Amarillo Air Force Base Radar Site

Amarillo Air Force Base Radar Site (1954-1968) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1954 on Amarillo Air Force Base, Potter County, Texas. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of M-88, later a Sage ID of Z-88. Abandoned in 1968 and turned over to the FAA. History of Amarillo Air Force Base Radar Site Established and manned in the fall of 1954 as Amarillo Air Force Base Radar Site manned by the 688th 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 MPS-7 search radar and an TPS-10D height finder radar. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-20A and an FPS-6A height finder radar was installed. The FPS-20A search radar was upgraded to an FPS-67B in 1966. The main site with the radar towers and operations buildings was located in the northeast corner of Amarillo Air Force Base. Most of the support facilities were located on the base proper. By 1968 Amarillo Air Force Base had closed and with the support base gone the decision was made to close the radar station. The site became an FAA/ADC joint-use site about 1965 and on 8 Sep 1968 the 688th was deactivated and the facility turned over to the FAA. The FAA continued to operated the FPS-67B search radar but the FPS-6A height finder was removed. Amarillo Air Force Base Radar Site AFS Major Equipment List Search Radar HF Radar Data Systems MPS-7 FPS-20A FPS-67B FPS-6 FPS-6A Unit Designations 688th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1953-1968) 688th Assignments 1 Oct 1953 Activated at Geiger Field, WA, as the 25th AD. 26 Dec 1953 Moved to Tinker AFB, OK and transferred to the 33rd AD. Fall 1954 Moved to Amarillo AFB, TX. 1 Jan 1960 Transferred to Albuquerque ADS. 15 Sep 1960 Transferred to Oklahoma City ADS. 1 Sep 1961 Transferred to 4752nd Air Defense Wing. 25 Jun 1963 Transferred to Oklahoma City ADS. 1 Apr 1966 Reassigned to 31st Air Division. 8 Sep 1968 Discontinued. Current Status Active FAA Radar Site in Amarillo, Potter County, Texas. {"selectable":false,"width":"500"} Location: Amarillo in Potter County, Texas. Maps & Images Lat: 35.24611 Long: -101.65694 Multi Maps from ACME Maps from Bing Maps from Google Elevation: .....' See Also: SAGE System Permanent System Radar Sites US Radar Sets 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 99. 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 156. Links: Visited: 29 Mar 2013