Burns Air Force Station

 (1955-1970) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1955 near Burns, Harney County, Oregon. Named Burns Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of M-118 and later a Sage ID of Z-118. Abandoned in 1970.

History
Established in 1955 and became operational on 8 Jun 1955 as Burns Air Force Station manned by the 634th 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 MPS-7 mobile search radar and by 1959 two FPS-6 height-finders were added.

SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE System site in January 1961, initially feeding the Stead SAGE Direction Center DC-16. With the closure of Stead AFB and DC-16 in 1966, Burns AFS was connected to the Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-7B and both height-finder radars became FPS-90s. In July 1964 a serious fire destroyed the FPS-7B search radar and it was replaced with an FPS-66A search radar from Condon Air Force Station. Condon had just installed a new FPS-27 and their FPS-66A was surplus. The removal of the FPS-7A and the replacement with the FPS-66A took about two months to complete.

With the closure of the Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13 in 1969, Burns AFS was connected to the  McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12 until the site closed a year later.

Closure
Burns AFS and the 634th Radar Squadron were deactivated on 30 Sep 1970.

Gap Filler Radar
Burns AFS was responsible for the maintenance of a single remote unattended gap-filler radar site. The Burns AFS gap-filler site was located at Burns Junction and operated with an FPS-18 and FST-1 between 1958 and 1960.

Physical Plant
The physical plant of the site was divided into an upper main site, a lower housing area and a radio site. The upper main site housed the operations building, the radar towers, the enlisted barracks, the bachelor officer's quarters, the orderly room, the chow hall, the motor pool and the backup generators. Apart from the main site just outside the town of Burns was a small housing area for critical married personnel. A separate radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.



Current Status
Abandoned in Burns, Harney County, Oregon. The main site buildings were abandoned in place by the Air Force when the site closed and were left to deteriorate. By 2004 the remaining 25 buildings on the site had been severely vandalized to the point where they were physical hazards. The EPA directed a removal action and between 10 Jun 2004 and 15 Oct 2004 the remaining buildings and radar towers were removed down to the foundations and the sites were remediated. Only three of the original buildings remain, the two radio buildings and the Telco building.

The housing area homes are in private hands and are well kept. Most have been upgraded with metal roofs and new siding and it would be hard to know that it was a military housing area.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Stead SAGE Direction Center DC-16.
 * McChord SAGE Direction Center DC-12
 * Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13

Sources:
 * , page 150.
 * , page 154-155

Links:
 * North American Forts - Burns Air Force Station
 * Radomes - Burns Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Burns Air Force Station
 * Health Consultation Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) - Burns Air Force Range (a/k/a Burns Air Force Radar Station)
 * Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) - Asbestos Abatement Report Former Burns Air Force Site Harney County, Oregon, Task Order 58-08-48, File No. 2787-044-01, November 8, 2011
 * Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) - Burns Asbestos Removal Action Removal Action Report Former Burns Air Force Radar Range, Harney County, Oregon TDD: 04-06-0001