678th Air Defense Group

678th Air Defense Group
Patch (Subdued) of the 678th Air Defense Group
Active	1970–1983
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Air Defense
Part of	Aerospace Defense Command (1970–1979) Tactical Air Command (ADTAC) (1979–1983)

Emblem of the 678th Aircraft Control and Warning (later Radar) Squadron

The 678th Air Defense Group is a disbanded United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 20th Air Division, stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 Mar 1983.

History

The group replaced the 678th Radar Squadron (SAGE) (formerly the 678th Aircraft Warning & Control Squadron) at Tyndall AFB in 1970.^[1] The group operated a Backup Interceptor Control (BUIC) site with the mission to back up the centralized and vulnerable Semi-Automatic Ground Environmnent (SAGE) operations center at Gunter AFB.^[2] The group provided air defense mission command and control from 1970–1983. It was a component of Aerospace Defense Command (ADC)'s (later transferred to Tactical Air Command (TAC)) Air Defense Weapons Center from 1974 to 1981. The group earned an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for exeptionally meritorious service for the period 1 June 1970 through 1 June 1972.^[3]

In 1969, the inadequacy of the radar coverage to the south of the United States had been dramatically illustrated whan a Cuban MiG-17 went undetected before it landed at Homestead AFB,^[4] and two years later, an An-24 similarly arrived unanounced at New Orleans International Airport.^[4] As a result, ADC established The Southern Air Defense System (SADS). Initially, the 630th Radar Squadron operated a manual control center at the Houston Air Route Traffic Control Center and the USAF added radars to supplement the existing Federal Aviation Administration coverage in the area.^[4] In 1977, responsibility for operating the SADS control center was transferred to the group, which was operating the last BUIC III site in ADC.

Lineage

• Constituted as 678th Air Defense Group on 13 February 1970

Activated on 1 March 1970

Inactivated on 1 March 1983^[1]

Disbanded on 27 September 1984^[5]

Assignments

• 20th Air Division, 1 March 1970 - 1 March 1983^[1]

Components

None

Stations

• Tyndall AFB, Florida, 1 March 1970 – 1 March 1983 30°04′35″N 085°36′35″W / 30.07639°N 85.60972°W / 30.07639; -85.60972 (Tyndall AFB)^[1]

Awards

• Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, 1 June 1970 - 1 June 1972

References

	United States Air Force portal
	Military of the United States portal

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946 - 1980. Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/handbookofadcorg.pdf. 
• Leonard, Barry (2009). History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missiile Defense, Vol II, 1955-1972. Center for Military History. ISBN 978-1-4379-2131-1. http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/bmd/BMDV2.pdf. 
• Winkler, David F.; Webster, Julie L (1997). Searching the skies : the legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program. Champaign, IL: US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. LCCN 9720912. http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bn/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA331231. 
• AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits, Vol II Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC, 30 Sep 76 [1]
• Information on 678th Air Defense Group Radar Sites

External links

v t e Tactical Air Command (TAC) Air Forces First · Ninth · Twelfth · Eighteenth · Nineteenth Air Divisions 20th (ADTAC) · 21st (ADTAC) · 23d (ADTAC) · 24th (ADTAC) · 25th (ADTAC) · 26th (ADTAC) · 28th (ADTAC) · 831st · 832d · 833d · 834th · 835th · 836th · 837th · 838th · 839th · 840th Named units Air Forces Panama · Air Forces Iceland · Air Defense, Tactical Air Command Wings TFW 1st · 4th · 12th · 15th · 20th · 23d · 27th · 32d · 33d · 37th · 50th · 56th · 312th · 323d · 347th · 354th · 355th Other 1st SOW · 57th FWW · 63d TAW · 64th TAW · 67th TRW · 75th TRW · 85th TFTW · 317th TAW · 363d TRW · 405th TFTW · 461st TBW · 4505th ARW Former bases Active (MAJCOM) Altus (AETC) · Brooks (AFMC) · Cannon (AFSOC) · Charleston (AMC) · Creech (ACC) · Davis-Monthan (ACC) · Dover (AMC) · Dyess (ACC) · Eglin (AFMC) · Hill (AMFC) · Holloman (ACC) · Hurlburt Field (AFSOC) · Langley (ACC) · Little Rock (AETC) · Luke (AETC) · MacDill (AMC) · McChord (AMC) · McConnell (AMC) · Moody (ACC) · Mountain Home (ACC) · Nellis (ACC) · Pope (AMC) Seymour Johnson (ACC) · Shaw (ACC) · Tonopah (ACC) · Tyndall (AETC) · Whiteman (ACC) Inactive Bergstrom · Blythville · Donaldson · England · Forbes · George · Grenier · Myrtle Beach · Orlando · Sewart · Turner · Williams Inactive, but with a military presence Bunker Hill · Biggs · Dow · Godman · Homestead · Lockbourne · March · Otis Aircraft A-1 · A-7 · A-10 · A-37 · AC-47 · AC-119 · AC-130 · B-26 · B-57 · B-66 · C-7 · C-47 · C-82 · C-119 · C-123 · C-130 · E-3 · E-8 · EF-111 · EC-135 · F-4 · F-5 · F-15 · F-16 · F-47 · F-51 · F-80 · F-82 · F-84 · F-86 · F-89 · F-100 · F-101 · F-102 · F-104 · F-105 · F-106 · F-111 · F-117 · H-1 · H-5 · H-6 · H-19 · H-43 · H-60 · H-53 · KB-29 · KB-50 · KC-97 · O-1 · O-2 · OH-23 · OV-10 · P-40 · P-38 · R-4 · S-62 · T-6 · T-28 · T-29 · T-33 · T-38

