Type Air Force Station Year built 1956 | In use 1954-1957 Controlled by United States Air Force | |
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Garrison 809th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron People also search for Rochester 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 4.3 miles (6.9 km) northwest of Owingsville, Kentucky. It was closed in 1957.
Contents
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 an 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.