Jacksonville NAS Radar Site

 (1957-1981) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Site established in 1957. Located on Jacksonville Naval Air Station near the city of Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of M-114 and later a Sage ID of Z-114. Located at two different locations on Jacksonville Naval Air Station. Radar Squadron deactivated and site closed in 1981.

History
Established in the summer of 1957 and became operational in 1959 as Jacksonville NAS Radar Site manned by the 679th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron. This site was located near the base operations building on the Jacksonville Naval Air Station.

Initial equipment included the FPS-3 and FPS-8 search radar sets along with a MPS-14 height-finder radar. Follow on equipment included a GPA-37 course directing analog computer system which partially automated the interception of unidentified aircraft. F-102A and F-106 interceptor aircraft could be guided to their targets from the GPA-37 by digital time-division data link or voice commands. The GPA-37 consoles (GPA-23s) could each handle up to six intercepts at a time.

Detachment 1 of the 769th AC&W Squadron was established in November 1958 at the Patrick Air Force Base Radar Site and remained there until it was replaced by the 645th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 28 Jun 1962.

The original site was relocated on the Naval Air Station in 1962, presumably to facilitate the construction of a SAGE annex. Equipment at the new location included the FST-2 Coordinate Data Transmitter, one FPS-66 search radar and a pair of FPS-6 height-finder radars. This configuration (a SAGE qualified long-range search radar and two SAGE qualified height-finders) met the requirements for transition to SAGE System operation.

SAGE System Operation


The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1961 initially feeding the Gunter SAGE Direction Center DC-09. On 1 Oct 1962, the squadron designation was changed from the 679th AC&W Squadron to 679th Radar Squadron (SAGE) indicating the new SAGE System role.

In 1963 the radar site became a joint-use USAF/FAA facility.

With the closure of the Gunter SAGE Direction Center DC-09 in 1969, control of the site was switched to the Fort Lee SAGE Direction Center DC-04 on 14 Nov 1969.

By February 1973 the vacuum tube FST-2 Coordinate Data Processor had been replaced by the much smaller solid-state FYQ-47 Common Digitizer as a part of a USAF/FAA wide replacement program.

On 1 Feb 1974, the squadron was redesignated the 679th Radar Squadron, dropping the (SAGE) descriptor.

Closure
Jacksonville NAS Radar Site and the 679th Radar Squadron were deactivated on 1 Jul 1981. Radar coverage of the area was assumed by the new (1980) Whitehouse FAA Radar Site.

Gap Fillers
Jacksonville NAS Radar Site AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Jacksonville NAS Radar Site AFS gap-filler radars were located at Bunnell FL and Blythe Island GA.

Current Status
SAGE operations building repurposed. Manual operations building repurposed. MPS-14 tower still in place, repurposed.

See Also: Sources:
 * Whitehouse FAA Radar Site
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Gunter SAGE Direction Center DC-09
 * Fort Lee SAGE Direction Center DC-04
 * , page 160.
 * , page 107.

Links:
 * Radomes - Jacksonville NAS Radar Site 1
 * Radomes - Jacksonville NAS Radar Site 2
 * Wikipedia - Jacksonville NAS Radar Site