View source for Highlands Air Force Station

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'''{{PAGENAME}}''' (1948-1966) - A [[Cold War]] Air Force Radar Station first established in 1948 near Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Named Highlands Air Force Station after the location on 1 Dec 1953. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-09 and later a Sage ID of Z-09. Abandoned in 1966. Also the site of Highlands NIKE Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) [[Highlands Army Air Defense Command Post NY-55DC|NY-55DC]].
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== History of Highlands Air Force Station ==
[[File:CPS-6B Radar.jpg|thumb|left|200px|CPS-6B Radar Set]]
Established in 1948 and became operational that year as Highlands Air Force Station manned by the 646th AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and 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 two [[CPS-6]] radar sets. 
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== [[GPA-37]] Analog Flight Control System ==
[[File:GPA-23 Console.png|thumb|left|200px|GPA-23/GPA-37 Console, Capable of Controlling Six Intercepts.]]
In 1957 Highlands AFS received the first operational [[GPA-37]] Analog Flight Control System as a prelude to the [[SAGE System]] becoming operational. The GPA-37 was capable of directly controlling supersonic aircraft (F-106) and supersonic air breathing missiles (BOMARC) using time division data link (TDDL) to the airborne guidance systems. The GPA-37 was also capable of interfacing with the NIKE missile system.

In preparation for the [[SAGE System]] an [[FPS-6]] height-finder radar was installed and the site was slated to receive the first [[FPS-7|FPS-7C]] search radar but that installation was delayed until September 1959. 
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== SAGE Transition ==
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[[File:FPS-7 Stacked Beam Radar.jpg|thumb|left|200px|FPS-7 Stacked Beam Search Radar]]
The site began operation as a SAGE site in July 1958 initially feeding the McGuire SAGE Direction Center DC-01. The search radar was upgraded to an [[FPS-7|FPS-7C]] in September 1959 and an [[FPS-6|FPS-6B]] height-finder radar was added in 1960. By 1963 the site was operating an [[FPS-7|FPS-7C]] search radar, an [[FPS-90]] height-finder and an [[FPS-26|FPS-26A]] height-finder. This was the configuration when the Air Force Station closed in 1966.
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== U.S. Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) ==
[[File:Missile Master Interfaces.jpg|thumb|left|200px|NIKE Missile Master Interfaces]]
The U.S. Army Air Defense Command Post (AADCP) designated NY-55DC at Highlands directed the Nike units in the New York Defense Area, replacing the manual operations center at [[Fort Wadsworth]] on Staten Island. The AADCP was built on the Highlands Air Force Station adjacent to the operations building and included the Missile Master building (aka nuclear bunker), four radar towers, a diesel power plant and electrical switch building. Initial Army equipment included the [[FSG-1]] Missile Master System and one each [[FPS-6]] and [[FPS-90]] height-finders. Construction began 10 Jul 1958 and the Missile Master was accepted in May 1960 and operated through 30 Nov 1966. The [[FSG-1]] Missile Master was replaced with the [[TSQ-51]] Missile Mentor System in 1966 and that system was purportedly replaced by a [[GSG-5]] BIRDIE system by 1 Jul 1972. AADCP operations ended in April 1974 with the closure of the region's remaining Nike fire units.
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{| class="wikitable" width="800"
|+ New York Defense Area at Shutdown in 1974
|-
| width="33%" valign="top" |
* NY-55DC - Highlands, NJ.
* NY-03 - Orangeburg, NY.
* NY-04 - Mount Nebo, NY.
* NY-24 - Amityville/Farmingdale, NY.
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* NY-49 - Fort Tilden, NY.
* NY-79 - Livingston, NJ.
* NY-80 - Livingston, NJ.
* PH-23 - Lumberton, NJ.
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* PH-25 - Lumberton, NJ.
* PH-41 - Erial, NJ.
* PH-43 - Erial, NJ.
* PH-58 - Woolwich Twp, NJ.
|}
The Highlands Army Air Defense Site was decommissioned on 31 Oct 1974 and the Highlands Missile Master building was demolished in 1995.

== [[Texas Tower 4]] ==
[[File:Texas Tower 4.jpg|thumb|center|800px|Texas Tower 4, Lost with all Hands Aboard 15 Jan 1961.]]
[[Texas Tower 4]] was a radar platform operated as a sub-unit of the Highlands AFS by personnel assigned to the 646th. The tower became operational in April 1959 and went [[SAGE System]] operational in April 1960. The tower was located about 80 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean and connected to Highlands AFS by a multi-channel tropospheric (tropo) scatter radio system (FRC-56). The Tropo system terminated at Highlands AFS with the antennas and equipment located on the old [[World War II]] 16" gun battery [[Battery 116]] site. The antennas were placed on the top of gun emplacement #2 and the equipment building located in the back near the central rear entrance. 

