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Dauphin Island Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part ofAir Defense Command (ADC) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Code | ADC ID: TM-196, NORAD ID: Z-196, Z-249 |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Location | |
  Dauphin Island AFS | |
| Coordinates | 30°15′01″N088°04′42″W / 30.25028°N 88.07833°W /30.25028; -88.07833 (Dauphin Island AFS TM-196, Z-249) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1958 |
| In use | 1958-1974 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 693d Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron 635th Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron |
Dauphin Island Air Force Station is a closedUnited States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 1.9 miles (3.1 km) east ofDauphin Island, Alabama, near historicFort Gaines (Alabama). It was closed in 1980.
Beginning in September 1982, theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) acquired part of the facility. Today the site is part of theJoint Surveillance System (JSS), designated byNORAD asEastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-12 with anARSR-2 radar.
Dauphin Island Air Force Station came into existence as part of 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.
The693d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was assigned to the station on 1 September 1958. The site had anAN/FPS-20 search radar and twoAN/FPS-6A height-finder radars, and initially the station functioned as an aircraft control and warning station.
The Ground Air Transmitting Receiving (GATR) Site for communications was located at30°14′47″N088°04′56″W / 30.24639°N 88.08222°W /30.24639; -88.08222 (Dauphin Island AS GATR), approximately 0.4 mile southeast from the main site. Normally the GATR site was connected by a pair of buried telephone cables, with a backup connection of dual telephone cables overhead. The Coordinate Data Transmitting Set (CDTS) (AN/FST-2) at the main site converted each radar return into a digital word which was transmitted by the GATR via microwave to the Control center.
Dauphin Island AFS began operating anAN/FPS-7 radar in 1960, and joined theSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-09 atGunter AFB, Alabama. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the693d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 March 1961. 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. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-196.
In 1961 Dauphin Island AFS became a joint-use facility with theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA). However, it was removed from joint-use status in 1962 and then put back in joint-use status in 1963. A second radar squadron, the635th Radar Squadron, arrived fromFort Lawton, Washington on 1 January 1963. This unit operated anAN/FPS-93 and anAN/FPS-6 radar. In 1965, the site was again removed from joint-use status.
Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars. The Air Force inactivated the 693d on 30 September 1970. In 1972, Dauphin Island became part of the Southern Air Defense Systems (SADS). It was given a new NORAD designation, Z-249. The 635th was inactivated on 1 July 1974.
The radar site became Operating Location G,630th Radar Squadron, which inactivated on 31 December 1977. It then became Operating Location E,678th Air Defense Group. The site closed for good on 30 September 1980.
Today the station is theDauphin Island Sea Lab, Alabama's primary marine education and research center. Part of the station also is used by theUnited States Coast Guard as a recreational facility. Most of the USAF buildings have found new uses, and several radar towers have been re-purposed.
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
