Thomasville Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-197, NORAD ID: Z-197) is a closed
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, 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 ...
General Surveillance Radar station. It is located north-northwest of
Thomasville, Alabama
Thomasville is a city in Clarke County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 3,649. Founded as a late 19th-century railroad town, it has transitioned over the course of more than a century into a 21st-century commercial ...
. It was closed in 1969.
History
Thomasville Air Force Station came into existence as part of Phase III of the
Air Defense Command Mobile Radar program. On October 20, 1953 ADC requested a third phase of twenty-five radar sites be constructed.
![698th Radar Squadron - Emblem](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/698th_Radar_Squadron_-_Emblem.png)
The 698th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron moved to Thomasville on 1 September 1958 when a test model of the
AN/FPS-35 radar was installed for evaluation. It was the first of the large radars to be deployed, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. Two
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 Stat ...
height-finder radars were added in the early 1960s.
The Ground Air Transmitting Receiving (GATR) Site for communications was located at , approximately 0.8 miles east-northeast from the main site. Normally the GATR site was connected by a pair of buried telephone cables, with a backup connection of dual telephone cables overhead. The Coordinate Data Transmitting Set (CDTS) (AN/FST-2) at the main site converted each radar return into a digital word which was transmitted by the GATR via microwave to the Control Center.
In 1959, Thomasville 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. SA ...
(SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-09 at
Gunter AFB, Alabama. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the
698th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 October. 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. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-97.
During the
Cuban Missile Crisis, the
9th Aerospace Defense Division
9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding .
Evolution of the Arabic digit
In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...
implemented an improvised missile warning system directed toward the Cuban missile threat called Falling Leaves. In October 1962, the
SPADATS AN/FPS-49 radar at
Moorestown Air Force Station, New Jersey was reoriented south and directed toward Cuba. A communication network was established with Moorestown, the
AN/FPS-78 radar at
Laredo Air Force Base, Texas and Thomasville. All three stations were in turn tied into the command centers at NORAD and at
Strategic Air Command. This missile detection network remained in operation until 28 November and the Moorestown and Laredo sites were returned to their normal SPADATS mission when Soviet missiles were withdrawn from Cuba. The Thomasville station, retained coverage until late December as a precaution.
[''NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis'', Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO , 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996)]
The 698th Radar Squadron was inactivated on 30 September 1969 and Thomasville AFS was closed due to a draw-down of ADC and budget constraints. After its closure, the site was the location of the Thomasville Mental Health & Rehabilitation Center, and Alabama Department of Youth Services. However, the former closed completely by November 2003.
Today the former radar site is used by the
Alabama Southern Community College
Coastal Alabama Community College (also known as Coastal Alabama Community College – South) is a public community college with nine campuses in southern Alabama: Bay Minette, Fairhope, Gulf Shores, Atmore, Brewton, Gilbertown, Jackson, Mon ...
. Many of the former Air Force buildings remain, as well as the large AN/FPS-35 search-radar tower, which dominates the site.
Air Force units and assignments
Units
* 698th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, assigned 1 September 1958
: Activated 1 December 1957 at
Dobbins AFB
Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB is a United States Air Force reserve air base located in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb about northwest of Atlanta. Originally known as Dobbins Air Force Base, it was named in honor of Captain Charles M. ...
, GA (not equipped or manned)
: Redesignated 698th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 October 1959
: Inactivated 31 December 1969
Assignments
*
35th Air Division
The 35th Air Division (35th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force, at Hancock Field, New York. It was inactivated on 19 November 1969.
History
...
, 1 December 1957
*
32d Air Division
The 32d Air Division (32d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was last active with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force at Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama, where it was inactivated on 31 December 1969.
The di ...
, 15 November 1958
*
Montgomery Air Defense Sector
The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2005, ...
, 1 November 1959
*
32d Air Division
The 32d Air Division (32d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was last active with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force at Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama, where it was inactivated on 31 December 1969.
The di ...
, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1969
See also
*
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
* ''NORAD/CONAD Participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis'', Historical Reference Paper No. 8, Directorate of Command History Continental Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, 1 Feb 63 (Top Secret NOFORN declassified 9 March 1996)
Further reading
*
* Winkler, David F. & Webster, Julie L.,
Searching the Skies', The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
Information for Thomasville AFS, AL{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed
Installations of the United States Air Force in Alabama
Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites
Aerospace Defense Command military installations
Buildings and structures in Clarke County, Alabama
Military installations established in 1959
Military installations closed in 1969
1959 establishments in Alabama
1969 disestablishments in Alabama