Moriarty Air Force Station

 (1951-1961) - A Cold War Air Force Radar Station first established in 1951 near Moriarty, Torrance County, New Mexico. Named Moriarty Air Force Station after the nearby location. Initially assigned an ID of LP-51 and later a Permanent ID of P-51. Abandoned in 1961.

History
Established in 1951 and became operational in September 1952 as Moriarty Air Force Station manned by the 768th 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 while the site was designated as LP-51 included the CPS-5 search radar. As site P-51 the search radar upgrades included an FPS-3, FPS-5 and an FPS-20. The FPS-6 provided a height-finder capability.

Closure
Moriarty AFS and the 768th were deactivated 1 Jun 1961.

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 19 unit housing area for critical married personnel. A separate Ground to Air Transmitter/Receiver (GATR) radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts.

Current Status
Abandoned site near Moriarty, Torrance County, New Mexico.

See Also:
 * Permanent System Radar Sites
 * US Radar Sets
 * Oklahoma City Air Force Station

Sources:
 * , page 101.
 * , page 139.

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