Adair Air Force Station

 (1958-1969) - A Cold War Air Force Station established in 1958 in present day Adair Village, Benton County, Oregon. Adair Air Force Station was named after Lt. Henry Rodney Adair, a West Point Graduate, who was killed 21 Jun 1916 during Gen. Pershing's incursion into Mexico. The Air Force Station was abandoned in 1969 and returned to civilian control.

History of
The Portland Air Defense Sector (POADS) at Adair Air Force Station was activated on 8 Jun 1958 and on 15 Mar 1960 it assumed control over five radar sites and two fighter groups in Washington and Oregon. Adair Air Force station was the headquarters of POADS. By 18 Jun 1960 POADS had reached full operational status with the Air Defense Command (ADC) and the North American Air Defense Systen (NORAD) with two fighter groups, five radar sites and eleven unmanned gap-filler radar sites. The mission of POADS at Adair was to process data from the five radar sites and the eleven gap-filler radar sites and to direct fighter interceptor aircraft to intercept any potential enemy aircraft.

Adair AFS had three functional areas, an operational area, a cantonment area and a married personnel housing area. The operational area was dominated by a three story windowless concrete blockhouse that housed the computer and communications equipment and the personnel that operated them. This blockhouse was known as Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13. Behind the direction center was a long building housing the six, 650KW diesel generators that ran the site.

The cantonment area housed the headquarters, unaccompanied personnel quarters for officers and airmen, dining halls, recreational facilities and other support facilities. The base housing area had 150 family housing unit for accompanied married personnel. Adair AFS had some 860 Air Force officers and enlisted men and 150 civilian support personnel when fully manned. With no nearby military support base the station was completely self sufficient with barracks, dining halls, housing, commissary and base exchanges.

Advances in technology and the enormous cost of running the SAGE system resulted in a number of reorganizations and consolidations within the SAGE system. Adair AFS was designated for eventual closure in 1966 but remained operational until 15 Sep 1969. With the closure of the Air Force Station the facilities and land were returned to civilian control and the site became a part of the Adair Village community.

Current Status
Now within the community of Adair Village. Many of the cantonment area buildings remain intact but repurposed for use by the Santiam Christian School and other organizations. In the operations area the three story concrete SAGE building remains in used by a private company and as a storage site. The large generator power building in back of the SAGE building is in use by the 4 Spirits Distillery. The base housing area is under individual private ownership.

See Also:
 * SAGE System
 * Adair SAGE Direction Center DC-13
 * Camp Adair

Sources:
 * , page 150.
 * , page 68.

Links:
 * Wikipedia - Adair Air Force Station
 * Radomes - Adair AFS
 * Newspapers.com - Albany Democrat-Herald 21 Nov 1959 Adair Issue