Eastern Air Defense Sector The Eastern Air Defense Sector ( EADS ) is a United States Air Force unit and a component of the New York Air National Guard . It is stationed at the former Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome , New York . Overview . The Eastern Air Defense Sector is one of two Sectors responsible to the North American Aerospace Defense Command ( NORAD ) and the Continental NORAD Region for peacetime air sovereignty , strategic air defense , and airborne counter - drug operations in the continental United States . The other sector is the Western Air Defense Sector ( WADS ) . It operates a Sector Operations Control Center ( SOCC ) at Rome , New York , as part of the Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) which had replaced SAGE in 1983 . This system enjoins state - of - the - art air defense systems and cutting - edge computer technology to significantly increase surveillance and identification capabilities , and better protect the nation ' s airways from intrusion and attack . It relies on digitized radar inputs from Air Route Surveillance Radar ( ARSR ) sites jointly operated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force , and Tethered Aerostat Radar System balloons . It is fully integrated with the E - 3A Airborne early warning and control ( AEW & C ) system and the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System ( E - 8 Joint STARS ) . The SOCC employs 27 NORAD contingency suites , and 31 Battle Control System - Fixed ( BCS - F ) displays . A next - generation air sovereignty system , BCS - F fuses data from airborne , ground and naval elements and civil air traffic sensors into an integrated air picture . This allows commanders to surveil and monitor the airspace above , beyond and within U . S . and Canadian borders , providing a major component for homeland defense . It also incorporates a newly - developed situational awareness system that gives EADS unprecedented tools and technology to assist state and local responders in dealing with natural disasters . It has the redundant capability to cover the WADS if the call arises . EADS is a New York Air National Guard unit which reports directly to First Air Force ( Air Forces Northern ) at Tyndall AFB , Florida . The Sector reports to Air Combat Command ( ACC ) and to NORAD headquarters , in Colorado Springs , Colorado in its federal role . NORAD is a bi - national United States and Canadian organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America . Other NORAD air defense organizations include the Western Air Defense Sector ( WADS ) , the Hawaii Region Air Operations Center ( HIRAOC ) , the Alaska Region Air Operations Center ( AKRAOC ) and the Canada Air Defense Sector ( CADS ) . Mission . The Sector ’ s primary mission is Guarding America ’ s Skies . This 24 / 7 guardian role involves the use of radar and communications systems to monitor air traffic from the Mississippi River east to the Atlantic Ocean , and from the Canadian border south to the Gulf of Mexico . The EADS air sovereignty and executes counter - air operations over the eastern United States . Directs the employment of 178 sensors , 8 fighter alert locations , AWACS aircraft , a Battle Control Center ( BCC ) , and joint air defense artillery assets to defend one million square miles , 16 major cities , and adjacent seas . Supports NORAD ' s Integrated Tactical Warning and Attack Assessment , NORTHCOM Homeland Defense Mission . It works closely with other federal agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) , Secret Service and U . S . Customs Service as well as its sister military services – the U . S . Navy , U . S . Army and U . S . Coast Guard . As part of the New York Air National Guard , EADS reports to the Governor through the New York National Guard offices when directed by state authorities . It provides protection of life and property , and preserves peace , order and public safety . State missions , which are funded by the state , include disaster relief in times of earthquakes , hurricanes , floods and forest fires ; search and rescue ; protection of vital public services ; and support to civil defense . Units . Air National Guard units aligned under 1AF ( AFNORTH ) with an air defense mission under EADS are : History . Cold War . The sector ' s history begins on 1 April 1956 when the 4621st Air Defense Wing was organized . The sector ' s predecessors , the 4709th Defense Wing ( later 4709th Air Defense Wing ) and the 52d Fighter - Interceptor Wing had performed the air defense mission at McGuire AFB , New Jersey since 1949 . The wing operated a Manual Air Direction Center ( MDC ) at Roslyn AFS , New York . It was redesignated as the New York Air Defense Sector ( NYADS ) on 1 October . The sector ' s mission was to train and maintain tactical flying units in state of readiness in order to defend Northeast United States while initially continuing to operate the MDC . The organization was in large part responsible for one of the foundational projects of the computer era : the development of the SAGE ( Semi - Automatic Ground Environment ) air defense system , from its first test at Bedford , Massachusetts , in 1951 , to the installation of the first unit of the New York Air Defense Sector of the SAGE system , in 1958 . The idea for SAGE grew out of Project Whirlwind , a World War II computer development effort , when the War Department realized that the Whirlwind computer might anchor a continent - wide advance warning system . Developed during the 1950s by Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) Lincoln Laboratories engineers and scientists for the U . S . Air Force , SAGE monitored North American skies for possible attack by manned aircraft and missiles for twenty - five years . Aside from its strategic importance , SAGE set the foundation for mass data - processing systems and foreshadowed many computer developments of the 1960s . The heart of the system , the IBM AN / FSQ - 7 computer , was the first computer to have an internal memory composed of " magnetic cores , " thousands of tiny ferrite rings that served as reversible electromagnets . SAGE also introduced computer - driven graphic displays , online keyboard terminals , time sharing , high - availability computation with a redundant AN / FSQ - 7 to fail over if the primary system went down , digital signal processing , digital transmission over leased telephone lines , digital track - while - scan , digital simulation , computer networking , and duplex computing . The SAGE Direction Center DC - 01 was activated on 1 July 1958 , the first sector to achieve this status . In a ceremony marking this achievement , General Curtis E . LeMay was the guest speaker . He described SAGE as , " A system centralizing many air defense functions , minimizing manual tasks and allowing electronic devices to perform hundreds of complex computations accurately and simultaneously to improve air defense capability . " On 1 April 1966 , the NYADS was inactivated , as were the other 22 sectors in the country . The SAGE system remained active until replaced in 1983 by newer technology Joint Surveillance System ( JSS ) . The 3 - story DC - 01 SAGE building , with reinforced 3 ' concrete walls and roof now hosts the Headquarters , 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force , Air Mobility Command at McGuire AFB . Modern era . On 1 July 1987 , four of the previous ADCOM Air Defense sectors were reactivated , redesignated , assigned and colocated with the four remaining air divisions . The ADTAC Air Divisions were inactivated . The Air Defense Sectors were reassigned to the Air National Guard . All reported to First Air Force . On 1 November 2005 , the NEADS and SEADS consolidated , giving the Northeast Air Defense Sector ( NEADS ) the responsibility of providing detection and air defense for the entire eastern half of the United States . NEADS was officially redesignated the Eastern Air Defense Sector ( EADS ) on 15 July 2009 . The Continental NORAD Region ( CONR ) has responsibility for the Western Air Defense Sector and Eastern Air Defense Sector . It is headquartered at Tyndall AFB , Florida .