Bethel Air Force Station
Bethel Air Force Station
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| Part of Alaskan Air Command (AAC) | |
 Bethel AFS
Location of Bethel AFS, Alaska
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| Coordinates | 60°47′07″N 161°52′58″W / 60.78528°N 161.88278°W |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
 United States Air Force
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| Site history | |
| Built | 1958 |
| In use | 1958-1963 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 713th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (1953-1969) |
Bethel Air Force Station (AAC ID: F-21) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It was located 402 miles (647 km) west of Anchorage, Alaska.
Bethel AFS was a continental defense radar station constructed to provide the United States Air Force early warning of an attack by the Soviet Union on Alaska.
A radar site was initially activated in September 1951 at Bethel, Alaska, manned by Federalized Alaska Air National Guardsmen and equipped with a World War II AN/TPS-1B radar as a result of the Korean War and the threat of a communist attack on Alaska. The guardsmen were designated as Detachment "C-3", 626th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, and commanded by the 10th Air Division at Fire Island AFS near Anchorage. The guardsmen were returned to state control in March 1952 and the provisional station was closed.
Plans were made for a permanent radar site beginning in late 1956. In 1957, acreage was acquired approximately 5 miles west of Bethel, Alaska for construction of the station. Using the existing port facilities at Bethel on the Kuskokwim River, Towed barges were able to land construction equipment and material at the town, which was transported along a gravel road to the construction site. In addition, an airstrip 60°46′50″N 161°50′09″W / 60.78056°N 161.83583°W was constructed near the site, about halfway between the station and Bethel, allowing cargo transports and personnel to fly into and out of the area.
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