Keno AFS - Hamaker Mountain, OR - Abandoned Air Force Radar Sites on Waymarking.com

History of Keno AFS, OR

In 1959 the 827th AC&W Squadron began operating an AN/FPS-20A search radar and a pair of AN/FPS-6A height-finder radars. In June 1960 Keno joined the SAGE system. In 1960 Keno also was performing air-traffic-control duties for the FAA. In 1961 the search radar was upgraded and redesignated as an AN/FPS-67. In 1963 an AN/FPS-90 replaced one of the AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars, and the search radar was further upgraded to the AN/FPS-67B version. In 1979 the site came under TAC jurisdiction. In this time frame, the AN/FPS-90 was removed and sent to the new JSS site at Salem (Laurel Mtn./Dallas), OR. The remaining height-finder radar, now an AN/FPS-116, was retired circa 1988.

References: "Searching the Skies"; misc. ADCOM documents; eyewitness accounts.

Not much remains of the original facilities here except for a few small buildings and the FPS-67 tower (only one of the original three) still in use but in a different capacity (data-tie only). A geodetic survey mark series brought me here (Hamaker) but discovered all survey marks were destroyed when the original buildings were removed most likely in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Kingsley Field ANG Base is still functioning as a fighter training base for F-15s, the only training base for F-15 A through D models in the U.S.

Be sure to visit the weblink below to see some wonderful pictures of this facility when it was still functioning for air defense.