Mica Peak Air Force Station

 (1958-1979) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1958 near Spokane, Spokane County, Washington. Named Mica Peak Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of SM-151 and later a Sage ID of Z-151 and then a JSS ID of J-79. Transferred by the Air Force in 1979 to the FAA. Operated by the FAA as Mica Peak FAA Radar Site to the present.

History
Established in 1958 and became operational in 1958 as Mica Peak Air Force Station manned by the 823rd 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-20 search radar and an MPS-14 height-finder radar. An FPS-6A Height finder was added in 1959 and the site became a joint-use site with the FAA.

SAGE System Operations
The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1960 initially feeding the Larson SAGE Direction Center DC-15. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-67 in 1962 and an FPS-6 was upgraded to an FPS-90 in 1963. In 1963 the Larson SAGE Direction Center DC-15 was closed and Mica Peak AFS began feeding the McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12. The FST-2 was replaced in the early 1970s with a FYQ-47 Common Digitizer located at the upper site.

Gap Fillers
Mica Peak AFS was responsible for the maintenance of four remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The gap-filler sites were placed in locations where the main search radar lacked coverage. These sites sent digitized radar target data directly to a direction center. Maintenance teams were dispatched from Mica Peak AFS for regularly scheduled maintenance or when fault indicators suggested the site had problems.

Closure
The 823rd Radar Squadron (SAGE) was deactivated on 1 Jul 1975.

Mica Peak FAA Radar Site
After the Air Force Station was deactivated the site on Mica Peak continued to operate as a Joint USAF/FAA JSS site by detachment (Det 2, TAC) and as operating location (OLA, 25th AD). After the FAA assumed maintenance responsibility in 1979 the Air Force continued height-finder operations until the height-finder radars were removed.

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

The FPS-67B search radar was updated with a 3D ARSR-4 radar during the 1996-1999 time frame. The ARSR-4 contains common digitizer functionality so the CR-2A was no longer required.

Physical Plant
The physical plant of the site was divided into the main site and a radio site on Mica Peak. Geiger Field below housed a operations area, a cantonment, and a housing area. The main site on Mica Peak had a operations building, the radar towers, and the backup generators. The operations building was originally located on the lower site while the Army NIKE AADCP was operational. The Geiger Field operations area also housed the FST-2. A TELCO microwave system was used to transmit the radar data from the upper site to the FST-2 at Geiger Field. In May 1972 operations moved to the Mica Peak site. A separate radio site on the peak housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. The lower cantonment area housed the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, the dining hall, and the motor pool. Apart from the cantonment area was a small housing area for married personnel. The housing area was closed and support was provided from nearby Fairchild Air Force Base sometime after Geiger Field became Spokane International Airport.

Current Status
Operating as a joint use FAA radar site with a 3D ARSR-4 radar set on Mica Peak. Motorized traffic to the site is prevented by a locked gate on the Mica Peak Radar Site Road near the intersection with South Star Road.

See Also:
 * Mica Peak FAA Radar Site
 * SAGE System
 * BUIC System
 * JSS System
 * Permanent Radar System Direction Centers
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Geiger Manual Direction Center SM-172
 * McChord Manual Direction Center P-4
 * Larson SAGE Direction Center DC-15
 * McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12

Sources:
 * , page 166.
 * , page 171.

Links:
 * Radomes - Mica Peak Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Mica Peak Air Force Station