Waverly Air Force Station

 (1952-1969) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station established during the Korean War. Located near Waverly, Bremer County, Iowa. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-81 and a Sage ID of Z-81. Closed in 1969.

History
The station opened in May 1951 and became operational in 1952 as Waverly Air Force Station manned by the 788th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron.

Initial equipment included two FPS-10 radars, one used as a search set and one used as a height-finder. In 1959, a FPS-6 and an FPS-6A replaced the FPS-10 height-finder. This configuration (a long-range search radar and two SAGE qualified height-finders) just met the requirements for transition to SAGE System operation.

SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1959 initially feeding the Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07. On 1 Nov 1959, the squadron designation was changed from the 788th AC&W Squadron to 788th Radar Squadron (SAGE) indicating the new SAGE System role.

By 1963 one of the FPS-6 height-finder radars was replaced by an FPS-90 and the second was replaced by an FPS-26A. The remaining FPS-10 was replaced with an FPS-27 that went operational circa August 1964.

Originally Waverly AFS was slated to be the site of one of the 20 SAGE/BUIC III sites but an OSD review in August 1965 reduced the number of sites to 19, dropping the Waverly site.

On 1 Jul 1968 SAGE control of Waverly AFS shifted to Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22 and on 1 Jul 1968, it shifted again to the Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10 as the SAGE System underwent reconfiguration.

Closure
The closure of Waverly AFS was officially announced in local newspapers on 1 May 1969. The 788th and Waverly Air Force Station were deactivated on 30 Sept 1969.

Gap Fillers
Waverly AFS was responsible for the maintenance of four remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Waverly AFS gap-filler radars were located at Dallas Center IA, La Motte IA, Cresent MN, and Washington IA. One additional gap filer at Glennville, MN was planned but never built.

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 9 unit housing area, later upgraded to 23 units, for married personnel.

A separate radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.

Current Status
In private hands.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07
 * Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22
 * Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10

Sources:
 * , page 169.
 * , page 115.

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