[[Texas Tower 4]] was damaged by Hurricane Donna in September 1960 and was structurally unsound when a winter storm on 15 Jan 1961 collapsed it into the ocean. All 28 men of the reduced crew on board were lost and only two bodies were ever recovered. The loss of Texas Tower 4 caused the other two towers to be closed in 1963 and caused Palermo Air Force Station to be reactivated.

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== Gap Fillers ==
Highlands AFS was responsible for the maintenance of one remote unattended gap-filler radar site. {{GapFillerCommon}} The Highlands AFS gap-filler radar was located at Gibbsboro, New Jersey. The gap-filler site was deactivated in December 1960 at Gibbsboro as the construction of the new [[Gibbsboro Air Force Station]] began.
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== Closure ==
Highlands AFS and the 646th were deactivated on 1 Jul 1966 and the site was turned over to the U.S. Army and became Highlands Army Air Defense Site. Finally closed in 1974.

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== Physical Plant ==
The physical plant of the site was divided into the main site, a cantonment area, a housing area and a radio site. The main site housed the operations buildings, the radar towers, and the backup generators. The cantonment area housed 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 small housing area for critical married personnel. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.
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{| width="800px"
|-
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{| class="wikitable"
|+ Highlands AFS Major Equipment List
|-
!Search Radar
!HF Radar
!Data Systems
|-
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* [[CPS-6|CPS-6B]]
* [[GPS-3]]
* [[FPS-8]]
* [[FPS-7|FPS-7C]]
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* [[FPS-6]]
* [[FPS-6|FPS-6A]]
* [[FPS-90]]
* [[FPS-26|FPS-26A]]
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* [[GPA-37]]
* [[FST-2|FST-2/A/B]]
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* [[FSG-1]]
* [[TSQ-51]]
* [[GSG-5]]
|}
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{| class="wikitable"
|+ Unit Designations
|-
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* 646th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1948-1958)
* 646th Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1958-1966)
|}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 646th Assignments
|-
|
* 1 Jan 1951 - Assigned  at Navesink, NJ, assigned to the 503rd AC§W Gp.
* 6 Feb 1952 - Transferred to the 26th AD.
* 16 Feb 1953 - Transferred to the 4709th Def Wg.
* 1 Dec 1953 - Site redesignated to Highlands AFS, NJ.
* 18 Oct 1956 - Transferred to 4621st AD Wg.
* 8 Jan 1957 - Transferred to NY ADS.
* 1 Oct 1958 - Redesignated the 646th Radar Sq (SAGE).
* 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to the 21st AD.
* 1 Jul 1966 - Discontinued.
|}

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== Current Status ==
Abandoned in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

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<googlemap version="0.9" lat="40.39139" lon="-73.99389" zoom="16" width="-500" height="-500" scale="yes" overview="yes" controls="large" icons="http://www.fortwiki.com/mapicons/icon{label}.png">
(R) 40.39139, -73.99389, Highlands Air Force Station
(1948-1966)
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'''Location:''' Middletown Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

{{Mapit-US-cityscale|40.39139|-73.99389}}
* Elevation: 213'
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'''See Also:'''
* [[Lashup System]]
* [[SAGE System]]
* [[Permanent System Radar Sites]]
* [[NIKE System]]
* [[:Category:New York NIKE Sites|New York NIKE Sites]]
* [[:Category:Philadelphia NIKE Sites|Philadelphia NIKE Sites]]
* [[US Radar Sets]]
* [[McGuire SAGE Direction Center DC-01]]

'''Sources:''' 
* {{Cornett}}, page 156.  <!--ADC Organization-->
* {{Winkler}}, page 33, 137.  <!--Searching the skies-->
* {{GNIS|ID=2087766}}

'''Links:''' 
* [[Bad Links]] Highlands+AFS%2C+NJ Highlands Air Force Station]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlands_Air_Force_Station Wikipedia - Highlands Air Force Station]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlands_Army_Air_Defense_Site Wikipedia - Highlands Army Air Defense Site]]
* [http://www.oocities.org/fort_tilden/highlands.html Highlands Military Reservation]

{{Visited|13 Aug 2010}}
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