Continental Air Defense Command

Last updated
Continental Air Defense Command
1958 Ent AFB - NORAD HQ.png
Until 1963, CONAD HQ was located in the four-story former National Methodist Sanitorium building (background, behind sign)
ActiveSeptember 1, 1954 – June 30, 1975
Type Unified Combatant Command
Role Air defense
Part of United States Department of Defense
Garrison/HQ Colorado Springs, CO

Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense, tasked with air defense for the Continental United States. It comprised Army, Air Force, and Navy components. It included Army Project Nike missiles (Ajax and Hercules) anti-aircraft defenses and USAF interceptors (manned aircraft and BOMARC missiles). The primary purpose of continental air defense during the CONAD period was to provide sufficient attack warning of a Soviet bomber air raid to ensure Strategic Air Command could launch a counterattack without being destroyed. CONAD controlled nuclear air defense weapons such as the 10 kiloton W-40 nuclear warhead on the CIM-10B BOMARC. [1] The command was disestablished in 1975, and Aerospace Defense Command became the major U.S. component of North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).

Contents

Background

As the new U.S. Air Force was being established in 1947, consideration of a joint command for air defense began. [2] After the USAF initiated the development of the "1954 interceptor" (WS-201) to counter expected Soviet bomber advances, [3] the Army deployed M-33 Fire Control for AA artillery in 1950. A proposal for a joint/unified command for air defense was initiated (and failed) in 1950. [4] The new Air Defense Command (ADC) at Ent AFB, and Army Antiaircraft Command (ARAACOM) staffed in the nearby Antlers Hotel (Colorado) was established in 1951. The same year, the Priority Permanent System began replacing the post-war Lashup Radar Network.

A direct telephone line was installed in mid-July 1950 between CONAC headquarters and the 26th Air Division HQ at Roslyn Air Warning Station. This marked "the beginning of the Air Force air raid warning system." When the Korean War broke out, the USAF established a direct telephone line between the Air Force Command Post in the Pentagon and the White House. [5] : 133  By 1953, continental air defenses included assets of five organizations, the U.S. ones responsible to the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff: [2]

Debate over operational control

The United States Department of Defense agreed that the USAF would assume operational control of all U.S. air defense weapons during an attack. However, the Army complained the USAF command and control network (e.g., the 1950 Strategic Operational Control System (SOCS) telephone/teletype system was "insufficiently reliable." [6] In response to the "enemy capabilities to inflict massive damage on the continental United States by surprise air attack", [7] the National Security Council formulated President Dwight Eisenhower's "The New Look" strategy in 1953–1954. [4] To minimize the Soviet threat, the New Look strategy aimed to allow Strategic Air Command (SAC) bombers "to get into the air not be destroyed on the ground" to make massive retaliation possible. [8] [5] [9] Thus the major purpose of air defense was not actually to shoot down enemy bombers, but merely gain time for SAC to respond.

Planning

By October 16, 1953, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff requested the services' input regarding formation of a joint air defense command, [2] : 112  but the USAF Chief of Staff on December 16, 1953 "concluded that no change was needed or advisable". [7] Under "political pressures for greater unity and effectiveness in the national air defense system", [2] the Chairman—a Navy Admiral—disagreed with the USAF and in January 1954 "recommended that the JCS approve in principle the establishment of a joint air defense command": [10]

In an era when enemy capabilities to inflict massive damage on the continental United States by surprise air attack are rapidly increasing, I consider that there is no doubt whatsoever as to the duty of the Joint Chiefs to establish a suitable "joint" command…. The command will be composed of forces of each of the services and provide for the coordinated accomplishment of functions of each of the services for the air defense of the United States.

