Contents:

• The Project
• Sample Letter to Congressman
• Additional Montauk History
• National Park Service Response
• Newspaper Article, Dec 23, 1999
• Camp Hero & Montauk Web Site
• Montauk Radar Preservation Group
• Status, Trip Report, Oct 2000
• Status, Trip Report, Feb 2000

There is one crusade I'd like to start: I'd like to see the old AN/FPS-35 radar tower and its antenna at the former Montauk AFS preserved and restored. Similar to the Nike air-defense missile launch site inside the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County near San Francisco, I'd like to see the former Montauk AFS become a National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service (perhaps jointly with the state of New York, since the grounds of the former radar site are now within the boundaries of Montauk Point State Park).

Why Montauk AFS? It's the last (and thus now the only) former Air Force Station where the entire search radar tower and antenna are still standing. Abandoned in place in January 1981 when the 773rd Radar Squadron (ADCOM) ceased operations there, the old AN/FPS-35 tower and its antenna have continued to stand, neglected by man and battered by the elements. Sooner or later, the antenna will succumb to the effects of high winds, rain, ice, and of course corrosion from the salty sea air. Not to mention vandalism.

I feel this last remaining radar tower would serve as a fitting monument to ALL the Cold War air-defense early-warning surveillance sites. Montauk's location also makes it ideal for a NPS National Historic Site -- it is near, but isolated from, New York City and the other large metropolitan areas of the northeast. Other factors going for it include the beautiful scenery at Montauk Point, the nearby historic lighthouse, the coastal defense bunkers of Camp Hero, and the nearby beaches. Also, only twelve (12) AN/FPS-35 radars were ever built, and all are long gone now, except for this last one at Montauk Point. In fact, this is the last remnants of any of the giant rotating radars, such as the AN/FPS-24, AN/FPS-28, and AN/FPS-31. Should the Montauk AN/FPS-35 radar be allowed to corrode away, then this important part of Cold War history will be lost forever. And when it's gone, it's gone!

Do you think we could generate enough interest to have the National Park Service and/or the State of New York make the former Montauk AFS, particularly the AN/FPS-35 radar tower, into a National Historic Site? If so, do you think the NPS could be convinced to dedicate the funds needed to preserve and restore the tower and antenna? (Mainly, I am just advocating corrosion control and other stuctural maintenance.) Personally, I think we can -- and I think we should -- but it will take time, effort, and persistence. We'll need to get lots of folks writing letters to their Congressional representatives.

State officials from the US Senate and the US House of Representatives may be contacted on-line, as follows:

To send an e-mail to your Senators, go to the US Senate web site at URL http://www.senate.gov/. A menu listing all the states is provided. Simply select your state, and two hyperlinks to your Senators will come up. Clicking on either link will get you to the individual Senator's web page where an e-mail link is provided. Note that the Senate web site also provides postal mail ("snail mail") addresses as well as phone and fax numbers for each Senator.

To send a note online to your district's Congressional representative, go to the US House web site at URL http://www.house.gov/. [Actually, you can go directly to the "send-a-note" page at URL http://www.house.gov/writerep/.] The directions are very straight-forward.

Any comments or other opinions would be appreciated. Please tell me what you think about this idea? If you agree with this idea, please forward a copy to others who might be interested. Thanks!!!

Sincerely,

-- Tom Page

To: The Honorable [Senator/Congressman's Name]

Dear Senator xxx:

I am requesting your assistance in preserving and restoring the historic AN/FPS-35 radar tower and its antenna at the formerly-used USAF air-defense radar facility known as "Montauk Air Force Station" located on the eastern tip of Long Island, NY. Similar to the Nike missile launch site inside the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County near San Francisco (http://www.nikemissile.org/), I'd like to see the former Montauk AFS become a National Historic Site administered by the National Park Service (perhaps jointly with the state of New York, since the grounds of the former radar site are now within the boundaries of Montauk Point State Park).

Why Montauk AFS? It is the last (and thus now the only) former Air Force Station where the entire search radar tower and antenna are still standing. Abandoned in place in January 1981 when the 773rd Radar Squadron (ADCOM) ceased operations there, the old AN/FPS-35 tower and its antenna have continued to stand, neglected by man and battered by the elements. Sooner or later, the antenna will succumb to the effects of high winds, rain, ice, and of course corrosion from the salty sea air. Not to mention vandalism.

