Bethel Air Force Station Bethel Air Force Station ( AAC ID : F - 21 ) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station . It was located west of Anchorage , Alaska . History . Bethel AFS was a continental defense radar station constructed to provide the United States Air Force early warning of an attack by the Soviet Union on Alaska . A radar site was initially activated in September 1951 at Bethel , Alaska , manned by Federalized Alaska Air National Guard smen and equipped with a World War II AN / TPS - 1B radar as a result of the Korean War and the threat of a communist attack on Alaska . The guardsmen were designated as Detachment " C - 3 " , 626th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron , and commanded by the 10th Air Division at Fire Island AFS near Anchorage . The guardsmen were returned to state control in March 1952 and the provisional station was closed . Plans were made for a permanent radar site beginning in late 1956 . In 1957 , acreage was acquired approximately 5 miles west of Bethel , Alaska for construction of the station . Using the existing port facilities at Bethel on the Kuskokwim River , Towed barges were able to land construction equipment and material at the town , which was transported along a gravel road to the construction site . In addition , an airstrip was constructed near the site , about halfway between the station and Bethel , allowing cargo transports and personnel to fly into and out of the area . The station and radar site was constructed on a flat area just to the west of some hills . The buildings were , except for the civil engineering building connected by heated hallways . As a result , personnel stationed there , with only very few exceptions , were able to wear " summer " uniforms year round , unless they had a need to go outside during the winter season . The coverings of the station ' s three radar towers were heated from within to keep the covering from becoming brittle from extreme cold , and thus subject to being damaged or destroyed by high winds . Tours at the station were limited to one year because of the psychological strain and physical hardships . The 713th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron operated AN / FPS - 8 , AN / FPS - 4 , AN / FPS - 6 , and AN / FPS - 6 B radars . As a surveillance station , its mission was to monitor the airspace for aircraft activity and provide information 24 / 7 to the air defense Direction Center at Fire Island AFS near Anchorage , where it was analyzed to determine range , direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile . The Alaskan Air Command , after investigating various options , constructed a White Alice Communications System communications site at the station , operated by the Air Force Communications Service ( AFCS ) . The Bethel site was activated in 1958 . Bethel Air Force Station was very expensive to maintain , and was inactivated due to budget reductions on 15 May 1963 , its mission being taken over by other AAC surveillance radar sites with upgraded and more capable equipment . Today the site remains abandoned and deteriorating . Aerial imagery clearly shows abandoned buildings , radar towers and communications antennas , all in a highly deteriorated state .