Kirksville Air Force Station

 (1952-1968) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1952 near Sublette, Adair County, Missouri. Initially named Sublette Air Force Station, renamed Kirksville Air Force Station after the location on 1 Dec 1953. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-64, later a Sage ID of Z-64. Abandoned by the Air Force in 1968 with a small area reserved by the FAA for Kirksville FAA Radar Site.

History
Established in 1952 and became operational in April 1952 as Sublette Air Force Station manned by the 790th AC&W Squadron. The station initially had both a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and early warning mission. The early warning mission involved tracking and identifying all aircraft entering their airspace while the GCI mission involved guiding Air Force interceptors to any identified enemy aircraft. Controllers at the station vectored fighter aircraft at the correct course and speed to intercept enemy aircraft using voice commands via ground-to-air radio.

Initial equipment included two FPS-10 search radars. Two FPS-6A height-finder radars were installed in 1958 replacing one of the FPS-10s.

This configuration established the requirements for the transition to the SAGE System operation.

SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1959 initially feeding the Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07. The remaining FPS-10 was replaced with a FPS-7 search radar in 1963.

With the impending closure of the Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07 in December 1967, control was shifted to the Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22. That direction center was slated to close in September 1968 and the Kirksville AFS closed at the same time.

Gap Fillers
Kirksville AFS was responsible for the maintenance of one remote unattended gap-filler radar site. The Kirksville AFS gap-filler radar was located at Washington, Iowa.

Kirksville AFS Closure
Kirksville AFS and the 790th were deactivated on 8 Sep 1968. Kirksville AFS was declared surplus on 13 May 1968 even before the site closed. One acre was transferred to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on 2 Oct 1969. On 21 Oct 1970, the remaining property was transferred to Northeast Missouri State University of Kirksville, now Truman State University.

Kirksville FAA Radar Site
On 21 Oct 1970 the Kirksville Air Force Station was turned over to the Northeast Missouri State University except for a small site retained for use by the FAA. The reserved site included five buildings one being the search radar tower and portions of the USAF LLR radar operations building. Recent radars installed at the FAA site include a ARSR-3 that was replaced by a newer minimally attended CARSR radar circa 2015.

CARSR Radar
The secondary radar at this site is an ATCBI-6 beacon set.

Physical Plant
The physical plant of the site was divided into the main site, a cantonment area, a housing area, and a radio site. The main site housed the operations buildings, the radar towers, and the backup generators. The cantonment area housed the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, the dining hall, the motor pool, and other support buildings. The main site and the cantonment area were located on a 78-acre site about 6 miles north of Kirksville, Missouri. Apart from the main site was a small nine-unit housing area for married personnel.

Just northeast of the main site, a radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. The Kirksville AFS receivers were moved into the original transmitter building in a "GATR" configuration in 1964.

Current Status
Abandoned Air Force Station site near Sublette, Adair County, Missouri. Now private property.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * JSS System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07
 * Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22
 * Kansas City ARTCC

Sources:
 * , page 169.
 * , page 129.


 * Final Feasibility Study Report Kirksville Air Force Station Greentop, Missouri Formerly Used Defense Site Number B07MO023204, October 2008. Pdf
 * Final Proposed Plan Former Kirksville Air Force Station Missouri Fuds Project No. B07MO023204, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District Kansas City, Missouri, November 2008. Pdf

Links:
 * Radomes - Kirksville Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Kirksville Air Force Station