Claysburg Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-63) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Claysburg, Pennsylvania. It was closed in 1961 due to budget constraints. The unit was eventually moved to Gibbsboro Air Force Station (RP-63), New Jersey.
Claysburg Air Force Station was part of the last batch of twenty-three radar stations constructed as part of the Air Defense Command permanent network. It was activated in April 1952, replacing the Connelsville L-16 Lashup site. It was declared completely operational in late 1952.
The 772d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operations with an AN/CPS-4 height-finder radar and AN/FPS-3 search radar, 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. In 1956, an AN/FPS-4 replaced the AN/CPS-4 and two years later an AN/FPS-20 replaced the original AN/FPS-3 search radar.
During 1959 Claysburg AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-03 at Syracuse AFS, New York. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 772d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1959. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile.
This site was closed in 1961 and the 772d Radar Squadron was repositioned to an existing Army Nike Missile site at Pedricktown, NJ, which became Gibbsboro AFS, New Jersey in order to save money by combining Army and Air Force radar sites.[1] Today Claysburg AFS has been redeveloped into Blue Knob Ski Resort.
Air Force units and assignmentsedit
772d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Patch
Unitsedit
Constituted as the 772d Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron on 14 November 1950
Activated at Connellsville, PA (L-16) on 27 November 1950
Moved to Blue Knob Park, PA on 1 December 1951
Blue Knob Park renamed Claysburg Air Force Station on 1 December 1953
Redesignated 772d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1959
Moved to Gibbsboro Air Force Station, NJ on 1 May 1961.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
^Pedricktown Army Installation. Radomes.org (1961-01-15). Retrieved on 2013-09-18.
Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980 2016-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO (1980).
Winkler, David F. & Webster, Julie L., Searching the Skies[dead link], The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).
External linksedit
Information for Claysburg AFS, PA
Information for Pedricktown Army Installation (accessed 13 Dec 2011)
January 01, 1970
claysburg, force, station, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Claysburg Air Force Station news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2012 Learn how and when to remove this message Claysburg Air Force Station ADC ID P 63 is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station It is located 6 miles 9 7 km west of Claysburg Pennsylvania It was closed in 1961 due to budget constraints The unit was eventually moved to Gibbsboro Air Force Station RP 63 New Jersey Claysburg Air Force StationPart of Air Defense Command ADC Claysburg AFSLocation of Claysburg AFS PennsylvaniaCoordinates40 17 15 N 078 33 50 W 40 28750 N 78 56389 W 40 28750 78 56389 Claysburg AFS P 63 TypeAir Force StationSite informationControlled by United States Air ForceSite historyBuilt1952In use1952 1961Garrison informationGarrison772d Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap Download coordinates as KML GPX all coordinates GPX primary coordinates GPX secondary coordinates Contents 1 History 2 Air Force units and assignments 2 1 Units 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory editClaysburg Air Force Station was part of the last batch of twenty three radar stations constructed as part of the Air Defense Command permanent network It was activated in April 1952 replacing the Connelsville L 16 Lashup site It was declared completely operational in late 1952 The 772d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operations with an AN CPS 4 height finder radar and AN FPS 3 search radar 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 In 1956 an AN FPS 4 replaced the AN CPS 4 and two years later an AN FPS 20 replaced the original AN FPS 3 search radar During 1959 Claysburg AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment SAGE system initially feeding data to DC 03 at Syracuse AFS New York After joining the squadron was redesignated as the 772d Radar Squadron SAGE on 1 February 1959 The radar squadron provided information 24 7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile This site was closed in 1961 and the 772d Radar Squadron was repositioned to an existing Army Nike Missile site at Pedricktown NJ which became Gibbsboro AFS New Jersey in order to save money by combining Army and Air Force radar sites 1 Today Claysburg AFS has been redeveloped into Blue Knob Ski Resort Air Force units and assignments edit nbsp 772d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Patch Units edit Constituted as the 772d Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron on 14 November 1950 Activated at Connellsville PA L 16 on 27 November 1950 Moved to Blue Knob Park PA on 1 December 1951 Blue Knob Park renamed Claysburg Air Force Station on 1 December 1953 Redesignated 772d Radar Squadron SAGE on 1 February 1959 Moved to Gibbsboro Air Force Station NJ on 1 May 1961 Assignments 503d Aircraft Control and Warning Group 1 January 1951 26th Air Division 6 February 1952 4710th Defense Wing 16 February 1953 4708th Air Defense Wing 1 March 1956 30th Air Division 8 July 1956 Syracuse Air Defense Sector 15 August 1958 1 May 1961See also editList of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar StationsReferences edit nbsp This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Pedricktown Army Installation Radomes org 1961 01 15 Retrieved on 2013 09 18 Cornett Lloyd H and Johnson Mildred W A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 1980 Archived 2016 02 13 at the Wayback Machine Office of History Aerospace Defense Center Peterson AFB CO 1980 Winkler David F amp Webster Julie L Searching the Skies dead link The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories Champaign IL 1997 External links editInformation for Claysburg AFS PA Information for Pedricktown Army Installation accessed 13 Dec 2011 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Claysburg Air Force Station amp oldid 1192922436, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
