Albuquerque Air Defense Sector

The Albuquerque Air Defense Sector (AADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was briefly active between 1 January and 1 November 1960, assigned to the 33d Air Division at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The sector was responsible for the air defense of New Mexico and most of Texas, and was inactivated as a result of a shift towards ballistic missile defense.

Albuquerque Air Defense Sector
Emblem of Albuquerque Air Defense Sector
Active	1 January – 1 November 1960
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Air Defense
Part of	Air Defense Command
Garrison/HQ	Kirtland Air Force Base

Map of Albuquerque ADS

History

The Albuquerque Air Defense Sector was activated on 1 January 1960 as a manual sector, lacking a SAGE Computer, at Kirtland Air Force Base (AFB), assigned to the simultaneously redesignated 33rd Air Division (SAGE);[1] it replaced the 34th Air Division (Defense), inactivated on the same date.[2] 34th Air Division commander Colonel Lewis W. Stocking took command of the sector, leading it until September.[3][4]

The mission of the AADS was to provide air defense for New Mexico, most of Texas, southern Colorado, and the Oklahoma Panhandle.[5] The organization provided command and control over three fighter-interceptor squadrons: the 58th at Walker AFB,[6] the 93d at Kirtland,[7] and the 331st at Webb AFB;[8] as well as nine aircraft control and warning squadrons: the 683d, 685th, 686th, 687th, 688th, 697th, 732d, 768th, and 769th, which operated radar stations in New Mexico and Texas.[9][10][11]

The sector operated Manual Air-Defense Control Center (ADCC) (P-41), inherited from the 34th Air Division. A SAGE Direction Center was planned but never built.[12] On 1 November 1960 the Albuquerque ADS was inactivated[1] without gaining operational status when ADC ended command and control operations at Kirtland,[13] part of a reorganization of Air Defense Command against the new ballistic missile threat.[14]

The organizations under AADS were inactivated or transferred to the Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector before its inactivation, on 15 September. The 58th and 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons were transferred to the Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector,[6][8] along with all of the Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons.[9][10][11] The 260 AADS headquarters personnel were also moved to Oklahoma City.[14] The 93d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron had been inactivated on 8 July as its North American F-86 Sabre fighters were phased out.[7]

Lineage

• Established as Albuquerque Air Defense Sector on 1 January 1960

Inactivated on 1 November 1960[1]

Assignments

• 33d Air Division, 1 January 1960 – 1 November 1960[1]

Stations

• Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, 1 January 1960 – 1 November 1960[1]

Interceptor squadrons

• 58th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

Walker AFB, New Mexico, 1 January – 15 September 1960[6]

• 93d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, 1 January – 8 July 1960[7]

• 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

Webb AFB, Texas, 1 January – 15 September 1960[8]

Radar squadrons

683d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Sweetwater AFS, Texas, 1 January – 15 September 1960[9] 685th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Las Cruces AFS, New Mexico, 1 January – 15 September 1960[9] 686th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Walker AFB, New Mexico, 1 January – 15 September 1960[9] 687th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron West Mesa AFS, New Mexico, 1 January – 15 September 1960[9] 688th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Amarillo AFB, Texas, 1 January – 15 September 1960[9]

697th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Pyote AFS, Texas, 1 January – 15 September 1960[10] 732d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Ozona AFS, Texas, 1 January – 15 September 1960[10] 768th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Moriarty AFS, New Mexico, 1 January – 15 September 1960[11] 769th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Continental Divide AFS, New Mexico, 1 January – 15 September 1960[11]

See also

• List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
• Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons

References

Citations

1. Cornett & Johnson 1980, p. 57.
2. Cornett & Johnson 1980, p. 32.
3. "Jan. 1 Guardian 34th Will Become Albuquerque Air Defense Sector". Albuquerque Journal. 29 December 1959. p. A2 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Brigadier General Lewis W. Stocking". United States Air Force. May 1964. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
5. Cornett & Johnson 1980, p. 31.
6. Maurer 1982, pp. 230–231.
7. Maurer 1982, pp. 312–313.
8. Maurer 1982, pp. 408–409.
9. Cornett & Johnson 1980, p. 99.
10. Cornett & Johnson 1980, p. 100.
11. Cornett & Johnson 1980, p. 101.
12. "Information for Kirtland AFB Perm, NM". Air Defense Radar Veterans' Association. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
13. Morgan, Mark. "Kirtland AFB ADC History". Air Defense Radar Veterans' Association. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
14. "AF to Deactivate Albuquerque Air Defense Unit". Albuquerque Journal. 27 August 1960. pp. A1, A8 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Cornett, Lloyd H.; Johnson, Mildred W. (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946 – 1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.