| San Clemente Island Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part of Air Defense Command (ADC) | |
| Type | Air Force Station |
| Built | 1951 |
| In use | 1951-1960 |
| Controlled by | United States Air Force |
| Garrison | 670th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron |
San Clemente Island Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-39) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 3.7 miles (6.0 km) south-southeast of San Clemente Island Airport, California. It was closed by the Air Force in 1960 due to the high cost of operations.
Today, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operates a new site on the island as part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) Ground Equipment Facility G-36.
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San Clemente Island AFS 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. San Clemente Island AFS was one of two offshore radar stations built off the Southern California coast, the other being on Santa Rosa Island.
The 670th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was initially assigned by the 27th Air Division to a temporary Lashup-Permanent radar site LP-39 which began operations in November 1951 on San Clemente Island AFS with an AN/TPS-1C 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. The LP-39 site was then replaced the Permanent site P-39 in May 1952.
The 670th AC&W Squadron began operations at P-39 with a single AN/FPS-3 radar. A year later, an AN/FPS-4 height-finder radar joined the site. In 1955 an AN/FPS-8 came to the island; this radar subsequently was converted to a AN/GPS-3. In 1956 an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar replaced the AN/FPS-4.
This site was deactivated in 1960 due to budget restraints, and the 670th AC&W Squadron relocated to a joint Army/Air Force facility Fort MacArthur, designated as San Pedro Hills AFS (RP-39). San Clemente Island was handed over to the Navy.
In 1972, at a new location to the south on Mount Thirst, the Navy installed an AN/FPS-20 search radar (later modified to the FPS-93A version) in an arctic tower for range safety and bombing exercises. In the late 1990s, the AN/FPS-93A was replaced by an ARSR-4 radar at the Mount Thirst location, and is now shared with the Air Force for the JSS program (the FAA maintains the radar for the Navy, but reportedly does not use the data).
The former Air Force facility today is completely abandoned. The Radar Operations building was converted into a Navy photo lab, but is vacant now, the station deteriorating and quite difficult to reach.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.