View source for Makah Air Force Station

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'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (1950-1988) - A [[Cold War]] Air Force Radar Station first established in 1951 near Neah Bay, Clallam County, Washington. First named [[Neah Bay Air Force Station]] on 1 Dec 1953 and renamed Makah Air Force Station on 28 Mar 1958 after the local Makah Indian Tribe. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of '''P-44''', later a Sage ID of '''Z-44''' and a JSS ID of '''J-80'''. Abandoned as an Air Force Station in 1988, the upper site continues to operate as [[Makah FAA Radar Site]] with an FAA ID of '''QKW'''.
{|{{FWpicframe}}
|- valign="top"
|width="50%"|<!--[[Image:.jpg|350px|thumb|left|Makah Air Force Station]]-->
|width="50%"|<!--[[Image:.jpg|350px|thumb|right|Makah Air Force Station]]-->
|-
|colspan="2"|[[File:Makah Main Site.png|795px|thumb|center|Makah Air Force Station Main Site]]
|}
== History ==
[[File:Makah AFS HQ Orderly Room.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Former Makah AFS HQ and Orderly Room now the Makah Tribal Justice Center.]]
The main site was established on 15 Dec 1950 and became operational in January 1952 manned by the 758th AC&W Squadron. The new site assumed coverage from Lashup System site L-34 at Neah Bay. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and an early warning mission. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifying all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any identified enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course and speed to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio.

Initial equipment included the [[FPS-3]] search radar and a [[CPS-4]] height-finder radar. 

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== [[SAGE System]] Transition ==
[[File:Makah AFS Barracks-2.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Former Makah AFS Enlisted Barracks.]]

{{SageTransition}} The [[FST-2]] Coordinate Data Transmitter was installed at Makah AFS in 1959. 
== [[SAGE System]] Operation ==
[[File:Makah AFS FPS-26A Radar Antenna.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Makah AFS FPS-26A Antenna, now at McChord AFB Former SAGE Direction Center DC-12.]]

The site began operation as a SAGE site in February 1960 initially feeding the [[McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12]]. The search radar was upgraded to an [[FPS-7|FPS-7A]]. The height-finder radar was upgraded to an [[FPS-90]] and an [[FPS-26|FPS-26A]] height-finder radar was installed. The [[FPS-7|FPS-7A]] was later upgraded to an [[FPS-107|FPS-107V1]]. A [[TPS-43|TPS-43E]] was temporarily installed at Makah AFS for three weeks when the [[FPS-107|FPS-107V1]] search radar was replaced by the [[FPS-91|FPS-91A]].

In February 1973 the Air Force and the FAA completed an 18-month replacement program, swapping the aging vacuum tube [[FST-2|FST-2s]] with integrated circuit FYQ-47s and FYQ-49s. Makah Air Force Station was a part of that program and would have received an [[FYQ-47]] Common Digitizer.

By 1977 the [[FPS-90]] height-finder radar was modified to become an [[FPS-116]].

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==[[JSS System]] Operation ==
In 1983 the [[SAGE System]] deactivated and Makah AFS  joined the new [[JSS System]] with a JSS ID of '''J-80''' as one of the original members and as one of seven USAF military-operated sites. The USAF maintenance crew consisted of 14 radar, 4 radio, and 4 common digitizer maintenance personnel.

== Air Force Station Closure ==
Makah AFS and the 758th were deactivated on 15 Jun 1988 with the upper radar site continuing as a joint-use FAA/USAF JSS Site J-80. The lower site areas were returned to the Makah Tribe.

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== [[Makah FAA Radar Site]] ==
On the closure of Makah Air Force Station in 1988, a small portion of the upper radar site was configured as an FAA compound for continuing use as a  JSS site J-80. Initial equipment for the reconfigured FAA radar site included the [[FPS-91|FPS-91A]] search radar which had been put in place circa 1980.  The FPS-91/91A was an [[FPS-20]] with a new antenna from Raytheon, a Diplex Gating Unit (DGU), a bandpass filter, and other modifications. The FAA had standardized on the FPS-20 and its variants for sites they were to maintain and, at some point before the site closed, they would have assumed maintenance responsibility for it.  The USAF [[FPS-116]] height finder was removed concurrently with the closure of the Air Force Station in 1988.

The FAA/USAF joint site now operates an [[ARSR-4]] 3D radar on the upper FAA compound as a minimally attended radar and an [[ ATCBI-6|ATCBI-6M]] secondary radar (beacon). The ARSR-4 was installed in the 1996-1999 time frame and sometime later the [[ATCBI-6|ATCBI-6M]] Beacon system replaced an earlier version (probably an [[ATCBI-5]]).

During the period of joint use, the site fed radar data to both the FAAs [[Seattle ARTCC]] and the USAF [[McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12]] (up to 1983 when it shut down) and after that to the [[McChord SAGE Combat Center CC-3#McChord JSS ROCC|McChord JSS ROCC]] (1983-2006) and then to the [[McChord SAGE Combat Center CC-3#Battle Control System-Fixed (BCS-F)|McChord Battle Control System-Fixed (BCS-F)]] (2006-Current).

== Physical Plant ==
The physical plant of the site was divided into an upper area on Bahokus Peak where the main site and the GATR Radio site were located and a lower site with the cantonment and housing areas. The main site housed the operations buildings, the radar towers, and the backup generators. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.

The lower area housed the cantonment area with the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, the dining hall, the motor pool, and other support buildings. Apart from the main site was a housing area for married personnel with 7 units for officer housing and 38 units for enlisted personnel. An adjacent area contained a 22 space trailer park.

