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Lake Charles Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part ofAir Defense Command (ADC) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Location | |
  Lake Charles AFS Location of Lake Charles AFS, Louisiana | |
| Coordinates | 30°11′03″N093°10′33″W / 30.18417°N 93.17583°W /30.18417; -93.17583 (Lake Charles AFS TM-194) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1957 |
| In use | 1957-1995 |
Lake Charles Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-194, NORAD ID: Z-248) is a closedUnited States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 3.8 miles (6.1 km) southeast ofLake Charles, Louisiana. It was closed in 1995 by the Air Force, and turned over to theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Today the site is part of theJoint Surveillance System (JSS), designated byNORAD asEastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-14.
Lake Charles Air Force Station was, actually, two different facilities that shared the same location, active in two different eras.
The first Lake Charles Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-194) was as part of the Phase III of theAir Defense Command Mobile Radar program. On 20 October 1953 ADC requested a third phase of twenty-five radar sites be constructed. The812th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to the new base on 30 April 1957 by the33d Air Division. In 1958 the 812th AC&W Squadron activatedAN/FPS-3A andAN/FPS-6 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.
On 1 September 1961, the 812th was inactivated, and the Lake Charles site was converted into a gap-filler radar site (M-125D) for England AFB, LA, operating anAN/FPS-18. The FPS-18 inactivated on 30 June 1963 along with the653d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron atEngland Air Force Base.
The second Lake Charles Air Force Station was opened in 1972 whenTactical Air Command (TAC) constructed five new buildings at the former Lake Charles (TM-194) site. The new station was designated with NORAD ID Z-248. TAC set up anAN/TPS-43 radar on the newly constructed search tower. Eventually,Aerospace Defense Command assumed control of the site, and placedAN/FPS-93 andAN/FPS-6 radars at the site. These radars were operated as Operating Location F of the Houston-based630th Radar Squadron during 1972 and 1973. Control of the site was reassigned to the634th Radar Squadron on 1 January 1973, and inactivated on 1 July 1974.
After the 634th RADS inactivated, activities were assumed by Operating Location D of theTyndall AFB-based678th Air Defense Group as part of the Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS). The site continued operations over the next two decades with approximated twenty Air Force and civilian personnel with the 678th ADG tracking aircraft attempting to illegally enter the country. The final radars were anAN/FPS-91A search radar and anAN/FPS-116height-finder radar (retired c. 1988).
Lake Charles AFS closed for good on 30 September 1995, being replaced by a newFAAARSR-4Joint Surveillance System (JSS) site on the northwest side of the city of Lake Charles.
Today, for the first radar Site TM-194, the original Operations Building and the Power Plant are still extant on the west end of the site, and the original HQ Building is still extant near the site entrance. A private residence occupies the site of the original GAG Radio facility, later gap-filler annex (M-125D), on the east end of the site. Nothing visible remains of the site's second incarnation, Z-248. The current owner of the site isMcNeese State University.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
