Yuma Air Force Station

 (1956-1963) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1956 near Yuma, Yuma County, Arizona. Named Yuma Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of SM-162, later a Sage ID of Z-162. Abandoned in 1963. Also known as Vincent Air Force Base Radar Site

History
Established on 2 Aug 1955 and became operational in 1956 on Vincent Air Force Base as Vincent Air Force Base Radar Site. Renamed Yuma Air Force Station after Vincent AFB was transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps on 1 Jan 1959. Manned by the 864th 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 the MPS-7 search radar and an MPS-14 height-finder radar.

SAGE Transition
The site began operation as a SAGE site on 1 May 1961 initially feeding the Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21.

Gap Fillers
Yuma AFS was responsible for the maintenance of six remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Yuma AFS gap-filler radars were located at Topock, Poston, Tacna, Stone Cabin, all in Arizona and Corn Springs and Palo Verde in California.

Second Site
Vincent Air Force Base was transferred to the Navy on 1 Jan 1959 and the Radar Site on Vincent AFB was renamed Yuma Air Force Station. On 20 July 1962, the base became Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. In June 1962 the Air Force began construction of a second Yuma Air Force Station (RSM-162) on a 20-acre site about 13 miles south of Yuma. Facilities built on the new site included a water tank, water conditioning equipment building, pump house, an FPS-27 radar tower, maintenance shed, guardhouse, and two 4,000 gallon diesel fuel tanks and fuel pumps. Construction stopped in May 1965 with the facility being declared obsolete before completion and installation of the radar equipment. The GSA sold the site and buildings to Automatic Products Company in April 1966.

Closure
Yuma AFS ceased operation on 3 May 1963 and the 864th was deactivated on 1 Aug 1963.

Current Status
The original site is now a part of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma (MCAS Yuma). The second site is in use by Automatic Products Company and has some of the radar site buildings remaining including the FPS-27 tower.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21

Sources:
 * , page 103.
 * , page 99.

Links:
 * Radomes - Yuma Air Force Station
 * Radomes - Vincent Air Force Base Radar Site