Eagle Pass Air Force Station

Eagle Pass Air Force Station (1957-1963) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1957 on the former Eagle Pass Army Air Field in Maverick County, Texas. Named Eagle Pass Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-188. Abandoned in 1963. History of Eagle Pass Air Force Station Established in 1957 and became operational in 1959 as Eagle Pass Air Force Station manned by the 733rd AC&W Squadron. 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. Initial equipment included the FPS-20A search radar and an FPS-6 height finder radar. Gap Fillers Eagle Pass AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two 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 Eagle Pass AFS gap filler radars were located at Carrizo Springs and Eagle Pass, Texas. Eagle Pass AFS Gap Filler Radar Sites (edit list) ADC NORAD Location State Type From To GPS Notes TM-188A Carrizo Springs TX FPS-18, FST-1 1959-10 1963-06 28.50376, -99.83289 Building still exists TM-188B Laredo TX FPS-18, FST-1 1959-10 1963-06 27.72599, -99.43547 Building still exists Closure Eagle Pass AFS and the 733rd were deactivated 1 Aug 1963. Physical Plant The radar site was located within an eight block area of the former Army Airfield. The physical plant of the site was divided into a main site, a cantonment area, a housing area and two radio sites. 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 married personnel. Separate ground to air Transmitter and Receiver radio sites housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. Eagle Pass AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems FPS-20A FPS-18 Gap Filler FPS-6 FST-1 Gap Filler Unit Designations 733rd Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1957-1963) 733rd Assignments 8 Sep 1956 - Activated at Oklahoma City AFS, OK, as the 33rd Air Division. 3 Jul 1957 - Moved to Eagle Pass AFS, TX. 1 Jan 1960 - Transferred to Oklahoma City ADS. 1 Sep 1961 - Transferred to 4752nd Air Defense Wing. 25 Jun 1963 - Transferred to Oklahoma City ADS. 1 Aug 1963 - Discontinued. Current Status Abandoned buildings remain, Maverick County, Texas. {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: Near Eagle Pass in Maverick County, Texas. Maps & Images Lat: 28.86 Long: -100.52694 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation:879' See Also: Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets 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 100. 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 157. USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2087525 Links: Radomes - Eagle Pass Air Force Station Wikipedia - Eagle Pass Army Airfield Visited: No