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Suffolk County Air Force Base Missile Annex

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Coordinates: 40°49′54″N 72°40′59″W / 40.8317708°N 72.6831837°W / 40.8317708; -72.6831837
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For the BOMARC UHF radio station north of this annex and also used by the Direction Center in New Jersey, see Ground-to-Air Transmitter Facility.

The Suffolk County Air Force Base Missile Annex (SAGE codename "BED")[1] is a Formerly Used Defense Site (NY29799F12240/C02NY0714[2]) on Long Island (40°49′54″N 72°40′59″W / 40.8317708°N 72.6831837°W / 40.8317708; -72.6831837) that was a CIM-10 Bomarc missile complex during the Cold War, 2 mi (3.2 km) west of Suffolk County Air Force Base.[3] Planned in 1955 for completion in February 1960[4] and activated as the 2nd operational BOMARC complex on 1 December 1959 (4 missiles by 1 January),[5] the annex was part of the New York Air Defense Sector defenses. The annex included a Launch Area with 56 Mode II Launcher Shelters in 2 flights (e.g., 2 compressor buildings were available to simultaneously get 2 missiles to the "Standby" stage prior to "Fire-up".) [6]

Missile Support Area

The Missile Support Area included offices[citation needed] of the Base Commander (Col Fred G. Hook, Jr. in 1959), an OOAMA representative, and the Commander of the 6th Air Defense Missile Squadron; while Boeing Airplane Company support was from an office 5 mi (8.0 km) north in Riverhead, New York.[6] Military police operated from a Security Control and Identification building at the SSW entrance to the annex from Old Country Road. Two flights of missile maintenance airmen used the Assembly and Maintenance (A & M) Shop for preparing newly received missiles, repairing BOMARCs that malfunctioned, and periodic recycling. "Missile Recycle" for 6 mo/2 yr component replacement from "ready-storage" used 5 A & M Shop stations after the missile had been transported to the Main Shop Room following defueling and warhead removal at the Launcher Shelter and decontamination at the Fuel Facility.[6]: 6.14  The A & M Shop with 22 rooms included a "Control Room",[specify] and a Telecommunication (TELCO) Room with 2 SAGE Digital Data Receivers and a Digital Data Transmitter for communicating missiles' status to the remote launch control center in New Jersey.

Interceptor Missile Squadron Operations Center

The Interceptor Missile Squadron Operations Center (IMSOC) in the A & M Shop next to the TELCO Room was connected to the "Coaxial Distribution System" for communicating with Electrical Launching Equipment (ELE) in each Launcher Shelter's equipment room. The IMSOC used the "Prelaunch Command System" with a Squadron Supervisor's Station in the IMSOC that included "a desk-type console" with manual controls for acknowledging SAGE "alert orders and other commands". The console controlled missile warm-up (e.g., 2 minutes for IM-99A rocket fuel while 30 seconds was needed for IM-99B:[7] arming of the igniter & activation of gyros, seeker, fuze, etc.) and to maintain the BOMARC at "Standby" (warmed-up & erected) until "Fire-up"[6] by a remote Senior Director's keyed console (fire button) at the launch control center (Weapons Director room) at McGuire DC-01, which also was the launch control center for the missile complex on Fort Dix. The console then displayed whether the missile transitioned to the "Launch" or "Malfunction" stage, which determined the subsequent squadron operation needed at the Launcher Shelter (checkout of the empty shelter or deactivation of the faulty missile).

Civilian use

External image
image icon SAGE Situation Display showing the "BED" missile annex

In 2009 the 187-acre (1 km2) former missile launch complex was being used as a county impound lot and county/FBI shooting range.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Image: sage_situation-thumb-615x672-111531.jpg, (614 × 672 px)". cdn.theatlantic.com. Retrieved 2015-09-01.
  2. ^ GAO-02-658 Corps' Cleanup Determinations: Appendix II (Results of Our Analysis…) (Report). Government Accounting Office. p. 58. Archived from the original (tpub.com transcription) on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
  3. ^ Regional Map: Suffolk - Base No. 2 (Map). (p. 1.13 of Boeing's IM-99A Bases Manual)
  4. ^ McMullen, R. F. (15 Feb 1980). History of Air Defense Weapons 1946–1962 (Report). Vol. ADC Historical Study No. 14. Historical Division, Office of information, HQ ADC. p. 176. …in 1955, to support a program which called for 40 squadrons of BOMARC (120 missiles to a squadron for a total of 4,800 missiles), ADC reached a decision on the location of these 40 squadrons and suggested operational dates for each. The plan was as follows: … l. McGuire 1/60 2. Suffolk 2/60 3. Otis 3/60 4. Dow 4/60..
  5. ^ Preface by Buss, L. H. (Director) (1 May 1960). North American Air Defense Command and Continental Air Defense Command Historical Summary: July–December 1959 (PDF) (Report). Directorate of Command History: Office of Information Services. …the 6th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC) at Suffolk…6th ADMS…activated on 1 February 1959…operational on 1 December 1959. As of 1 January 1960.. the Suffolk squadron had four missiles available for air defense.
  6. ^ a b c d IM-99A Bases Manual (PDF) (Report). Seattle, Washington: Boeing: Pilotless Aircraft Division. 3 December 1959. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  7. ^ Air Force Missileers. Turner Publishing Company. 1998. ISBN 9781563114557. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  8. ^ DaNapoli, Jessica (Feb 11, 2009). "Former Westhampton missile base boasts rich history". Southampton Press. Archived from the original (webpage w/ initial part of newspaper article) on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
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