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{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
|+ Makah AFS Major Equipment List
|-
!Search Radar
!HF Radar
!Data Systems
!Scopes
!Comm
!IFF/SIF/Beacon
|-
| valign="top" |
* [[FPS-3]]
* [[FPS-20]]
* [[FPS-7|FPS-7A]]
* [[FPS-107|FPS-107A]]
* [[FPS-91|FPS-91A]]
* [[TPS-43]]
* [[ARSR-4]] FAA
| valign="top" |
* [[CPS-4]]
* [[FPS-6]]
* [[FPS-6|FPS-6A]]
* [[FPS-90]]
* [[FPS-26|FPS-26A]]
* [[FPS-116]]
| valign="top" |
* [[FST-2|FST-2/A/B]]
* [[FYQ-47]]
* [[CD-2]] FAA
| valign="top" |
| valign="top" |
* [[GKA-5]]
* [[FRT-49]]
* [[GRT-3]]
* [[GRR-7]]
* [[GRT-22]] (14)
* [[GRR-24]] (14)
* [[GRC-171]]
| valign="top" |
* [[GPA-124]]
* [[UPX-14]]
* [[ATCBI-5]] FAA
* [[ATCBI-6|ATCBI-6M]] FAA
|}

{| class="wikitable" width="75%"
|+ Unit Designations
|-
|
* 758th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1951-1960)
* 758th Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1960-1974)
* 758th Radar Squadron (1974-1988)
|}


{| class="wikitable" width="75%"
|+ 758th Assignments
|-
|
* 1 Jan 1951 - Assigned at Bohokus Peak, WA, assigned to 505th AC&W Gp.
* 6 Feb 1952 - Transferred to 25th AD.
* Jan 1953 - Transferred to 4704th Def Wg.
* 1 Dec 1953 - Site redesignated to Neah Bay AFS, WA.
* 8 Oct 1954 - Transferred to 25th AD.
* 28 Mar 1958 - Site redesignated Makah AFS, WA.
* 1 Mar 1960 - Transferred to Seattle, ADS.
* 1 Apr 1960 - Redesignated from AC&W Sq to 758th Radar Sq (SAGE).
* 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to 25th AD.
* 1 Feb 1974 - Redesignated 758 Radar Sq.
* Oct 1979 - Transferred to Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC)
* 6 Dec 1985 - Transferred to First Air Force, 25th Air Division, Northwest Air Defense Sector.
* 15 Jun 1988 - 758th Radar Sq. inactivated.
|}

{{MakahAFSCmdrs}}

== Current Status ==
The cantonment area and housing area were turned back to the Makah Tribe and are now administered by the Makah Tribal Council. Many of the AFS structures remain, repurposed for tribal uses. The main site on Bahokus Peak remains as a joint-use USAF/FAA site with an [[ARSR-4]] 3D radar. The GATR Radio site now contains commercial radio gear.
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[[File:Makah AFS Entrance-2.jpg|thumb|center|800px|Former Makah AFS Entrance now the Makah Tribal Center]]
[[File:Makah AFS Plan.png|center|800px]]
{{MakahAFSStructures}}
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{|
|
<googlemap version="0.9" lat="48.359352" lon="-124.670344" zoom="13" width="-500" height="-500" scale="yes" overview="yes" controls="large" icons="http://www.fortwiki.com/mapicons/icon{label}.png">
(H) 48.34492, -124.67633, Makah AFS Housing Area
(C) 48.34774, -124.6677, Makah AFS Cantonment Area
(G) 48.3679, -124.66274, Makah AFS GATR Site
(R) 48.37167, -124.675, Makah AFS Main Site
(1950-1988)
</googlemap>
|valign="top"|
'''Location:''' Near Neah Bay in Clallam County, Washington.

{{Mapit-US-cityscale|48.37167|-124.675}}
* Elevation: 1,316' Main Site
|valign="top"|
<br>
'''GPS Locations:'''
* {{GPSLinkLong|Lat=48.34492|Lon=-124.67633}} Makah AFS Housing Area
* {{GPSLinkLong|Lat=48.34774|Lon=-124.6677}} Makah AFS Cantonment Area
* {{GPSLinkLong|Lat=48.3679|Lon=-124.66274}} Makah AFS GATR Site
* {{GPSLinkLong|Lat=48.37167|Lon=-124.675}} Makah AFS Main Site
* {{GPSLinkLong|Lat=48.37190|Lon=-124.67617}} Makah FAA Radar Site
|}

'''See Also:'''
* [[SAGE System]]
* [[BUIC System]]
* [[JSS System]]
* [[Permanent System Radar Sites]]
* [[US Radar Sets]]
* [[Cape Flattery Military Reservation]]
* [[McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12]]
* [[Seattle ARTCC]]

'''Sources:''' 
* {{Cornett}}, page 164.  <!--ADC Organization-->
* {{Winkler}}, page 165.  <!--Searching the skies-->
* {{NORAD1966HistoryBUIC}}  <!--BUIC II Implementations-->
* David M. Dornbusch and Company, '''''Makah Air Force Station Re-Use Plan''''', February 1988, Office of Economic Adjustment Department of Defense AD-A232 159. [http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a232159.pdf pdf]
{{FAA-CommonSitePrograms}}
* {{ADATC1982}}, page 74.
* {{GNIS|ID=2729077}}

'''Links:''' 
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Makah_Air_Force_Station Wikipedia - Makah Air Force Station]
* [http://758acwsquadron.homestead.com 758th AC&W Web Site]

{{FortID|ID=WA0192|Name={{PAGENAME}}}}
* WA0193 - Makah FAA Radar Site

{{Visited|4 Sep 2015 Lower Site Only}}
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