Winslow Air Force Station

 (1953-1963) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1953 near Winslow, Coconino County, Arizona. Named Winslow Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of M-93, later a Sage ID of Z-93. Abandoned in 1963.

History of Winslow Air Force Station
Established in 1953 and became operational in April 1955 as Winslow Air Force Station manned by the 904th 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 FPS-8 search radar.

SAGE Transition
The site began operation as a SAGE site on 1 Jan 1960, initially feeding the Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17. The site radars were upgraded to an MPS-11 search radar and two height-finders, one FPS-6A and one FPS-6B. On 1 may 1961 SAGE control of Winslow AFS was transferred to the Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21 until 1 Aug 1963 when Winslow AFS was discontinued. A FPS-64 search radar was in the process of acceptance testing when the site closed and was never declared operational.

Gap Fillers
Winslow AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Winslow AFS gap-filler radars were located at Mingus Mountain and Hillside, Arizona.

Closure
Winslow AFS and the 904th Radar Squadron were deactivated on 1 Aug 1963.

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. Apart from the main site was a small 20 unit housing area for critical married personnel. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.

Current Status
The site has been leveled and only the access road remains.

See Also: Sources:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17
 * Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21
 * , page 172.
 * , page 99.

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