Lowther, ON

1325-1 (CO)

Canadian Forces Station Lowther
Kapuskasing, Ontario
P5N 2Y7
1 June 1977

National Defence Headquarters
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0K2

ANNUAL HISTORICAL REPORT (AHR)

CANADIAN FORCES STATION (CFS) LOWTHER

References: A. - CFAO 71-7

1. - In accordance with reference A and B the subject report is submitted. Delay in submission is regretted however such delay was rendered necessary due to our wish to submit a more comprehensive report than normal. Our station research revealed that previous submissions were somewhat sparse and therefore information gaps may exist in the NDHQ file for Lowther. While the body of this report is standard in accordance with paras 3 and 4 of reference A, we have taken the liberty of enclosing as Annex C a recently compiled compendium entitled CFS Lowther, the Mission, The Place, the People and their activities which should prove valuable for the record. To return now to the AHR itself, the following paragraphs are submitted.

2. Major Changes - The function of CFS Lowther remained as previously noted, to provide radar surveillance data to our North American Air Defence Command Regional Control Centre in Duluth, Minnesota. The organization and equipment to perform this function remained unchanged. No change in location occurred. (See the Annex C compendium for basic details regarding function, organization, equipment and location).

3. Operational Undertaking - CFS Lowther participated in the following activities:

1. eight full scale NORAD operational exercises designed to test the capability of the station to perform the task. All exercises were successful;
2. fifty weekly technical evaluations of the radar system. Performance remained above 90%.
3. four Search and Rescue exercises by our Ground Search Team;
4. one real-life operation by our Base Defence Force to ensure the safety of the station against a threat from a motorcycle gang on 1 Jul 76. No difficulties were experienced. The low-key show of force deterred the gang from interfering with the operation and the peace and enjoyment of the station residents.

4. Ceremony & Awards - Our Station Warrant Officer, CWO Louie Ariano received the Order of Military Merit for outstanding service throughout his career over the last twenty years.

Signed by:

John Waters
Lieutenant Colonel
Commanding Officer

Annex A - Officers on strength 31 Dec 77

ANNEX C TO 1325-1 (CO)
1 Jun 77

Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Lowther is a Canadian Forces installation located in the Northern Ontario part of Canada. Its primary mission is to provide radar surveillance data to the 23^rd North American Air Defence (NORAD) Region Control Centre located in Duluth, Minnesota, USA. This data is vital to the preliminary NORAD mission of deterring incursion of North American airspace by hostile aircraft. Normally CFS Lowther is linked electronically to the 23^rd Control Centre but during periods of degraded communications Lowther can operate independently as a surveillance and intercept control (limited) facility.

For its primary mission the station’s nine officers, one hundred and seventeen Other Ranks and fifty-four civilians are responsible operationally to the Commander 23^rd NORAD Region, but, since it is a Canadian Forces installation, the station is also responsible to the Commander Canadian Forces Air Command. Indeed all support services, logistics, maintenance and administration, are provided for by Air Command either directly or through Commander CF Air Defence Group. The station has secondary missions, of Ground Search and Rescue, and Aid to the Civil Power. For those secondary missions Lowther is responsible to the Commander Canadian Forces Central Region, a geographical entity of the Canadian Forces. As you can see the Commanding Officer of CFS Lowther appears to respond to four bosses. In actual fact the situation is not that complicated; a more realistic way to express the situation is to state that the CO of Lowther can call upon four senior officers to secure help to perform his primary and secondary missions.

Drawing

The station was built by the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1957 and designated the home of the 639^th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron with Major Bernice Allen as its first Commander. Installed equipment included the AN/MPS-7 Search Radar and the AN/MPS-14 Height Finder Radar accompanied by VHF radios of type BC-639 and BC-640. VHF Communications were provided by the AN/GRC-27 and AN/GRR-7. The unit became fully operational in 1958..

In 1960 the Radar Improvement program brought the AN/FPS-26 Height Finder and AN/FPS-27 Radars to the 639^th at Lowther Air Force Station.

Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) implementation testing for the site was completed in February 1963 and the site was integrated into the SAGE System in March of 1963, from that time on Radar Data was fed automatically to region control centre.

The 639^th Squadron was turned over to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) on July 1^st, 1963. Major General Benjamin Webster represented the USAF while Air Vice Marshal MM Hendrick accepted for the RCAF. The unit was renamed 36 Radar Squadron with Wing Commander ID Tenove, its first Commander. Since 1963, the station has continued to operate most of the equipment which was installed prior to turnover.

Since 1970 the station has added three on-site trailer courts, an enlarged and improved Junior Ranks Club, a two lane bowling alley, and recently, a two sheet curling rink. Thirty-six bulk lease housing units recently constructed in Kapuskasing, thirty miles distant have provided extra accommodation for service families.

Base Diagram