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Walnut Ridge Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part ofAir Defense Command (ADC) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Location | |
  Walnut Ridge AFS Location of Walnut Ridge AFS, Arkansas | |
| Coordinates | 36°07′48″N090°55′09″W / 36.13000°N 90.91917°W /36.13000; -90.91917 (Walnut Ridge AFS SM-143) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1956 |
| In use | 1956-1963 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 725th Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron |
Walnut Ridge Air Force Station (ADC ID: SM-143) is a closedUnited States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 4.7 miles (7.6 km) north-northeast ofWalnut Ridge, Arkansas. It was closed in 1963.
Walnut Ridge Air Force Station was one of many radar installations conceived as part of Phase II of theAir Defense Command's Mobile Radar program. The Air Force approved this expansion of the Mobile Radar program on October 23, 1952.[1]
TheUnited States Air ForceAir Defense Command established a Mobile Radar site atWalnut Ridge Regional Airport in 1956, designating it Walnut Ridge Air Force Station, and designating it asSM-143. The facility was originally constructed in 1943 and had formerly served as an Army Air Corps Pilot School during WW2.[2]The government formally announced the construction of the $500k, 200 personnel radar facility on January 14, 1955, and construction was underway by May of that year.[3][4] By January of the following year, the first Air Force personnel arrived at Walnut Ridge,[5] and the 725th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was transferred fromTinker AFB, OK on 1 July and began operating anAN/MPS-11 radar set at the station.[6] 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 anAN/FPS-6 replaced the AN/FPS-4 height-finder radar that had been installed a year earlier, and a second AN/FPS-6 was added subsequently. During 1962 Walnut Ridge AFS joined theSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-07 atTruax Field, Wisconsin. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the725th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 May 1962. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile.
In March 1963 the Air Force ordered this site to close. Operations ceased on 1 August 1963 and the 725th Radar Squadron was inactivated.
With its closure, Walnut Ridge was determined to be excess by the military and turned over to the local government for civil use. Today, the Air Force radar site is part of the civil airport (formerlyMarine Corps Air Facility Walnut Ridge), and the Williams Baptist College. Most of the USAF buildings are still in use, some by the college and some bySouthwest Airlines, which has established a training facility at the site.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency