Custer Air Force Station

Custer Air Force Station (1952-1965) - A Cold War Air Force Station first established as a radar Site in 1952 on Fort Custer near Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Michigan. Named Custer Air Force Station in 1956 after the location. In 1957 it became the site of the Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06. The Radar site was initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-67 and later a Sage ID of Z-67. Abandoned in 1965.

History of Custer Air Force Station

Established in 1952 and became operational in 1952 as Fort Custer Air Force Station manned by the 781st AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning misssion. The early warnng 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-3 search radar and an CPS-4 height finder radar.

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.

The FPS-3 search radar was upgraded to an FPS-20 in 1958 and then to a FPS-66 in 1961. The CPS-4 height finder radar was upgraded to a FPS-4 in 1956 and then to a FPS-6 in 1958. In preparation for SAGE operation a second FPS-6 was added in 1959. The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1959 initially feeding the Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 also located at Custer Air Force Station. After becoming a SAGE site a FPS-26 height finder was added and one of the FPS-6s was removed.

The completion of the massive four story SAGE direction center and the subsequent connection of four radar sites on 1 Apr 1959 set the stage for the Detroit Air Defense Sector being declared operational on 1 Sep 1959. Five years later the Custer Air Force Station Radar Site would be the first of the radar sites connected to the Custer SAGE center to be deactivated. The Custer AFS radar site and the 781st Radar Squadron were deactivated 1 Mar 1965.

In 1966 the Detroit Air Defense Sector became the 34th Air Division with some deactivations and realignments of the radar sites connected to the Custer SAGE blockhouse. Even as SAGE was being implemented the threat was changing from bombers to missiles and technology advances rendered the massive FSQ-7 and FST-2 system obsolete. By 1968-1969 the handwriting was on the wall and radar sites were closing in great numbers. The Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06 and the 34th Air Division was deactivated on 31 Dec 1969.

Gap Filler Radar Sites

Custer AFS radar site was responsible for the maintenance of four remote unattended gap filler radar sites. 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 Custer AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. The Custer AFS gap filler radars were located at Midland, MI; Richland Center, IN; Saugatuck, MI and Shelby, MI.

Custer AFS Gap Filler Radar Sites (edit list)

ADC	NORAD	Location	State	Type	From	To	GPS	Notes
P-67A P-20G	Z-67A Z-20G	Midland	MI	FPS-14, FST-1	1957-11	1967-12	43.63431, -84.42841	Building still exists
P-67B P-73J	Z-67B Z-73J	Richland Center	IN	FPS-18, FST-1	1960-02	1968-06	41.11787, -86.24097	Building still exists
P-67C P-34G	Z-67C Z-34G	Saugatuck	MI	FPS-14, FST-1	1958-07	1968-06	42.66122, -86.20912	Building and tower still in place
P-67D P-34G	Z-34B	Shelby	MI	FPS-18, FST-1	1959-08	1968-06	43.59976, -86.34038	Building in ruins

Physical Plant

The physical plant of Custer Air Force Station underwent several iterations as it transitioned from just a small radar site to a larger radar station and then was transformed into a SAGE Air Division Headquarters complete with a massive SAGE Direction Center.

Custer Air Force Station Radar Site Plan

The small radar site was initially 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 was located south of the radar site and housed the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, the dining hall, the motor pool and other support buildings. About a mile southwest of the main site was a small nine unit housing area for married personnel.

The physical plant of the station changed as the SAGE System was implemented starting in 1957. The radar station grew in terms of equipment and facilities and came to have four radar towers, three of which were supported by poured concrete structures. The operations building was expanded to house the large FST-2 and a Telco building was added. The small housing area was replaced with a new housing area shared by, and located between, the radar site and the new headquarters. The two existing radio sites were modified to meet SAGE specification for Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site operations. The small original radar site cantonment area was expanded into a seven block complex with shared facilities for the new SAGE headquarters, the SAGE blockhouse and the radar site. A small new administration building was built on the radar site itself.

The development of the new Detroit Air Defense Sector headquarters and the SAGE direction center occupied more than seven blocks of new construction dominated by the massive four story SAGE direction center and the attached power house. The headquarters building was a large permanent building directly across from the SAGE blockhouse. Northwest of the headquarters building was a block of buildings that included a large "H" shaped two story building housing bachelor airmen and officers. At the center of this complex was a large all ranks club.

Custer AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems FPS-3 FPS-20 FPS-66 CPS-4 FPS-4 FPS-6 FPS-6A FPS-26A FST-2/A/B FYQ-47 FSQ-7

Radar Site Unit Designations 781st Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1952-1959) 781st Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1959-1965) Sage Direction Center Unit Designations Detroit Air Defense Sector (1957-1966) 34th Air Division (1966-1969)

781st Assignments

16 Apr 1951 - Activated at Ft. Custer, MI, assigned to 541st AC&W Gp. 6 Feb 1952 - Transferred to 30th AD. 16 Feb 1953 - Transferred to 4706th Def Wg. Nov 1953 - Transferred to 4708th Def Wg. 8 Jul 1956 - Transferred to 30th AD. Summer 1956 - Site redesignated to Custer AFS, MI. 1 Apr 1959 - Transferred to Detroit ADS. 1 Sep 1959 - Redesignated from AC&W Sq to 781st Radar Sq (SAGE). 25 Jun 1965 - Discontinued.

Custer Air Force Station Partial Commanders List (edit list)

Assumed	Relieved	Rank	Name	Cullum	Notes
1951-04-17	1951-10-22	Capt	Mooring, Edward H.	N/A
1951-10-22	1952-06-23	Lt. Col	Howard, Lauren A.	N/A
1952-06-23		Maj	Schueler, Eldor H.	N/A
Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly. The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy.

Current Status

The radar site has been overbuilt and nothing remains. The cantonment area structures mostly remain, mostly repurposed for civilian use but many are unoccupied and deteriorating. The headquarters building and two adjacent blocks have been repurposed for use by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. The three story blockhouse in in civilian hands and said to be used by an archival storage company.

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Location: Near Battle Creek in Calhoun County, Michigan. Maps & Images Lat: 42.34263 Long: -85.28082 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 948'

See Also:

• SAGE System
• Permanent System Radar Sites
• US Radar Sets
• 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 160.
• 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: 2087520

Links:

• Radomes - Custer Air Force Station
• Wikipedia - Custer Air Force Station

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