Southeast Air Defense Sector

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Shield of the Southeast Air Defense Sector

The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2006, giving up surveillance and control of their airspace to the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) and the former Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS)."

1 History
- 1.1 23 AD Components
- 1.2 Operations at time of closure
2 See Also
3 External links

[edit] History

The SEADS was originally established as the 23d Air Division on 18 November 1969 and activated the next day. As a component of the Aerospace Defense Command, the 23 AD was tasked with the air defense of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and portions of Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and Kentucky. The 23 AD was initially based at Duluth International Airport, Minnesota until it moved to Tyndall AFB where it began operations there on 15 April 1982.

Tactical Air Command took control of the 23 AD on 1 October 1979, administering it until transferring it to the First Air Force on 6 December 1985. On 1 July 1987, the 23 AD was inactivated and replaced with the SEADS.

Effective 1 October 1996, the SEADS transitioned completely from the US Air Force to the Air National Guard and became a Geographically Separated Unit assigned within the Florida Air National Guard (FLANG).

In December 2006, SEADS ceased air defense operations and its duties were absorbed into the Northeast Air Defense Sector which is now known as the Eastern Air Defense Sector. The SEADS transformed into the 601st Air Operations Group and currently performs the duties as the Air Operations Center for AFNORTH.

[edit] 23 AD Components

1st Fighter Wing, 1 December - 31 December 1969
343d Fighter Group, 19 November 1969 - 28 August 1970
2d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 July 1971 - 31 March 1973
37th Air Defense Missile Squadron, 19 November 1969 - 31 July 1972
48th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 March 1983 - 1 July 1987
62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 19 November 1969 - 30 April 1971
74th Air Defense Missile Squadron, 19 November 1969 - 30 April 1972
87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 28 August 1970 - 1 August 1981
94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 December 1969 - 1 July 1971

[edit] Operations at time of closure

With responsibility for defense of approximately 1,000,000 square miles of airspace and 3,000 miles of coastline extending from Virginia to Texas, the Southeast Air Defense Sector was the busiest of the air defense sectors comprising the Continental United States North American Aerospace Defense Command Region.

The Sector Operations Control Center (SOCC) was the heart of sector operations. It was part of the joint surveillance system, a combination of military and Federal Aviation Administration facilities. This system, using the latest advances in computerized airspace control, relied on digitized radar inputs from ground radar sites and tethered aerostat radar balloons. More than 2,000 aircraft were detected and identified each day by SEADS technicians and operators.

The SEADS was one of five other control centers key to supporting the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) mission. The remaining four sectors are the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) and the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) in the continental United States; the two in sectors in Canada, Canada East and Canada West; and the Alaska NORAD Region in Alaska. NORAD command and control agencies are responsible for maintaining North American air sovereignty in peacetime and during war. Consoles in the operations area are designed for multiple use, allowing them to perform any surveillance, identification, or weapons control air defense function.

All aircraft approaching the United States must be identified. This process involves coordination with FAA and other military agencies and identification by electronic interrogation. Any aircraft not identified by these means within specified timing criteria are designated “unknowns.” Fighter alert sites are strategically located throughout the sector to provide rapid scramble and subsequent interception and identification of the unknowns.

For reliability and training purposes, the SOCC was equipped with two computer systems. While one system monitored sector airspace, operators could use the second system for training exercises, data analysis, testing, and repair. Should the operational systems have malfunctioned, the second system was automatically switched to operational status with no mission interruption.