The command was planned to include: [11]

Operational control

The Joint Chiefs directed the establishment of CONAD on August 2, 1954. The Secretary of Defense announced the command's formation publicly later in the month to integrate "the air defense capabilities of the three military departments into an air defense system responsible to the control of one military commander" (Wainstein). [2]

CONAD was established effective September 1, 1954, primarily to defend the continental United States against air attack. It was also tasked to support U.S. commanders in the Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, Alaska, Northeast, and of Strategic Air Command in their missions to the maximum extent consistent with its primary mission. ADC's commander, General Benjamin Chidlaw, became the first CINCONAD, and the USAF was designated as the executive agency. From 1954 to 1956, CONAD consisted of the USAF Air Defense Command, Army Antiaircraft Command, and the Naval Forces, Continental Air Defense Command (NAVFORCONAD). The USAF ADC Headquarters was additionally designated as Headquarters CONAD.

CONAD's operational control covered: [4] [12]

  1. Direction of the tactical air battle
  2. Control of fighters
  3. Specifying the alert condition
  4. Stationing early warning units
  5. Deploying combat units of the command.

ADC's main battle control center was moved out of the former hallway/latrine in the Ent AFB headquarters building and into a new-built blockhouse in 1954. [2] At Ent, offices for both HQ CONAD and a new HQ NAVFORCONAD were prepared in the building with the ADC and ARAACOM HQs. NAVFORCONAD was placed under command of Rear Admiral Albert K. Morehouse. [4] [13]

The Experimental SAGE Subsector received a prototype IBM computer in July 1955. [14] [15] for development of a "national air defense network", [16] A late 1955 CONAD plan for USAF Semi-Automatic Ground Environment control of Army Nike missiles caused an interservice dispute [2] but later in 1956 the Secretary of Defense approved CONAD's plan for USAF units at computerized Army nuclear bunkers. The 1959 Missile Master Plan resolved the dispute to have separate Nike Hercules missile command posts in the bunkers. On February 13, 1956, CINCONAD advocated "an eventual combined organization…of the Air Defense Force of all countries and services in and adjacent to North America." December 1956 planning requested "six prime and 41 gap-tiller radars [to be] located in Mexico. By 1956, CONAD had designated 3 "SAC Base Complexes" to be defended: in the Northwestern United States, in a Montana-through-North Dakota area, and the largest in a nearly-triangular "South Central Area" from Minnesota to New Mexico to Northern Florida. [17]

1956 reorganization

On September 4, 1956, the JCS changed the Terms of Reference for CONAD to be "more in line [with] ..a joint task force" and separated command of the USAF Air Defense Command from CINCONAD. The CONAD staff were separated from the ADC HQ staff on October 1, 1956. [18] [19] The JCS also transferred "the air defense systems in Alaska and the Canadian Northeast" from those unified commands to CONAD. [2] On January 1, 1957, CINCONAD placed the U.S. defenses in a geometric "Canadian Northeast Area" under the operational control of the Canadian Air Defence Command. [19]

In March 1957, CONAD said "that an adequate and timely defense system against the intercontinental ballistic missile was "the most urgent future CONAD requirement." [20] CONAD identified a requirement "for a defense against cruise and ballistic missiles launched from submarines or surface ships" on June 14, 1957 [21] The 1957 Gaither Report identified "little likelihood of SAC's bombers surviving since there was no way to detect an incoming attack until the first [ICBM] warhead landed". [22] In keeping with these recommendations, the BMEWS General Operational Requirement was issued on November 7, 1957.

On 6 September 1957, CONAD advised all appropriate agencies that the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) was to be established at Ent Air Force Base effective 0001 Zulu 12 September. This would integrate the headquarters of CONAD and RCAF ADC. General Earle E. Partridge, the CONAD/ADC commander, became Commander-in-Chief of NORAD. At the same time, Canadian officers agreed that the command's primary purpose would be "early warning and defense for SAC's retaliatory forces." [5] : 252 

The CONAD blockhouse at Ent became a "master station" of the 1958 Alert Network Number 1, (ARDC's ADSMO was redesignated as the Air Defense Systems Integration Division on February 24, 1958.) Ground zero footage for CONAD was shot during the Operation Plowshare nuclear detonation. [23] When the ICBM threat had sufficiently developed, the June 1959 Continental Air Defense Program reduced the number of Super Combat Centers to 7, then all were cancelled on March 18, 1960. [24] The Canadian nuclear bunker started at CFS North Bay was completed in 1963 with vacuum tube computers.

