Owingsville Air Force Station

Owingsville Air Force Station (ADC ID: M-111) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located northwest of Owingsville, Kentucky. It was closed in 1957.

History

Owingsville Air Force Station was part of the planned deployment by Air Defense Command of forty-four Mobile radar stations across the United States to support the permanent Radar network established during the Cold War for air defense of the United States. This deployment had been projected to be operational by mid-1952. Funding, constant site changes, construction, and equipment delivery delayed deployment.

The 809th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated at Owingsville on 1 December 1954 with a AN/TPS-1D Radar. Operational status was achieved in 1956, 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. Budget cuts forced closure on 30 November 1957

The site was then redesignated as an unmanned gap-filler radar annex (P-82B) controlled by Snow Mountain AFS, KY. It later was assigned as a Gap Filler for Guthrie AFS, WV (P-43C) and eventually was closed in the 1960s. It is unclear if Owingsville was ever equipped with an AN/FPS-14 or FPS-18 radar.

Today the radar site is obliterated and abandoned. The former containment area is now owned by the Kentucky DOT.

Air Force units and assignments

Units:

• 809th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Assigned 1 December 1954

Activated at 30th AD, Willow Run AFS (P-23), MI, 25 June 1953

Inactivated on 30 November 1957

Assignments:

• 30th Air Division, 1 December 1954
• 4708th Defense Wing, 1 May 1954
• 58th Air Division, 1 March 1956-30 November 1957

See also

• List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations

References

• A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
• Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
• Information for Owingsville AFS, KY