Omaha Air Force Station

 (1951-1968) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station established during the Korean War. Located near Omaha in Douglas County, Nebraska. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-71, a Sage ID of Z-71 and an FAA ID of ZQHO. Closed in 1968.

History
Established on 1 May 1951 and became operational in April 1952 as Omaha Air Force Station manned by the 789th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron.

Initial equipment included the FPS-3 search radar and a CPS-4 height-finder radar. The CPS-4 height-finder radar was replaced with a FPS-6 and the FPS-3 was replaced with a FPS-20. 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
In late 1959 Omaha AFS was also performing air traffic control duties. The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1961 initially feeding the Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22. On 1 Jan 1962, the squadron designation was changed from the 789th AC&W Squadron to 789th Radar Squadron (SAGE) indicating the new SAGE System role. On 31 Jul 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-71. A second height-finder radar, an FPS-6A was installed in 1962. The FPS-20A radar was upgraded to become an FPS-66 in 1964 and again in 1967 to an FPS-66A configuration.

Omaha NIKE Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP)
A U.S. Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) and Headquarters were established at Omaha AFS in 1961 for Nike-Hercules missile command-and-control functions as part of the defense of nearby Offutt AFB and Lincoln AFB. The command post was operated by the U.S. Army 6th Missile Battalion, 43rd Artillery with four firing batteries, two for the Offutt Defense Area and two for the Lincoln Defense Area.

The U.S. Army Command Post and the four firing batteries were connected by the GSG-5 BIRDIE solid-state computer system. The colocated command post at Omaha AFS allowed the GSG-5 to accept SAGE generated targets and/or use local shared Radar video to generate targets directly in the GSG-5. Under SAGE control, the targets for the Nike-Hercules missiles would be assigned by the Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22. If the SAGE System became inoperative, the shared local radar video could be used to directly assign targets in the GSG-5 BIRDIE system.

Closure of the Command Post and the four firing batteries was announced in December 1965 with an expected closure by 1 Jul 1966, by that date the sites had been deactivated.

Gap Fillers
Omaha AFS was responsible for the maintenance of one remote unattended gap-filler radar site. The Omaha AFS gap-filler radar was located at Dallas Center, IA. Three other gap-filler sites were planned but not built.

Air Force Station Closure
Omaha AFS and the 789th were deactivated on 8 Sep 1968.

Omaha FAA Radar Site
The FAA assumed operational responsibility for the FPS-66A search radar prior to the deactivation of Omaha AFS. On deactivation, the FAA retained control of a small area surrounding the FPS-66A search tower and that area continues to house an FAA Search Radar now updated to a CARSR configuration.

By 1990 the site was equipped with an FPS-66A search radar and a CD-2A Common Digitizer. The Omaha CD-2A was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in March 1992.

CARSR Radar
At the time of the CARSR changeout, the legacy radar in place was an FPS-66A and the CARSR conversion included a 1561 antenna. The secondary radar for the site is the ATCBI-6 Beacon set.

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 9 unit housing area for married personnel.

A separate radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. The contract award for the construction of the Omaha AFS GATR site was announced in December 1960 to the Anderson Construction Company for $83,000. The GATR site was located about 2.75 air miles west of the main site.



Current Status
Now the site of the Omaha FAA Radar Site which occupies part of the old air force station operations area surrounding the search radar tower. The GSA conveyed 1.10 acres and the radar tower building to the FAA on 14 Aug 1969, including the electrical power station and diesel storage facility. The remaining land parcels including buildings were conveyed to public and private entities. Many of the original buildings remain, some in advanced disrepair.

See Also: Sources:
 * SAGE System
 * NIKE System
 * JSS System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Nike Sites
 * Offutt NIKE Sites
 * Richards-Gebaur SAGE Direction Center DC-08
 * Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22
 * Minneapolis ARTCC
 * , page 169.
 * , page 133.



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