I feel this last remaining radar tower would serve as a fitting monument to ALL the Cold War air-defense early-warning surveillance sites. Montauk's unique location also makes it ideal for a NPS National Historic Site -- it is near, but isolated from, New York City and the other large metropolitan areas of the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic states. Other factors going for it include the beautiful scenery at Montauk Point, the nearby historic lighthouse, the World War II coastal defense bunkers of Camp Hero, and the nearby beaches. Also, only twelve (12) AN/FPS-35 radars were ever built, and all are long gone now, except for this last one at Montauk Point. In fact, AN/FPS-35 at Montauk is the last remnants of any of the giant rotating radars, such as the AN/FPS-24, AN/FPS-28, and AN/FPS-31. Should the Montauk AN/FPS-35 radar be allowed to corrode away or to be demolished, then this important part of Cold War history will be lost forever. And when it's gone, it's gone!

I am asking that you use your influence to persuade the National Park Service and/or the State of New York to make the former Montauk AFS, particularly the AN/FPS-35 radar tower, into a National Historic Site. I am also asking you to convince the NPS to dedicate the funds needed to preserve and restore the tower and antenna. As a first step, corrosion control and other structural maintenance should be performed to preserve these historic assets.

Thank you very much for any and all assistance you may provide in this campaign. For more information, and to view photographs of Montauk (and similar former radar stations), please see the "Online Radar Museum" at URL http://www.radomes.org/museum/. Please contact me at any time if you have any questions or comments. Thank you once again!!

Sincerely,

... your name & address ...

The company that built the AN/FPS-35 technically was the Sperry Gyroscope Company, a division of the Sperry Rand Corporation, and was located in Great Neck, NY (on Long Island). I suspect that Montauk's proximity to Great Neck helped make it a candidate for the first production model. Benton's proximity, in northeast PA, likewise probably helped make it a candidate for the second production model. Of course, Montauk's location had great strategic importance (especially for NYC), but I wanted to make you aware of this other facet.

Three other 'special' aspects about the Montauk radar site:

1) Montauk AFS (Z-45) was one of only three onshore long-range radar sites to have an offshore long-range radar annex, namely Texas Tower No. 3 (TT-3). Montauk AFS (like North Truro AFS, MA; and Highlands AFS, NJ) maintained troposcatter receiver equipment to receive remote radar data from TT-3, then relayed these data to its parent SAGE Direction Center.

2) Montauk AFS was one of only four East-Coast long-range radar sites to have an airborne long-range input (ALRI) receiver system, use to receive remote radar data from the EC-121 "Super Constellations," which carried long-range search and height-finder radars, and operated off the coast to extend early warning radar surveillance. Montauk AFS then relayed these data to its parent SAGE Direction Center. [The other three East-Coast long-range radar sites to have an ALRI receiver system were North Truro AFS, MA; Cape Charles, VA; and Fort Fisher AFS, NC].

3) Montauk AFS was one of only a few SAGE radar sites to have its GATR site remain in operation after the LRR ceased operations (31 Jan 1981). The GATR remained in use until the JSS switchover, reportedly 23 Oct 1983.

By Russell Drumm

There is a whole generation of Montaukers who learned not to hear the ZZZZZt that sounded every 15 seconds on their radios beginning in the early '60s and ending in 1979. Most locals knew the sound was made by the sweep of the big radar dish out by Montauk Point, but few knew of the major role the small sound was playing in the cold war.

The source of the buzz has become the mission of two preservationists who are working toward having the mammoth radar tower at Camp Hero placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

So far, New York State is of the opinion that the radar is ineligible.

Radar Group Formed

Don Bender, a historical consultant from Livingston, N.J., has formed the Montauk Radar Preservation Group, with guidance from Thomas Page, a former Air Force radar specialist from Virginia who conceived the idea of listing the facility.

Mr. Bender, who specializes in the history of the cold war, said that while he knew of the radar station at Camp Hero in Montauk, it was Mr. Page who pointed out its historical importance.

