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Claysburg Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part ofAir Defense Command (ADC) | |
| Site information | |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Controlled by |  United States Air Force |
| Location | |
  Claysburg AFS Location of Claysburg AFS, Pennsylvania | |
| Coordinates | 40°17′15″N078°33′50″W / 40.28750°N 78.56389°W /40.28750; -78.56389 (Claysburg AFS P-63) |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1952 |
| In use | 1952-1961 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 772d Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron |
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Claysburg Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-63) is a closedUnited States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) west ofClaysburg, Pennsylvania. It was closed in 1961 due to budget constraints. The unit was eventually moved toGibbsboro Air Force Station (RP-63), New Jersey.
Claysburg 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 in April 1952, replacing the Connelsville L-16 Lashup site. It was declared completely operational in late 1952.
The 772d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operations with anAN/CPS-4 height-finder radar andAN/FPS-3 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. In 1956, anAN/FPS-4 replaced the AN/CPS-4 and two years later anAN/FPS-20 replaced the original AN/FPS-3 search radar.
During 1959 Claysburg AFS joined theSemi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-03 atSyracuse AFS, New York. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the772d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1959. 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.
This site was closed in 1961 and the 772d Radar Squadron was repositioned to an existing Army Nike Missile site at Pedricktown, NJ, which becameGibbsboro AFS, New Jersey in order to save money by combining Army and Air Force radar sites.[1] Today Claysburg AFS has been redeveloped into Blue Knob Ski Resort.
Assignments:
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
