page_title: McChord Field
section_title: Air Defense Command
hierarchical_section_title: McChord Field / History / Cold War / Air Defense Command
caption_attribution_description: English: 319th Fighter Squadron (All Weather) North American F-82F Twin Mustang 46-494 at McChord AFB, Washington, October 1949
context_page_description: McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worldwide strategic airlift.
  The McChord facility was consolidated with the U.S. Army's Fort Lewis on 1 February 2010 to become part of the Joint Base Lewis-McChord complex. This initiative was driven by the Base Realignment and Closure Round in 2005 and is designed to combine current infrastructure into one maximizing war fighting capability and efficiency, while saving taxpayer dollars.
context_section_description: On 1 August 1946, McChord was assigned to the new Air Defense Command, with a mission of air defense of the United States.  During the Cold War, numerous fighter-interceptor squadrons were stationed at the base, as well as Radar and Command and Control organizations, the 25th Air Division being headquartered at McChord from 1951 until 1990.
  The 325th Fighter Group (All-Weather) operated two squadrons of F-82F Twin Mustangs from McChord between 1948 and 1950, the first postwar fighter optimized for the air defense interceptor mission.  Designed for very-long range bomber escort missions in the Pacific during World War II, the design became operational too late to see service and was adapted for the air defense mission.
  Other interceptor squadrons stationed at McChord were:
  64th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
  317th Fighter Interceptor Squadron
  318th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
  465th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
  498th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
  The base was the location of the first of twenty-eight stations built by ADC as part of the permanent air defense radar network, and was the top-priority site for ADC radars.  The 505th Aircraft Control and Warning Group, the first postwar general surveillance radar organization was activated at McChord on 21 May 1947.  Defensive warning radars became operational at McChord on 1 June 1950 with World War II-era AN/CPS-4 and AN/CPS-5 radars being operated by the 635th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron.  ADC completed installation of two AN/CPS-6B medium-range search and height-finder radars in February 1951. Performance of these new radars was deemed inferior to the World War II vintage models and the calibration process delayed operational readiness at this and other sites. An AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar was installed in the mid-1950s.
  In 1958, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Data Center (DC-12), and Combat Center (CC-3) was established at McChord. It became operational in 1960.  The SAGE system was a network linking Air Force (and later FAA) General Surveillance Radar stations into a centralized center for Air Defense, intended to provide early warning and response for a Soviet nuclear attack.  It was initially under the command of the Seattle Air Defense Sector (SeADS), activated on 8 January 1958.
  The ADC radar site (P-1) was deactivated 1 April 1960 and repositioned to Fort Lawton AFS (RP-1) where the Air Force consolidated its anti-aircraft radars with the United States Army Seattle Defense Area Army Air-Defense Command Post (AADCP) S-90DC for Nike missile operations.
  SeADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966 and the SAGE headquarters combat center came under the 25th Air Division. The Command Center (CC-3) was active until 30 June 1966 when it was inactivated as part of an ADC reorganization.  The Data Center (DC-12), with its AN/FSQ-7 computer remained active until 4 August 1983 under the 25th AD when technology advances made the SAGE system obsolete.
  Today, the successor organization to the 25th AD, the Western Air Defense Sector (WADS), is a major tenant organization at McChord, being one of two air defense sectors responsible for the security and integrity of continental United States air space.  WADS is staffed by members of the Washington Air National Guard (WANG) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).  Operationally, WADS reports to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado.
caption: 319th Fighter Squadron (All Weather) North American F-82F Twin Mustang 46-494 at McChord AFB, Washington, October 1949
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