Space defense

The NORAD/CONAD Combined Operations Center at the Chidlaw Building in Colorado Springs. 1964 Chidlaw Building war room.png
The NORAD/CONAD Combined Operations Center at the Chidlaw Building in Colorado Springs.

CONAD was assigned "operational command" of the Space Detection and Tracking System (SPADATS) on November 7, 1960. [25] SPADATS included Project Space Track and NAVSPASUR sensors. [26] The "Improved Hercules system" for surface-to-air-missiles was first deployed in 1961, and in 1962 the command manned the alternate US command post (CONAD ALCOP) at Richards-Gebaur AFB. CONAD HQ moved from Ent AFB to the nearby Colorado Springs' Chidlaw Building in 1963, where a new NORAD/CONAD "war room" (Combined Operations Center) with Iconorama was used until the under-construction Command Center and Missile Warning Center became operational at Cheyenne Mountain Complex in 1966. NORAD HQ moved to the Chidlaw Building on February 15, 1963. The CONAD and NORAD offices were consolidated on March 7, 1963.

CONAD agreed to allow the FAA to control military aircraft for "scramble, flight en route to target [enemy aircraft], and recovery" (handed off to military directors for actual intercept) effective February 1, 1964. [27] By January 12, 1965, CONAD had a "Space Defense Center Implementation Plan" [28] (in 1967 the 1st Aero moved Ent's Space Defense Center operations to Cheyenne Mountain Complex's Group III Space Defense Center.) [29] [30] CONAD continued using the same name with "air defense" after Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) was designated the new USAF "space" command name in 1968 with most of CONAD's missile warning and space surveillance assets (cf. the 1959 Naval Space Surveillance System until transferred to the USAF in 2004).

Contiguous Radar Coverage System

Established in 1954 [31] to provide both early warning of enemy bombers and a weapons control capability, the Contiguous Radar Coverage System consisted of land-based radars across the width of southern Canada (the "Pinetree Line") and radar ships in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (the "Seaward Extensions"). As of 1961, the system could detect enemy bombers out to about 400 to 500 miles, yielding a warning of about 45 to 55 minutes. The Seaward Extensions also included airborne early warning aircraft and two Texas Tower radars off the northeastern coast of the United States. [32]

Aftermath

External image
Searchtool.svg 1956 & two 1954 organizational charts

BOMARC alerts ended in 1972, and the post-Vietnam war drawdown closed most CONUS NIKE missile sites during the 1974 Project Concise. At the very end of the command's existence, the SAFEGUARD ABM system was being deployed. It became operational on October 1, 1975.

CONAD was disestablished on June 30, 1975. General Lucius D. Clay Jr., the last commander, remained Commander-in-Chief of NORAD, and Aerospace Defense Command personnel manned combined NORAD/ADCOM staff organizations. ADCOM was broken up 1979-80 with interceptors transferring to Air Defense, Tactical Air Command, missile warning stations transferring to SAC (e.g., the new PAVE PAWS sites), electronics units transferring to the Air Force Communications Service (AFCS), and the NORAD/ADCOM "Air Force Element" forming the new Aerospace Defense Center.

Remaining ADCOM HQ functions continued as combined NORAD/ADCOM organizations, e.g., "HQ NORAD/ADCOM" J31 subsequently manned the Cheyenne Mountain Space Surveillance Center in the same room as the Missile Warning Center, separated by partitions. In 1982, the Aerospace Defense Center was incorporated into the new Air Force Space Command.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semi-Automatic Ground Environment</span> Historic US military computer network

The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. SAGE directed and controlled the NORAD response to a possible Soviet air attack, operating in this role from the late 1950s into the 1980s. Its enormous computers and huge displays remain a part of Cold War lore, and after decommissioning were common props in movies such as Dr. Strangelove and Colossus, and on science fiction TV series such as The Time Tunnel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NORAD</span> Combined organization of the US and Canada providing air defence for North America

North American Aerospace Defense Command, known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection for Canada and the continental United States.

