Bartlesville Air Force Station
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Bartlesville Air Force Station (1951-1961) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station established during the Korean War. Located near Bartlesville, Osage County, Oklahoma. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-77. Closed in 1961. HistoryEstablished in 1951 and became operational in 1951 as Bartlesville Air Force Station manned by the 796th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron. Initial equipment included a pair of FPS-10 radars. Manual System OperationOn 1 May 1951 the 796th AC&W Squadron was activated at Bartlesville Air Force Station and assigned to components of the 33rd Air Division (Defense) (33rd ADD) then Headquartered at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma. The 33rd ADD provided command and control over subordinate radar stations from a manual direction center. On 1 Mar 1956 control was transferred to 20th Air Division and the Richards-Gebaur Manual Direction Center SM-169. Operations continued in the manual mode until the site was closed 1961
ClosureBartlesville AFS and the 796th were deactivated on 1 Jun 1961. Gap FillersBartlesville AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two 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 Bartlesville AFS gap filler radars were located at Ottawa, OK and Winfield, KS.
Physical PlantThe physical plant of the site was divided into the 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 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 9/27 unit housing area for married personnel.
Current StatusOf the remaining structures most have been converted into various residential and commercial establishments.
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