Curlew Air Force Station
Curlew Air Force Station
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| Part of Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
 Curlew AFS
Location of Curlew AFS, Washington
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| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1951 |
| In use | 1951-1959 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 638th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
Curlew Air Force Station (ADC ID: LP-6, P-6) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 16 miles (26 km) north of Republic, Washington. It was closed in 1959.
History
Curlew Air Force Station was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the Air Defense Command permanent radar network. Prompted by the start of the Korean War, on July 11, 1950, the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of the permanent network. Receiving the Defense Secretary’s approval on July 21, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction.
The 638th Tactical Control Squadron was redesignated as the 638th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron and activated at Mount Bonaparte AFS (LP-6), Washington on 5 May 1950.[1] By March 1951 the squadron was operating an AN/TPS-1B medium-range search radar, 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.
The permanent site (P-6) was moved to Bodie Mountain (Curlew AFS) on 1 December 1953, and the 638th AC&W Squadron began operating an AN/FPS-3 long-range search radar and an AN/FPS-5 height-finder radar beginning in January 1952. An AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was installed in 1957. In 1959 the 638th AC&W Squadron was inactivated,[1] and the station was converted to an unmanned gap-filler radar site (P-60C) to support Colville AFS (P-60) until the site was finally closed in December 1960.
Today, the radar site itself is obliterated, a few foundations and some crumbling concrete is all that remains. The cantonment area is used as a Job Corps center, known as the Curlew Civilian Conservation Center.
Air Force units and assignments
Units:[1]
- Former 638th Tactical Control Squadron redesignated 638th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
- Activated at Mount Bonaparte, WA 15 May 1950
- Site renamed Curlew Air Force Station, 1 December 1953
- Inactivated on 1 December 1959
Assignments:[1]
- 505th Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 15 May 1950
- 162d Aircraft Control and Warning Group (Federalized AZ ANG), 25 May 1951
- 25th Air Division, 6 February 1952
- 4702d Defense Wing, 1 January 1953
- 9th Air Division, 8 October 1954
- 25th Air Division, 15 August 1958
- 4700th Air Defense Wing, 1 September 1958 – 1 December 1959
See also
- List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
- List of United States Air Force aircraft control and warning squadrons
References
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
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- Information for Curlew AFS, WA
External links
- Pages with reference errors
- Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- Articles with dead external links from December 2012
- Radar stations of the United States Air Force
- Aerospace Defense Command military installations
- Closed facilities of the United States Air Force
- Military facilities in Washington (state)
- 1951 establishments in Washington (state)
- 1959 disestablishments in Washington (state)
