{{short description|Historical air force station}} {{For|the current civilian use of this facility|North Texas Regional Airport}} {{no footnotes|date=December 2012}} {{Use American English|date=January 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox military structure | name=Perrin Air Force Station | ensign=Air Defense Command.svg | ensign_size=60px | partof=Air Defense Command (ADC) | location= | image= | caption= | pushpin_map= Texas | pushpin_label=Perrin AFS | pushpin_mapsize=200 | pushpin_map_caption=Location of Perrin AFS, Texas | coordinates={{Coord|33|42|17|N|096|38|54|W|name=Perrin AFS RP-78|display=inline,title}} | type=Air Force Station | code= | ownership= | controlledby={{air force|USA}} | condition= | built=1964 | builder= | used=1964-1969 | materials= | demolished= | battles= | events= | past_commanders= | garrison=745th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron | occupants= }} thumb|200px|Emblem of the 745th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron '''Perrin Air Force Station (ADC ID: RP-78, NORAD ID: Z-78)''' is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located {{convert|1.3|mi|km}} southeast of North Texas Regional Airport, Texas. It was closed in 1971.
==History== Founded in 1941 as a training site for World War II pilots, Perrin Army Air Field was deactivated in 1946, but reopened as Perrin Air Force Base in April 1948. Perrin Air Force Base was named after Lieutenant Colonel Elmer Daniel Perrin, a Texan native and Air Corps pilot who was killed during the acceptance test flight of a B-26 bomber in Baltimore, Maryland, in June 1941. The base held jet pilot and survival training for flight crews through 1969.<ref>{{cite web | title = Abandoned Texas military forts, bases, and airfields | url = https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/slideshow/Texas-Military-Army-Air-Force-bases-and-194422.php | access-date = 2023-08-16}}</ref> Perrin Air Force Radar Station was established during the Korean War in 1952. Initially the station functioned as a Ground-Control Intercept (GCI) and warning station. As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes. In 1962 operation of the radar site was transferred to Air Defense Command and Perrin Air Force Station was established as an annex of Duncanville AFS, TX. It was equipped with an AN/FPS-20 search radar and an AN/FPS-6 height-finder radar. At the end of 1963, the site was performing duty as a joint-use facility for the Federal Aviation Administration and Air Defense Command.
In 1964 the 745th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron relocated to Perrin from Duncanville AFS after it was closed. Upon activation it was designated as '''RP-78''', replacing the P-78 site at Duncanville. It was also designated as NORAD site '''Z-78'''. Also in 1964 the search radar was upgraded to an AN/FPS-20A; in 1965, this radar was further upgraded to an AN/FPS-66.
The 745th AC&W Squadron was inactivated on 30 September 1969 and Perrin AFS was closed on 30 June 1971<ref>{{cite web | title = Our History - Perrin AFB - North Texas Regional Airport | url = http://northtexasregionalairport.com/history-perrin-afb/ | access-date = 2023-06-06}}</ref> due to a draw-down of ADC and budget constraints. Today the former radar site is used by small businesses in the area.
==Air Force units and assignments == '''Units:''' * 745th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, Assigned 1 July 1964 : Inactivated on 30 September 1969
'''Assignments:''' * Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector, 1 July 1964 * 31st Air Division, 1 April 1966 – 30 September 1969
==See also== * List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations * Perrin Air Force Base Historical Museum
==References== {{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}
===Notes=== {{Reflist}}
===Bibliography=== {{Refbegin}} * A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado * Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command. * [http://www.radomes.org/cgi-bin/museum/acwinfo2x.cgi?site=%22Perrin+AFS,+TX%22&key=PerrinAFSTX&pic=PerrinAFSTX&doc=PerrinAFSTX Information for Perrin AFS, TX] {{Refend}}
{{Aerospace Defense Command|state=collapsed}}
Category:Radar stations of the United States Air Force Category:Installations of the United States Air Force in Texas Category:Military airbases closed in 1971 Category:Aerospace Defense Command military installations Category:1964 establishments in Texas Category:1969 disestablishments in Texas Category:Military airbases established in 1941