Winston-Salem Air Force Station

 (1956-1970) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station established in 1956. Located near Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, North Carolina. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of M-130 and later a Sage ID of Z-130. Closed in 1970.

History
Established in October 1956 and became operational in October 1957 as Winston-Salem Air Force Station manned by the 810th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron.

Initial equipment included the MPS-11 search radar and a FPS-6A height-finder radar. The MPS-11 radar was replaced by an FPS-8 radar that saw service between 1960 and 1962.

SAGE System Operation


The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1961 initially feeding the Fort Lee SAGE Direction Center DC-04. On 1 Mar 1962 the squadron designation was changed from the 810th AC&W Squadron to 810th Radar Squadron (SAGE) indicating the new SAGE System role. In 1962 FPS-24 search and FPS-26A height-finder radars were in operation along with the previously installed FPS-6A radar.

Closure
Winston-Salem AFS and the 810th were deactivated on 31 Jul 1970.

Gap Fillers
Winston-Salem AFS was responsible for the maintenance of one remote unattended gap-filler radar site. The Winston-Salem AFS gap-filler radar was located at Allen, NC.

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 27 unit housing area for married personnel.

A separate radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.

Current Status
FPS-24 tower remains on main site but many USAF buildings are gone, the building list below identifies the building status. The recreation hall now used by Addiction Recovery Care Association. Housing area is in private hands. GATR Site building appears to be still in use by a private party. The two unidentified buildings (U) may be the original AC&W era radio receiver and radio transmitter buildings based on their locations.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Fort Lee SAGE Direction Center DC-04

Sources:
 * , page 170-171.
 * , page 144.

Links:
 * Radomes - Winston-Salem Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Winston-Salem Air Force Station