Three years after the end of World War II, an Air Force base was superimposed upon the United States Army's Camp Hero, an artillery position during the war. The gun emplacement held three 16-inch cannons, each capable of hurling an explosive projectile weighing nearly a ton over a distance of 15 miles.

Eastern Shield

Montauk's guns, along with a series of fire-control bunkers placed at intervals along the coast, were built in 1942 as a result of increased U-boat activity.

Guns were also positioned at fortifications that had existed since the Spanish American War at Gardiner's, Plum, Great Gull, and Fishers Islands and at various other spots between Long Island and Southern New England.

The network made up part of a coastwide defense system known as the Eastern Shield.

Cold War Use

The Air Force's 773d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron took over the old Army base in 1948 in order to adapt Montauk's geographically important location to the cold war.

Montauk was one of the first post-World War II air defense sites created in direct response to rising tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Several types of radar were installed. Most impressive was the giant FPS-35, which Mr. Bender said was now the only one of its kind left. It was a "frequency diversity"-type radar, equipped to frustrate attempts at jamming if and when Soviet long-range, nuclear-equipped bombers approached the U.S. coast.

Offshore Platforms

"The Montauk Air Force Station was sited at the extreme easterly end of Long Island so that its radar coverage would extend as far as possible in a seaward direction," Mr. Bender said.

"It was the parent facility for the offshore radar platform known as Texas Tower Number Two. These fixed offshore radar platforms, conceived of at M.I.T. during the 1950s . . . transmitted directly to the Montauk Air Force Station."

The radars were part of the Air Force's Air Defense Command, specifically of its SAGE, or Semi-Automatic Ground Environment, system linking the radar image to other facilities including Nike missile batteries. At one time, Montauk was also considered for a Nike missile battery.

Linked To Syracuse

Charles (Chuck) Carron, an instructor at the base who later settled in Montauk, said the "35" was a search radar that could see out 250 miles at sea.

It fed information to a master computer in Syracuse, N.Y., which in turn told smaller "height-finder" radars at the Montauk base to determine the altitude of the aircraft found by the 35.

The computer in Syracuse was also capable of taking over the controls of U.S. response aircraft up until their interception of enemy planes, Mr. Carron said. The so-called GATER site, a ground-to-air radio transmitting station on top of the hills overlooking Lake Montauk from the east, was also tied into the SAGE system.

Supplied Details

Mr. Carron said the downside was that the big 35 had problems. "Its anti-defense systems were so complicated that they caused it to fail quite often. The 70-ton antenna also had problems with the bearings it rode on."

Last fall, Mr. Bender wrote to the State Department of Parks, Recreation, and Historical Preservation and provided the agency with the kind of details needed for the state to sponsor an application for listing in the Federal Register. For instance, the facility meets the register's basic 50-year minimum requirement for "history."

Mr. Bender also pointed out the radar's proximity to older defense installations and to the Montauk Lighthouse. He told the state that the site met the Federal criteria for a site of "exceptional significance . . . within the overall context of the history of the military defense of the United States." But so far, he said, "New York State's interest in this is still uncertain."

He and his partner would seem to have an ally in the Montauk Historical Society's Lighthouse Museum Committee. George Larsen, a member of the committee and former director of Montauk's state parks, said on Tuesday that the museum had informed Cashin Associates of Hauppauge, the consultants hired by the state to help plan the future use of Camp Hero State Park, that parts of Camp Hero were worth saving.

"We have been looking into the possibility of interpreting the place. The rec hall should be saved, and the bunkers, and the one disguised as a fisherman's house. The radar should be saved. For one thing, it's a landmark used by fishermen."

Mr. Larsen said he thought the radar tower was in pretty good shape, although he would like to make sure the 70-ton antenna was secure.

Costly To Remove

John Ellsworth, a consultant with the Cashin group, said the state was now leaning toward preserving the radar tower. "The thing is so massive it would be very expensive to take down."

As for its historic value, Mr. Ellsworth said, "the state's people have been all through it and they say there is nothing that would make it eligible for state or national listing. Of course, that can be appealed."

