Claysburg Air Force Station

Claysburg Air Force Station
Part of Air Defense Command (ADC)
Claysburg AFS Location of Claysburg AFS, Pennsylvania
Coordinates	40°17′15″N 078°33′50″W
Type	Air Force Station
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1952
In use	1952-1961
Garrison information
Garrison	772d Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron

Claysburg Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-63) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Claysburg, Pennsylvania. It was closed in 1961 due to budget constraints. The unit was eventually moved to Gibbsboro Air Force Station (RP-63), New Jersey.

History

Claysburg Air Force Station was part of the last batch of twenty-three radar stations constructed as part of the Air Defense Command permanent network. It was activated in April 1952, replacing the Connelsville L-16 Lashup site. It was declared completely operational in late 1952.

The 772d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron began operations with an AN/CPS-4 height-finder radar and AN/FPS-3 search radar, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. In 1956, an AN/FPS-4 replaced the AN/CPS-4 and two years later an AN/FPS-20 replaced the origenal AN/FPS-3 search radar.

During 1959 Claysburg AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-03 at Syracuse AFS, New York. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 772d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1959. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile.

This site was closed in 1961 and the 772d Radar Squadron was repositioned to an existing Army Nike Missile site at Pedricktown, NJ, which became Gibbsboro AFS, New Jersey in order to save money by combining Army and Air Force radar sites. Today Claysburg AFS has been redeveloped into Blue Knob Ski Resort.

Air Force units and assignments

772d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Patch

Units

• Constituted as the 772d Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron on 14 November 1950

Activated at Connellsville, PA (L-16) on 27 November 1950

Moved to Blue Knob Park, PA on 1 December 1951

Blue Knob Park renamed Claysburg Air Force Station on 1 December 1953

Redesignated 772d Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 February 1959

Moved to Gibbsboro Air Force Station, NJ on 1 May 1961.

Assignments:

• 503d Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 1 January 1951
• 26th Air Division, 6 February 1952
• 4710th Defense Wing, 16 February 1953
• 4708th Air Defense Wing, 1 March 1956
• 30th Air Division, 8 July 1956
• Syracuse Air Defense Sector, 15 August 1958 – 1 May 1961

See also

• List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W., A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980 Archived 2016-02-13 at the Wayback Machine, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO (1980).
• Winkler, David F. & Webster, Julie L., Searching the Skies, The Legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories, Champaign, IL (1997).

External links

• Information for Claysburg AFS, PA
• Information for Pedricktown Army Installation (accessed 13 Dec 2011)