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Minot Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part ofAir Defense Command (ADC) | |
| Gasman Township,Ward County, south ofMinot, North Dakota | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force station |
| Code | QJVM (ILC) |
| Owner | civilian |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Location | |
  Minot AFS Location of Minot AFS, North Dakota | |
| Coordinates | 48°00′13″N101°17′40″W / 48.00361°N 101.29444°W /48.00361; -101.29444 (Minot AFS P-28) |
| Site history | |
| In use | May 1951–September 1979, 1984–1997 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 786th Radar Squadron |
Minot Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-28 NORAD ID: Z-28) [Permanent Installation Number (PIN): 1445; Installation Location Code (ILC): QJVM]) is a closedUnited States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 16.2 miles (26.1 km) south ofMinot, North Dakota; on the west side ofUS Highway 83. It was closed in 1979. A portion of the property was reopened in 1984 as theMinot Communications Site and served until 1997.
Minot Air Force Station was the first major Air Force installation inNorth Dakota, even predating the two "large" bases,Minot Air Force Base andGrand Forks Air Force Base.
Minot Air Force Station was part of the last batch of twenty-three radar stations constructed as part of theAir Defense Command permanent network. It was activated on 20 May 1951 at Max, ND, and declared completely operational in 1952.
The 786th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operations withAN/FPS-3 andAN/FPS-5 radars in April 1952, 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.
It was namedMinot Air Force Station on 1 December 1953. During 1957 anAN/GPS-3 search radar saw brief use. In 1958 the original radars were replaced byAN/FPS-20 search andAN/FPS-6 height-finder sets. A second height-finder set,AN/FPS-6B, was installed during the following year.
During 1961 Minot AFS joined theSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-20 atMalmstrom AFB, Montana. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 786th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 July 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.
By the end of 1961 the search set had been upgraded and redesignated as anAN/FPS-66. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-28.
AnAN/FPS-26A height-finder radar was installed in 1964, and the AN/FPS-6 was retired. The AN/FPS-6B was upgraded to anAN/FPS-90 also that year. In 1964 the site received anAN/FPS-27 search radar which became fully operational in early 1965. The AN/FPS-66 was removed later in 1965. In 1968 the AN/FPS-90 was retired.
In addition to the main facility, Minot operated three unmannedAN/FPS-14 (P-28A) andAN/FPS-18 (P-28B/C) Gap Filler sites:
The Alexander site was reassigned to Minot afterDickinson AFS (Z-177) closed in 1965. The site is now home to the Watford CityJoint Surveillance System (JSS) (ARSR-4) LRR site (Z-300/J-76).
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. In early 1979 the Air Force announced that the station would be closing due to what was called "redundancies with more strategically located radars".[This quote needs a citation] On 29 September 1979 the 786th Radar Squadron was inactivated and the station was closed.
In 1984, a portion of the station was reopened by the USAF as the Minot Communication Site. It was closed again in 1997 and struck from the USAF property register and liquidated c.. 1998. Minot AFS has been sold to civilian interests, and has been reused as a housing subdivision colloquially known as theRadar Base.
Buildings on the station include:[1]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
