Kotzebue Air Force Station (AAC ID: F-24, LRR ID: A-12) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located south of Kotzebue, Alaska. The ground control intercept (GCI) station was closed on 1 November 1983, and was re-designated as a Long Range Radar (LRR) site as part of the Alaska Radar System. Today, it remains active as part of the Alaska NORAD Region under the jurisdiction of the 611th Air Support Group, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. History Kotzebue AFS was a continental defence radar station constructed to provide the United States Air Force early warning of an attack by the Soviet Union on Alaska. Construction of the station, began in 1957 and was completed in April 1958. The Army Transportation Corps undertook the project. The station site was located on the Kotzebue Sound of Western Alaska, and equipment and construction material was floated by LST or a barge to a dock built on the coast . Initially, there were no roads, which had to be built as part of the construction effort. Each item had to be hauled up from the port area along the newly constructed road to the permanent station site. The station consisted of a power/heating plant, water and fuel storage tanks, gymnasium and other support office buildings. Two other buildings contained living quarters, work areas, and recreational facilities plus opportunities for such sports as skiing, skating, horseshoes, and basketball. The station buildings were, except for the civil engineering building connected by heated hallways. As a result, personnel stationed there, with only very few exceptions, were able to wear "summer" uniforms year round, unless they had a need to go outside during the winter season. The coverings of the station's three radar towers were heated from within to keep the covering from becoming brittle from extreme cold, and thus subject to being damaged or destroyed by high winds. Tours at the station were limited to one year because of the psychological strain and physical hardships. A 5-mile road connected the station to Kotzebue, where a civil airport was located and a town, one of Alaska's major tourist attractions. The 748th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, activated in April 1958 operated AN/FPS-8, AN/FPS-4, AN/FPS-6, AN/FPS-20, and AN/FPS-87A Kotzebue AFS operated as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft deployed to the forward