Oakdale Air Force Station

Oakdale Air Force Station (1959-1969) - A Cold War Air Force Station moved from Brookfield Air Force Station, Ohio. Co-Located with U.S. Army radar site for Nike missile-defense system & Missile Master Direction Center Oakdale Army Air Defense Command Post PI-70DC at Oakdale, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of RP-62, later a Sage ID of Z-62. Turned over to the FAA in 1969, now Oakdale FAA Radar Site with an FAA ID of PIT, also known as Pittsburgh FAA Radar Site. History of Oakdale Air Force Station Established in 1959 and became operational in 1959 as Oakdale Air Force Station manned by the 662nd Radar Squadron (SAGE). Radar data was shared between the FAA for Air Traffic Control purposes, with the adjacent U.S. Army NIKE Missile Master site, Oakdale Army Air Defense Command Post PI-70DC, for the NIKE Pittsburgh Defense Area and with the U.S. Air Force for the SAGE System air defense system. Initial equipment included the ARSR-1 FAA search radar and two FPS-6B height-finder radars. This configuration met the requirements for the transition to the SAGE System operation. SAGE System 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 Hancock SAGE Direction Center DC-03 Oakdale SAGE Direction Centers & Sectors Assigned Direction Center Sector 1 Apr 1959 - 15 Jun 1960 Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 Detroit Air Defense Sector 15 Jun 1960 - 4 Sep 1963 Hancock SAGE Direction Center DC-03 Syracuse Air Defense Sector 4 Sep 1963 - 1 Apr 1966 Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 Detroit Air Defense Sector 1 Apr 1966 - 15 Sep 1969 Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 34th Air Division 15 Sep 1969 - 31 Dec 1969 Fort Lee SAGE Direction Center DC-04 33rd Air Division The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1961 initially feeding the Hancock SAGE Direction Center DC-03. The search radar was upgraded to one FPS-20 in 1962. In 1963, a FPS-24 search radar was installed along with one FPS-26A height-finder and one FPS-90 height-finder. Also in place during part of this time were two U.S. Army FPS-6 height-finders. The FAA maintained the search radars with Air Force personnel maintaining the two USAF height-finders and U.S. Army personnel maintained the Army height-finders. Gap Fillers Oakdale AFS was responsible for the maintenance of four remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The unattended gap filler sites were placed in locations where the main search radar lacked coverage. These sites were equipped with short range FPS-14 or FPS-18 search radars and FST-1 Coordinate Data transmitters that sent digitized radar target data to a SAGE direction center and to the main radar site. Both the radar set and the FST-1 were dual channel to increase site up time. Maintenance teams were dispatched for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators on the FSW-1 remote monitoring equipment suggested the site had problems. The FSW-1 also allowed remote operation of specific functions such as channel changes for the radar and for the FST-1, it also allowed remote operation of the diesel generators at the gap filler site. The Oakdale AFS gap-filler radars were located at Thompson, Lewisville, and Brookfield, Ohio. The fourth site was located at Thomas, West Virginia. Oakdale AFS Gap Filler Radar Sites (edit list) ADC NORAD Location State Type From To GPS Notes RP-62A Z-62A Thompson OH FPS-18, FST-1 1958-09 1968-06 41.68583, -81.04389 Building gone Tower gone RP-62B Z-62B Lewisville OH FPS-14, FST-1 1957-08 1963-06 39.75647, -81.22768 Building exists Tower gone RP-62E Z-62E Brookfield OH FPS-18, FST-1 1964-02 1968-06 41.21768, --80.56211 Building exists Tower gone RP-62F Z-62F Claysburg PA 40.28928, -78.56501 Building gone Tower gone RP-62G Z-62G Thomas WV FPS-14 changed to FPS-18, FST-1 1958-02 1968-06 39.14774, -79.5708 Building exists Tower gone Closure Oakdale AFS and the 662nd were deactivated on 31 Dec 1969. The operations area of the radar site was transferred to the FAA. The U.S. Army, Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) PI-70DC was inactivated on 1 Sep 1974. Oakdale FAA Radar Site The FAA assumed control of the operations area of the former Air Force radar site in December 1969. The FPS-24 was replaced with a FPS-67B search radar and a backup FPS-8 provided coverage