Watertown Air Force Station 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 ...

ADCOM General Surveillance Radar station 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of

Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Prior to the Air Defense squadron inactivating on 1 November 1979, the station was reassigned to

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 J ...

which maintained the

Ground Air Transmitter Receiver 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 ...

until early 1984 (now a firefighter training site). A New York State jail opened at the site c. 1983. It was a part of the 21st RCC (

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 ...

Regional Control Center) a

SAGE Sage or SAGE may refer to: Plants * ''Salvia officinalis'', common sage, a small evergreen subshrub used as a culinary herb ** Lamiaceae, a family of flowering plants commonly known as the mint or deadnettle or sage family ** ''Salvia'', a large ...

network, located at

Stewart AFB Stewart may refer to: People *Stewart (name), Scottish surname and given name *Clan Stewart, a Scottish clan *Clan Stewart of Appin, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Stewart, British Columbia *Stewart Township, Nipissing District, Ontario (histor ...

History

Lashup Radar Network site L-6 was established in June 1950 at the Pine Camp military installation (renamed

Fort Drum Fort Drum is a U.S. Army military reservation and a census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, on the northern border of New York, United States. The population of the CDP portion of the base was 12,955 at the 2010 census. It is home t ...

in 1951)compiled by and operated by the 655th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron using an RCA AN/TPS-10A Radar. After construction adjacent to Fort Drum in June 1952, the operation moved to the Air Force Station, one of the first twenty-four

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 ...

radar stations of the permanent network established 1950-1951 after the USAF directed construction of the sites on December 2, 1948. Watertown AFS used

AN/FPS-3 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 ...

and

AN/FPS-5 The AN/FPS-5 was a nodding height-finding radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. It was unique in that it used a fixed reflector and a moving feed in order to steer the beam. It was produced in the early 1950s by Hazeltine, ...

radars for warning and

ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic was p ...

. In 1958 this site was operating with

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 ...

search radar and

General Electric AN/FPS-6 Radar 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 ...

for height-finding. During 1959 Watertown AFS began providing

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) data to DC-03 at

Syracuse AFS Hancock Field Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, co-located with Syracuse Hancock International Airport. It is located north-northeast of Syracuse, New York, at 6001 East Molloy Road, Mattydale, NY 13211. The installatio ...

, New York, and the squadron was re-designated as the 655th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1959. In 1959 a 2nd AN/FPS-6 was added and in 1961, the FPS-20 was upgraded to an

AN/FPS-66 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, ...

. One height-finder radar was replaced by an

Avco AN/FPS-26 Radar The Avco AN/FPS-26 Radar was an Air Defense Command height finder radar developed in the Frequency Diversity Program with a tunable 3-cavity power klystron for electronic counter-countermeasures (e.g. to counter jamming). Accepted by the Rome A ...

in 1963. In 1964 the AN/FPS-66 was replaced by a

Westinghouse AN/FPS-27 Radar The AN/FPS-27 Radar was a Long Range search radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command. Westinghouse built a Frequency Diverse (FD) search radar designed to operate in the S-band from 2322 to 2670 MHz. The radar was desig ...

. The other AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was retired in 1964.compiled by In addition to the main facility, the Watertown squadron operated two unmanned

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 ...

(P-49A) and

AN/FPS-18 The AN/FPS-18 was a medium-range search Radar used by the United States Air Force Air Defense Command.http://www.bendixradiofoundation.com/documents/Bendix%20Radio%20Radar%20History.pdf This medium-range search radar was designed and built by Bend ...

(P-49B) Gap Filler sites: * Suttons Corner, NY (P-49A) * Oswegatchie, NY (P-49B)

Air Force units and assignments

Units: * 655th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, activated 8 December 1949 at Pine Camp, NY (L-6) :: Moved to Watertown AFS, NY, 1 February 1951 : Redesignated 655th Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 February 1959 : Redesignated 655th Radar Squadron, 1 February 1974 * Inactivated 1 November 1979 Assignments: * 540th Aircraft Control and Warning Group (32d Air Division), 18 Dec 1949 *

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 ...

, 6 February 1952 *

4711th Air Defense Wing The 4711th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 30th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan, where it was discontinued in 1956. It was ...

, 16 February 1953 * 32d Air Division, 1 March 1956 *

Syracuse Air Defense Sector The Syracuse Air Defense Sector (SADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command (ADC) 26th Air Division at Hancock Field, New York. SADS was established in October 1956 as the 46 ...

, 1 September 1958 *

Boston Air Defense Sector The Boston Air Defense Sector (BADS) is an inactive United States Air Force Air Defense Command (ADC) organization. Its last assignment was with the ADC 26th Air Division at Hancock Field, New York. History BADS was established in 1956 at Ste ...

, 4 September 1963 *

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 Air National Guard Base, Hancock Field, New York. It was inac ...

, 1 April 1966 *

21st Air Division The 21st Air Division (21st AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command, being stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 23 September 1983. History World W ...

, 19 November 1969 - 31 December 1979

References

* In March 1949, Congress authorized the construction of a permanent radar network ("ADC radar site" P-1 was at

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 ...

from June 1, 1950, to April 1, 1960.)

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20091023220116/http://geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/3548/facility/watertown.html {{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed Installations of the United States Air Force in New York (state) 1952 in military history 1952 establishments in New York (state) 1979 in military history 1979 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, New York Federal Aviation Administration History of Los Angeles Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites