History of Patrick AFB, FL

''Originally a U.S. Navy seaplane base known as the Banana River Naval Air Station during World War II, the base was inactivated in 1947. The Navy transferred the Banana River Naval Air Station to the Air Force on 1 September 1948 in anticipation of a requirement for establishment of a missile test range extending into the Bahamas. The base was renamed the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Base on 10 June 1949. On 1 October 1949, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground organization was activated with the U.S. Army assuming the first command of that new Joint activity. The name for the base was changed on 17 May 1950 to the Long Range Proving Ground Air Force Base. Effective 1 August 1950, the base was renamed Patrick Air Force Base, in honor of Major General Mason M. Patrick. General Patrick had been Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Services in World War I and Chief of the Air Service/U.S. Army Air Corps from October 1921 until his retirement on 13 December 1927. The official dedication ceremony for the newly named base was held on 26 August 1950.'' (source: http://afspacemuseum.org/patrick/)

In 1961, as Detachment 1 of the 679th AC&W Squadron, this site was operational as an FAA/ADC joint-use facility featuring an AN/FPS-66 radar. An AN/FPS-27 FD search radar was planned, but was subsequently cancelled. In 1962 the 645th Radar Squadron was reactivated, and two AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar sets were added. One AN/FPS-6 was later removed, and the remaining set became an AN/FPS-116 circa 1977. The 645th Radar Squadron stayed active until April 1976 when it was replaced by OLAF 20th ADS. The AN/FPS-116 was removed circa 1988. In 1995 the FAA still operated an AN/FPS-66A set at this site; however, the site was closed a few years later, replaced by the new ARSR-4 site at nearby Melbourne.

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


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