Antigo Air Force Station

 (1952-1977) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1952 in Langlade County, Wisconsin. Named Antigo Air Force Station after the nearby town. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-19, later a Sage ID of Z-19. Abandoned by the Air Force in 1977.

History
Established in 1952 and became operational in June 1952 as Antigo Air Force Station manned by the 676th 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 FPS-3 search radar and an FPS-4 height-finder radar. By 1958 the site was operating a FPS-20 and a FPS-6A. In 1959 a second FPS-6A was added to establish the normal pre SAGE System configuration of a long range search radar with two height-finders.

SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1960 initially feeding the K.I. Sawyer SAGE Direction Center DC-14. The search radar was upgraded to an FPS-35 in 1962 and later a FPS-90 height-finder radar was added.

By February 1973 the Air Force had completed an 18 month replacement program, swapping the aging vacuum tube FST-2s with integrated circuit FYQ-47s and FYQ-49s. Antigo received a replacement FYQ-47 and the FST-2 was removed.

Closure
The Air Force publicly announced the closure of Antigo Air Force Station on 9 Mar 1977. At the time of the announcement the station had 79 military personnel assigned and 28 civilian employees. Antigo AFS and the 676th Radar Squadron were deactivated on 30 Jun 1977.

Gap Fillers
Antigo AFS was responsible for the maintenance of three remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Antigo AFS gap-filler radars were located at Norway, MI, Two Creeks, MI and Brooks, WI. Three other gap-fillers were planned but not constructed.

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. Apart from the main site 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 Antigo, Langlade County, Wisconsin.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * K.I. Sawyer SAGE Direction Center DC-14
 * Duluth SAGE Direction Center DC-10
 * Custer SAGE Direction Center DC-06
 * Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22
 * Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07

Sources:
 * , page 159.
 * , page 168.

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