Minot AFS - Oh, this is another big one, located about 14 miles
south of Minot and 13 north of Max, on the west side of US 83. Definitely
could see the station a long ways off.
The 786th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron activated on this site,
designated Velva/P-28, on 20 May 1951; it became Minot AFS on 1 December
1953. The radars were:
| Initial |
1957 |
1958 |
1960 |
1961 |
1962 |
| AN/FPS-3 |
-------> |
FPS-20 |
-------> |
FPS-20A |
FPS-66 |
| AN/FPS-4 |
-------> |
FPS-6 |
-------- |
-------- |
-------> |
| |
|
|
AN/FPS-6B |
-------- |
-------> |
| |
AN/GPS-3 |
-------> |
|
|
|
The gap-fillers were located at Niobe, ND; Alexander, ND*; Regan, ND; and McIntosh, SD*. The
squadron become operational under the manual radar network in April 1952, tied into the SAGE network in June 1961, and became the 786th Radar
Squadron(SAGE) on 15 July 1961.
The squadron assingments were 543d AC&WG (5/51-2/52, Fort Snelling), 31st
AD (2/52-2/53, Snelling AFS), 29th AD (2/53-1-61, Great Falls/Malmstrom
AFB), Minot ADS (1/61-7/61), Great Falls ADS (6/63-4/66, Malmstrom AFB),
28th AD (4/66-11/69, Malmstrom AFB), and 24th AD (11/69-9/79, Duluth AB).
The 786th RADS inactivated on 29 September 1979.
The facility on top of the hill is gated, locked, deteriorating, and for
sale; contact Minot Realty, (701) 852-0136. There are a lot of structures
still standing, including the operations building, which has one exposed
tower standing behind it. The housing is one level below on the hillside
and is now "Prarie View Heights". The home appeared to be in good shape
and were occupied.
Talk about your lonely, windswept hill...
* Ed. Note: According to sources, only the Alexander GFA was picked up by Minot AFS when Dickinson AFS ceased radar operations on 25 June 1965. The McIntosh GFA had already been deactivated back on (or soon after) December 1960, according to ADC records. Further, the USACE DERF-FUDS report #B08SD0857 states that the McIntosh GFA property was declared excess to the GSA on 21 April 1961. The Air Force then conducted salvage operations prior to disposal, and the site was quitclaimed to Mike and Lena Volk on 5 March 1962. See http://www.radomes.org/museum/documents/McIntoshSDFUDSfact.html.
Further, SAGE System (416L) maps from the early and mid 1960s show the Alexander GFA as site Z-28E, but do not show the McIntosh GFA site at all.
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