View source for Havre Air Force Station

{{PageHeader|Havre Air Force Station}}
'''Havre Air Force Station''' (1951-1979) - A [[Cold War]] Air Force Radar Station first established as [[Simpson Air Force Station]] in 1951 near Havre, Hill County, Montana. Named Havre Air Force Station after the nearby town on 1 Dec 1953. Initially assigned a Permanent ID of '''P-25''' and later a [[SAGE System]] ID of '''Z-25'''. Selected as a [[BUIC System]] Site for BUIC I, II, and III. Abandoned in 1979. Reestablished in 1986 as a SAC Electronic Bomb Scoring (EBS) Air Station that closed in the 1990s.

<gallery heights="500px">
File:Havre AFS - 3.jpg|Havre Air Force Station in 2014
</gallery>

== History ==
Established in 1951 with the relocation of the 778th AC&W Squadron to the newly constructed radar station at Simpson, Montana. Redesignated Havre Air Force Station after the nearby town on 1 Dec 1953. Initial equipment included the [[FPS-3]] search radar and an [[FPS-4]] height-finder radar. The radar equipment evolved into an [[FPS-27]] search radar with two [[FPS-6]] height-finder radars while the site was still a manual Ground Control Intercept (GCI) site. 

The last [[FPS-3]] search radar in the ADC inventory was phased out in Jul 1964 at Havre Air Force Station. That FPS-3 was originally placed in service in 1952.

== [[SAGE System]] Transition ==
{{SageTransition}}
== [[SAGE System]] Operation ==
[[File:Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20.jpg|795px|thumb|center|Former Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20.]]
The site began operation as a SAGE site on 20 Jul 1960 initially feeding data to the [[Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20]] at Malmstrom AFB, it continued to feed DC-20 until the radar site closed in 1979. 
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== [[BUIC System]] ==
Havre AFS became a BUIC I GCI site in 1962 and went operational as a BUIC II site on 1 Apr 1966. It was selected as a BUIC III site and in 1970 the 778th Radar Squadron (SAGE) became the 778th Air Defense Group (BUIC). The BUIC III system provided a backup for a SAGE direction center with the [[GSA-51]] computer system and provided the ability to display sector-wide radar data on consoles for local weapons controllers. The system duplicated the functionality of the vacuum tube direction center computers with the more up-to-date [[GSA-51]] computer system and replaced the [[FST-2]] with a more up-to-date coordinate data transmitter, the [[FYQ-47]]. As the threat from a soviet bomber fleet lessened, the decision came to mothball the BUIC system in 1974. 
== Closure ==
The public announcement of the closure of Havre AFS came in April 1978 as a part of the closure of some 40 radar sites around the nation. At the time of the announcement, Havre AFS had 95 assigned military personnel and 25 civilian employees. Havre AFS was deactivated on 30 Jun 1979 and the 778th was deactivated on 29 Sep 1979. The site was reopened in 1986 as a SAC Electronic Bomb Scoring (EBS) Air Station. That station was closed in the 1990s.
== Gap Filler Radars ==
Havre AFS was responsible for the maintenance of two remote unattended gap-filler radar sites. {{GapFillerCommon}} The Havre AFS gap-fillers were located at Galata, Montana, and Hogeland, Montana.
{{HavreAFSGFS}}

== Physical Plant ==
The physical plant of the site was divided into an operations area, a cantonment area, two housing areas, and a separate radio site. The operations area housed the operations building, 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 were two housing areas for married personnel. The first housing area was a 27 unit area built just east of the operations area in 1959. The second housing area was 18 units of "relocatable housing" built in 1974. An additional five housing units were contracted for during SAC occupancy of the site.

A separate radio site housed the radio equipment for directing aircraft intercepts. {{GATRSite|AFS=Havre}} The Havre GATR Site was located south of the main compound. It was built under contract in 1959 at a cost of $193,600 for building and access road construction.

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{| width="800px"
|-
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Havre AFS Major Equipment List
|-
!Search Radar
!HF Radar
!Data Systems
!Comm
|-
* [[FPS-3]]
* [[FPS-27]]
* [[FPS-4]]
* [[FPS-6]]
* [[FPS-6|FPS-6A]]
* [[FST-2|FST-2/A/B]]
* [[GSA-51]]
* [[GSA-51|GSA-51A]]
* [[GKA-5]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Unit Designations
|-
* 778th Aircraft Control & Warning (AC&W) Squadron (1951-1961)
* 778th Radar Squadron (RADRON) (1961-1979)

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 778th Assignments
|-
* 1 Mar 1951 - Activated at Simpson, Mt, assigned to 545th AC&W Gp.
* 6 Feb 1952 - Transferred to 29th AD.
* 1 Dec 1955 - Site redesignated to Havre AFS, MT.
* 1 Jul 1960 - Transferred to Great Falls ADS.  [[Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20]]
* 1 Mar 1961 - Redesignated from AC&W Sq to 778th Radar Sq (SAGE).
* 1 Apr 1966 - Transferred to 28th AD.  [[Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20]]
* 19 Nov 1969 - Reassigned to 24th AD.  [[Malmstrom SAGE Direction Center DC-20]]
* 29 Sep 1979 - Inactivated.

{{HavreAFSCmdrs}}

== Current Status ==
Abandoned near Havre, Hill County, Montana.

==Context==

{{Location|Near Havre, Hill County, Montana.|48.880833|-109.945|3}}
<!-- {{#display_map:
48.879359,-109.94799~ Radio Site;
48.87932,-109.943661~ Radio Site;
48.88142,-109.9463~ Cantonment Area;
48.88079,-109.94468~ Operations Bldg;
48.87978,-109.94114~ Housing Area;
48.8828,-109.94452~ Housing Area;
48.86879,-109.93246~ GATR Site}} -->

<br><br>
<!-- '''GPS Locations:'''
{{GPSLocation|Radio Site|48.879359|-109.94799}}
{{GPSLocation|Radio Site|48.87932|-109.943661}}
{{GPSLocation|Cantonment Area|48.88142|-109.9463}}
{{GPSLocation|Operations Bldg|48.88079|-109.94468}}
{{GPSLocation|Housing Area|48.87978|-109.94114}}
{{GPSLocation|Housing Area|48.8828|-109.94452}}
{{GPSLocation|GATR Site|48.86879|-109.93246}} -->

'''See Also:'''
* [[SAGE System]]
* [[BUIC System]]
* [[Permanent System Radar Sites]]
* [[US Radar Sets]]

'''Sources:''' 
* {{Winkler}}, page 131.
* {{Cornett}}, page 167.
* {{GNIS|ID=2087765}}

'''Links:''' 
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havre_Air_Force_Station Wikipedia - Havre Air Force Station]

* MT0181 - Simpson Air Force Station

[[Category:Montana Radar Sites]]
[[Category:USAF Radar Sites]]
[[Category:BUIC Sites]]
[[Category:SAGE Sites]]
[[Category:FPS-3]]
[[Category:FPS-27]]
[[Category:FPS-4]]
[[Category:FPS-6]]
[[Category:FPS-6]]
[[Category:FST-2]]
[[Category:GSA-51]]
[[Category:FST-1]]
[[Category:FPS-14]]
[[Category:GKA-5]]
{{PageFooter}}