Keno Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-180, NORAD ID: Z-180) is a closed

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

General Surveillance Radar station. It is located south-southwest of

Keno, Oregon Keno is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States, southwest of Klamath Falls on the Klamath River near Oregon Route 66. As of 2000, the population was 1,059. Keno's elevation is above sea level. Keno was supposedly na ...

. It was closed in 1979 by the Air Force, and turned over to the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

(FAA). Today the site is part of the

Joint Surveillance System The Joint Surveillance System (JSS) is a joint United States Air Force and Federal Aviation Administration system for the atmospheric air defense of North America. It replaced the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system in 1983. Overvie ...

(JSS), designated by

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

Western Air Defense Sector The Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) is a unit of the Washington Air National Guard located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Tacoma, Washington. As a state militia unit, the Western Air Defense Sector is not in the normal United States Air Force c ...

(WADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-82.

History

Keno Air Force Station came into existence as part of Phase III of the

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was est ...

Mobile Radar program. On October 20, 1953 ADC requested a third phase of twenty-five radar sites be constructed. The site was located east of the Cascade mountains to provide coverage of the air refueling tracks in Northern California. In 1957, 306 acres of land were acquired for DoD use at the new site. The 827th Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron was assigned to the new station on 1 February 1958.Cornett & Johnson, p. 171 Logistical support and housing for personnel was provided by

Kingsley Field Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Oregon Air National Guard's 173rd Fighter Wing (173 FW). History In 1928, the citizens of Klamath Falls approved the sale of $50,000 worth of bonds to construct an airport. The ai ...

Klamath Falls Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...

, thirteen miles to the east. The squadron initially began operations with an

AN/FPS-20 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United States, a ...

A search radar and a pair of

AN/FPS-6 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United Sta ...

A height-finder radars (one east hemisphere coverage, and one west). A Ground-Air Transmit/Receive site (GATR) was co-located on the site, with antennas favoring the south toward the air refueling tracks in California. Initially the station functioned as a

Ground Control Intercept Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the surface of the Earth not covered by water * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical c ...

(GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...

's role was to guide

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...

toward unidentified

intruder Intruder may refer to: Film and television * ''The Intruder'' (1914 film), directed by Wallace Reid * ''The Intruder'' (1933 film), an American film by Albert Ray * ''The Intruder'' (1939 film), ''La intrusa'', an Argentine film by Julio Sa ...

s picked up on the unit's

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

scopes. In 1960 Keno became a joint-use facility with the

(FAA), performing air-traffic-control duties. In 1961 the search radar was upgraded and redesignated as an

AN/FPS-67 The AN/FPS-20 was a widely used L band early warning and ground-controlled interception radar system employed by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command, the NORAD Pinetree Line in Canada, the USAF CONAD in the continental United States, a ...

. During 1962 Keno AFS joined the

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. S ...

(SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-13 at

Adair AFS Adair may refer to: People * Adair (name), a surname and given name * Adair baronets in the Baronetage of the UK Places * Adare Manor, a manor house in Adare, County Limerick, Ireland * Bahia Adair or Adair Bay, a bay in the municipality of San L ...

, Oregon. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 827th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 December 1962. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile. In 1963 an

AN/FPS-90 The AN/FPS-6 Radar was a long-range height finding radar used by the United States Air Force's Air Defense Command. The AN/FPS-6 radar was introduced into service in the late 1950s and served as the principal height-finder radar for the United Sta ...

replaced the east hemisphere coverage AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar, and the search radar was further upgraded to the

B version. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-180. In addition to the main facility, Keno operated several

AN/FPS-14 The AN/FPS-14 was a medium-range search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bendix as a SAGE system gap-filler radar to provide low-altitude coverage. Operating i ...

Gap Filler sites: * Yreka, CA (TM-180A) * La Pine, OR (TM-180B) Routine operations continued until 1 March 1970 when the 827th Radar Squadron was inactivated and replaced by the 827th Air Defense Group, operating the BUIC installation.Cornett, & Johnson, p.86 The upgrade to group status was done because of Kingsley Field's status as a

Backup Interceptor Control Backup Interceptor Control (BUIC, ) was the Electronic Systems Division 416M System to backup the SAGE 416L System in the United States and Canada. BUIC deployed Cold War command, control, and coordination systems to SAGE radar stations to create ...

(BUIC) site. BUIC sites were alternate control sites in the event that SAGE Direction Centers became disabled and unable to control interceptor aircraft. The group was inactivated and replaced by the 827th Radar Squadron. as defenses against manned bombers were reduced. The group was disbanded in 1984.Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 575q, 27 Sep 1984, Subject: Disbandment of Units Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars. The Radar Squadron was inactivated 1 October 1979 when operations reverted to an Operating Location of the

25th Air Division The 25th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force intermediate echelon command and control organization. It was last assigned to First Air Force, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). It was inactivated on 30 September 1990 at McChord Air ...

McChord AFB McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worldwi ...

. At the time of its BUIC III inactivation in 1976, the 827th manned the last operating BUIC III in the western United States. In 1976 the AN/FPS-90 was removed and sent to the new

(JSS) site J-81 which is 12 miles west of Dallas, Oregon on Laurel Mountain, where it became operational in 1980 until replaced by a 3D ARSR-4 FAA radar. The remaining height-finder radar, upgraded to an AN/FPS-116, was retired c. 1988 and the station closed, and property transferred to the FAA. In the early 1990s, the abandoned station buildings at the former Keno AFS were removed (including the sewage lagoon) and most of the site has been returned to its natural state. Today, only the FAA unattended search radar is functional.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

* Constituted as the 827th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron : Activated at Kingsley Field, Oregon on 1 September 1957 :: Radar site renamed Keno Air Force Station Oregon on 1 February 1958 :: Site merged back into Kingsley Field on 1 January 1959 : Redesignated 827th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 December 1962 : Inactivated on 1 March 1970 : Redesignated 827th Radar Squadron on 1 January 1974 : Activated on 17 January 1974 : Inactivated on 1 October 1979 * Constituted as the 827th Air Defense Group on 13 February 1970 : Activated on 1 March 1970 : Inactivated on 17 January 1974 : Disbanded on 21 September 1984

Assignments

* Squadron : 28th Air Division, 1 September 1957 : 25th Air Division, 1 March 1959 :

Portland Air Defense Sector The Portland Air Defense Sector (PADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 25th Air Division, being stationed at Adair Air Force Station, Oregon. It was inactivated on 1 July 1969. History P ...

, 1 March 1960 :

26th Air Division The 26th Air Division (26th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inacti ...

, 1 April 1966 :

27th Air Division The 27th Air Division was a United States Air Force numbered air division and the geographic Air Defense Command region controlled by the 27th AD. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command (ADC)'s Tenth Air Force, at Luke Air Force Base, ...

, 15 September 1969 : 26th Air Division, 19 November 1969 : 25th Air Division, 17 January 1974 - 1 October 1979 * Group : 25th Air Division, 1 March 1970 - 17 January 1974

Commanders

* Squadron * Group : Lt Col. Richard A. Wood, 1 Mar 1970 - unknownAbstract, History of 827th Air Defense Group, Jul 1970-Dec 1970
(accessed 14 Jan 2012)

Notes

References

Grant, C.L., The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, (1961), USAF Historical Study No. 126
* * *
Information for Keno AFS, OR
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=autocollapse Federal Aviation Administration