Boron Air Force Station

 (1952-1975) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established as Atolia Air Force Station in 1952 near Boron, San Bernardino County, California. Later named Boron Air Force Station on 1 Dec 1953 after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-59 and later a Sage ID of Z-59. Abandoned by the Air Force and transferred to the FAA in 1975.

History
Established in 1951 and became operational in February 1952 manned by the 750th 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/height-finder radars. These radars were upgraded to an FPS-20 search radar and an FPS-6 height-finder radar with a second FPS-6A height-finder added in 1959, all in preparation for the transition to the SAGE System.

Also added in the pre-SAGE System upgrades was the installation of the GPA-37 analog intercept control computer system. The GPA-37 was a large analog electro-mechanical computer system that allowed the control of aircraft intercepts by either voice command or by a time-division data link. The GPA-37 system remained at Boron AFS between 1958-1961.

SAGE System Operation


The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1961 initially feeding the Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17 and the site also transitioned to a joint-use ADC/FAA site. After the transition, the search radar set was upgraded to an FPS-35 frequency diversity radar. The FPS-35 was a massive seventy-ton radar set that required an eighty-five-foot concrete tower to hold the massive thirty-five-foot wide antenna. The FPS-35 installation alone cost 13.5 million dollars.

By 1963 the two FPS-6 height-finder radars had been replaced by an FPS-26A and an FPS-90 height-finders.

The Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17 closed on 25 Jun 1966 and control over Boron AFS shifted to Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21 where remained until the site closed in 1975. With the transfer of the site to the FAA in 1975, the site continued to supply data to the Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21 until it closed in 1983. The site was data-tied to successor control system and continues to provide data.

Gap Fillers
Boron AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Boron AFS gap-filler radars were located at Shafter and Joshua Tree, California. A third gap-filler was planned but not built.

BUIC System
Boron AFS became a manual BUIC I NORAD Control Center (NCC) site in 1962 but was not selected as a BUIC II or BUIC III site. With the implementation of the automated BUIC II and BUIC III systems at other locations, Boron AFS returned to a surveillance role.

Closure
Boron AFS and the 750th were deactivated on 30 Jun 1975. The site was transferred to the FAA on 30 Jun 1975. Now listed as Boron FAA Radar Site QSR, reportedly operating the CARSR minimally attended radar since 2012.

Boron FAA Radar Site
This site became an FAA radar site in 1975, furnishing radar track data to the FAA ARTCCs and to USAF Direction Centers. The initial FAA FPS-67B search radar remained in operation until it was modified to become a CARSR radar with a 1561 Antenna.

By 1990 the site was equipped with an FPS-67B search radar and a CD-2A Common Digitizer. The Boron CD-2A was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in June 1992.

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. Apart from the main site was a small 27 unit housing area for married personnel. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.

Current Status
The main site is now the FAA Radar Site QSR and was data tied to the JSS and successor networks. The cantonment area was a federal prison until it was closed in 1999.

See Also:
 * GPA-37
 * SAGE System
 * BUIC System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17
 * Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21
 * Los Angeles ARTCC

Sources:
 * , page 163.
 * , page 104.

Links:
 * Radomes - Boron Air Force Station
 * California State Military Museum - Boron Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Boron Air Force Station