Red Bluff Air Force Station
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Red Bluff Air Force Station (1956-1970) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1956 near Red Bluff, Tehama County, California. Named Red Bluff Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of SM-157, later a Sage ID of Z-157, and a JSS ID of J-62. Abandoned by the Air Force in 1970. A portion continues today as Red Bluff FAA Radar Station, FAA ID of RBL. History of Red Bluff Air Force StationEstablished in 1956 and became operational in 1956 as Red Bluff Air Force Station manned by the 859th 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 one MPS-8 search radar and one MPS-11 height finder radar. SAGE System TransitionThe 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. SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1960 initially feeding the Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13. The search radar was upgraded to one FPS-67, one FPS-6 height finder and one [[FPS-90 height finder radar. In 1964 Red Bluff became a Joint Use FAA/ADC facility. ClosureRed Bluff AFS and the 859th were deactivated in 1970. A small portion of the site was transferred to the FAA (see below). By the end of 1972, the remainder of the station was transferred to Tehama County, who developed it into Ridgeway County Park. The station's family housing annex was auctioned off to private parties. Red Bluff FAA Radar Site (RBL)In 1971, the GATR site and the operations portion of the main station, including the search radar tower and the operations building, were transferred to the FAA who continued to operate the FPS-67B search radar as part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS) into the 1990s. It is assumed that a FYQ-47 was installed to replace the Air Force FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitter. The FAA 2013 Radar site list shows the site operating ARSR radar equipment without specifying the exact type. The FAA has recently upgraded the facility to the CASAR minimally attended Common Air Route Surveillance Radar (CARSR) equipment. Gap FillersRed Bluff AFS was responsible for the maintenance of three 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 Red Bluff AFS gap filler radars were located at Janesville, Whitmore and Hafork, all in California Physical PlantThe 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. 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 16 unit housing area for married personnel. A separate radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. Like most early radar stations, Red Bluff originally had a radio transmitter site and a separate radio receiver site used by local controllers for voice direction of fighter interceptors to their targets. With the SAGE System, the SAGE Direction centers had the primary task of directing intercepts and the local radio sites were reconfigured, usually into a single site that was known as the Ground to Air Transmitter Receiver (GATR) site. The GATR site communicated with the interceptors from either the local site or the SAGE direction center via voice commands and/or a digital data link.
Current StatusAbandoned in Red Bluff, Tehama County, California.
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