"In Montauk, the radar tower provides an obvious focus," said Mr. Bender, the man who might make such an appeal. "Other buildings might be retained to be used as an auditorium for speakers and presentations."

Museum Use

"The radar site, its juxtaposition with the already existing historic Lighthouse, and the existence of mostly unspoiled portions of land surrounding the former base, would appear to make this an ideal site for historic preservation and for the preservation of the natural environment," he said.

If the state were interested, he said, he would have offered to assist it in preparing the nomination form to submit to the National Register, as well as in soliciting donations of money and historic artifacts, and volunteers to staff it for use as a museum.

Radomes, Inc. Historian's Note:

Please forgive me if I point out a couple of little errors in the article. Mainly, I am pointing them out in case you submit a similar article to other publications, or if the "East Hampton Star" runs a follow-up article. Most of these are rather minor ("nits," as some would say).

1. The 773rd Radar Squadron at Montauk AFS ceased operations on 31 January 1981 (not 1979). [An earlier deactivation date was planned, but delays bringing the new ARSR-3 radar at Riverhead on-line delayed Montauk's shut-down.]

2. Montauk AFS was the parent station for Texas Tower No. 3 (TT-3) (not Texas Tower No. 2 -- TT-2 reported to North Truro AFS, MA).

{and these next two are "nits" ... but, ...}

3. If memory serves, the "ZZZZZt" would have sounded every 12 seconds (not 15 seconds) on people's radios and TV sets (?). The search radars I am familiar with each rotated 5 times per minute, which would be once every 12 seconds. I speculate that the AN/FPS-35 (and others) rotated at the same rate, though I am not positive. [We should be able to find that out easily enough.] Overall, though, it's not really all that important -- I just like to be as technically accurate as possible.

4. The correct acronym for the radio facility was "GATR" (not "GATER"), and stood for "Ground-Air / Transmitter-Receiver" (site). GATR sites each employed both 2-way UHF voice radios (so that the SAGE controllers and the fighter-interceptor pilots could communicate with each other) and a time-division data link (TDDL) transmitter (so that digital intercept data could be sent directly from the SAGE computer to the fighter-interceptor aircraft's onboard computer via a UHF carrier). [During manual operations, the operators at the local radar squadron would communicate with the pilots directly using the voice radios (but, of course, without TDDL).]

Anyway, let me reiterate that this is a great article. I for one am truly grateful for the all help you are giving to this worthwhile cause. Thank you very, very much!!

On October 17, 2000, a meeting of New York State parks officials, interested local residents, consultants and historians was held at Montauk Downs to discuss options for the future of Camp Hero and the Montauk Air Force Station.

From the perspective of having somone at the meeting who could present in some detail aspects of the radar site's historical significance, and possible options for future preservation, it was probably a very good idea that I was able to attend. It was important to provide the group with some highlights of the history of the base and particularly to emphasize the fact that the big AN/FPS-35 radar is a Cold War artifact of national significance.

The WW2 era 16-inch Coast Artillery batteries were also discussed. It appeared that the group appreciated the fact that these were in some sense "historical" structures worth preserving, yet precisely what might be done with them in the future remained an open question.

Here, I was fortunately able to draw on my own experiences touring similar Coast Artillery sites in the northeast. In particular, I mentioned the fact that the Sandy Hook Unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area in New Jersey offers a very popular tour of similar historic artillery bunkers in the form of a "Going Bunkers" tour.

This notion was well-received by all, including the regional, Long Island, representatives of the New York State OPRHP.

I was very glad that I could provide some interesting ideas relating to future interpretation of these historic and fascinating structures.

This was the whole point of the meeting -- to bring forth ideas relating to the future of the former military base, and, in this regard, I think it was a definite success.

Although I was extremely surprised to learn that substantial demolition of historic infrastructure at the old base had already been accomplished during the summer months (this was later viewed during a brief tour of the facility) the site continues to present New York State with high quality opportunities to create a park which will fulfill a number of important missions including the creation of walking or hiking trails, visitor accommodations, and activities and displays related to the natural environment, in addition to the interpretation of the site's military history from its early days through the Cold War.

