Mica Peak Air Force Station

Mica Peak Air Force Station
Part of Air Defense Command (ADC)
Mica Peak AFS Location of Mica Peak AFS, Washington
Coordinates	47°34′26″N 117°04′52″W / 47.57389°N 117.08111°W / 47.57389; -117.08111 (Mica Peak AFS SM-151)
Type	Air Force Station
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1956
In use	1956-1979
Garrison information
Garrison	823d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Mica Peak Air Force Station (ADC ID: SM-151, NORAD ID: Z-141) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 6.3 miles (10.1 km) east-northeast of Mica, Washington. It was closed in 1975 by the Air Force, and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-79.

History

Mica Peak Air Force Station was initially part of Phase II of the Air Defense Command Mobile Radar program. The Air Force approved this expansion of the Mobile Radar program on October 23, 1952. Radars in this network were designated "SM." The station was logistically supported by the 9th Air Division at Geiger Field, Spokane, Washington.

The station became operational on 1 July 1956 when the 823d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to the new station on 1 July 1956. The squadron started operating AN/FPS-20 search and AN/MPS-14 radars, 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. In 1959 Mica Peak AFS received an AN/FPS-6A height-finder radar, and began performing air-traffic-control duties for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

During 1960 Mica Peak AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-15 at Larson AFB, Washington. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 823d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 July 1960. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 to the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile. In June 1963, the SAGE feed was switched to DC-12 at McChord AFB.

In 1962 the search radar was upgraded and redesignated as an AN/FPS-67. A year later, an AN/FPS-90 height-finder radar was added. The AN/MPS-14 was later retired. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-141.

In addition to the main facility, Mica Peak operated several AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler sites:

Porthill, ID (SM-151C) 48°59′36″N 116°28′51″W / 48.99333°N 116.48083°W / 48.99333; -116.48083 (SM-151C)
Moyie Springs, ID (SM-151D) 48°45′48″N 116°12′34″W / 48.76333°N 116.20944°W / 48.76333; -116.20944 (SM-151D)
Yaak AFS, MT (SM-151E) 48°51′44″N 115°43′18″W / 48.86222°N 115.72167°W / 48.86222; -115.72167 (SM-151E)

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. In 1967 the search radar was upgraded to an AN/FPS-67B. Routine operations were performed until 1975 when the 823rd Radar Squadron (SAGE) was inactivated on 1 July. Although the squadron was inactivated and most of the facility was closed, Mica Peak remained in operation manned by various operating locations / detachments of the 25th Air Defense Squadron at McChord AFB. Circa 1977 the AN/FPS-90 was converted to an AN/FPS-116. The 25th ADS shut down operations on 1 October 1979.

The FAA assumed control of the station on 1 October 1979, however the Air Force maintained the height-finder radar until 1988 when that radar was retired. Through the mid-1990s, the FAA continued to operate the AN/FPS-67B set at this site. That radar was then replaced by an ARSR-4 in the late 1990s. Mica Peak remains an active Joint Surveillance System (JSS) site today.

Air Force units and assignments

Emblem of the 823d Radar Squadron

Units

Constituted as the 823d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on 30 December 1954

Activated at Geiger Field , Washington on 8 April 1955

Moved to Mica Peak AFS on 1 July 1956

Redesignated as 823d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 September 1960

Inactivated on 1 June 1975

Assignments

9th Air Division, 1 July 1956
25th Air Division, 15 August 1958
4700th Air Defense Wing, 1 September 1958
Spokane Air Defense Sector, 15 March 1960
Seattle Air Defense Sector, 1 June 1963
25th Air Division, 1 April 1966-1 June 1975

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO (1980).
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 Mica Peak AFS, WA

External links

Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)

Bases

CONUS	Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Ethan Allen Fairfax Fallon Fort Heath Fort Lee Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Imeson Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenburg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown

Overseas	Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Bay Keflavik McAndrew Pepperrell Thule

Stations

CONUS	Adair Aiken Almaden Alpena Antigo Arlington Heights Baker Bedford Bellefontaine Belleville Benton Blaine Brookfield Brunswick Bucks Harbor Burns Calumet Cambria Cape Charles Cape Cod Carmi Caswell Chandler Charleston Cheyenne Mountain Claysburg Clear Colville Condon Continental Divide Cottonwood Cross City Crystal Springs Curlew Custer Cut Bank Dallas Center Dauphin Island Dickinson Duncanville Eldorado Empire Finland Finley Flintstone Fordland Fort Fisher Fort Lee Fortuna Gettysburg Grand Marais Grand Rapids Guthrie Hanna City Havre Highlands Houma Hutchinson Joelton Keno Killeen Kingman Kirksville Klamath Lake Charles Lake City Las Cruces Las Vegas Lewistown Lockport Lufkin Lyndonville Madera Makah Mica Peak Miles City Mill Valley Minot Montauk Moriarty Mount Hebo Mount Laguna Mount Lemmon Naselle North Bend North Charleston North Truro Oklahoma City Olathe Omaha Opheim Osceola Othello Owingsville Ozona Palermo Point Arena Port Austin Port Isabel Pyote Red Bluff Rochester Rockport Rockville (Indiana) Roslyn Rye Saint Albans San Clemente Island Santa Rosa Island Saratoga Springs Sault Ste Marie Shemya Snelling Snow Mountain Sweetwater Texarkana Tierra Amarilla Thomasville Tonopah Topsham Two Creeks Wadena Walnut Ridge Watertown Waverly West Mesa Willow Run Winnemucca Winslow Winston-Salem Woomera Yaak Zapata

Overseas	Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cape Makkovik Cartwright Cut Throat Island Elliston Ridge Fox Harbour Hofn Hopedale Kamloops La Scie Langanes Latrar Melville Puntzi Mountain Ramore Red Cliff Rockville Saglek St. Anthony Saskatoon Mountain Sioux Lookout Spotted Island Stephenville

Air
Defense
units

Forces	Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth

Air Divisions	8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th

Sectors	Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington

Wings	Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th

Groups	Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th

Squadrons	Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons

Major
weapon
systems

Electronic	TB-29 EB-57 EC-121

Fighters	Propellor: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106

Missiles	AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10

Ships	Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil

Texas Towers	Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4

Miscellaneous

Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons)
General Surveillance Radar Stations

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