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Colville Air Force Station
Part of Air Defense Command (ADC)
Colville AFSLocation of Colville AFS, Washington
Coordinates	48°35′27″N 117°35′19″W / 48.59083°N 117.58861°W / 48.59083; -117.58861 (Colville AFS P-60)
Type	Air Force Station
Code	ADC ID: P-60
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1950
In use	1950-1961
Garrison information
Garrison	760th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

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Colville Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 14.7 miles (23.7 km) east-northeast of Colville, Washington. It was closed in 1961.

History

Colville 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 11 July 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 21 July, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction. This site took over coverage once provided by the temporary "Lashup" site L-28, Spokane, Washington, which operated between 1950-1952.

The 760th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (AC&W Sq) was activated at the new station on 27 November 1950. The squadron began operating an AN/TPS-1B medium-range search radar in March 1951 at the then Lashup-Permanent site LP-60, 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 November 1951 an AN/TPS-1C replaced the -B model. This radar was subsequently replaced by an AN/FPS-3 long-range search radar and an AN/FPS-5 height-finder radar at this now Permanent site (P-60) in February 1952.

In 1956 the AN/FPS-5 height-finder radar was retired and replaced by an AN/FPS-6 model. Also in 1956 an AN/GPS-3 search radar was installed. In 1958 the 760th AC&W Sq operated a newly installed AN/FPS-20 radar, and the AN/FPS-3 radar was retired. An AN/FPS-6A height-finder was added also in 1958. In 1960 the AN/FPS-20 was modified to the AN/FPS-20A model. During 1960 Colville AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-15 at Larson AFB, Washington. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 760th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 July 1960. 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.

In addition to the main facility, Colville operated several AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler sites:

• Ione, WA (P-60A) 48°32′43″N 117°09′21″W / 48.54528°N 117.15583°W / 48.54528; -117.15583 (P-60A)
• Northport, WA (P-60B) 48°54′32″N 117°52′08″W / 48.90889°N 117.86889°W / 48.90889; -117.86889 (P-60B)
• Curlew AFS, WA (P-60C) 48°52′38″N 118°47′08″W / 48.87722°N 118.78556°W / 48.87722; -118.78556 (P-60C)
• Okanogan, WA (P-60D) 48°31′41″N 119°56′33″W / 48.52806°N 119.94250°W / 48.52806; -119.94250 (P-60D)
• Mazama, WA (P-60E) 48°44′30″N 120°40′50″W / 48.74167°N 120.68056°W / 48.74167; -120.68056 (P-60E)

In November 1960 this site was closed due to budget constraints. Today the site remains standing, abandoned and severely deteriorated.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

• Constituted as the 760th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron on 14 November 1950

Activated at Colville Air Force Station on 27 November 1950

Redesignated 760th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 15 July 1960

Discontinued and inactivated on 1 June 1961

Assignments

• 505th Aircraft Control and Warning Group, 1 January 1951
• 162d Aircraft Control and Warning Group (Federalized CA ANG), 25 May 1951
• 25th Air Division, 6 February 1952
• 4702d Defense Wing, 1 January 1953
• 9th Air Division, 8 October 1954
• 25th Air Division, 15 August 1958
• 4700th Air Defense Wing, 1 September 1958
• Spokane Air Defense Sector, 15 March 1960 – 1 June 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).
• Information for Colville AFS, WA

v t e Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)
Bases	CONUS Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Ethan Allen Fairfax Fallon Fort Gregg-Adams Fort Heath Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Imeson Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenberg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown Overseas Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Keflavik McAndrew Pepperrell Thule
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Air Defense units	Forces Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth Air Divisions 8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th Sectors Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington Wings Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th Groups Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th Squadrons Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons
Major weapon systems	Electronic TB-29 EB-57 EC-121 Fighters Propeller: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106 Missiles AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10 Ships Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil Texas Towers Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4
Miscellaneous	Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons) General Surveillance Radar Stations

• Installations of the United States Air Force in Washington (state)
• Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites
• Aerospace Defense Command military installations
• 1950 establishments in Washington (state)
• 1961 disestablishments in Washington (state)
• Military installations established in 1950
• Military installations closed in 1961