Joelton Air Force Station

 (1957-1963) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1957 near Joelton, Davidson County, Tennessee. Named Joelton Air Force Station after the location. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of SM-145. Abandoned by the Air Force in 1963. A portion of the original site is now Joelton FAA Radar Site, FAA ID QOJ. Also known as Nashville FAA Radar Site.

History
Established in 1956 and became operational in 1957 as Joelton Air Force Station manned by the 799th AC&W Squadron. 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.

Initial equipment included the MPS-11 search radar and a TPS-10D height-finder radar.

Gap Fillers
Joelton AFS was responsible for the maintenance of one remote unattended gap-filler radar site. The Joelton AFS gap-filler radar was located at Bradyville, Tennessee.

Closure & Disposition
Joelton AFS and the 799th were deactivated in 1961. The site was reported surplus on 5 Jun 1961, with 2.60 acres being transferred to the FAA in September 1961, 30.48 acres were conveyed to the State of Tennessee.

Joelton FAA Radar Site
This site became Joelton FAA Radar Site with an FAA ID of QOJ and began furnishing radar track data to the Memphis ARTCC (ZME) on 20 Mar 1961, even before the USAF site closed. The site remoted radar data to the ARTCC via a microwave link. Reportedly data-tied to the SAGE System in the 1960s as site Z-235.

By 1990 the site was equipped with an ARSR-1E radar and a CD-2A Common Digitizer. The Joelton CD-2A was scheduled to receive an upgrade kit to implement three level weather data processing in August 1992.

CARSR Radar
At the time of the CARSR changeout, the legacy radar in place was an ARSR-1E and the CARSR conversion included a 7172 Antenna. The secondary radar at this site is an 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 Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.

Current Status
The AFS cantonment area and the nine unit housing area have been leveled with no remains. Traces only of the AFS main site, no structures or foundations. The FAA Radar is still active within the 2.6 acre compound transferred to the FAA.

See Also:
 * Memphis ARTCC
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * JSS System
 * US Radar Sets

Sources:
 * , page 102.
 * , page 155.
 * Facility Orientation Guide - Memphis ARTCCC, page 20.
 * Facility Orientation Guide - Memphis ARTCCC, page 20.

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