Port Isabel Air Force Station

 (1959-1961) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station. Located on the former Port Isabel Navy Auxiliary Air Station near Port Isabel, Cameron County, Texas. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-190. Closed in 1961.

History
Established in January 1958 and became operational in 1959 as Port Isabel Air Force Station manned by the 811th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron.

Initial equipment included the FPS-3A search radar and a FPS-6 height-finder radar.

Manual System Operation
In January 1958, the 811th AC&W Squadron moved to Port Isabel Air Force Station assigned to the 33rd Air Division Headquartered at Oklahoma City Air Force Station. The 33rd Air Division provided command and control over subordinate radar stations from the Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86 also located on Oklahoma City Air Force Station. The Direction Center was connected to Port Isabel via telephone lines and track data could be passed from Port Isabel AFS Operations via voice, teletype, and encrypted teletype.

Closure
The Pentagon publicly announced the closure of Port Isabel AFS on 18 Jul 1960, indicating it would close by 1 Jan 1961. A the time of the announcement the station was said to have some 90 officers and men. Port Isabel Air Force Station and the 811th AC&W Squadron were deactivated on 1 Jun 1961.

Current Status
Now the Port Isabel ICE Detention Center. Little or no trace of the Air Force Station.

See Also:
 * US Radar Sets
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86

Sources:
 * , page 102.
 * , page 157.

Links:
 * Radomes - Port Isabel Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Port Isabel Air Force Station