Belleville Air Force Station

 (1951-1968) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station. Located near Belleville, St. Clair County, Illinois. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of P-70 and later a Sage ID of Z-70. The site was shared with the U.S. Army Nike missile-defense Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) SL-47DC. Closed in 1968.

History
Established in 1951 and became operational on 1 May 1951 as Belleville Air Force Station manned by the 798th AC&W Squadron, later named the 798th Radar Squadron (SAGE).

Initial equipment included the FPS-3 search radar and CPS-4 height-finder radar.

SAGE System Operation
The site began operation as a SAGE site in 1961 initially feeding the Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07. On 1 Mar 1962 the 798th AC&W Squadron was redesignated the 798th Radar Sq (SAGE).

In 1963 the site was upgraded with a FPS-20 search radar and two FPS-6 height-finders. Circa 1966, the FPS-20 search radar was upgraded to become a FPS-66A.

With the impending closure of the Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07 on 31 Dec 1967, control of Belleville AFS was shifted to Sioux City SAGE Direction Center DC-22 on 1 Dec 1967 only to have that direction center scheduled for closure 18 Sep 1968.

NIKE AADCP
A U.S. Army NIKE System co-located their St. Louis Army Air Defense Command Post SL-47DC within the AC&W/SAGE operations building at Belleville AFS. The command post was established on 1 Jan 1960 and became operational in May 1960. The U.S. Army AADCP operated the BIRDIE (GSG-5) Nike control system at Bellville AFS and shared the long range radar data from the USAF radar sets. Overall control and track assignments were exercised from the Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07 through U.S. Army channels. The Army air defense artillery director (ADAD) consoles and a field grade Army ADA battle staff officer at the SAGE Direction Center coordinated AADCP actions.

Closure
Belleville AFS and the 798th along with the U.S. Army AADCP command post were deactivated on 18 Jun 1968; the station closed on 30 Jun 1968.

Gap Fillers
Belleville AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Belleville AFS gap-filler radars were located at Bowling Green MO and Vichy MO. At least five gap-filler sites were contemplated with one other built but not activated at Marquand, MO. Some confusion over the Bowling Green site which may have earlier been contemplated as Edgewood MO (P-70B) site.

Physical Plant
The physical plant of the site was divided into the main site, a cantonment area, a housing area and three radio sites. 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 (originally just 9 units) for married personnel.

A separate radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. The Belleville AFS GATR site was located about 3/4 of a mile northeast of the main site.

Current Status
The St. Clair Associated Vocational Enterprises (SAVE) has leased the old site for adult training.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * NIKE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Truax SAGE Direction Center DC-07

Sources:
 * , page 170.
 * , page 113.
 * NORAD/CONAD Historical Summary, July-December 1959, (Secret - Declassified), Page 41.

Links:
 * Radomes - Belleville Air Force Station
 * Wikipedia - Belleville Air Force Station
 * Waymarking - Belleville Air Force Station