Type Air Force Station Year built 1958 | In use 1958-1963 Controlled by United States Air Force | |
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Garrison 937th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (1958–1963) Similar Middleton Island Air Force Sta, Fire Island Air Force Station, Cape Romanzof Air Force, Northeast Cape Air Force Sta, Tatalina Air Force Station | ||
Ohlson Mountain Air Force Station (AAC ID: F-22) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It was located 118 miles (190 km) south-southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
Contents
History
Ohlson Mountain 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.
Plans were made for a permanent radar site beginning in late 1956. A site was located approximately 8 miles northeast of Homer, Alaska. The port facilities at Homer and the existing airport there were used to bring in construction supplies and equipment by Naval LST and towed barges. A gravel road was constructed through the wilderness to the new station which supplied access to the 1,600' mountaintop site.
The buildings were, except for the civil engineering building connected by heated hallways. As a result, personnel stationed there, with only very few exceptions, were able to wear "summer" uniforms year round, unless they had a need to go outside during the winter season. The coverings of the station's three radar towers were heated from within to keep the covering from becoming brittle from extreme cold, and thus subject to being damaged or destroyed by high winds. Tours at the station were limited to one year because of the psychological strain and physical hardships.
The 937th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, activated in February 1957 operated AN/FPS-3A, and AN/FPS-6 radars. As a surveillance station, its mission was to monitor the airspace for aircraft activity and provide information 24/7 to the air defense Direction Center at Fire Island AFS near Anchorage, where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile.
The Alaskan Air Command, after investigating various options, constructed a White Alice Communications System communications site at the station, operated by the Air Force Communications Service (AFCS). The Bethel site 59°42′42″N 151°32′27″W was activated in 1958.
Ohlson Mountain Air Force Station was very expensive to maintain, and was inactivated due to budget reductions on 15 May 1963, its mission being taken over by other AAC surveillance radar sites with upgraded and more capable equipment.
After the station's closure, the buildings, radars and communications antennas sat derelict and abandoned for decades. In 1998 Pacific Air Forces initiated "Operation Clean Sweep", in which abandoned Cold War stations in Alaska were remediated and the land restored to its previous state. After years of neglect the facilities at the station had lost any value they had when the site was closed. The site remediation of the radar, support and White Alice communication station was carried out by the 611th Civil Engineering Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, and remediation work was completed by 2005.