Pillar Point Air Force Station

Telecineguy: missile

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[[File:PillarPointAirForceStation.jpg|thumb|right|Pillar Point Air Force Station]]
[[File:Pillar Point and Half Moon Bay.jpg|thumb|alt=Pillar Point Harbor and Half Moon Bay|Pillar Point (top) and [[Half Moon Bay (California)|Half Moon Bay]], looking north, 2009]]
[[Image:Pillar Point Harbor aerial view.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Pillar Point Harbor looking east. The 1967 breakwater extension is at the center right. The 1982 inner breakwater is at the upper left.]]
'''Pillar Point Military Reservation''', later '''Pillar Point Air Force Station''' is a [[United States Armed Forces]] facility on 48 acres founded on October 10, 1940 overlooking [[Pillar Point Harbor]], [[California]]. Pillar Point is 15 miles south of the City of [[San Francisco]] in [[San Mateo County, California|San Mateo County]]. The facility was built as part of the [[World War 2]] [[Seacoast_defense_in_the_United_States#World_War_II| Harbor Defenses of San Francisco]], as there was concern that the Japanese may attack San Francisco. For the defense of San Francisco installed at the point was: large artillery, [[.50-caliber machine gun]] for [[anti-aircraft defense]], [[searchlight]]s, barracks, concrete bunkers, [[Chain-link fencing|cyclone fences]], and an electric system. In June 1944 a short-range [[UHF]] Surface Craft Detection [[Radar]] System, model SCR-296, built by [[Western Electric Company]] was installed. The SCR-296 can detect and track seagoing surface craft. <ref>[https://ift.tt/3ewgVGL short-range UHF Surface Craft Detection model SCR-296]</ref>U.S. Radar, Operational Characteristics of Radar Classified by Tactical Application, FTP 217, Prepared by Authority of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by the Radar Research and Development Sub-Committee of the Joint Committee on New Weapons and Equipment, 1 Aug 1943, Washington, D.C.</ref> After the war, on January 17, 1946 the radar system was removed. In 1949 the Military Reservation was closed. The [[US Navy]] opened the base on September 4, 1959 as a missile tracking station in support of [[Naval Air Station Point Mugu]]'s [[Regulus missile]] program and later [[LGM-30 Minuteman|Minuteman missiles]]. In the 1960s the base was transferred to the [[US Air Force]], who took over the missile tracking station. The current tracking units are [[AN/FPQ-6]] and [[AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radar|AN/MPS-36]] radars systems, which are [[C band (IEEE)|C-band]] radar from the [[Western Range (USSF)]] of [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]]. Pillar Point Air Force Station's Western Range (USSF) supports tracking of polar-orbiting space satellite and operational intercontinental ballistic missiles launched from Vandenberg. The station has radar, command control, meteorological, and telemetry systems. The Pillar Point Harbor is also used by the Navy for anchoring ships, especially during World War 2. For extra protection, a breakwater was installed in 1961 and a second breakwater installed in 1982. The Point is 0.3-mile wide and 0.25-miles long, with an elevation from 80 to 180 feet. The point is connected to the coast by a narrow isthmus on the northeastern side. Pillar Point Air Force Station was part of [[Rancho Corral de Tierra]]. Just North of the base was [[Half Moon Bay Flight Strip]] an auxiliary airfield for [[Salinas Army Air Base]] training during World War 2. The Half Moon Bay Flight Strip is now [[Eddie Andreini Sr. Airfield]]. <ref></ref><ref>[https://www.denix.osd.mil/cr/archives/planning/cultural-resources-program-planning-and-management-archives/crmpsanmateoca/02_Cultural%20Resources%20Management%20Plan%20for%20Pillar%20Point%20Air%20Force.pdf U.S. Department of Defense, Pillar Point Air Force Station, 2009]</ref>
==See also==


*[[California during World War II]]
*[[American Theater (1939–1945)]]
*[[United States home front during World War II]]

==References==










[[Category:1940s in California]]
[[Category:History of California]]
[[Category:United States in World War II]]
[[Category:Installations of the United States Air Force in California]]
[[Category:1940 establishments in California]]

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