Ent Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. A tent city, established in 1943 during construction of the base, was initially commanded by Major General Uzal Girard Ent (1900–1948), for whom the base is named. The base was opened in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Military Command Center</span> Main war rooms for the President and Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon

The National Military Command Center (NMCC) is a Pentagon command and communications center for the National Command Authority. Maintained by the Department of the Air Force as the "DoD Executive Agent" for NMCC logistical, budgetary, facility, and systems support; the NMCC operators are in the Joint Staff's J-3 (Operations) Directorate. "The NMCC is responsible for generating Emergency Action Messages (EAMs) to missile launch control centers, nuclear submarines, recon aircraft, and battlefield commanders".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southeast Air Defense Sector</span> Former unit of the US Air Force

The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2005, giving up surveillance and control of their airspace to the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) and the former Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aerospace Defense Command</span> Former U.S. Air Force major command

Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inactivated in 1950, reactivated in 1951, and then redesignated Aerospace rather than Air in 1968. Its mission was to provide air defense of the Continental United States (CONUS). It directly controlled all active measures, and was tasked to coordinate all passive means of air defense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Space Division</span> Military unit

The 9th Space Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Force Space Command, being stationed at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 October 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st Air Division</span> Military unit

The 21st Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command, being stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. It was inactivated on 23 September 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">25th Air Division</span> Military unit

The 25th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force intermediate echelon command and control organization. It was last assigned to First Air Force, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). It was inactivated on 30 September 1990 at McChord Air Force Base, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">26th Air Division</span> Military unit

The 26th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at March Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 30 September 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">27th Air Division</span> US Air Force unit

The 27th Air Division was a United States Air Force numbered air division and the geographic Air Defense Command region controlled by the 27th AD. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command (ADC)'s Tenth Air Force, at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. It was inactivated on 19 November 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">32nd Air Division</span> Military unit

The 32d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was last active with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force at Gunter Air Force Base, Alabama, where it was inactivated on 31 December 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">98th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron</span> Military unit

The 98th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the New York Air Defense Sector of Air Defense Command stationed at Suffolk County Air Force Base, New York, where it was inactivated on 30 September 1968.

Thomasville Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located 1.9 miles (3.1 km) north-northwest of Thomasville, Alabama. It was closed in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4756th Air Defense Wing</span> Military unit

The 4756th Air Defense Wing was the designation of two different discontinued United States Air Force organizations. Both wings were stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida and fulfilled similar missions. The first was organized in 1957 when Air Defense Command (ADC) assumed responsibility for managing Tyndall from Air Training Command and focused on weapons testing and development and evaluating the readiness of ADC fighter units. The wing also controlled a ground control intercept radar squadron. This wing was discontinued in 1960 and its mission transferred to its parent 73d Air Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chidlaw Building</span> Former US Air Force facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado

The Chidlaw Building is a former United States Air Force facility located in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The building was close to, but not within, the Ent Air Force Base complex, and was leased by the military for several decades, housing headquarters for several military commands, starting with the Air Defense Command (ADC) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). When Chidlaw was completed, personnel from multiple locations, including the Ent Air Force Base, were consolidated into the new building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Heath radar station</span> Radar station

The Fort Heath radar station was a USAF radar site and US Army Missile Master installation of the joint-use site system (JUSS) for North American Air Defense at a former coastal defense site. The Cold War radar station had 2 USAF AN/FPS-6B height finding radars, 2 Army AN/FPS-6A height finders, an FAA ARSR-1 radar emplaced 1958-9, and an Army nuclear bunker. Arctic Towers were the pedestals for the FPS antennas and radomes, while the Air Route Surveillance Radar was on a 50-foot extension temperate tower adjacent to the Federal Aviation Administration building.

