Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station

Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station (1952-1979) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established as Sault Ste Marie Lashup Radar Site L-21 in 1951 near Sault Ste Marie, Chippewa County, Michigan. Named Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station after the location. Joined the Permanent System with a Permanent ID of LP-66, changed later to just P-66 and to a SAGE System ID of Z-66. Abandoned in 1979. Former Sault Ste Marie AFS Radar Operations/FST-2 Building. Former Sault Ste Marie AFS Bachelor Officer Quarters (BOQ). Former Sault Ste Marie AFS Site with Empty FPS-35 Radar Tower Visible in the Center. History First established on this site as Sault Ste Marie Lashup Radar Site L-21 operating a TPS-1C radar set in 1950. Transitioned to the permanent radar system as site LP-66 in 1951. Became a permanent radar system site P-66 in 1952 and became operational in 1952 as Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station manned by the 753rd 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 the FPS-3 search radar and an FPS-5 height-finder radar. SAGE Transition The transition of the manual GCI system to the automated SAGE system began with the installation of the FST-2 coordinate data transmitter and search radar upgrades. The FST-2 equipment digitized the radar returns and transmitted the digital returns to the SAGE direction center. Under the SAGE System, interceptor aircraft were directed to their targets by the direction center computers and controllers, greatly reducing the need for local controllers and equipment at every radar station. The FST-2 was a very large digital system using vacuum tube technology. Over 6900 vacuum tubes were used in each FST-2 requiring 21 air-conditioned cabinets, 40 tons of air conditioning, 43.5 kva of prime power, and usually a large new addition to the operations building. The FST-2B modification added two more cabinets but with newer solid-state (transistor) technology to process coded responses from aircraft transponders. SAGE System Operation Former K.I. Sawyer SAGE Direction Center DC-14 now Repurposed. FAA Radar on Top of Blockhouse. Guthrie SAGE Direction Centers & Sectors Assigned Direction Center Sector 1 Apr 1960 - 1 Oct 1963 K.I. Sawyer SAGE Direction Center DC-14 Sault Ste Marie Air Defense Sector 1 Oct 1963 - 1 Apr 1966 Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 Detroit Air Defense Sector 1 Apr 1966 - 15 Sep 1969 Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10 29th Air Division 15 Sep 1969 - 14 Nov 1969 Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 34th Air Division 14 Nov 1969 - 19 Nov 1969 Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10 29th Air Division 19 Nov 1969 - 30 Oct 1979 Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10 23rd Air Division The site began operation as a SAGE System site in 1960, initially feeding the K.I. Sawyer SAGE Direction Center DC-14. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-20A and a second FPS-6 height-finder radar was installed. The station switched to the Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 in 1963 and an FPS-35 search radar replaced the FPS-20A. One FPS-6 height-finder was removed and the other was modified to be an FPS-90 that same year. In 1964 an FPS-26A height-finder radar was installed. Closure Sault Sainte Marie AFS came under Tactical Air Command jurisdiction in October 1979 with the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command and the formation of ADTAC. Sault Ste Marie AFS and the 753rd were deactivated on 1 Oct 1979. Gap Filler Radar Sites Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station AFS was responsible for the maintenance of one remote unattended gap-filler radar site. The gap-filler sites were placed in locations where the main search radar lacked coverage. These sites sent digitized radar target data directly to a direction center. Maintenance teams were dispatched from Sault Ste Marie AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. The Sault Ste Marie AFS gap-filler radar was located at Grand Marais, MI. Sault Ste Marie AFS Gap Filler Radar Sites (edit list) ADC NORAD Location State Type From To GPS Notes P-66A Z-66A Grand Marais MI FPS-18, FST-1 1960-02 1979-10-01 46.5475, -86.03639 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 16 unit housing area for critical married personnel. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. Sault Ste Marie AFS Plan Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems FPS-3 FPS-20A FPS-35 FPS-18 Gap Filler FPS-5 FPS-6 FPS-6A FPS-26A FST-2/A/B FST-1 Gap Filler Unit Designations 753rd Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1952-1960) 753rd Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1960-1974) 753rd Radar Squadron (1974-1979) 753rd Assignments 1 Jan 1951 - Assigned at Sault Ste Marie AFS, MI, assigned to 541st AC&W Gp. 6 Feb 1952 - Transferred to 30th AD. 16 Feb 1953 - Transferred to 4706th Def Wg. 8 Jul 1956 - Transferred to 37th AD. 1 Apr 1959 - Transferred to 30th AD. 1 Apr 1960 - Transferred to Sault Ste Marie ADS. K.I. Sawyer SAGE Direction Center DC-14 15 Jul 1960 - Redesignated from AC&W Sq to 753rd Radar Sq (SAGE). 1 Oct 1963 - Transferred to Duluth ADS. Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to 29th AD. Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10 15 Sep 1969 - Reassigned to 34th AD. Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 14 Nov 1969 - Reassigned to 29th AD. Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10 19 Nov 1969 - Reassigned to 23rd AD. Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10 Oct 1979 - Reassigned to Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). 30 Oct 1979 - Inactivated. Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station Partial Commanders List (edit list) Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes 1960-12-05 1964-10-31 Lt Colonel Jacobs, Morris A. N/A 1964-11-01 1967-04-28 Captain Frook, Stanley F. N/A 1967-04-28 Lt Colonel Hartman, Joseph N/A 1968-07 1970-05-27 Major Bays, Milton E. N/A 1970-05-27 1972-06-01 Captain Smith, Raymond H. Jr N/A 1972-06-01 1972-07-19 Captain Sewell, George R. N/A 1972-07-19 1973~ Major Chambers, John A. N/A Current Status Abandoned in Sault Ste Marie, Chippewa County, Michigan. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Sault Ste Marie in Chippewa County, Michigan. Maps & Images Lat: 46.45722 Long: -84.38722 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 771' See Also: SAGE System BUIC System Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets K.I. Sawyer SAGE Direction Center DC-14 Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 Sources: 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, page 163-164. 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, page 124. USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2090207 Links: Bad Links /cgi-bin/museum/acwinfo2x.cgi?site=%22Sault+Ste.+Marie+AFS,+MI%22&key=SaultSteMarieAFSMI&pic=SaultSteMarieAFSMI&doc=SaultSteMarieAFSMI&www=SaultSteMarieAFSMI Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station] Wikipedia - Sault Ste Marie Air Force Station Visited: 5 Jul 2016