Washington_Air_Defense_Sector

Washington Air Defense Sector

Washington Air Defense Sector

Military unit


The Washington Air Defense Sector (WaADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command (ADC) 26th Air Division, being stationed at Fort Lee Air Force Station (AFS), Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 April 1966.

Quick Facts Active, Country ...
482d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Convair F-102A-90-CO Delta Dagger 57-823, Washington Air Defense Sector, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, October 1962, Deployed at Homestead AFB, Florida during Cuban Missile Crisis
Map of Washington D.C. ADS

History

WaADS was established in December 1956 as the 4625th Air Defense Wing.[1] It was not assigned any units until 1958 when it assumed control of former ADC Eastern Air Defense Force units primarily in Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.[2] Units of the 32d Air Division in North and South Carolina were transferred to WaADS in 1961 as the 26th Air Division area of responsibility expanded southward.[3] The organization provided command and control over several aircraft, missile and radar squadrons.

On 1 February 1959 the new Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Direction Center (DC-04) became operational. 37°15′09″N 077°19′21″W DC-04 was equipped with dual AN/FSQ-7 Computers. The day-to-day operations of the command were to train and maintain tactical units flying jet interceptor aircraft (F-101 Voodoo; F-102 Delta Dagger; F-106 Delta Dart) or interceptor missiles (CIM-10 Bomarc) in a state of readiness with training missions and series of exercises with Strategic Air Command and other units simulating interceptions of incoming enemy aircraft.

The sector was eliminated on 1 April 1966 due to a general reorganization of Air Defense Command, most of its assigned units being reassigned to the 33d Air Division

Lineage

  • Designated as 4625th Air Defense Wing, SAGE and organized on 1 December 1956
Redesignated Washington Air Defense Sector on 8 January 1957
Discontinued and inactivated on 1 April 1966

Assignments

  • 85th Air Division, 1 December 1956
  • 26th Air Division, 1 September 1958 – 1 April 1966

Stations

  • Fort Lee AFS, Virginia, 1 December 1956 – 1 April 1966

Components

Interceptor squadrons

Langley Air Force Base (AFB), Virginia, 1 September 1958 – 1 April 1966
Andrews AFB, Maryland, 1 September 1958 – 1 July 1963
Charleston AFB, South Carolina, 1 July 1961 – 1 April 1966
Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, 1 July 1961 – 1 October 1965

Missile squadron

Langley AFB, Virginia, 1 September 1959 – 1 April 1966

Radar squadrons

Weapons Systems

  • F-101B 1961-1966
  • F-102A, 1958-1965
  • F-106A, 1959-1966
  • IM-99 (later CIM-10), 1959-1966

See also


Notes

  1. Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946-1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. p. 65.
  2. Cornett & Johnson, p. 31 (Map)
  3. Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. p. 209. ISBN 0-405-12194-6.
  4. Cornett & Johnson, p. 116
  5. Maurer, p. 318
  6. Cornett & Johnson, p. 121
  7. Maurer, p. 550
  8. Cornett & Johnson, p. 128
  9. Maurer, p. 580
  10. Cornett & Johnson, p. 129
  11. Cornett & Johnson, p. 150
  12. Cornett & Johnson, p. 154
  13. Cornett & Johnson, p. 157
  14. Cornett & Johnson, p. 162
  15. Cornett & Johnson, p. 166
  16. Cornett & Johnson, p. 170

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency


Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Washington_Air_Defense_Sector, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.