Mount Laguna Air Force Station

Mount Laguna Air Force Station
Part of Air Defense Command (ADC)
1979 USAF photo
Type	Air Force Station
Coordinates	32°52′36″N 116°24′54″W / 32.87667°N 116.415°W / 32.87667; -116.415 (Mount Laguna AFS P-76)
Built	1952
In use	1952-1981
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Garrison	751st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Mount Laguna AFS

Location of Mount Laguna AFS, California

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Emblem of the 751st Radar Squadron

Mount Laguna Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-76, NORAD ID: Z-76) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 24.3 miles (39.1 km) north-northeast of Tecate, California. It was closed in 1981 by the Air Force, and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-30.

History

Mount Laguna Air Force Station was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the Air Defense Command permanent radar network. Prompted by the start of the Korean War, on July 11, 1950, the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of the permanent network. Receiving the Defense Secretary’s approval on July 21, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction.

The 751st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was initially assigned by the 27th Air Division to Mount Laguna on 1 February 1952. Within two months the radar assumed coverage formerly provided by the Minter Field Lashup site (L-34). At that time the 751st AC&W Squadron operated AN/CPS-4 and AN/FPS-3 radars, 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. An AN/FPS-8 replaced the AN/CPS-4 in 1955. This radar then was converted to an AN/GPS-3 in 1956, and removed in 1960. 1956 also saw the arrival of an AN/FPS-6 at the site.

During 1961 Mount Laguna AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-17 at Norton AFB, California. After joining, the squadron was re-designated as the 751st Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 May 1961. 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. By 1962 the 751st operated an AN/FPS-7C search radar and AN/FPS-6 and 6B height-finder radars. In 1963 the -6B was upgraded to an AN/FPS-90 set. Mount Laguna AFS was re-designated as NORAD ID Z-76 on 31 July 1963

In 1964 the AN/FPS-6 was replaced by an AN/FPS-26A FD height-finder radar; this radar was converted to an AN/FSS-7 SLBM D&W radar in 1966. Mt. Laguna became a joint-use ADC/FAA facility around 1965.

In addition to the main facility, Mount Laguna Air Force Station operated several AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler sites:

• Tecate, CA (P-76A) 32°34′46″N 116°41′20″W / 32.57944°N 116.68889°W / 32.57944; -116.68889 (P-76A)
• San Ysidro, CA (P-76B) 32°33′42″N 117°02′06″W / 32.56167°N 117.035°W / 32.56167; -117.035 (P-76B)
• Tierra del Sol, CA (P-76C) 32°38′53″N 116°19′02″W / 32.64806°N 116.31722°W / 32.64806; -116.31722 (P-76C)
• Coyote Wells, CA (P-76D) 32°41′27″N 115°53′21″W / 32.69083°N 115.88917°W / 32.69083; -115.88917 (P-76D)
• Moreno, CA (P-76E) 33°57′43″N 117°16′51″W / 33.96194°N 117.28083°W / 33.96194; -117.28083 (P-76E)

Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars. In 1979 Mount Laguna came under Tactical Air Command (TAC) jurisdiction with the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command and the creation of ADTAC. In the early 1980s the FAA assumed greater control, with the inactivation of the 751st Radar Squadron on 30 September 1981. The FAA replaced the AN/FPS-7E with an ARSR-3 search radar, leaving the Air Force only responsible for the height-finder tower (by then an AN/FPS-116), which was removed circa 1988. In the late 1990s, the ARSR-3 was replaced by the ARSR-4.

Today Mount Laguna is an FAA site, tied into the Joint Surveillance System (JSS). The former Air Force Station has been abandoned since 1981, the facilities in disrepair. The buildings that once housed up to 400 Air Force personnel at Mount Laguna are now gutted shells covered with graffiti and filled with construction debris. For years, U.S. Forest Service officials have wanted to demolish the buildings at the abandoned base, but no money was available.

In 2009, funds became available for site restoration and the barracks, administration building, mess hall and other buildings that made up the Laguna Mountain Air Force Base will be torn down using money from $18.2 million in stimulus funds for Forest Service facilities in disrepair in 14 California counties.

Air Force units and assignments

Units:

• 751st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Assigned to Mount Laguna AFS, 1 February 1952

Activated by 544th AC&W Group at Port Hueneme, California, 1 January 1951

Re-designated 751st Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 May 1961

Re-designated 751st Air Defense Group, 1 March 1970

Re-designated 751st Radar Squadron, 1 January 1974

Inactivated on 30 September 1981

Assignments:

• 544th Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 1 February 1952
• 27th Air Division, 6 February 1952
• Los Angeles Air Defense Sector, 1 October 1959
• 27th Air Division, 1 April 1966
• 26th Air Division, 19 November 1969
• 26th ADCOM Region, 8 December 1978

Re-designated: 26th NORAD Region, 1 October 1979-30 September 1981

See also

• List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations

References

	United States Air Force portal
	Military of the United States portal

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
• Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
• Information for Mount Laguna AFS, CA

External links