v t e Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) Bases CONUS Ethan Allen Amarillo Beale Charleston Davis-Monthan Dobbins Dover Dow Duluth Eglin Edwards Ellington Ellsworth England Ent Fairfax Fallon Fort Heath Fort Lee Geiger George Glasgow Grand Forks Grenier Griffiss Gunter Hamilton Hancock Homestead Hurlburt Hunter Jacksonville Key West Kincheloe Kingsley Kirtland Lackland Laredo Larson Luke MacDill March Malmstrom McCoy McChord McClellan McGhee Tyson McGuire Minneapolis-St. Paul Minot Mitchel New Castle Niagara Falls Norton O'Hare Otis Oxnard Paine Perrin Peterson Pittsburgh Portland Presque Isle R.I. Bong (unbuilt) Richards-Gebaur Robins K.I. Sawyer Selfridge Seymour Johnson Sioux City Stead Stewart Suffolk County Tinker Travis Truax Tyndall Vandenburg Vincent Walker Webb Westover Wright-Patterson Wurtsmith Youngstown Overseas Ernest Harmon Frobisher Bay Goose Bay Keflavik Pepperrell Pirinclik Thule Stations CONUS Adair Aiken Almaden Alpena Antigo Arlington Heights Baker Bedford Bellefontaine Belleville Benton Blaine Brookfield Brunswicck Bucks Harbor Burns Calumet Cambria Cape Charles Cape Cod (built during control) Carmi Caswell Chandler Charleston Cheyenne Mountain Claysburg Clear Colville Condon Continental Divide Cottonwood Cross City Crystal Springs Curlew Custer Cut Bank Dallas Center Dauphin Island Dickinson Duncanville Eldorado Empire Finland Finley Flintstone Fordland Fort Fisher Fort Lee Fortuna Gettysburg Grand Marais Grand Rapids Guthrie Hanna City Havre Highlands Houma Hutchinson Joelton Keno Killeen Kingman Kirksville Klamath Lake Charles Lake City Las Cruces Las Vegas Lewistown Lockport Lufkin Lyndonville Madera Makah Mica Peak Miles City Mill Valley Minot Montauk Moriarty Mount Hebo Mount Laguna Mount Lemmon Naselle North Bend North Charleston North Truro Oklahoma City Olathe Omaha Opheim Osceola Othello Owingsville Ozona Palermo Point Arena Port Austin Port Isabel Pyote Red Bluff Rochester Rockport Rockville (Indiana) Roslyn Rye Saint Albans San Clemente Island Santa Rosa Island Saratoga Springs Sault Ste Marie Shemya Snelling Snow Mountain Sweetwater Texarkana Tierra Amarilla Thomasville Tonopah Two Creeks Wadena Walnut Ridge Watertown Waverly West Mesa Willow Run Winnemucca Winslow Winston-Salem Woomera Yaak Zapata Overseas Armstrong Baldy Hughes Beausejour Cartwright Frobisher Bay Hofn Kamloops Langanes Latrar Puntzi Mountain Ramore Rockville (Iceland) Saskatoon Mountain Saglek Sioux Lookout Topsham Air Defense units Forces Central Air Defense Eastern Air Defense Iceland Western Air Defense First Fourth Tenth Fourteenth Air Divisions 8th 9th 20th 21st 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th 36th 37th 58th 64th 73rd 85th Sectors Albuquerque Bangor Boston Chicago Detroit Duluth Goose Grand Forks Great Falls Kansas City Los Angeles Minot Montgomery New York Oklahoma City Phoenix Portland Reno Sault Sainte Marie San Francisco Seattle Sioux City Spokane Stewart Syracuse Washington Wings 1st 4th 23rd 32nd 33rd 46th 50th 52nd 56th 71st 73rd 78th 81st 325th 328th 507th 551st 552nd 4620th 4621st 4622nd 4624th 4625th 4627th 4628th 4683rd 4700th 4702nd 4703rd 4704th 4705th 4706th 4707th 4708th 4709th 4710th 4711th 4750th 4751st 4752nd 4756th 4780th Groups Fighter 1st 4th 14th 15th 23rd 32nd 33rd 50th 52nd 53rd 54th 56th 57th 78th 79th 81st 82nd 84th 325th 326th 327th 328th 329th 337th 355th 408th 412th 414th 473rd 475th 476th 478th 507th Air Defense 10th 500th 501st 502nd 503rd 514th 515th 516th 517th 518th 519th 520th 521st 525th 527th 528th 529th 530th 533rd 534th 564th 566th 567th 568th 575th 637th 665th 678th 692nd 701st 751st 762nd 765th 778th 780th 827th 858th 4606th 4620th 4676th 4700th 4721st 4722nd 4727th 4728th 4729th 4730th 4731st 4732nd 4733rd 4734th 4735th 4750th 4756th Squadrons Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons Major weapon systems Electronic TB-29 EB-57 EC-121 Fighters Propellor: F-47 F-51 P-61 F-82 Subsonic Jet: P-80 F-84 F-86 F-89 F-94 Supersonic Jet: F-101 F-102 F-104 F-106 Missiles AIM-4 AIM-26 AIR-2 CIM-10 Ships Guardian Interceptor Interdictor Interpreter Investigator Locator Lookout Outpost Pickett Protector Scanner Searcher Skywatcher Tracer Watchman Vigil Miscellaneous Air Defense Command Emblem Gallery (On Wikimedia Commons) General Surveillance Radar Stations