Osceola Air Force Station

 (1951-1975) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station. Located near East Farmington, Polk County, Wisconsin. Named Osceola Air Force Station on 1 Dec 1953. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-35 and later a Sage ID of Z-35. Deactivated on 31 Mar 1975.

History
Established in 1950 and became operational on 1 Jan 1951 as East Farmington radar site and renamed Osceola Air Force Station 1 Dec 1953. Manned by the 674th AC&W Squadron whose name was changed on 15 Dec 1959 to the 674th Radar Squadron (SAGE) and again on 1 Feb 1974 to the 674th Radar Squadron.

Initial equipment included two CPS-6B radars. The CPS-6B radars were replaced by one FPS-7 search radar and two FPS-6A height-finder radars in 1959. This configuration met the requirements for the transition to the SAGE System operation.

SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE site on 1 Jul 1959 initially feeding the Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10. In 1963 the two FPS-6A height-finders were upgraded to become two FPS-90 height-finders. In the early 1970s the vacuum tube FST-2B was replaced with a solid state FYQ-47 Common Digitizer.

Closure
Osceola AFS and the 674th were deactivated on 31 Mar 1975.

Gap Fillers
Osceola AFS was responsible for the maintenance of three remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Osceola AFS gap-filler radars were located at Northfield MN, Jim Falls WI and La Crescent MN. Two additional gap-fillers were contemplated but not 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. North of the main site was a small 27 unit housing area (originally 9 units) for married personnel.

A separate radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. The Osceola AFS GATR site was located north of the main site.

Current Status
Now part of the Association Retreat Center - The ARC.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10

Sources:
 * , page 43, 159.
 * , page 169.

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