Laredo Air Force Station

Laredo Air Force Station (1956-1974) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station. Located near Laredo, Webb County, Texas. Assigned a Sage ID of Z-230. Closed in 1974. History Established and became operational in 1956 as Laredo Air Force Station. Initial equipment included a FPS-17, later a FPS-78 was added, and finally the last Avco FSS-7 SLBM Detection Radar (not a converted FPS-116). Laredo AFS tracked White Sands Missile Range tests, provided satellite tracks and sent missile warning data to Cheyenne Mountain's computers. Air Training Command (ATC) Site On 22 Jul 1955, the site was acquired and ATC constructed a radar operations building for a high-power long-range radar facility. The nearby Laredo Air Force Base was an ATC training base. Funding came from a special Air Force appropriation and Rome Air Development Center (RADC) was responsible for the installation and operation of the site, which became operational in 1956. The site was supported by the nearby Laredo Air Force Base. By 1958, an FPS-17 was at the station. In 1960 the site tracked artificial satellites. Air Defense Command (ADC) Site ADC took over the site in July 1961 and by the end of 1961, the station was built out like a traditional ADC radar station with a separate cantonment area. Cantonment buildings included barracks, a dining hall, and an orderly room. The separate operations area included the operations building and the radar set. There some evidence that the only building that was ever used in the cantonment area was the orderly room. None of the barracks were used over the years possibly because of the water supply or because the site was operated by contractors in the early years. By 30 Aug 1961 the site was known as the Laredo Sensor Site, manned by Det. 1, 1st Aerospace Surveillance & Control Squadron and commanded by Major Lloyd C. Hill. The FPS-78 was in place at the Laredo Site on that date, and the site was later used to track the first U.S. earth orbital space shot with John Glenn and later in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The site was operated by some 26 General Electric employees. Cuban Missile Crisis The attempt by the USSR to deploy missiles to Cuba in October 1962 caused the Moorestown and Laredo radars to be withdrawn from Space Track (SPADATS) service and realigned to provide missile surveillance coverage over Cuba. The FPS-78 at Laredo began missile detection operations on 26 Oct 1962. The crisis was soon over and the missiles were withdrawn from Cuba but the event highlighted the need for a missile launch detection system and the inadequacies of the existing radars. The Laredo sensor site was deactivated on 15 Jul 1964. SLBM Systems Responding to contract proposals for an interim missile launch detection system, AVCO's plan to modify existing FPS-26 height finder radars at six prime SAGE System radar sites and to install a new one near Laredo AFB, Texas was approved in July 1965. Radars were to be located at the following sites: FSS-7 Radar Locations SAGE ID Location State FSS-7 14th MWS Notes Z- Moorestown AFS NJ Prototype FPS-49 Det 1 Z-37 Point Arena AFS CA Modified FPS-26 Z-65 Charleston AFS ME Modified FPS-26 Det 6 Z-76 Mount Laguna AFS CA Modified FPS-26 Det 4 Z-lOO Mount Hebo AFS OR Modified FPS-26 Det 2 Z-115 Fort Fisher AFS NC Modified FPS-26 Det 5 Z-129 MacDill AFB FL Modified FPS-26 Det 7 Z-230 Laredo AFS TX New FSS-7 Det 8 It was expected that the system would be operational by the end of 1967. It was to be designated the GSQ-89 and the modified radars were to be termed FSS-7's. The radars were to give seaward coverage of about 750 nm and were to have three basic modes of operation: search, acquisition, and track. A warning and impact message is generated for trans­mission to the central processor at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex within 50 sec­onds from initial detection. At maximum detection range, this would provide approxi­mately 7 to 10 minutes of warning. Laredo Air Force Station was reactivated on 1 Apr 1966 manned by Detachment 8 of the 14th Missile Warning Squadron using the newly installed FSS-7 radar with a mission of detecting SLBM launches/Space Surveillance and Satellite Tracking. That mission was later taken over by a PAVE PAWS FPS-115 radar at Eldorado Air Force Station in 1987. Closure Laredo AFS and the 14 AF/14 MWS Det. 8 were deactivated in 1974. On 22 May 1974, the abandoned station transferred to the Army and was then used for weekend training by local Army Reserve components until it was deactivated in 1980. Laredo AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems Comm FPS-17 FPS-78 FSS-7 Unit Designations Det 1, 1st Aerospace Surveillance & Control Squadron (1961-1962) Det 1, 1st Aerospace Control Squadron (1962-1964) 4783rd Surveillance Squadron (1967-1972) Det 8, 14th Missile Warning Squadron (1972-1975) 15 Nov 1970 - Laredo Missile Tracking Station Maj Marvin R. Owens 1970~ 1st Aerospace Surveillance & Control Squadron 14 Feb 61 - Activated at Ent AFB, CO, assigned to ADC Mar 1961 - Laredo Station transferred From ARDC to Det 1 1 Oct 61 - Sq transferred to 9th Aerospace Defense Div 1st Aerospace Control Squadron 1 Jul 62 - Redesignated from 1st Aerospace Surveillance & Control Sq to 1st Aerospace Control Sq. 15 July 1964 - Laredo site deactivated 4783rd Surveillance Squadron 1 Jul 1967 - Organized at Laredo MTK, TX, assigned to the 31st AD 15 Nov 1969 - Reassigned to the 27th AD. 19 Nov 1969 - Reassigned to the 26th AD. 8 Jul 1972 - Reassigned to 14th Aerospace Force and moved to Laredo AFB, TX. 8 Jul 1972 - Inactivated. Det 8, 14th Missile Warning Squadron 8 July 1972 - Activated 30 Jun 1975 - Discontinued Laredo Air Force Station Partial Commanders List (edit list) Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes 1961~ Major Hill, Lloyd C. N/A 1970~ Major Owens, Marvin R. N/A Current Status Access to the site is blocked by a locked gate across the road at 27.59404, -99.42930 some miles from the actual site. {"selectable":false,"height":"-500","width":"-500"} Location: Laredo in Webb County, Texas. Maps & Images Lat: 27.61889 Long: -99.38667 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 587' GPS Locations: 27.61889, -99.38667 Operations Area 27.61668, -99.38694 Cantonment Area See Also: SAGE System 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 148-149. 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 95, 200. USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2087775 Links: Radomes - Laredo Air Force Station Wikipedia - Laredo Air Force Station Visited: No