Baudette Air Force Station

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Baudette Air Force Station (1959-1979) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1958 near the town of Baudette, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. Named Baudette Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of SM-132 and later a Sage ID of Z-132. Abandoned in 1979.

History of Baudette Air Force Station

Established in 1958 and operational in 1959 as Baudette Air Force Station manned by the 692nd 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 a pair of FPS-6 height finder radars.

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 1959 initially feeding the Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-24 in 1962. One of the FPS-6 height finder radars was upgraded to an FPS-90 and in 1963 an FPS-26A height finder radar replaced the other FPS-6.

Baudette AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap filler radar sites (a third was never completed). 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 Baudette AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems. The Baudette AFS gap filler radars were located at Big Falls and Middle River.

Baudette AFS became a BUIC I GCI site in 1962, a BUIC III site in 1968 and in 1970 the 692nd Radar Squadron (SAGE) became the 692nd Air Defense Group (BUIC). The BUIC III system provided a backup for a SAGE direction center and provided the ability to display sector wide radar data on consoles for local weapons controllers. The system duplicated the functionality of the vacuum tube direction center computers with a more up-to-date computer, the GSA-51, and replaced the FST-2 with a more up-to-date coordinate data transmitter, the FYQ-47. As the threat from a soviet bomber fleet lessened the decision came to mothball the BUIC system in 1974. Baudette AFS and the 692nd were deactivated on 1 Jul 1979.

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. 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 27 unit housing area for critical married personnel located at the outskirts of the town of Baudette. During the BUIC years the population of the site rose to over 300 military and civilian personnel and additional housing was provided by trailer parks onsite and in Baudette. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site closer to Baudette housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.


Baudette AFS Major Equipment List
Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems
  • FPS-3
  • FPS-24
  • FPS-6
  • FPS-6A
  • FPS-90
  • FPS-26A
  • FST-2/A/B
  • FYQ-47
  • GSA-51A
Unit Designations
  • 692nd Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1959-1961)
  • 692nd Radar Squadron (SAGE) (1961-1970)
  • 692nd Air Defense Group (1970-1974)
  • 692nd Radar Squadron (1974-1979)
692nd Assignments
  • 8 Aug 1958 Activated at Snelling AFS, MN as 692nd AC&W Squadron
  • 8 Aug 1958 - 1 Jan 1959 Assigned to 31st AD
  • 1 Jan 1959 - 1 Apr 1959 Assigned to 37th AD
  • 1 Apr 1959 - 1 Jul 1959 Assigned to 30th AD
  • 15 Dec 1959 Redesignated 692nd Radar Squadron (SAGE)
  • 1 Jul 1959 - 1 Apr 1966 Assigned to Duluth ADS
  • 1 Apr 1966 - 19 Nov 1969 Assigned to 29th AD
  • 19 Nov 1969 - 1 Mar 1970 Assigned to 23rd AD
  • 1 Mar 1970 Redesignated 692nd Air Defense Group
  • 1 Mar 1970 - 1 Jan 1974 Assigned to 23rd AD
  • 1 Jan 1970 - Redesignated 692nd Radar Squadron
  • 1 Jan 1970 - 1 Jul 1979 Assigned to 23rd AD
  • 1 Jul 1979 Deactivated


Baudette AFS Gap Filler Radar Sites (edit list)
ADC NORAD Location State Type From To GPS Notes
SM-132A Z-132A Big Falls MN FPS-18, FST-1 1959 1968 48.190556,
-93.791667
SM-132B Z-132B Middle River MN FPS-18, FST-1 1959 1968 48.5361301,
-96.0152453


Baudette Air Force Station Commanders List (edit list)
Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes
1958-08-08 1959-04  Capt. Northrup, N/A First Commander
1959-04 1961-08  Capt. Sobonya, N/A
1961-08 1963-02  Lt. Col. Lindbergh II, Carl A. N/A
1963-02 1963-11  Maj. Moros, N/A Temp
1963-11 1965-11  Lt. Col. McDade, N/A
1965-11 1967-12  Maj. McElroy, Wilson F. N/A
1967-12 1969-12  Maj. Tevebaugh, N/A
1969-12 1970-07  Maj. Thayer, G.E. N/A
1970-07 1972-06  Lt. Col. Adcock, Walter M. N/A
1972-06 1972-07  Lt. Col. Norman, N/A Temp
1972-07 1974-04  Lt. Col. Skur, N/A
1974-04 1975-06  Capt. Trackenberg, Julius F. N/A
1975-06 1977-07  Capt. Manning, John W. N/A
1977-07 1979-07-01  Capt. Zelenski, Stanley S. N/A Last Commander
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

Currently in use as an automobile test facility, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota.

USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) Database Entry: 2086836

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Location: Near Baudette, Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota. Zoom out to see the housing area and GATR site map points.

Maps & Images

Lat: 48.66992 Long: -94.62081

  • Multi Maps from ACME
  • Maps from Bing
  • Maps from Google
  • Elevation: 1,109'

See Also:

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 85, 161.
  • 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 126-127.
  • NORAD/CONAD Historical Summary Jan-Dec 1966, dated 1 May 1967, Command History Division, HQ NORAD/CONAD, Unclassified (originally classified Secret), pdf, pages 28-31, Backup Intercept Control Systems

Links:

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