during outages and for the transition. The FPS-67B was installed on the four-story concrete tower built for the FPS-24 and it was covered with a radome. A FYQ-47 Common Digitizer was probably placed in service by February 1973 when the USAF/FAA FST-2 to FYQ-47 replacement program was completed. By 1990 the site was equipped with an FPS-67B search radar and a CD-2A Common Digitizer. The Oakdale CD-2A was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in September 1992. CARSR Radar The nationwide replacement program converting FAA legacy radar systems to the CARSR radar configuration was completed by 17 Aug 2015 and Oakdale FAA Radar Site was a part of that program. Legacy FAA radars underwent a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) that replaced key components in the vintage ARSR-1, ARSR-2, FPS-20, FPS-66 and FPS-67 radars. The CARSR program replaced legacy klystron radar transmitters with a solid-state transmitter as well as renovating the radar receiver and signal processor. The CARSR modification also included common digitizer functionality making a separate common digitizer unnecessary. The Oakdale FAA Radar Site is now operating with the CARSR radar. At the time of the CARSR changeout, the legacy radar in place was an FPS-67B and the CARSR conversion included a 1561 Antenna. The secondary radar for the site is the ATCBI-6 Beacon set. The radar site data is now available to the USAF/NORAD Battle Control System-Fixed (BCS-F) operations centers (EADS & WADS) as well as the FAA Cleveland ARTCC (ZOB) and adjacent ARTCCs. Other federal agencies have access to the data under the Homeland Security umbrella. Oakdale AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems Comm IFF/SIF/Beacon ARSR-1 FAA FPS-20 FPS-14 GF FPS-18 GF FPS-24 FPS-67B FAA CARSR FAA FPS-6 FPS-6B FPS-90 FPS-26A FST-2/A/B FST-1 GF FYQ-47 FAA CD-2A FAA GKA-5 ATCBI-6 FAA Unit Designations 662nd Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1951-1960) 662nd Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1960-1969) 662nd Assignments 1 Jan 1951 - Assigned at Ravenna, OH, assigned to the 541st AC&W Gp Oct 195151 - Moved to Brookfield AFS, OH. 6 Feb 52 - transferred to 30th AD. 16 Feb 1953 - Transferred to 4708th Def Wg. 8 Jul 1956 - Transferred to 30th AD. 1 Apr 1959 - Transferred to Detroit ADS. 15 Jun 1960 - Transferred to Syracuse ADS. 15 Jul 1960 - Redesignated from AC&W Sq to 662nd Radar Sq (SAGE). abt Jul 1960 - Moved to Oakdale, PA. 4 Sep 1963 - Transferred to Detroit ADS. 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to 34th AD. 15 Sep 1969 - Reassigned to 33rd AD. 31 Dec 1969 - Inactivated. Oakdale Air Force Station Partial Commanders List (edit list) Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes 1962~ Major Bitterman, Irvin E. N/A 1963~ Major Prokopchak, Michael J. N/A 1967 Major Chervenka, Michael E. N/A 1967 Major Vrabel, Andrew A. N/A Current Status Now on USAR Charles E. Kelly Support Center, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The radar towers still exist along with the Missile Master Building (repurposed). The FAA compound remains around the old FPS-24 tower now equipped with an FAA CARSR radar on top. The USAF radar site operations building still exists. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: USAR Charles E. Kelly Support Center near Oakdale in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Maps & Images Lat: 40.39893 Long: -80.15694 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 1,306' See Also: SAGE System Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets NIKE System Oakdale Army Air Defense Command Post PI-70DC Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 Hancock SAGE Direction Center DC-03 Cleveland ARTCC 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 158. 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 151. FAA - Site Listing of Legacy Radars as of 23 Dec 2016. U.S. DoT - Recommendation on Transition from Primary/Secondary Radar to Secondary-Only Radar Capability 1994. FAA - Three Level Weather For ARTCC Displays - Project Implementation Plan, FAA Order 7110.14A, 14 Feb 1990. FAA - SSR/DMTI Modification - Project Implementation Plan, FAA Order 6340.20, 6 Jul 1988. Links: Bad Links Oakdale+AI%2C+PA Oakdale Air Force Station] Ed Thelen NIKE Website - Oakdale Wikipedia - Oakdale Air Force Station Visited: No