Suffolk County Air Force Base Missile Annex

The Suffolk County Air Force Base Missile Annex (SAGE codename "BED")^[1] is a Formerly Used Defense Site (NY29799F12240/C02NY0714^[2]) on Long Island (40°49′54″N 72°40′59″W / 40.8317708°N 72.6831837°WCoordinates: 40°49′54″N 72°40′59″W / 40.8317708°N 72.6831837°W) that was a CIM-10 Bomarc missile complex during the Cold War, 2 mi (3.2 km) west of Suffolk County Air Force Base.^[3] Planned in 1955 for completion in February 1960^[4] and activated as the 2nd operational BOMARC complex on 1 December 1959 (4 missiles by 1 January),^[5] the annex was part of the New York Air Defense Sector defenses. The annex included a Launch Area with 56 Mode II Launcher Shelters in 2 flights (e.g., 2 compressor buildings were available to simultaneously get 2 missiles to the "Standby" stage prior to "Fire-up".) ^[6]

Missile Support Area

The Missile Support Area included offices of the Base Commander (Col. Fred G. Hook, Jr. in 1959), an OOAMA representative, and the Commander of the 6th Air Defense Missile Squadron; while Boeing Airplane Company support was from an office 5 mi (8.0 km) north in Riverhead, New York.^[6] Military police operated from a Security Control and Identification building at the SSW entrance to the annex from Old Country Road. Two flights of missile maintenance airmen used the Assembly and Maintenance (A & M) Shop for preparing newly received missiles, repairing BOMARCs that malfunctioned, and periodic recycling. "Missile Recycle" for 6 mo/2 yr component replacement from "ready-storage" used 5 A & M Shop stations after the missile had been transported to the Main Shop Room following defueling and warhead removal at the Launcher Shelter and decontamination at the Fuel Facility.^[6]:6.14 The A & M Shop with 22 rooms included a "Control Room", and a Telecommunication (TELCO) Room with 2 SAGE Digital Data Receivers and a Digital Data Transmitter for communicating missiles' status to the remote launch control center in New Jersey.

Interceptor Missile Squadron Operations Center

The Interceptor Missile Squadron Operations Center (IMSOC) in the A & M Shop next to the TELCO Room was connected to the "Coaxial Distribution System" for communicating with Electrical Launching Equipment (ELE) in each Launcher Shelter's equipment room. The IMSOC used the "Prelaunch Command System" with a Squadron Supervisor's Station in the IMSOC that included "a desk-type console" with manual controls for acknowledging SAGE "alert orders and other commands". The console controlled missile warm-up (e.g., 2 minutes for IM-99A rocket fuel while 30 seconds was needed for IM-99B:^[7] arming of the igniter & activation of gyros, seeker, fuze, etc.) and to maintain the BOMARC at "Standby" (warmed-up & erected) until "Fire-up"^[6] by a remote Senior Director's keyed console (fire button) at the launch control center]] (Weapons Director room) at McGuire DC-01, which also was the launch control center for the missile complex on Fort Dix. The console then displayed whether the missile transitioned to the "Launch" or "Malfunction" stage, which determined the subsequent squadron operation needed at the Launcher Shelter (checkout of the empty shelter or deactivation of the faulty missile).

Civilian use

In 2009 the 187-acre (1 km²) former missile launch complex was being used as a county impound lot and county/FBI shooting range.^[8]

External images

SAGE Situation Display showing the "BED" missile annex

References

1. "Image: sage_situation-thumb-615x672-111531.jpg, (614 × 672 px)". cdn.theatlantic.com. Retrieved 2015-09-01.
2. GAO-02-658 Corps' Cleanup Determinations: Appendix II (Results of Our Analysis…) (tpub.com transcription) (Report). Government Accounting Office. p. 58. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
3. Regional Map: Suffolk - Base No. 2 (Map). (p. 1.13 of Boeing's IM-99A Bases Manual)
4. McMullen, R. F. (15 Feb 80). History of Air Defense Weapons 1946–1962 (Report). ADC Historical Study No. 14. Historical Division, Office of information, HQ ADC. p. 176. …in 1955, to support a program which called for 40 squadrons of BOMARC (120 missiles to a squadron for a total of 4,800 missiles), ADC reached a decision on the location of these 40 squadrons and suggested operational dates for each. The plan was as follows: … l. McGuire 1/60 2. Suffolk 2/60 3. Otis 3/60 4. Dow 4/60 5. Niagara Falls 1/61…6. Plattsburg 1/61 7. Kinross 2/61 8. K. 1. Sawyer 2/61 9. Langley 2/61 10. Truax 3/61 11. Paine 3/61 12. Portland 3/61 … At the end of 1958, ADC plans called for construction of the following BOMARC bases in the following order: l. McGuire 2. Suffolk 3. Otis 4. Dow 5. Langley 6. Truax 7. Kinross 8. Duluth 9. Ethan Allen 10. Niagara Falls 11. Paine 12. Adair 13. Travis 14. Vandenberg 15. San Diego 16. - Malmstrom 17. Grand Forks 18. Minot 19. Youngstown 20. Seymour-Johnson 21. Bunker Hill 22. Sioux Falls 23. Charleston 24. McConnell 25. Holloman 26. McCoy 27. Amarillo 28. Barksdale 29. Williams Check date values in: |date= (help);
5. Preface by Buss, L. H. (Director) (1 May 1960). North American Air Defense Command and Continental Air Defense Command Historical Summary: July–December 1959 (PDF) (Report). Directorate of Command History: Office of Information Services. …the 6th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC) at Suffolk…6th ADMS…activated on 1 February 1959…operational on 1 December 1959. As of 1 January 1960. the McGuire squadron had 24 IM-99A missiles and the Suffolk squadron had four missiles available for air defense.
6. IM-99A Bases Manual (Report). Seattle, Washington: Boeing: Pilotless Aircraft Division. 12-3-59. Differences in the Langley Base layout are due to planning for accommodation of the advanced missile system [(IM-99B) ground equipment with equipment for] the IM-99A system Check date values in: |date= (help);
7. Air Force Missileers. Turner Publishing Company. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
8. DaNapoli, Jessica (Feb 11, 2009). "Former Westhampton missile base boasts rich history" (webpage w/ initial part of newspaper article). Southampton Press. Retrieved 2013-05-09.