POW-Main/A-17 Radar Site

 military, United States Air Force, early warning radar

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Established in 1957 as a Sector Headquarters or Main site on the DEW Line, the Point Barrow or POW-Main site was itself a long-range radar site operated by the US Air Force and also the control station for the seven manned radar stations in its Sector. Operating as a major communications hub for its stations, the POW-Main station also functioned as a logistical hub for the POW Sector and was equipped with a large airfield and ample outdoor storage areas and dormitories for men and materials being staged for distribution to outlying stations.

Covering over 600 acres of North Alaskan waterfront at its maximum size, the POW-Main station operated in its DEW Line capacity through 1998 at which time the last of the manned POW Sector stations were shut down. Co-located with its successor North Warning System long-range radar site from 1989 onwards, POW-Main retained is DEW Line designation and gained the "A-17" callsign as it was folded into both the North Warning System and Alaska Radar System following the termination of DEW operations.

Presently a fully-operational and manned long-range radar site, POW-Main/A-17 is maintained by the 611th Air Support Group of the US Air Force and continues to function as a logistical supply hub for its remaining unmanned radar stations which stretch East to the POW-3 station near the US/Canadian Border.

Following the closure of the LIZ-3/Wainwright NWS Site in 2007, POW-Main became the Westernmost station in the North Warning System, which stretches Eastward roughly along the 60th Parallel and the South along the Labrador coast to is present terminus at the LAB-6 or Cartwright radar site.

lswilson.dewlineadventures.com/powm.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Warning_System