Baker Air Force Station

Baker Air Force Station (1959-1968) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1959 near Baker City, Baker County, Oregon. Named Baker Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of SM-149, later a Sage ID of Z-149. Abandoned in 1968. History of Baker Air Force Station Established in 1959 and became fully operational in 1962 as Baker Air Force Station manned by the 821st 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-35 search radar and an FPS-6 height finder radar. The FPS-35 search radar was not accepted until June 1962 with an expected operational date in October 1962. The FPS-35 had a 150' wide antenna "sail" that was not normally covered with a radome but it was decided cover the Baker AFS FPS-35 with a massive radome. The Air Force let a $1,330,000 construction contract to the Sperry Corporation for construction of the Radome in June 1962. Baker AFS was to be the only site with an FPS-35 to have a radome covering it. SAGE 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. The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1960 initially feeding the Stead SAGE Direction Center DC-16. It's unclear what data the site provided since the main search radar FPS-35 was not completed until 1962. A second FPS-6A height finder radar was installed in 1964 and the original FPS-6 was removed in 1966. Baker AFS and the 821st Radar Squadron (SAGE) were discontinued on 18 Jun 1968. Physical Plant The physical plant of the site was divided into a main site, a cantonment area, a housing area and a radio site. The main site housed the operations buildings, the radar towers, and the backup generators. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. The cantonment area was initially planned to be adjacent to the operations area but when engineers discovered it would cost $100,000 to run a water pipeline up the mountain that plan changed. The main cantonment area was built in downtown Baker City although there were some facilities on the original upper cantonment area including a full mess hall. The cantonment area in town housed the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, the dining hall, the motor pool and other support buildings. Crews were shuttled from the cantonment in town up the mountain by bus. Apart from the cantonment area were enlisted and officer housing areas for married personnel. Baker AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems FPS-35 FPS-6 FPS-6A FST-2/A/B Unit Designations 821st Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1959-1960) 821st Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1960-1968) 821st Assignments ca Sep 1957 - Activated at Geiger Field, WA, assigned to 9th AD 15 Aug 1958 - Transferred to 25th AD. 1 Sep 1958 - Transferred to 4700th AB Wg. ca Jul 1959 - Moved to Baker AFS, OR. 15 May 1960 - Transferred to 25th AD. 1 Jul 1960 - Transferred to San Francisco ADS. 15 Sep 1960 - Transferred to Reno ADS. 15 Oct 1960 - Redesignated from AC&W Sq to 821st Radar Sq (SAGE). 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to 26th AD 1 Apr 66 18 Jun 1968 - Discontinued. Current Status The main site is abandoned. The cantonment area and the housing area in Baker City are in civilian hands and repurposed as private housing and a tribal training center. {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: In and around Baker City, Baker County, Oregon. Maps & Images Lat: 44.58694 Long: -117.78833 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: 6,316' See Also: SAGE System Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets Stead SAGE Direction Center DC-16 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 171. 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 150. USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2086834 Links: Radomes - Baker Air Force Station Wikipedia - Baker Air Force Station Visited: No