The GE AN/GPA-37 Course Directing Group was a USAF Cold War air defense command, control, and coordination system for weapons direction. During Air Defense Command's "Control Capability Improvement Program" to improve command guidance of manned aircraft, the AN/GPA-37 was "developed by the General Electric Heavy Military Electronic Equipment Department at Syracuse in conjunction with...Rome Air Development Center and the Electronics Research Laboratories of Columbia University." Used to process radar data, the system was to "track a potential enemy aircraft and direct intercepters [sic] into a position from which they can make their automatic firing runs", the system included the:

NORAD Control Centers (NCCs) were Cold War "joint direction centers" for command, control, and coordination of ground-controlled interception by both USAF Air Defense Command (ADC) and Army Air Defense Command (ARADCOM). The Joint Manual Steering Group was "formed by the Army and Air Force in July 1957 to support…collocation" of USAF Air Defense Direction Centers and Army Air Defense Command Posts, which began after a January 28, 1958, ADC/ARADCOM meeting with NORAD to "collocate the Fairchild-Geiger facilities" Army contracts for 5 NCCs had been let by August 17, 1958, after 1956 DoD approval for collocation of interim "pre-SAGE semiautomatic intercept systems" and radar squadrons at 10 planned Army Missile Master AADCPs

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missile Warning Center</span> Military unit

The Missile Warning Center (MWC) is a center that provides missile warning and defense for United States Space Command's Combined Force Space Component Command, incorporating both space-based and terrestrial sensors. The MWC is located at Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station.

