Fire Island Air Force Station
Fire Island Air Force Station
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| Part of Alaskan Air Command (AAC) | |
1962 photo
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 Fire Island AFS
Location of Fire Island AFS, Alaska
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| Coordinates | 61°08′28″N 150°13′05″W / 61.14111°N 150.21806°WCoordinates: 61°08′28″N 150°13′05″W / 61.14111°N 150.21806°W |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |
 United States Air Force
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| Site history | |
| Built | 1951 |
| In use | 1951-1969 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 626th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
Fire Island Air Force Station (AAC ID: F-01) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 11.9 miles (19.2 km) west-southwest of Anchorage, Alaska, on Fire Island. It was closed in 1969.
Fire Island AFS was a continental defence radar station constructed to provide the United States Air Force early warning of an attack by the Soviet Union on Alaska. Contracts were awarded during the spring of 1950, and work was started shortly afterwards on construction.
During World War II, the three by six mile Fire Island was accessible only by water, and served as a lookout site for United States Army Artillery units for sighting submarines. The station was located 2 miles west of the Anchorage International Airport, in Cook Inlet. All but the northwest corner of Fire Island was reserved. Improvements constructed by the Air Force included 33 buildings and structures utilized for operations, administration, maintenance, communications, a multi-purpose dormitory, radome towers, utilities, and an airstrip, which provided a means of getting personnel and supplies to the island by air.
The station was opened in September 1951, and the 626th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated, 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. Radars operated were AN/CPS-6B, AN/FPS-8, AN/CPS-4, AN/FPS-20A, and AN/FPS-6B.
Fire Island AFS also operated as a Manual Control Center (MCC) site. With the creation of NORAD in 1957, Fire Island AFS became one of four NORAD Control Centers in Alaska. Its mission was to feed air defense data to the Alaskan NORAD Region Control Center (ROCC) at Elmendorf AFB where it was analyzed to determine range, direction, altitude, speed, and whether aircraft were friendly or hostile.
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