SAGE radar stations The SAGE radar stations of Air Defense Command ( Aerospace Defense Command after 1968 ) were the military installations operated by USAF squadrons using the 1st automated air defense environment ( Semi - Automatic Ground Environment ) and networked by the SAGE System , a computer network . Most of the radar stations used the Burroughs AN / FST - 2 Coordinate Data Transmitting Set ( CDTS ) to automate the operator environment and provide radar tracks to sector command posts at SAGE Direction Centers ( DCs ) , e . g . , the Malmstrom Z - 124 radar station was co - located with DC - 20 . The sector / division radar stations were networked by DCs and Manual Control Centers to provide command , control , and coordination ( e . g . , at Topsham AFS for the " Bangor North American Air Defense Sector " ) for ground - controlled interception of enemy aircraft by interceptors such as the F - 106 developed to work with the SAGE System . Background . Post - WWII radar stations included those of the 1948 " five - station radar net " and the Lashup network completed in 1950 , followed by the " Priority Permanent System " with the initial ( priority ) radar stations completed in 1952 as a " manual air defense system " with Manual ADCCs ( e . g . , using Plexiglass plotting boards as at the 1954 Ent Air Force Base command center for ADC . ) Several Lashup stations became permanent stations ( Camp Hero L - 10 became LP - 45 , Fort Custis L - 15 / LP - 56 / P - 56 , Palermo L - 13 / LP - 54 , Sault Sainte Marie L - 17 / LP - 20 , Highlands L - 12 / LP - 9 ) and in 1951 some new Permanent System stations similarly designated LP - 2 , LP - 16 , etc . , instead of using newly deployed radars , were outfitted with older radars such as the January 1945 GE AN / CPS - 5 radar , 1948 Western Electric AN / TPS - 1B Radar , Bendix AN / TPS - 1C radar . The MX - 1353 and other programs developed the AN / FPS - 6 , AN / MPS - 10 , and other Cold War radars " At the end of 1957 , ADC operated 182 radar stations … 32 had been added during the last half of the year as low - altitude , unmanned gap - filler radars . The total consisted of 47 gap - filler stations , 75 Permanent System radars , 39 semimobile radars , 19 Pinetree stations , … 1 Lashup [ - era radar and a ] single Texas Tower " . SAGE System groundbreaking was at McChord Air Force Base for DC - 12 in 1957 where the " electronic brain " began arriving in November 1958 for the Seattle Air Defense Sector , and the post - war Ground Observation Corps was disbanded in 1959 . Description . Radar station personnel monitored systems ( e . g . , local radars and remote radars at gap - filler annexes ) and at most radar stations , used CDTS equipment such as the antenna control unit and the Range Height Indicator — CDTS range precision was . Also part of the SAGE Air Defense System were radar stations in sectors with Manual Control Centers which provided radar tracks by voice communication , and 4th floor consoles of SAGE Direction Centers in adjacent sectors could input those stations ' tracks in the " Manual Inputs " room adjacent to the " Communication Recording - Monitoring and VHF " room . Squadrons at some radar stations were the parent organizations for detachments at other stations , e . g . , the 666th RADSQ at Mill Valley Z - 38 was the parent of Detachment 2 at the Mather AFB radar station , and the 771st RADSQ at Cape Charles Z - 56 was responsible for 3 gap - filler annexes in Delaware , Virginia , and North Carolina . Most radar stations were part of the preceding Permanent System and some SAGE stations had Ground Air Transmit Receive ( GATR ) equipment for radioing command guidance by TDDL automated data link to autopilots of equipped interceptors for vectoring to targets ( e . g . , GATR site R - 28 was at Palermo Z - 54 . ) In addition to a squadron operations building ( e . g . , with CDTS ) , structures at the radar station included the radar pedestals ( e . g . , some CONUS stations such as Fort Heath used Arctic Tower s ) , a squadron headquarters building , electrical generator and fuel storage structures , etc . Notable remaining structures of SAGE radar stations include the radar tower at the Selfridge Military Air Museum , the Walker AFS quonset hut next to the Arctic Tower , and the former SAGE barracks usad for the McChord AFB museum . SAGE upgrades . Air Defense Command radar squadrons were renamed as personnel were assigned with training for the automated CDTS , e . g . , the " 609th Radar Squadron ( SAGE ) " was designated on September 1 , 1958 ( originally an AC & W Sq ) . The Air Defense Command reorganization when the SAGE System was deployed included the redesignation of Air Divisions to Air Defense Sectors in 1959 , e . g . , the 27th Air Division was renamed between February 1 , 1959 and April 1 , 1966 , as the Los Angeles Air Defense Sector ( LAADS ) followed by the inactivation of units such as the Air Defense Forces ( Western , Central , & Eastern , on July 1 , 1960 ) and some Numbered Air Force s ( e . g . , Fourth Air Force , September 1 , 1960 ) . Radar station tracks were used for 1958 CIM - 10 " BOMARC test firings at Patrick , Gunter , and McGuire " , and a SAGE Radar Station was used for the 1st Bomarc intercept of a Cape Canaveral drone on August 7 , 1958 . A few SAGE radar stations provided radar tracks for use with the 8 operational Bomarc complexes , e . g . , for 28 Upper Peninsula launch shelters ( " Kincheloe AFB BOMARC site " ) , 56 shelters in New Jersey ( operational September 1 , 1959 ) , and 56 Long Island shelters ( SAGE codename " BED " ) near the " FOX " mainland site . Of the 8 Permanent System stations that closed from 1959 - 1964 with squadrons relocating to stations with " RP " designations , 2 were the last remaining stations with the " LP " designation : ( Elkhorn LP - 31 / RP - 31F and Blue Knob LP - 63 ) . From 1959 - 1962 , three NORAD radar stations were added for the SAGE Radar Network ( i . e . , after the 3rd semi - mobile phase of the Permanent System ) : Key West Z - 209 , Richmond Z - 210 , Patrick Z - 211 in 1962 . One SAGE radar station also provided gap - filler radar coverage for Nike Hercules : San Pedro Hill Z - 39 ( RP - 39 ) for the 1963 - 74 Integrated Fire Control area of Malibu Nike battery LA - 78 on San Vicente Mtn . A few Permanent System stations continued operations without being redesignated with Z - xx " NORAD identification codes " , e . g . , 1952 Duncanville P - 79 until 1964 , 1958 Cottonwood SM - 150 until 1965 , and 1948 Hamilton P - 48 until 1973 . In 1963 when NORAD / ADC command operations moved from Ent AFB to the nearby Chidlaw Building ' s Combined Operations Center with SAGE - automation , on July 31 the SAGE radar stations were redesignated with the Z - xx codes . Some sector assignments were redesignated ( e . g . , Watertown AFS was assigned from the 1958 Syracuse Air Defense Sector to the Boston Air Defense Sector on September 4 , 1963 ) and by the end of 1963 nearly all of the Permanent System radar stations not used for SAGE had closed . In 1966 , Chidlaw Building operations transferred to the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker , SAGE ' s 1st BUIC II II CCCS was deployed ( North Truro Z - 10 ) , and NORAD / ADC reorganized the Air Defense Sectors back to Air Divisions . JUSS radar stations . The joint - use site system ( JUSS ) was completed after the 1959 Missile Master Plan resolved the surface - to - air missile dispute : both the US Army & USAF SAMs would be deployed and their computers were integrated with each CCCS netting the USAF sector or Army region radar stations . The SAGE System used crosstelling of " SAGE reference track data " from the BOMARC AN / FSQ - 7 to the NIKE Hercules AN / FSG - 1 ' s " two surveillance and entry consoles " , and the 9 bunker sites had been selected by June 1957 for coordinating Army batteries ' intercept of targets within an interior NIKE Defense Area of the USAF sector . Deployment of JUSS resulted in several " LP " Permanent System stations closing , and the squadrons relocated to new JUSS " RP " radar stations at most of the 9 sites where Army Missile Master bunkers were being constructed through December 14 , 1960 . Construction of the Highlands Army Air Defense Site for NY - 55DC ( 4th Q - 7 ) began adjacent to the 1948 Highlands P - 9 to use the existing equipment as " Missile Master organic radars " and in 1961 , the 770th Radar Squadron at Palermo LP - 54 moved to the existing Ft Meade Nike AADCP ( W - 13DC with USAF RP - 54 designation ) . Squadrons moving to new JUSS radar stations included the 635th RADSQ on May 15 , 1960 , to the 1st completed Missile Master bunker ( Fort Lawton Air Force Station SE - 90DC , January 21 , 1960 ) , and 2 JUSS installations used geographically - separate radar stations and Missile Master bunkers : the new San Pedro Hill RP - 39 was TBD miles from the Ft MacArthur bunker ( completed December 1960 ) , and the new Gibbsboro RP - 63 in 1961 later provided 1966 radar tracks to replace the Nike radars at Pedricktown PH - 64DC , away . As at San Pedro Hill ( ARSR - tbd ) , the JUSS radar station at Fort Heath B - 21DC ( the 3rd FSG - 1 & 2nd bunker completed - - 1960 ) also had a 1959 ARSR - 1 radar of the FAA in addition to 2 USAF and 2 Army height finder radars . Replacement . Many of the SAGE radar stations , particularly the locations with Air Route Surveillance Radar s ( e . g . , San Pedro Hill Z - 39 ) were retained when the SAGE System was replaced by the Joint Surveillance System for which the USAF declared full operational capability of the 1st 7 Regional Operational Control Center s ( ROCCs ) on December 23 , 1980 ( the NORAD Command Center was also upgraded ) . SAGE radar stations discontinued in 1980 included Almaden ( activated 1957 ) , Cambria ( 1951 ) . Dauphin Island ( 1959 ) , MacDill ( 1954 ) , Mill Valley ( 1951 ) , North Bend ( 1951 ) , and North Charleston ( 1955 ) ; and stations eventually transferring to the Federal Aviation Administration included Mill Valley Air Force Station .