Killeen Air Force Station

 (1958-1961) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station established in 1958. Located near Killeen, Bell County, Texas. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-192. Also known as Gray Air Force Base Radar Site. Closed in 1961.

History
On 14 Feb 1957, the 814th AC&W Squadron moved to Killeen Air Force Station, assigned to the Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86, 33rd Air Division (Defense) Headquartered at Oklahoma City Air Force Station.

Initial equipment included the FPS-3A search radar and a FPS-6 height-finder radar. Both radars were mounted on open frame temperate towers without radomes. The FPS-3A quickly underwent modifications to become a FPS-20A and in November 1958 the 814th AC&W Squadron began operating the FPS-20A in an arctic tower with a radome.

Closure
Killeen Air Force Station and the 814th AC&W Squadron were deactivated on 1 Feb 1961.

Gap Fillers
Killeen AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Killeen AFS gap-filler radars were located at Schulenburg, TX and Normangee, TX.

Physical Plant
The 814th AC&W Squadron was located in a new two-story combination administrative and barracks building. Nearby Fort Hood provided food, pay, medical support and other base facilities like the Post Exchange and Commissary.

The operational area was reached by driving out the back gate (through another guard post) of Gray AFB, four or five miles, and then up a very steep road to the top of a flat bluff. The only buildings were the operations building, tech supply building, a diesel power generating building and a small radio building.

Current Status
Sattelite views confirm that all of the AC&W era buildings have been removed and only a commercial/government radio tower occupies the site.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86

Sources: Links:
 * , page 102.
 * , page 158.
 * Radomes - Killeen Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Killeen Air Force Station