RCAF Station Falconbridge

RCAF Station Falconbridge (1952-1993) - A Cold War Pinetree Line Canadian Forces Radar Station first established in 1952 near Falconbridge, Ontario as RCAF Station Falconbridge. Initially manned by the 33 AC&W Squadron and assigned a site ID of C-9. On 10 Aug 1967, the base was renamed CFS Falconbridge. Closed in 1985. Former Falconbridge CFS Gate Shacks. Former Falconbridge Officers' and Transient Quarters. Former Falconbridge CFS Consolidated Mess Building. Canadian Forces Station Falconbridge Falconbridge was established in 1952 as a Pinetree Line radar site and became operational on 15 Aug 1952 manned by the 33 AC&W Squadron reporting to the No. 3 Air Defence Control Centre (ADCC), located at RCAF Station Edgar. No. 3 ADCC also coordinated the operations of: 32 AC&W Squadron at RCAF Station Foymount 33 AC&W Squadron at RCAF Station Falconbridge 34 AC&W Squadron at RCAF Station Senneterre 912 AC&W Squadron at USAF Ramore Air Station The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning misssion. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifing 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. The original configuration of radar equipment included one FPS-3 search radar and two ISG-98 height-finders. The FPS-3 was mounted atop the four-story main operations building and the two ISG-98 height-finders were mounted on two separate towers flanking the main building. The ISF-98 height-finder antennas were designed to rotate synchronously with the FPS-3 antenna providing two slant beams for height detection (they did not nod). Difficulties with the ISG-98 led to the installation of two TPS-501 height-finders on the sides of the main building. On 19 Jan 1956, the two ISG-98s were dismantled and one stored in each of the separate towers. The two TPS-501s were then moved from the main building onto the separate towers. The ISG-98s were shipped back to the depot on 4 Apr 1956. The height-finder saga continued with the installation of a separate FPS-6 height-finder tower and the acceptance of an FPS-6 height-finder radar on 5 Oct 1956. Blanking issues initially led to some problems but they were resolved. A second FPS-6 tower and radar sets were installed and the TPS-501s were removed. This second tower was completed with a radome on 8 Oct 1960 and the FPS-507 (Canadian version of FPS-6) was accepted on 2 Nov 1960. The FPS-3 search radar was modified, became an FPS-508 (Canadian version of FPS-20), and was accepted for service on 3 May 1960. On 6 Sep 1960 the Mark X IFF equipment was changed out for new the GPA-501 (SIF) equipment. With the changes implemented in 1960, the site radar equipment was prepared and configured for the coming SAGE System operation. SAGE System In 1962 a SAGE Annex building was constructed at the rear of the main operations building and the FST-2B was installed in preparation for SAGE operation. In 1963 Falconbridge was declared SAGE System ready and the unit designation was changed to 33 Radar Squadron in 1964. As a SAGE radar site, the unit reported to the 23 NORAD Region in Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10, but their data was also fed to the North Bay SAGE Direction Center DC-31. In March 1972, a detachment of the Air Weapons Control and Countermeasures School (AWC&CS) located in North Bay was established at Falconbridge CFS. The school taught the TQ-3 level Air Defence Technicians Course. With the SAGE System deactivation in 1983, the Falconbridge radar site became part of the Canada East ROCC, which was declared fully operational in August 1984. The Squadron was deactivated in December 1985 and the site closed on 1 Nov 1986. Falconbridge Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems Comm Scopes IFF/SIF FPS-3 1952 FPS-508 1960 ISG-98 1952 TPS-501 1955 FPS-6 1956 FPS-507 1960 FST-2/A/B 1963 FYQ-47 1970s Unit Designations 1 Oct 1952 - 33 Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron 1964 - 33 Radar Squadron 33 AC&W Squadron Assignments 15 Aug 1952 - Assigned No. 209 RCAF Radio Station Falconbridge. 1 Oct 1952 - Designated as 33 Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron, RCAF Station Falconbridge. 1964 - Designated 33 Radar Squadron assigned to 23 NORAD Region, Duluth, Minnesota. Aug 1984 - Assigned to Canada East ROCC. Dec 1985 - Ceased operations. 1 Nov 1986 - Falconbridge closed. CFS Falconbridge Partial Commanders List (edit list) Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes 1954~ 1955-07-29 W/C Stroud, J.M. N/A 1955-07-29 1958 W/C Berg, V.L. N/A 1958 W/C Garton, W.M. N/A 1969~ Major Lepine, C.A. N/A 1980 Major Boggiss, Bruce N/A 1980 Lt. Colonel McGinnis, Lou N/A 1986 Major Cannell, Mel N/A Last Commander Physical Plant Former Falconbridge Female Quarters. Former Falconbridge Fire Hall. Former Falconbridge Motor Pool. The physical plant of the site was divided into the main site, a cantonment area, a housing area, and radio sites. The main site was located on a hill and housed a large four-story operations buildings, two flanking radar towers and later two separate radar towers, and a SAGE building. The cantonment area below housed the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, a combined mess, the motor pool, and other support buildings. Apart from the main site but adjacent to the cantonment area was a 101 unit housing area for married personnel and a small trailer park. Initially, a radio transmitter site and a separate radio receiver site were located on/near the main site. The SAGE System required a separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site and that was located near the airport. It housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts from the SAGE System. CFS Falconbridge Main Site Composite Plan Current Status Former Falconbridge CFS Housing Units. Locked Gate on the Road to the Former Falconbridge CFS Main Site (now leveled). Private property. The main site demolished and leveled. The cantonment site has some buildings in use by a development company but the remainder is boarded up. The housing area is in use with some units upgraded. The road to the main site is chained and locked. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Falconbridge, Ontario, Canada. Maps & Images Lat: 46.62611 Long: -80.84333 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: ...' GPS Locations: 46.62524, -80.76968 GATR Site 46.62627, -80.8439 Operations 46.63188, -80.84978 Cantonment Area 46.63111, -80.84488 Housing Area 46.62611, -80.84333 Falconbridge See Also: Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets US Radio Sets Pinetree Line SAGE System Sources: Buss, Lydus H., US Air Defense in the Northeast 1940-1957, Historical Reference Paper No. 1, Office of Information Services, HQ Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), Ent AFB, 1 Apr 1957. Links: Wikipedia - CFS Falconbridge Military Bruce - RCAF Station Edgar] C & E Museum - Falconbridge Photos C & E Museum - Falconbridge History Visited: 29 Jun 2016