Hawes Radio Tower
| Hawes Radio Tower | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Status | Destroyed |
| Type | Mast radiator insulated against ground |
| Location | Hinkley, California, United States |
| Coordinates | 34°55′1″N 117°22′36″W / 34.91694°N 117.37667°WCoordinates: 34°55′1″N 117°22′36″W / 34.91694°N 117.37667°W |
| Destroyed | 1986 |
| Height | 373.7 m (1,226.05 ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Main contractor | US Air Force |
Hawes Radio Relay Facility (also known as the Hawes Radio Tower) was a United States Air Force installation built on the site of the former Hawes Airfield at Hinkley, California, USA at 34°55′1″N 117°22′36″W / 34.91694°N 117.37667°W. The site contained a 373.7 meters ( 1226 ft ) tall guyed mast antenna and hardened underground facility used for the Strategic Air Command's AN/FRC-117 Survivable Low Frequency Communications System. Detachment 2, 33rd Communications Group at March AFB, ran the site until its inactivation in 1986.
The mission of Detachment 2 (Hawes Radio Relay Site) was to provide the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Commander-in-Chief of Strategic Air Command (CINCSAC), SAC Headquarters, the Airborne Command Post (ABNCP), and the SAC Force with a Survivable Low Frequency Communications System for passing record communications between the above agencies. Hawes provides SAC Emergency War Order communications before, during and after a nuclear attack, acts as the alternate ground station for the SAC ABNCP, and relays secure record communications from and into the Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN).
The SAC SLFCS site at Hawes was activated on 3 Apr 1967 as a project assigned to the 33d Communications Squadron, Air Force. The site was accepted by Headquarters USAF on 31 May 1968, and was activated for continuous operations a day later. On 19 Jul 1968, 15th Air Force assumed maintenance responsibility. Hawes was located in the Mojave Desert, approximately 100 miles northeast of March AFB, and 40 miles east of Edwards AFB. Site personnel lived on Edwards AFB, and took a shuttle bus to the site.
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