Rockport Air Force Station

 (1958-1963) - A Cold War U.S. Air Force Radar Station. Located near Rockport, Aransas County, Texas. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of TM-191. Closed in 1963.

History
Established in 1958 and became operational in February 1959 as Rockport Air Force Station manned by the 813th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron.

Initial equipment at Rockport AFS in 1959 included a FPS-3 search radar and a FPS-6 height-finder radar. The site was equipped with a GPA-37 analog computer course directing set that could allow a single weapon directing team to handle up to six simultaneous intercepts of unknown aircraft. The GPA-37 appears to have been in use over the lifespan of the site.

Manual System Operation
In the summer of 1958 the 813th AC&W Squadron moved to Rockport Air Force Station, assigned to the 33rd Air Division Headquartered at Oklahoma City Air Force Station. The 33rd Air Division provided command and control over subordinate radar stations from the Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86 also located on Oklahoma City Air Force Station. The Direction center was connected to Rockport via telephone lines and track data could be passed via voice, teletype, and encrypted teletype. This station also performed air traffic control duties for the FAA.

This station became operational in February 1959 with FPS-3 and FPS-6 radars.

Closure
The Pentagon announced the closure of Rockport AFS and it's gap-fillers on 26 Apr 1963. Rockport Air Force Station and the 813th AC&W Squadron were deactivated on 1 Aug 1963.

Gap Fillers
Rockport AFS was responsible for the maintenance of three remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. The Rockport AFS gap-filler radars were located at Delmita TX, Riviera, TX and Palacios TX. The three gap-filler sites were deactivated on 1 Jun 1963 just before the station itself on 1 Aug 1963.

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
The original site is now part of the Aransas County Airport property. Some buildings remain standing but in a dilapidated condition and the circular outline of the old radar tower is still visible in imagery from 29 Aug 2017. The old 27 unit Air Force Housing Area, now private housing, looked severely damaged in the same imagery.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Oklahoma City Manual Direction Center P-86

Sources:
 * , page 102.
 * , page 158.

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