had made their final site selections for a permanent Aircraft Control and Warning system. Five early-warning surveillance sites were located on the western Alaskan coast: Cape Lisburne; Cape Newenham; Cape Romanzof; Tin City and Northeast Cape on St. Lawrence Island. Those coastal sites were supplemented by three interior intermediate ground control intercept (GGI) sites, Campion, Tatalina, and King Salmon. Finally two master GCI sites at Murphy Dome and Fire Island. An additional two internal early-warning sites were added in 1951 at Indian Mountain and Sparrevohn to fill gaps in the radar coverage. Construction began in 1950 and was plagued by unexpected issues, the remoteness of the sites and weather conditions being compounded by labor issues and logistical problems. Murphy Dome AFS, near Fairbanks and Fire Island AFS near Anchorage were completed first and became operational in September 1951. King Salmon AFS came online in October 1951; Tatalina AFS and Campion AFS activated in April 1952. The remote sites took much longer. Cape Lisburne AFS activated in February 1953; Cape Romanzof AFS, Tin City AFS and Northeast Cape AFS activated in April 1953. Lastly, Cape Newenham AFS activated in April 1954. Sparrevohn AFS, begun in June 1951 activated in March 1954 and Indian Mountain AFS became operational in November 1953. Additional gaps in the radar coverage were identified and six more sites were funded, with construction beginning in 1955 for Middleton Island AFS, Ohlson Mountain AFS, Bethel AFS, Fort Yukon AFS, Unalakleet AFS and Kotzebue AFS. The additional sites were all operational by July 1958. In addition to the radar sites, landing strips, approximately 4,000' in length were constructed at the radar sites to accommodate medium transports, such as C-123 Provider and later C-130 Hercules capable of landing on rough runways. Also light observation aircraft were used for transport of emergency light cargo and personnel to and from the sites. Once the radar project were underway, AAC turned its attention to improving its air defense data processing and weapons control functions. In May 1955. AAC studied both the SAGE and Base Air Defense Ground Environment (BADGE) system and concluded that the BADGE system would best meet its needs. BADE linked the GCI and surveillance radar sites to Combined Operations Control (COC) centers at Murphy Dome and Fire Island. As budgetary reductions affected the command and control, as well as the fighter defense of Alaska in the late 1950s, the Aircraft Control