Air Control Missions Returning to Jefferson Barracks

If you’ve been to Jefferson Barracks lately, you’ve probably noticed the large addition to the historic military post. Just east of the main gate, you’ll find a multimillion dollar radar installation.

“It’s basically for what we call air-control missions,” said Bill Phelan, the Missouri National Guard public affairs representative for the 70th Troop Command.  “It has a 240-mile range and will be able to detect aircraftfs throughout almost the whole state of Missouri.”

Phelan said that while it’s hard to miss the radar installation as it stands today, it will be soon be even more prominent when it’s been permanently installed on its 77-foot tower. He said that the 121st Air Control Squadron, the unit that will operate and maintain the radar, is currently taking bids on the project and plans to have it under construction by fall.

Lt. Col. William Boothman, commanding officer of the Air Control Squadron, said that the radar installation could not have been put at Lambert Field because the operating frequency would interfere with the airport.

“So this location is a lot more viable for our mission, as opposed to Lambert,” Boothman said in a release.

Phelan said that there was a radar tower at Jefferson Barracks in the past, but it was deactivated in 1999.

“It was dismantled and removed because at that time, the air control mission at Jefferson Barracks was moved to Hawaii,” Phelan said. “The Air Force decided that they wanted to re-establish a control tower at Jefferson Barracks, so we ‘stood up’—that’s a military term—and activated a new unit, the 121st Air Control Squadron.”

He said the new unit cost around $30 million and that it wasn’t a new unit, but a refurbished one. 

The unit’s primary focus will be close air-support missions within JB’s military operating space, said 1st Lt. Michael Durbin, the maintenance officer for the 121st. The radar tower will serve as a training tool and all of the missions it supports will be training missions, Phelan added.

“Once our tower is up, we’ll get a clearer picture that will allow us to support missions at Cannon Range near Fort Leonard Wood,” Durbin said in a release.

Phelan said that the plan to re-establish an air control mission at Jefferson Barracks was launched after the base received a recommendation from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Though the commission once recommended that Jefferson Barracks close altogether, a 2009 tour changed the barracks' fate. In fact, after members of the commission visited the base, their maintenance budget went from around $20,000 a year to more than $2 million.

Jefferson Barracks was established in 1826 and is the oldest continually operated military post west of the Mississippi River. Phelan noted that the base is owned by the Air Force, though many people think the Army owns it.

“Bringing back an air-control mission to this historic military post speaks volumes about the viability of the post,” he said. “Even though it’s nearly 200 years old, Jefferson Barracks can play a viable role in aerial operations in the foreseeable future.”