Information for Fort Lawton, WA

Latitude: 47-39-28 N, Longitude: 122-24-45 W

Perm ID	Sage ID	JSS ID	Unit	Location	Early Equip.	Final Equip.	Oper. Date	Inact. Date	Notes
RP-1	Z-1 *		635	Fort Lawton, WA	ARSR-1C (FAA); FPS-6A (2 USAF); FPS-6A (2 Army); FPS-26A	ARSR-1E (FAA)	1960 *	Mid 1963	* Sq relocated from McChord AFB, WA (P-1) in 1960. Shared Army radar site for Nike Missile air-defense system, site S-90DC. Plans for an FPS-27 FD search radar were cancelled. Now FAA site. Sq later reactivated at re-opened Dauphin Island AFS, AL (Z-249) in 1972, until 1974. * Deactivation was initially held in abeyance in FY 1964 for the FAAâ€™s proposed National Airspace Utilization System (NAUS), and SAGE designation of Z-1 was assigned.
P-1C / RP-1C				Chehalis, WA					Gap-Filler Annex. Located on Crego Hill, southwest of Chehalis. Never operational. Building and radar tower are still extant.

Perm ID

Sage ID

JSS ID

Unit

Location

Early
Equip.

Final
Equip.

Oper.
Date

Inact.
Date

Notes

RP-1

Z-1 *

635

Fort Lawton, WA

ARSR-1C (FAA); FPS-6A (2 USAF); FPS-6A (2 Army); FPS-26A

ARSR-1E (FAA)

1960 *

Mid 1963

* Sq relocated from McChord AFB, WA (P-1) in 1960. Shared Army radar site for Nike Missile air-defense system, site S-90DC. Plans for an FPS-27 FD search radar were cancelled. Now FAA site. Sq later reactivated at re-opened Dauphin Island AFS, AL (Z-249) in 1972, until 1974. * Deactivation was initially held in abeyance in FY 1964 for the FAAâ€™s proposed National Airspace Utilization System (NAUS), and SAGE designation of Z-1 was assigned.

P-1C / RP-1C

Chehalis, WA

Gap-Filler Annex. Located on Crego Hill, southwest of Chehalis. Never operational. Building and radar tower are still extant.

History of Fort Lawton, WA

The P-1 site and the 635th AC&W Squadron relocated to this site which by 1960 was a joint-use station with the Army and the FAA. This site used an FAA ARSR-1C search radar and two Air Force AN/FPS-6A height-finder radars. (The Army also had 2 AN/FPS-6A height-finder radars of their own.) Circa late 1962, an AN/FPS-26 height-finder radar was installed. An AN/FPS-27 FD search radar was also planned, but was subsequently cancelled. In March 1963 the Air Force directed the site to close, and the 635th Radar Squadron (SAGE) deactivated. [However, the squadron would be reborn in 1972 at Dauphin Island AFS, AL (Z-249) when that site re-opened as part of the Southern Air Defense System.] The Fort Lawton radar site remains in use by the FAA today, still operating the ARSR-1E search radar.

References: "Searching the Skies"; misc. ADCOM documents; eyewitness accounts.

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