Palermo Air Force Station

Palermo Air Force Station
Part of Air Defense Command (ADC)
Coordinates	39°13′19″N 074°41′14″W
Type	Air Force Station
Site information
Controlled by	United States Air Force
Site history
Built	1948
In use	1948-1970
Garrison information
Garrison	770th Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron (1952-1961) 680th Radar Squadron (1961-1970)

Palermo AFS

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Location of Palermo AFS, New Jersey

Palermo Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-54, NORAD ID: Z-54) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 4.8 mi north of Sea Isle City, New Jersey. It was closed in 1970.

History

In September 1948 the Air Force authorized Air Defense Command to establish thirteen radar stations in the Northeastern United States. These stations were in operation by mid-1949. The Air Force activated an AN/TPS-1B long-range search radar at the "Lashup" site (L-1), that fed into a primitive control center established at Roslyn, New York.

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 additional stations, and it received the Defense Secretary’s approval on July 21, the Air Force directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction of Palermo Air Force Station. Because of difficulties with new production radar equipment, Palermo AFS initially received radar equipment from the former Lashup site to expedite operational status. Thus it was designated as site LP-54. In 1951 AN/CPS-5 and AN/TPS-10A height-finder radars were added to the site. By April 1952 the 770th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was operating AN/CPS-4 and AN/FPS-3 radars. In the spring of 1957, Palermo was one of the first to deploy an AN/FPS-20 radar. Palermo also received two AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars at this time.

The site became a SAGE feeder in June 1958 and the squadron was redesigated as the 770th Radar Squadron. By late 1959 this station also was performing air traffic control duties.

On October 1, 1961, the 770th Radar Squadron and the site designation (RP-54) left for Fort Meade, Maryland. The Palermo site was then operated by Detachment 1 of the New York Air Defense Sector. This unit was redesignated the 680th Radar Squadron in 1962 and the P-54 site designation returned to Palermo in 1963. On 31 July 1963, the site was redesignated as NORAD ID Z-54, and later the AN/FPS-20 was upgraded into an AN/FPS-65 radar. In 1968 one AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was retired.

The 680th was deactivated and the Air Force closed the facility in May 1970. Palermo's GATR (Ground Air Transmitter Receiver) site (R-28) remained active until 1975, becoming a detachment of the 770th AC&W Squadron at Fort Meade, Maryland. The housing reportedly was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard after site closed.

For many years, the site was abandoned and overgrown, with deteriorating buildings and former radar towers dominating the site. Palermo AFS was demolished in 2003 and was redeveloped into the "Osprey Point" single-family housing development, with no evidence of the former military radar station.

Air Force units and assignments

Emblem of the 770th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Emblem of the 680th Radar Squadron

Units:

• 770th Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron, Activated on 1 November 1950

Re designated: 770th Radar Squadron (SAGE), 1 October 1958

Reassigned to Fort George G. Meade, MD, 1 October 1961

• 680th Radar Squadron (SAGE), Reactivated on 1 June 1962

Formerly 680th Aircraft Warning and Control Squadron, Yaak AFS, MT (1 March 1951-1 July 1960)

Inactivated on 30 May 1970

Assignments:

• 503d Aircraft Warning and Control Group (26th Air Division), 1 November 1950

Transferred to: 26th Air Division, 6 February 1952

• 4710th Defense Wing, 16 February 1953
• 4709th Air Defense Wing, 1 March 1956
• 4621st Air Defense Wing, 18 October 1956
• New York Air Defense Sector, 8 January 1957-1 October 1961; 1 June 1962
• 21st Air Division, 1 April 1966
• 35th Air Division, 1 December 1967
• 33d Air Division, 1 April 1968
• 20th Air Division, 19 November 1969-30 May 1970

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

• 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.
• 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
• Information for Palermo AFS, NJ