View source for Middleton Island Air Force Station

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'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (1958-Present) - A [[Cold War]] U.S. Air Force Station, part of the Alaska AC&W Radar Network. Located along the Gulf of Alaska, 65 miles southwest of Cape St. Elias. The island measures only 3.5 miles long and .5 mile wide. Initially functioned as a Ground Control Intercept (GCI) or Early Warning radar site, with a Permanent System ID of F-22. Later redesignated a surveillance site. Deactivated in 1963.

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== History ==
Construction began in 1958 and was completed in 1958 by the Morrison-Knudsen Construction Company. The site became operational in May 1958 as Middleton Island Air Force Station manned by the 720th AC&W Squadron which had been activated on 8 Sep 1955 to operate and maintain the site.

Initial equipment included an [[FPS-8]] search radar and an [[FPS-4]] height-finder radar. The radars were upgraded to one [[FPS-3]] search radar and one [[FPS-6]] height-finder radar.

Aircraft track data from these radars was manually plotted on plotting boards and passed to a Manual Direction Center on voice and teletype circuits. 

== Physical Plant ==
Middleton Island was just outside the area of severe arctic weather that covers much of Alaska in the winter months and as a result, the physical plant of the site had some characteristics of AC&W sites in the lower 48. The site was a single level site with the operations area adjacent to the cantonment area but not connected. The operations area had four radar towers and a central radar operations building. Separate buildings contained A/G radio receiver equipment and A/G transmitter equipment.

The cantonment area functions were mainly contained in a single "T" shaped composite building. The stem of the "T" contains two sections, one housing the site administration offices and the other housing the dining hall. The top of the "T" had six two-story wood-framed sections, three on a side. The three sections on the right side contained the Airmen's quarters while the three sections on the left housed the Officers and NCOs. Four separate buildings alongside the "T" provided utilities, power, HVAC, water and other support functions. A small airstrip provided facilities for fixed wing aircraft and helicopters. No family housing was provided as this was considered a remote unaccompanied tour (1 year).

Annual bulk resupply shipments to Middleton Island AFS were sealifted during the summer months under the Mona Lisa and later the Cool Barge programs. Airlift of supplies, mail and personnel were available year-round, weather providing.

== Air-Ground (A-G) Communications ==
Separate radio facilities housed the radio transmitter and receiver equipment for communicating with aircraft.

== [[Middleton Island White Alice Communications Site]] ==
After HF radio systems proved inadequate for command and control communications, the Air Force implemented the White Alice Communications System (WACS). This was a system of tropospheric scatter and microwave radio relay sites constructed during the mid-1950s to provide reliable communications to Alaska Air Command (AAC) AC&W system.

The Middleton Island White Alice tropo site was co-located with the radar site. It was activated on 29 Nov 1956. The site had two pairs of 60' tropo antennas, one pair linked to Neklasson Lake (130 miles) and the second pair linked to Boswell Bay (69 miles). Facilities included a 4,300 sqft equipment and power building constructed in six sections. Crew quarters and support were provided by the Air Force Station.

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{| class="wikitable"
|+ Middleton Island AFS Major Equipment List
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!Search Radar
!HF Radar
!Data Systems
!Com

|-
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* [[FPS-3]]
* [[FPS-8]]
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* [[FPS-6]]
* [[FPS-4]]
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| valign="top" |
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{| class="wikitable"
|+ Unit Designations
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* 720th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1958-1963)
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{| class="wikitable"
|+ 720th Assignments
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* 8 Sep 1955 - Activated, assigned Headquarters [[10th Air Division]] (Defense).
* 1 Jun 1957 - Reassigned to Hq 5039th AC&W Group.
* 1 Nov 1959 - Reassigned [[10th Air Division]] (Defense).
* 1 Aug 1960 - Reassigned 5070th Air Defense Wing.
* 1 Oct 1961 - Attached 5040th AB Wg for admin and logistic support.
* 1 Oct 1963 - Inactivated
|}
{{MiddletonIslandAFSCmdrs}}

== Current Status ==
Most of the old AC&W site buildings have been demolished. The site has also had an environmental remediation project that has further erased signs of the old AC&W site and the White Alice tropo site.


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<googlemap version="0.9" lat="59.43611" lon="-146.33056" zoom="16" width="-500" height="-500" scale="yes" overview="yes" controls="large" icons="http://www.fortwiki.com/mapicons/icon{label}.png">
(R) 59.43611, -146.33056, Middleton Island Air Force Station
(1958-Active)
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'''Location:''' Middleton Island in Valdez-Cordova Census Area, Alaska.

{{Mapit-US-cityscale|59.43611|-146.33056}}
* Elevation: 108'
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'''See Also:'''
* [[Alaska Manual System Radar Sites]]
* [[Permanent System Radar Sites]]
* [[US Radar Sets]]

'''Sources:''' 
* {{DenfeldUSACE}}, page 118-119, 159-161, 238-239. <!--The Cold War In Alaska-->
* {{AC&WArgonne}}, page 69-70`. <!--History of the Aircraft Control and Warning System in Alaska-->
* {{ReynoldsUSACE}}, page 13
* [http://www.frontiernet.net/~marshagantz/UTO/topcover.pdf Top Cover and Global Engagement - A History of the Eleventh Air Force]
* {{GNIS2|ID=2375250}}

'''Links:''' 
* [http://www.radomes.org/museum/showsite.php?site=Middleton+Island+AFS%2C+AK&squadron=&country= Radomes - Middleton Island Air Force Station]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middleton_Island_Air_Force_Station Wikipedia - Middleton Island Air Force Station]
* [http://armandphotos.homestead.com/Middleton1.html Middleton AC&W]

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