Watertown Air Force Station

For the radar station on Fort Drum that conducted SAC Radar Bomb Scoring (Detachment 11, callsign "Watertown Bomb Plot"), see 1CEVG.

Watertown Air Force Station
Part of 1951-1968: Air Defense Command 1968-1979: Aerospace Defense Command 1979-1984: Air Defense, Tactical Air Command
Watertown, New York
2 radomes and the main gate with guard shack (1975)
Coordinates
Type	Long Range Radar Site
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1952
Built by	U.S. Air Force
In use	1952-1979
Garrison information
Garrison	Watertown, New York
Occupants	655th Radar Squadron

Watertown Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force ADCOM General Surveillance Radar station 3.5 miles (5.6 km) south of Watertown, New York. Prior to the Air Defense squadron inactivating on 1 November 1979, the station was reassigned to Tactical Air Command which maintained the Ground Air Transmitter Receiver 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 Regional Control Center) a SAGE network, located at Stewart AFB.

History

Lashup Radar Network site L-6 was established in June 1950 at the Pine Camp military installation (renamed Fort Drum in 1951) 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 radar stations of the permanent network established 1950-1951 after the USAF directed construction of the sites in December 2, 1948. Watertown AFS used AN/FPS-3 and AN/FPS-5 radars for warning and ground-controlled interception. In 1958 this site was operating with AN/FPS-20 search radar and General Electric AN/FPS-6 Radar for height-finding.

During 1959 Watertown AFS began providing Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) data to DC-03 at Syracuse AFS, 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. One height-finder radar was replaced by an Avco AN/FPS-26 Radar in 1963. In 1964 the AN/FPS-66 was replaced by an Westinghouse AN/FPS-27 Radar. The other AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was retired in 1964.

In addition to the main facility, the Watertown squadron operated two unmanned AN/FPS-14 (P-49A) and AN/FPS-18 (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, 6 February 1952
• 4711th Air Defense Wing, 16 February 1953
• 32d Air Division, 1 March 1956
• Syracuse Air Defense Sector, 1 September 1958
• Boston Air Defense Sector, 4 September 1963
• 35th Air Division, 1 April 1966
• 21st Air Division, 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 from June 1, 1950, to April 1, 1960.)

External links

• http://web.archive.org/web/20091023220116/http://geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/3548/facility/watertown.html