Eagle Pass Air Force Station

 (1957-1963) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1957 on the former Eagle Pass Army Air Field in Maverick County, Texas. Named Eagle Pass Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-188. Abandoned in 1963.

History
Established in 1957 and became operational in 1959 as Eagle Pass Air Force Station manned by the 733rd AC&W Squadron.

Initial equipment included the FPS-20A search radar and an FPS-6 height-finder radar. Eagle Pass AFS operated as a manual radar site with radar track data plotted on plexiglass plotting boards and passed to the Manual Operations Center at Oklahoma City Air Force Station and adjacent radar sites.

Gap Fillers
Eagle Pass AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Eagle Pass AFS gap-filler radars were located at Carrizo Springs and Eagle Pass, Texas.

Closure
Eagle Pass AFS and the 733rd were deactivated 1 Aug 1963.

Physical Plant
The radar site was located within an eight block area of the former Army Airfield. The physical plant of the site was divided into the Operations area, a Cantonment area, a Housing area and two radio sites. The Operations Area 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. Separate ground to air Transmitter and Receiver radio sites housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.



Current Status
The site buildings mostly remain, abandoned for the most part and deteriorating. One of the barracks buildings, #250, collapsed inside itself probably the result of a fire. The FPS-20 radar tower and radome are gone but the tower foundation remains with intact mounting bolts. The FPS-6 radar tower is gone. The guard shack is also gone. Other site buildings are either empty or contain abandoned products. The Operations building and the power building contain abandoned products and trash. The recreation hall, headquarters building, motor pool, and the dining hall are empty but have some debris and graffiti in places. Many windows are broken but some remain intact.

The housing area is privately owned with the houses in varying conditions.

See Also:
 * Oklahoma City Air Force Station
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets

Sources:
 * , page 100.
 * , page 157.

Links:
 * Radomes - Eagle Pass Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Eagle Pass Army Airfield