GC7KT7Z Aviation Cache - Waverly Air Force Station (Traditional Cache) in Iowa, United States created by captainj

This cache has been archived.

captainj: Several DNFs and I won't be able to get up to Waverly for quite some time. Thanks for caching.

GC7KT7Z ▼

A cache by captainj Message this owner

Hidden : 3/12/2018

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

US Air Defense Command

The cache is hidden just south of the old Waverly Air Force Station. The remains of the AFS are now a gated community that is not open to the public. Several original structures still stand and can be seen from the cache site and further down the road to the west. The cache is not on or near the railroad nearby.

Waverly Air Force Station was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the Air Defense Command permanent radar network. Prompted by the start of the Korean War, on July 11, 1950, the Secretary of the Air Force asked the Secretary of Defense for approval to expedite construction of the permanent network.

Receiving the Defense Secretary’s approval on July 21, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction. 87.66 acres were acquired, when the Air Force constructed and operated Waverly Air Force Station, which included 84 structures, a firing range, a septic system, fuel storage tanks, and electrical power. It is noted that the Air Force had a year-to-year lease for this area beginning April 1950, but the leased area was not identical to the eventual property acquired by fee. Northwestern Bell was granted a 50-year lease on the installation to furnish communication services.

The 788th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated at Waverly on 10 April 1951.

788th Radar Squadron Emblem

By early 1952, the squadron had activated a pair of AN/FPS-10 radars at this station, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes.

The AN/FPS-10 search radars continued operating until replaced in 1964 with an AN/FPS-27. That same year an AN/FPS-26A height-finder radar was added. SAGE operations also started in 1964.

USGS Aerial on 15 April 1958

In 1959 an AN/FPS-6 and 6A replaced the other AN/FPS-10 height-finder radar.

During 1959 Waverly AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-07 at Truax Field, Wisconsin. After joining, the squadron was redesignated as the 788th Radar Squadron (SAGE) on 1 November 1959. The radar squadron provided information 24/7 the SAGE Direction Center where it was analyzed to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not aircraft were friendly or hostile. By 1963 one of the height-finder radars was replaced by an AN/FPS-90, and the station was re-designated as NORAD ID Z-83 on 31 July.

In addition to the main facility, Waverly operated three AN/FPS-18 Gap Filler sites:

La Motte AFS, IA (P-81B) 42°19′24″N 090°39′27″W
La Crescent AFS, MN (P-81C) 43°51′35″N 091°18′59″W
Washington, IA (P-81E) 41°16′17″N 091°44′41″W

Routine operations were performed until the late 1960s when the Air Force inactivated the 788th and Waverly AFS on 30 September 1969.

The radar station was excessed by the Air Force to GSA in April 1971, which in August transferred 8.63 acres, which included the 3.94-acre family housing area, to the Dept. of the Navy. 4.13 acres had previously been transferred to the Army in May 1968, for use by the Iowa National Guard and known as the Waverly Army National Guard Training Facility.

Prior to declaring the site excess, the Air Force demolished one of the radar buildings (building 310), leaving the foundation intact. Building 309, another radar building, had its stainless steel dome removed prior to the station being declared excess, leaving the walls, foundation, and stairways intact. Of the remaining 73 buildings installed by DOD, 32 were located on property currently owned by DOD, with 6 removed, one had fallen down, and 24 in fair to good condition. Of the two other buildings on the 60-acre GSA property, one had been removed and the other in fair condition. Of 41 buildings on private property, 12 had been removed and 29 were in fair to good condition.