Madera Air Force Station

 (1950-1966) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1950 near Madera, Madera County, California. Named Madera Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Temporary ID of LP-74 then a Permanent ID of P-74 and later a Sage ID of Z-74. Closed in 1966.

History
Established in 1950 and became operational in March 1951 as Madera Air Force Station, site LP-47, manned by the 774th AC&W Squadron and operating a TPS-1B radar. The "LP" designation indicated that because of difficulty in obtaining new production radar equipment, this site initially received radar equipment from a former Lashup site to expedite operational status. Construction began on more permanent facilities and by January 1952 the site had been assigned a permanent ID of P-74 and was operating an FPS-3 search radar and a FPS-4 height-finder.

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.

In 1958 the FPS-4 height-finder radar was replaced by one FPS-6 and one FPS-6A. In 1959 the FPS-3 was replaced by a FPS-20 search radar. In 1960 the FPS-6A was upgraded to a FPS-6B. This was a standard configuration for the transition from a manual site to automatic SAGE System operation.

SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1960 initially feeding the Beale SAGE Direction Center DC-18. By 1963 the FPS-20 had been upgraded to an FPS-66 and was operating with one FPS-6 and one FPS-90 height-finder. When the Beale SAGE Direction Center DC-18 closed, control was transferred to Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17 on 1 Aug 1963. The Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17 then closed in 1966 and control was shifted to Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21 on 1 Apr 1966. The site closed less than three months later.

Closure
The official announcement of the closure of Madera AFS came on 19 Nov 1964 from Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara at the Pentagon. Originally slated to close in July 1967, the deactivation was accelerated to align with the reconfiguration of the SAGE System in April 1966. Madera AFS and the 774th were deactivated on 1 Apr 1966. The site was transferred to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on 3 Apr 1967 for use as a vocational training center. The site later transitioned into private hands.

Physical Plant
The land for this site was originally leased farmland in Madera County, California. The land was later acquired by the U.S. Government through direct purchase and by condemnation. The site was unusual for radar sites because it was located on flat farmland at a low elevation, 325 feet. 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, orderly room, dining hall, motor pool, recreation building and other support buildings.

Apart from the main site was a 27 unit housing area for married personnel. Like many radar sites the housing area began with 9 units built in 1956 and was later expanded to 27 units in 1960.

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

Current Status
Private Industrial Park in Madera County, California.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Beale SAGE Direction Center DC-18
 * Norton SAGE Direction Center DC-17
 * Luke SAGE Direction Center DC-21

Sources: Links:
 * , page 167.
 * , page 104.
 * Radomes - Madera Air Force Station P-74
 * Radomes - Madera Air Force Station LP-74
 * Wikipedia - Madera Air Force Station
 * California Military Museum - Madera Air Force Station