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Almaden Air Force Station
[edit]| Almaden Air Force Station | |
|---|---|
| Part of Aerospace Defense Command | |
| Mount Umunhum, Santa Clara County, California | |
 Almaden AFS from San Jose | |
  Almaden Air Force Station | |
| Coordinates | 37°09′38″N 121°53′51″W / 37.1605°N 121.89755°W |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1957 |
| In use | 1958–1980 |
Almaden Air Force Station was a US Air Force early warning radar station in operation from 1958 to 1980. Located on the summit of Mount Umunhum (Um-un-um) in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the station is a few miles south of San Jose, California and sits 3,486 feet (1,063 m) above Almaden Valley. The station was constructed in 1957 to keep watch over Northern California's airspace as part of the NORAD defense system. A GATR (Ground-Air Transmitter-Receiver) was located about a mile (1.5 km) to the west atop Mount Thayer. The station was manned by the 682nd Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron (AC&W) from 1957 to 15-Jan-1961 when it was redesignated as "682nd Radar Squadron (SAGE)" and then redesignated again on 1-Feb 1974 as 682nd Radar Squadron (RADS). The station was activated in March of 1958, inactivated on 30-June-1980, and was subsequently acquired in 1986 by the MROSD (Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District). The site is now a part of the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve although it is not yet open to the public because of environmental hazards (asbestos, black mold, and lead-based paint). The MROSD estimates it will take at least US$13.1 million to clean up the base for public use.