EASTERN SUFFOLK COUNTY MONTAUK AIR FORCE STATION (NEADS 140 miles east of NYC 15 fron SCAFB)

MONTAUK AIR FORCE STATION WAS THE NORTHEAST EYES AND EARS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE UP TO THE MINUTE REPORTS TO NORAD (North American Air Defense)Command Cheyenne Mountain Colorado AND SAC (Strategic Air Command) Offut AFB Omaha Nebraska THE RADAR SCANNED 200 MILES OUT THE REAL DISTANCE IS STILL CLASSIFIED IT ALSO WAS THE PRIMARY CONTROL OF ONE OF THE TEXAS TOWERS (radar stations on oil platforms miles off thr U.S. coast) MONTAUKS MISSION WAS VERY IMPORTANT AND AFBs LIKE SUFFOLK ALSO DEPENDED ON THEM THE VARIOUS SAGE RADARS LOPAR,IFF DEPLOYED BY THE US ARMY AIR DEFENSE COMMAND ON DEFENSE HILL IN ROCKY POINT COULD NOT GET ALL THE RADAR COVERAGE NEEDED BY THE USAF THEIR SYSTEMS WERE BUSY WITH THE NIKE/HERCULES MISSILES DEPLOYED UP THERE SUFFOLK USAF DEPENDED ON BOMARCS GAT SITE AND OTHER RADAR INSTALLATIONS AROUND THE TRI STATE AREA BUT MONTAUK AIR FORCE STATION WAS EQUIPPED WITH THE STRONGEST ARRAY OF RADAR RECIEVERS IN THE NORTHEAST AND THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE USAF MONTAUK DID THEIR JOBS CONFIRMING ANY BREACH OF US AIRSPACE OR OBJECT WITH NO IFF TRANSMITTING (identification friend or foe) AND GET THAT TO SUFFOLK AND OFF THE INTERCEPTORS WENT LOOKING FOR THERE PREY HERE IS A LITTLE MORE INFO ON MONTAUK -

In the 1950's, the Cold War was on and the big concern was Soviet long-range bombers armed with nuclear weapons, so the Army gave over the western portion of the military reservation to the 773rd Aircraft Control and Warning (AC&W) Squadron. There job was plane spotting and aircraft identification. During this time the military reservation was run jointly by the Army and the Air Force, with the Air Force in the western portion and the Army in the eastern portion. In 1952, the 773rd was transferred to the 26th Air Division and operated as the Air Defense Direction Center. Several different types of additional surveillance and height finder radars were deployed at the base, the first radar units having been installed in 1948. In November 1957, the Army colsed the Camp Hero portion of the military reservation as Soviet long-distance bombers could fly well above ground-based artillery. The Air Force continued using the western half of the facility for radar surveillance. The Eastern portion of the site was donated to the state of New York, but it remained unused because of its close proximity to a high-security facility. In 1958 a SAGE (Semi Automatic Ground Environment) radar system was installed at what was now known as the Montauk Air Force Station and the facility was merged into the national air defense network, SAGE. The equipment included a huge AN/FPS-35 radar antenna, built by Sperry. The reflector was 126 feet long and 38 feet tall, weighing 40 tons, and was supposedly only the second ever built. It was able to detect airborne objects at distances of well over 200 miles. It also used "frequency diversity" technology making it resistant to electronic countermeasures. The site was run by the Air Force, but Sperry personnel ran and maintained the actual radar equipment. Radar data collected at the site was sent to the SAGE Direction Center located at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. The SAGE system was so powerful that it disrupted local TV and radio broadcasts, and had to be shut down several times and re-calibrated. The problems were later resolved. The Montauk facility was state of the art and many new systems were developed or tested there including magnetic memory for storage, light pens, keyboards, WAN's (Wide Area Networks) and modular circuit packaging. It was also a major part of the NORAD defense system, so security was very tight. The unit was renamed the 773rd Radar Squadron (SAGE) in 1963. In 1978 the Air Force submitted a proposal to the Carter
Administartaion to close the base, as the technology was largely obsolete due to satellite technology. It was determained to keep it operational until the new facility at Riverhead, New York was operational. The Air Force officially shut down its radar opperations on July 1st 1980 after a new radar system opperated by the FAA was made opperational in Riverhead, NY that could handle civilian and air defense requirments, making the SAGE system redundant. Considering its size, removing the huge antenna was problematic at best so it was "Abandoned in place" with its
controlling motors and electrontics removed, allowing it to move with the wind to prevent it from being torn off of its base in a storm. A GATR (Ground Air Transmitter Reciever) facility remained inservice to direct military aircraft operating within the region. This system was deactivated andremoved in 1984. Riverhead now controls all air traffic in the area.