As you might imagine, upon visiting the base, I first found the removal of various radar towers surrounding the big "35" tower to be quite a shock. However, I could hardly have failed to appreciate the new ground level vistas which were created by this action. Spectacular views now exist from the base of the radar tower looking east to the historic lighthouse at Montauk Point.

It's interesting to compare the design and function of the two big towers, which has been facilitated by New York State's actions. Opportunities to link the two sites via walking trails would appear to be excellent and will enhance the site's educational value and its value as a natural resource to visitors once it is opened to the public.

Overall, the October 17 meeting was a useful and constructive. It served to stimulate additional thinking about how the old Montauk base -- a unique natural, historical and cultural resource -- can be carefully developed to create a compelling and valuable public park which will be appreciated and enjoyed by both area residents and visitors.

Thanks are owed to all within the the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and to all of those who attended, for providing this opportunity to present and debate ideas relating to the future of the former base.

The Montauk Radar Preservation Group looks forward to working with the New York State OPRHP and other interested individuals and groups to insure a bright future for Camp Hero and the Montauk Air Force Station.

Don Bender
Montauk Radar Preservation Group

[As a followup to Don's travels & trevails, we have been contacted by Mr. Dominic Jacangelo, a member of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation responsible for developing Camp Hero. Hopefully, having this track will help us in our efforts. - Gene]

[These boots are made for walkin' - who said this would be easy?!]

Don writes this interesting sidelight to his trip to the meeting...

I only decided to attend that Montauk meeting the day before the event due to my work situation.

It wasn't easy. I was recovering from what I call the "mini-flu" and felt just "so-so" and didn't want to make the long (3.5 hour) drive to Montauk and back. Especially not in the rain and traffic.

But, to make my transit connections, I had to get up at 5AM, catch a 6AM express bus to New York City. From the bus terminal I then had to walk to Penn Station and buy my ticket for the 7:49 Long Island Railroad train to Montauk.

Here's the "funny" part.

While walking around Penn Station, I notice that one of my Swiss-made hiking boots (my old favorites) started "clomping" against the ground as though something was stuck to it, or as though the heel was coming off. I said to myself something like, "Good grief are my boots falling apart now?!", and, sure enough, when I stopped and looked down, the entire back half of one boot was cracked and just hanging there, flopping back and forth.

There was no way to fix it, even though there was a shoe repair place right there in the station.

At that point, I was ready to head back home and call the whole thing off. I didn't bring "back up" shoes or boots, and that boot wouldn't last but a short time in that condition. I could just see myself arriving in Montauk -- shoeless!

So ... I walked around Penn Station trying to think of a solution.

A few moments later, I spotted one -- K-mart!

I had no idea that Penn Station had a K-mart. But it was a big one. Better still, it was full of shoes!

I clomped through the store and up to the men's shoe department. I quickly found one likely looking pair of shoes, but they didn't feel comfortable in the 5 seconds I tried them on, so I quickly tried another model. The walking shoes seemed good, so, I jammed them back into the box and raced, clomping along in my wounded Swiss hiking boots, to the checkout line.

I had about three minutes to make my train now!

Luckily, I got through checkout in record time. As I re-entered the station, the PA system was making an announcement for the last call for the 7:49 train to Montauk.

I jogged and clomped to the stairs. But the excitement wasn't over, for as I headed down to the track, the heel of the other boot started to come un-stuck!

Now I was clomping on both sides!

Passages from books I had read about flak-damaged World War Two bombers attempting to return to their bases in England came to mind. I had already lost one "engine". Now, "number two" was showing signs of giving up as well!

Incredibly, the boots were disintegrating even as I headed for the train!

My 15 year old Raichle hiking boots had apparently reached the point where the sole compound had simply begun to disintegrate as though their time on planet earth was suddenly up. Just as Cinderella's coach suddenly reverted to pumpkin status at midnight, so were my boots transforming themselves ... into something ... at the very moment I needed to make that train.

But I did make it to the train without having to go barefoot. In fact, I would have walked barefoot through Penn Station to reach that train if I had needed to do so.

