Western Air Defense Force

Western Air Defense Force
Regions of ADC Air Defense Forces and known Air Force Bases with ADC units, 1949–1960 Note: States containing ADC bases of Western & Central ADF and Eastern & Central ADF identified as Central/Western and Central/Eastern
Active	1949–1960
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Air Defense
Part of	Air Defense Command

The Western Air Defense Force (WADF) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Hamilton Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 1 July 1960.

History

WADF was an intermediate-level command and control organization of Air Defense Command. Its origins date to 1 March 1949 when Continental Air Command (ConAC) reorganized Air Defense Command when it became an operating agency. Air defense units within the Continental United States (CONUS) were given to the Eastern and Western Air Defense Liaison Groups, with Western and Eastern Air Defense Forces activated on 1 September 1949.

The command was originally assigned the region within the Continental United States (CONUS) to the west of the 102d degree of longitude, from the Canada–US border in the north to the Rio Grande border between the United States and Mexico in the south and west to the Pacific Ocean coastline. This was adjusted in 1951 with the activation of Central Air Defense Force (CADF) with the region being adjusted slightly to the west to the border of Montana and North Dakota at the Canada–US border, south along the eastern borders of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico to the Mexico–US border. Organizations stationed east of that boundary were transferred to CADF.

The delineation was again adjusted in March 1956 to the region generally to the west of the 114th degree of longitude, roughly along the eastern borders of Idaho, Nevada and California from the Canada–US border in the north to the Mexico–US border in the south. Organizations stationed east of that boundary were transferred to CADF, whose region was shifted westward.

Western Air Defense Force was inactivated on 1 July 1960, with its assigned units reassigned either to 25th or 28th Air Divisions, or to the new Air Defense Sectors created with the advent of the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system.

Lineage

• Established as Western Air Defense Force and organized 1 September 1949.

Discontinued 1 July 1960

Assignments

• Continental Air Command, 1 September 1949 – 1 January 1951
• Air Defense Command, 1 January 1951 – 1 July 1960

Stations

• Hamilton AFB, California, 1 September 1949 – 1 July 1960

Components

Air Divisions

Air Defense Sectors

• Los Angeles Air Defense Sector

Stationed at Norton AFB, California

Re-assigned to Western Air Defense Force from 27th Air Division, 1 October 1959

Re-assigned to 28th Air Division, 1 July 1960

• Phoenix Air Defense Sector

Stationed at Luke AFB, Arizona

Activated by Western Air Defense Force, 15 June 1959

Re-assigned to 28th Air Division, 1 July 1960

Wings

Groups

• 162d Aircraft Control and Warning Group

Federalized Washington Air National Guard, 12 May 1951

Assigned to Larson AFB, Washington

Re-assigned to 25th Air Division, 25 June 1951

Squadrons

• 115th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Federalized Alabama Air National Guard, 20 January 1952

Assigned to Geiger Field, Washington

Assigned to WADF, 17 March 1952 – 16 February 1953

• 917th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Assigned to Puntzi Mountain AS, British Columbia

Assigned to WADF, 16 April 1952 – 1 January 1953

• 918th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Assigned to Baldy Hughes AS, British Columbia

Assigned to WADF, 16 April 1952 – 16 February 1953

• 919th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

Assigned to Saskatoon Mountain AS, Alberta

Assigned to WADF, 16 April 1952 – 16 February 1953

See also

• Eastern Air Defense Force
• Central Air Defense Force

References

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

• USAF Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1)
• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9
• A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
• Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.

• v
• t
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Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)

Bases

CONUS

Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Ethan Allen Fairfax Fallon Fort Gregg-Adams Fort Heath Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Imeson Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenberg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown

Overseas

Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Keflavik McAndrew Pepperrell Thule

Stations

CONUS

Adair Aiken Almaden Alpena Antigo Arlington Heights Baker Bedford Bellefontaine Belleville Benton Blaine Brookfield Brunswick Bucks Harbor Burns Calumet Cambria Cape Charles Cape Cod Carmi Caswell Chandler Charleston Cheyenne Mountain Claysburg Clear Colville Condon Continental Divide Cottonwood Cross City Crystal Springs Curlew Custer Cut Bank Dallas Center Dauphin Island Dickinson Duncanville Eldorado Empire Finland Finley Flintstone Fordland Fort Fisher Fort Lee Fortuna Gettysburg Grand Marais Grand Rapids Guthrie Hanna City Havre Highlands Houma Hutchinson Joelton Keno Killeen Kingman Kirksville Klamath Lake Charles Lake City Las Cruces Las Vegas Lewistown Lockport Lufkin Lyndonville Madera Makah Mica Peak Miles City Mill Valley Minot Montauk Moriarty Mount Hebo Mount Laguna Mount Lemmon Naselle North Bend North Charleston North Truro Oklahoma City Olathe Omaha Opheim Osceola Othello Owingsville Ozona Palermo Point Arena Port Austin Port Isabel Pyote Red Bluff Rochester Rockport Rockville (Indiana) Roslyn Rye Saint Albans San Clemente Island Santa Rosa Island Saratoga Springs Sault Ste Marie Shemya Snelling Snow Mountain Sweetwater Texarkana Tierra Amarilla Thomasville Tonopah Topsham Two Creeks Wadena Walnut Ridge Watertown Waverly West Mesa Willow Run Winnemucca Winslow Winston-Salem Woomera Yaak Zapata

Overseas

Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cape Makkovik Cartwright Cut Throat Island Elliston Ridge Fox Harbour Hofn Hopedale Kamloops La Scie Langanes Latrar Melville Puntzi Mountain Ramore Red Cliff Rockville Saglek St. Anthony Saskatoon Mountain Sioux Lookout Spotted Island Stephenville

Air
Defense
units

Forces	Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth
Air Divisions	8th 9th 20th 21st 23d 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32d 33d 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73d 85th
Sectors	Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington
Wings	Fighter 1st 4th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 56th 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th Detection and Control 71st 73d 551st 552d Air Defense 46th 4620th 4621st 4622d 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683d 4700th 4702d 4703d 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752d 4756th 4780th
Groups	Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23d 32d 33d 50th 52d 53d 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82d 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 343d 355th 408th 412th 414th 473d 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502d 503d 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533d 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692d 701st 751st 762d 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722d 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732d 4733d 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Aircraft Control & Warning 503d 505th 540th 541st 542d 543d 544th 545th 546th 563d 564th 565th 566th
Squadrons	Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons

Major
weapon
systems

Electronic	TB-29 EB-57 EC-121
Fighters	Propeller: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106
Missiles	AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10
Ships	Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil
Texas Towers	Texas Tower 2 Texas Tower 3 Texas Tower 4

Miscellaneous

• Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (on Wikimedia Commons)
• General Surveillance Radar Stations