aircraft, Bomarc missiles or NIKE missiles. The primary defense was against the Soviet threat of a mass nuclear bomber attack on the US. The system evolved before the advent of ICBMs and provided no missile defense against them.

The computer technology was first generation vacuum tube equipment and required significant power and air conditioning. The physical plant of the direction center was enclosed in a large multi-story concrete blockhouse that housed the duplex FSQ-7 computer, communications equipment, a powerhouse, air conditioning systems and operational areas. The operational areas included radar mapping, air surveillance, identification, communications and weapons direction.

The enormous cost of the radar sites, direction centers, personnel, and training caused an immediate reevaluation and almost as quickly as they were built some facilities were closed. The first mass closures began in the 1960s when many radar sites and virtually all the gap filler sites were closed. The first round of direction center closures came in 1963 when six were closed, a second round in 1966 and a third in 1969 that closed a total of 17 out of 23. The remaining six direction centers became SAGE Regional Control Centers (RCCs) still using the massive FSQ-7 vacuum tube computers. As the direction centers and radar sites closed the remaining sites were realigned into ever-increasing sectors.

A new Joint Surveillance System (JSS) evolved as a partnership between the Air Force and the FAA to provide nationwide radar coverage. When completed in 1983 it consisted of only forty-six radar sites feeding into four new Region Operation Control Centers (ROCCs) with FYQ-93 computer systems. With the activation of the four U.S. ROCCs and the two Canadian ROCCs, the last seven of the SAGE direction centers were deactivated and this signaled the end of the SAGE system. Of the remaining forty-six radar sites, thirty-one had FAA-operated search radars and USAF operated height finders. Five sites just had FAA search radars and only ten sites were operated by the Military. With the deployment of forty FAA ARSR-4 3D radar sets in the 1990s, the earlier military and FAA radars were replaced.

The Canadians closed their underground SAGE Direction Center and created two ROCCs (CAN-East and CAN-West) using the FYQ-93 computers in the underground facility.

Both DC-02/CC-04 were inactivated on 31 Dec 1969 when ADCOM shut down SAGE operations at Stewart AFB, with control being moved to Syracuse SAGE Direction Center DC-03 and SAGE Control Center CC-01 at Syracuse AFS. The SAGE blockhouses and Stewart AFB were transferred to the National Guard on 31 Dec 1969.


Stewart SAGE Direction Center DC-02 Radar Sites (edit list)
Location Type State Unit ADC NORAD JSS From To GPS Notes
Rye AFS NH 644th M-104 1956 1957 43.044722,
-70.714167
Benton AFS PA 648th P-30 Z-30 1956
1963
1958
1966
41.35694,
-76.29028
Brunswick AFS ME 654th P-13 Z-13 1962 1965 43.89556,
-69.92333
Watertown AFS NY 655th P-49 Z-49 1963 1966 43.92528,
-75.90917
Saratoga Springs AFS NY 656th P-50 Z-50 1956 1966 43.01139,
-73.6825
Barrington AS NS 672nd M-102 C-102 1960 1962 43.45167,
-65.47139
North Truro AFS MA 762nd P-10 Z-10 1956 1966 42.03149,
-70.05329
Saint Albans AFS VT 764th P-14 Z-14 1962 1966 44.78167,
-73.06556
Fort Heath RS MA 820th MM-1 MM-1 1959 1962 42.38889,
-70.96944
Lyndonville AFS VT 911th M-103 Z-103 1962 1963 44.66528,
-71.77111


Current Status

Sage Direction Center blockhouse repurposed on Stewart AFB in Newburgh, Orange County, New York.


Location: Stewart AFB, Newburgh, Orange County, New York.

Maps & Images

Lat: 41.4999 Long: -74.10617

  • Multi Maps from ACME
  • Maps from Bing
  • Maps from Google
  • Elevation: 491'

See Also:

Sources:

  • Winkler, David F., Searching the Skies: the Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, USAF Hq Air Combat Command, 1997, 192 pages, Pdf
  • Cornett, Lloyd H. & Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization (1946-1980), Office of History ADC, Peterson AFB, Colorado, 31 Dec 1980, 179 pages, Pdf

Links:

Visited: 8 Jun 2016

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