Bartlesville Air Force Station Explained

Bartlesville Air Force Station
Ensign:Air Defense Command.svg
Ensign Size:60px
Partof:Air Defense Command (ADC)
Pushpin Map:Oklahoma
Pushpin Label:Bartlesville AFS
Pushpin Mapsize:300
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Bartlesville AFS, Oklahoma
Type:Air Force Station
Built:1951
Used:1951–1961
Garrison:796th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Bartlesville Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-77) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 3.2miles west-northwest of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. It was closed in 1961.

History

In late 1951 Air Defense Command selected Bartlesville, OK as a site for one of twenty-eight radar stations built as part of the second segment of the permanent radar surveillance network. Prompted by the start of the Korean War, on 11 July 1950, the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of the second segment of the permanent network. Receiving the Defense Secretary's approval on 21 July, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction.

On 1 May 1951 the 796th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operating a pair of AN/FPS-10 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 1958 an AN/FPS-6 replaced the AN/FPS-10 height-finder radar.

In addition to the main facility, Bartlesville operated two AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler site:

This site was inactivated 1 June 1961 due to budgetary constraints. Today what was Bartlesville Air Force Station is largely obliterated. It now consists of various residential and commercial establishments.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

Activated on 1 May 1951

Discontinued and inactivated on 1 June 1961

Assignments

See also

References