Port Isabel Air Force Station


Port Isabel Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located north-northeast of Brownsville, Texas. It was closed in 1961.

History

Port Isabel Air Force Station came into existence as part of Phase III of the Air Defense Command Mobile Radar program. On 20 October 1953 ADC requested a third phase of twenty-five radar sites be constructed.
The 811th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was moved to the former Port Isabel Auxiliary Naval Air Station on 1 January 1958. It operated an AN/FPS-3A search radar and an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar at the site, and initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept 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 Air Force inactivated Port Isabel AFS on 1 June 1961 due to budgetary constraints. Today the site is part of the Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport and the Port Isabel Detention Center.

Air Force units and assignments

Units

  • Constituted as the '''811th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron'''

Assignments