Point Lonely Short Range Radar Site is a

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 ...

Short Range Radar Site located in the

North Slope Borough The North Slope Borough is the northernmost borough in the US state of Alaska and thus, the northernmost county or equivalent of the United States as a whole. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,031. The borough seat and largest city i ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

, east-southeast of Point Barrow, Alaska. It is not open for public access.

Facilities and aircraft

The facility contains a rough airstrip at an

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

of above

mean sea level There are several kinds of mean in mathematics, especially in statistics. Each mean serves to summarize a given group of data, often to better understand the overall value (magnitude and sign) of a given data set. For a data set, the '' ari ...

. It has one

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

designated 7/25 with a gravel surface measuring 5,000 by 100 feet (1,524 x 30 m). According to the FAA, for the 12-month period ending July 12, 1977, it had 15,500

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

aircraft operations, an average of 42 per day. Husky Oil Company was making these flights in and out of Lonely. Many of the flights were L-188 Electra's and also a rare C-133 Cargomaster. Husky had to make improvements to the runway in order to accommodate these aircraft. There were also Hueys being flown in as well.Dale Mangels recollections

History

The airstrip was built in 1957 to support the Distant Early Warning Line radar station at Point Lonely (POW-1). The station was logistically supported by the Point Barrow Main DEW Line Station (POW-MAIN). It was operated by civilian contract workers. DEW Line operations ceased in October 1990, and the personnel were relieved from their duties. The radar station was upgraded with new radars and in 1994 was re-designated part of the North Warning System (NWS) as a Short Range Radar Site, A-18, equipped with a minimally attended AN/FPS-124 surveillance radar. In 1998

Pacific Air Forces Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam (f ...

initiated "Operation Clean Sweep", in which abandoned Cold War stations in Alaska were remediated and the land restored to its previous state. The site remediation of the radar and support station was carried out by the 611th Civil Engineering Squadron at

Elmendorf AFB Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) facility in Anchorage, Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II. It is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command (AL ...

, and remediation work was completed by 2005. The site is controlled by the

611th Air Support Group, based at Elmendorf. The airstrip remains open to provide contractor support access to the military radar site.

References

The DEW Line

External links

* Installations of the United States Air Force in Alaska Radar stations of the United States Air Force Airports in North Slope Borough, Alaska Military installations established in 1957 1957 establishments in Alaska {{AKMilitary, state=autocollapse

Facilities and aircraft

History

See also

References

External links