Almost as soon as I was seated, the train started up. I quickly removed the boots while ignoring the odd looks a fellow passenger sent my way as I did this. I must have looked just a little bit "odd", removing the now disreputable looking hiking boots and sitting there in my stocking feet while lacing up the new shoes. I was also a bit disheveled, perspired and out of breath from running through the station with a heavy backpack. Most of my fellow passengers certainly seemed to be in a more relaxed state compared with the agitated condition I was in.

Of course, it was far better that the boots decided to self-destruct in the middle of Penn Station in New York City rather than at Montauk. What would I have done then? It would have been still worse had I been out hiking on a woodland trail in some inaccessible area. A blessing in disguise? It probably was.

The boots finished up in a trash bin at the Bablyon station where I had to change trains.

They were good boots. They served me well for many years. They probably deserved a better end. Maybe I should have taken them to Montauk and buried them in the ground near the big radar tower.

Those boots served honorably, however. Their loss as "casualties" in the great Save-The-Montauk-Radar drama will surely not be forgotten.

Had a great visit to Montauk AFS yesterday (Feb 19, 2000).

There is interest in the 35, but also interest from others in the WWII era coast artillery fortifications, and in the many earlier mil. sites at that location.

The radar will certainly be a part of this, and I've suggested numerous ways to help. I've put together a prototype briefly describing the history of the site, and I've outlined an educator's guide which provides background on the history of the Cold War, on USAF air defense radar sites and air defense systems, on understanding the basics of radar technology, the Soviet threat, and the history of the Montauk site and more.

It's a good document, although it's just in the initial stages and a local school is interested in this. It could be delivered to others in the area, and would, naturally, be much more useful were the site to be cleaned up and made accessible to the general public.

Saw the big JSS system ARSR-4 from a distance near Riverhead. Will get back for some photos. Had not time and missed it on the return due to nightfall. Looks just great rising above the landscape out there!

Visited another site at the AFS closer to the water, and with some poles near it. This photo (vintage one) appears on your site in B&W.

Visited the Commissary. It has the same rubber gaskets and large "eye-hooks" all around the outside of the building, just below the roof line, which building mentioned above has. What did these hold? Presumably cables for something ...

Saw what was termed the AT&T Building. It has a microwave repeater type tower, sans any elements, presumably removed at an earlier time. A police officer lives there now and he keeps a "friendly" big German Shepherd there. At least I think he was friendly, judging from the loud, deep barking and his agitated demeanor. (Nice doggy ... I won't visit there on a bicycle!)

Visited the GATR site. Great place on Prospect Hill. Road is signposted "NO TRESPASSING" in BIG letters on both sides. Site is now used by the County parks people. Original perimeter fences are intact. GATR building is used for storage of equipment, etc. Floor tiles are coming of in some places. There are a couple of pieces of USAF "stuff" there and I took some photos. Lots of "poles" around the site which makes it easy to ID.

The site is quite large. I didn't have time to go over it well to look for foundation remnants or anything related to an earlier radar. Something could be there. I was just racing around at this time and glad to visit at all before dark.

It seems the "35" tower will be preserved along with the antenna, although we have to watch the antenna part, just to be sure. There is interest, however, and I'll be "agitating" a bit on the local (i.e., Montauk) level to gain some local support which will definitely be useful. Yesterday was a good start.

I now feel a bit better about the whole thing and I think it is do-able, in particular, the "35" tower restoration. Tower looks good in its basic structure. Solid.

The antenna looks "OK" to me, but there is some corrosion here and there. I don't know how serious it is. But it's definitely not a rusting hulk. How do you dismantle a "35" antenna? How did the AF do it "back then". Obviously you have to take it apart and remove it in pieces. I'd be curious to learn how. Maybe the Hagely Library will help.

But, it does not appear to be in terrible shape, which is a good sign.

One thing -- the NYS Parks people have stopped the antenna's free-wheeling condition. There was a reason why the thing should free wheel, I suspect, such as a winter gale. I don't know how serious this might be, but I'd welcome your views on this, as you folks know a lot more about this than I do.

Too bad the vandals had so many years to smash up the remaining equipment inside. The miscreants should have been put to work cleaning and painting the place and making it into a museum ... put their energies to work in a positive fashion, but I digress here.