Kalispell Air Force Station

Kalispell Air Force Station (1961-1978) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station first established in 1961 near present day Lakeside, Flathead County , Montana. Named Kalispell Air Force Station after the town of Kalispell. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-179 and later a Sage ID of Z-179. The site became an FAA operated JSS site in 1978 with a JSS ID of J-78 and became known as Lakeside FAA Radar Site. Former Kalispell AFS New Construction on the Site Former Kalispell AFS, Repurposed Enlisted Barracks In Cantonment Area Former Kalispell AFS, FAA ASR-4 Radar On Upper Site History of Kalispell Air Force Station Established in 1961 as Kalispell Air Force Station manned by the 716th AC&W Squadron. Initial equipment included the FPS-7 search radar, two FPS-90 height finder radar sets and the FST-2 coordinate data transmitter. The FST-2 equipment digitized the radar returns and transmitted the digital returns to the SAGE direction center. 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 airconditioning, 43.5 kva of prime power and an usually a large 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 Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20 Repurposed. Kalispell SAGE Direction Centers & Sectors Assigned Direction Center Sector 15 Feb 1960 - 1 Jul 1960 Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20 26th Air Division 1 Jul 1960 - 1 Apr 1966 Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20 Great Falls Air Defense Sector 1 Apr 1966 - 19 Nov 1969 Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20 28th Air Division 19 Nov 1969 - 1 Apr 1978 McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12 25th Air Division The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1960, initially feeding data to the Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20 at Malmstrom AFB. With the closure of DC-20 in 1969, Kalispell was connected to the McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12 at McChord AFB in Washington State where it remained until it was closed. Closure Kalispell AFS and the 716th Radar Squadron were deactivated on 1 Apr 1978 and the facilities turned over to the FAA. The radar site continued as joint use JSS Site J-78, feeding radar data to FAA facilities and USAF direction centers. Operation and maintence became a FAA responsibility. A small team of USAF technicians remained as an operating location to maintain certain pieces of equipment. Now known as Lakeside FAA Radar Site. Gap Fillers Kalispell AFS Gap Filler Radar Sites (edit list) ADC NORAD Location State Type From To GPS Notes TM-179B Z-179B Yaak AFS Montana FPS-14, FST-1 1958 1960 48.861667, -115.7225 TM-179C Z-179C Eureka Montana 48.864722, -115.125556 Initially Kalispell AFS was not slated to support any remote gap filler radar sites. Gap filler sites were usually placed in locations where the main search radar lacked coverage. With the closure of Yaak Air Force Station in 1960 responsibility for the maintenance of their gap filler radar site at Eureka, Montana shifted to Kalispell AFS. The Yaak AFS site itself became an unattended gap filler site also the responsibility of Kalispell AFS. These sites sent digitized radar target data directly to a direction center. Maintenance teams were dispatched from Kalispell AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. Physical Plant Former Kalispell AFS Family Housing Units The physical plant of Kalispell AFS was divided into an upper operations site on Blacktail Mountain and a lower cantonment area in the present day community of Lakeside. The cantonment area included the housing, administrative and support facilities for the troops and a 27 unit housing area. The upper site housed the operations buildings, radar equipment and towers. A 15 mile access road connected the two areas. Kalispell AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems FPS-3 FPS-20 FPS-14 Gap Filler ARSR-4 FAA FPS-6 FPS-6A FST-2/A/B FST-1 Gap Filler Unit Designations 716th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1958-1960) 716th Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1960-1974) 716th Radar Squadron (1974-1978) 716th Assignments 1 Oct 1958 - Activated at Geiger Field, WA, assigned to 4700th AD Wg. May 1959 - Moved to Kalispell AFS, MT. 15 Feb 1960 - Transferred to 29th AD. (Malmstrom DC-20) 1 Jul 1960 - Transferred to Great Falls ADS. (Malmstrom DC-20) 15 Oct 1960 - Redesignated from AC&W Sq to 716th Radar Sq (SAGE). 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to 28th AD. (Malmstrom DC-20) 19 Nov 1969 - Reassigned to 25th AD. (McChord DC-12) 1 Feb 1974 - Redesignated 716 Radar Sq. 1 Apr 1978 - Inactivated. Current Status JSS Site J-78, Lakeside, Flathead County , Montana. An ARSR-4 FAA radar is currently in place on the upper site. The lower cantonment site and the family housing site are currently in use by Youth With a Mission, a Christian service organization. {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: Blacktail Mountain, Lakeside, Flathead County , Montana. Zoom out the map to see map points for the housing area and the cantonment area. Maps & Images Lat: 48.01139 Long: -114.36472 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 7,040' See Also: SAGE System BUIC System JSS System Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20 McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12 Sources: 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 162. 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 132. USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2741925 Links: Radomes - Kalispell Air Force Station Wikipedia - Kalispell Air Force Station Youth With A Mission - Campus Tour Visited: Lower site 15 Aug 2014