References

  1. ↑ Maloney, Sean M. (2007). Learning to Love the Bomb: Canada's Nuclear Weapons During the Cold War (Google Books). ISBN   9781574886160 . Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Wainstein, L. (Project Leader) (June 1975). The Evolution of U.S. Strategic Command and Control and Warning, 1945-1972 (Report). Institute for Defense Analyses. After seven years of consideration, the JCS authorized the creation of a joint command to control air defense, directing in August 1954 the establishment at Colorado Springs of the jointly manned Continental Air Defense Command, under the USAF as executive agent.46 … In strategic air defense, the SAGE system of internetted, semiautomatic centers for warning, communications, and antiaircraft action was coming into full operation, and a new, modernized NORAD combat operations center was under construction.3 … the 1958 reorganization of the unified command structure, including the switch from the service "executive agent" system of command to the direct channel from the President and the Secretary of Defense through the JCS for operational direction of the forces.
  3. ↑ McMullen, Richard F. (15 February 1980). History of Air Defense Weapons 1946–1962 (Report). Historical Division, Office of information, HQ Air Defense Command.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Leonard, Barry. History of Strategic and Ballistic Missile Defense (PDF). Vol. I: 1945–1955. p. 31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-11-10. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  5. 1 2 3 Schaffel, Kenneth (1991). Emerging Shield: The Air Force and the Evolution of Continental Air Defense 1945-1960 (45MB pdf). General Histories (Report). Office of Air Force History. ISBN   0-912799-60-9 . Retrieved 2011-09-26. President Truman's Executive Order of July 26 [1947] implementing the statute emphasized the Air Force's responsibility to "provide means for coordination of air defense among the services."84 … The day the war began, the U.S. Air Force Operations Staff set up an emergency command post on the fourth floor of the Pentagon to serve as a reception point for radio messages between Vandenberg and his FEAF commanders during Air Staff after-duty hours. In mid-July 1950, the installation of direct telephone lines between Whitehead's headquarters and the 26th Air Division's headquarters marked the beginning of the Air Force air raid warning system. It became a rudimentary national warning network in August when President Truman had a direct telephone line installed between the Air Force Pentagon post and the White House.2 … June 19, 1959, the Master Air Defense Plan. Key features of the plan included a reduction in BOMARC squadrons, cancellation of plans to upgrade the interceptor force, and a new austere SAGE program. In addition, funds were deleted for gap-filler and frequency-agility radars. … When ADC had moved to Ent Air Force Base in January 1951, COC facilities were located in an office building and consisted of a latrine with the plumbing removed and part of a hallway. A much improved 15,000-square-foot concrete block COC became operational on Ent in May 1954."NOTE: Schaffel's history uses the same name as "The Emerging Shield: The Air Defense Ground Environment," Air University Quarterly Review 8, no. 2 (spring 1956).
  6. ↑ Source identified in Citation 4 at Wainstein[ specify ]
  7. 1 2 Radford, Admiral Arthur (January 1954) [approx.], Memorandum (cited and quoted by Wainstein p. 198-9)
  8. ↑ Joint Chiefs of Staff summary[ specify ] (cited by Schaffel p. 194)
  9. ↑ House of Commons of Canada transcript (quoted by Schaffel, p. 251 -- speaker not identified).
  10. ↑ Memorandum from CJCS to JCS (CM 217-511 ), 15 Januarv 1954 (Citation 47 at Wainstein pp. 112, 136)
  11. ↑ Memorandum from Chairman JCS to Chiefs of Staff, CM-47-54 15 January 1954, Subject: "Command Arrangements for the Air Defense of the United States" (Citation 5 at Wainstein pp. 199,262)
  12. ↑ U.S. Army Air Defense School. Air Defense, an Historical Analysis: 1914–1962 (Report). Vol. III. p. 110. (Leonard p. 147 citation 306)
  13. ↑ See also Guarding the Cold War Ramparts
  14. ↑ Article title
  15. ↑ Biweekly Report for 29 July 1955 (PDF) (minutes). Lincoln Laboratory Division 6. Retrieved 2013-07-25.
  16. ↑ "Overview". SAGE: The First National Air Defense Network. IBM.com. 7 March 2012. Archived from the original on April 3, 2012. Retrieved 2013-05-08. the AN/FSQ-7…was developed, built and maintained by IBM. … In June 1956, IBM delivered the prototype of the computer to be used in SAGE.
  17. ↑ Continental Air Defense Operations Plan (CADOP 56-66) submitted on 18 December 1956 and cited in Maloney's Learning to Love the Bomb
  18. ↑ U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Terms of Reference for CINCONAD, Washington, D.C., 4 September 1956.
  19. 1 2 Continental Air Defense Command Historical Summary: July 1956 - June 1957 (PDF) (Report).
  20. ↑ CONAD to C/S, USAF, "Defense Against Ballistic Missiles," 7 Mar 1951 (p. 89 citation 6 in CONAD's 1956-7 Historical Summary)
  21. ↑ CONAD to C/S, USAF, "Continental Air Defense Requirements," 14 Jun 1951 (p. 89 citation 7 in CONAD's 1956-7 Historical Summary)
  22. ↑ Freeman, Maj Steve (September 1997). "Visionaries, Cold War, hard work built the foundations of Air Force Space Command". Guardian Magazine…funded Air Force newspaper. Vol. 5, no. 6: Special Anniversary Edition. p. 6.
  23. ↑ "Five Men Agree to Stand Directly Under an Exploding Nuclear Bomb". NPR. 2012-07-16.
  24. ↑ 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.
  25. ↑ United States Air Force, Beyond Horizons
  26. ↑ Temple, L. Parker (2005). Shades of Gray: National Security and the Evolution of Space Reconnaissance. ISBN   9781563477232 . Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  27. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-06-24. Retrieved 2014-06-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. ↑ NORAD to ADC, "(U) NORAD/CONAD Space Defense Center Implementation Plan," 12 Jan 1965 (cited by Jan-Jun 1966 NORAD/CONAD Historical Summary)
  29. ↑ [1961-1969 Historical reports][ which? ] (unidentified document). located at "Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB AL, AFHRA Microfilm reel KO363": 1st Aerospace Surveillance and Control Squadron.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  30. ↑ 9th Aerospace Defense Division (abstract) (Report). Ent Air Force Base. 1966. Retrieved 2012-09-02.
  31. ↑ "A Brief History of NORAD" (PDF). North American Aerospace Defense Command. December 31, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 23, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Letter, Robert S. McNamara to Sen. John Stennis" (PDF). National Security Archive. November 3, 1961. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.