Aerial view of the radar base taken from July 22, 1968.

Photos courtesy of the HARNEY COUNTY MUSEUM

By Karen Nitz

Historical Society Invites Former Personnel to Share Experiences

The crumbling remains of a once bustling component of America’s National Air Defense Command system perches on the skyline from a mile-high butte overlooking the cities of Burns and Hines in Oregon’s southeastern corner. Following its closure and abandonment in 1970 after fifteen years of service, this former military installation has been a curiosity to visitors and area residents who know the site only as an eerie remnant from the Cold War era and a heavily vandalized teen hangout.

Earl C. Schroeder, a former Staff Sergeant stationed with the 634th Radar Squadron at the Burns Air Force Radar Station in 1966, recounted a visit to “The Hill” some forty-five years later. Memories flooded back as he strode through the rubble of concrete and listened for the phantom sounds from his past. A feeling of sadness overtook him as he turned to leave. “Sadness,” he wrote, “knowing that so many men had come and gone, taking with them only the memories from a place that they once called home. But also remembering that we ‘scope-dopes’ had been part of keeping our country secure from any air attack.”

In an effort to capture the fast-disappearing knowledge of this fascinating chapter in Harney County history, the Harney County Historical Society, in conjunction with the Claire McGill Luce Western History Room at the Harney County Library and the Harney County Chamber of Commerce invites the public to a roundtable community discussion of the 634th Radar Squadron Burns Air Force Station, colloquially known as the Radar Base. Former military personnel, civilian employees, and families are encouraged to join us April 5th at 6 p.m. in the Chamber of Commerce meeting room to share recollections, photographs, or other memorabilia of their experiences associated with the Radar Base. Several scrapbooks and photo albums documenting some of the history of the base will be on hand for viewing. A brief history of the radar base and a slideshow of images from its period of activity will be followed by a time for community members to share their own personal connections with the installation.

Seventy years ago, in April 1954, construction began on the 31-acre military facility atop Burns Butte that would house the 634th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron tasked with operating and maintaining search radar sets and height-finder radars. Distinctive rubberized “bubbles” protected the delicate radar electronics from the harsh environment atop the butte. The Burns installation was one of many radar sites and “gap fillers” along a Pacific coast route known as the “Pine Tree Line” –part of the first coordinated system for early detection of a Soviet bomber attack on North America. Rapidly evolving jet and missile technology during the Cold War led to modifications in the radar station’s early detection systems which developed into the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) defense system.

The Burns Radar Base was planned as a small community within itself, having many of the same facilities found in any town: housing, cafeteria style dining hall, independent water supply, recreation room and sporting equipment, mail room, etc. in addition to twenty Quonset barracks buildings, an officer’s quarters, two supply houses, two warehouses, well house and a headquarters building. In June 1955, an advance group consisting of a commander and eight men arrived at the site, followed by upwards of 70 enlisted men and their families. At the time of closing in 1970, the base supported twenty civilian employees and 106 Air Force officers and enlisted personnel. A number of former enlisted men from the radar station married hometown girls and became permanent residents of the Harney County community.

In 1973, portions of the radar base property were conveyed to the Burns School District, which salvaged a few of the smaller buildings. Several years later the school district conveyed title back to the federal government. The property has been in private ownership since 1979. Due to the concentration of PCBs in the soil and asbestos containing material in the abandoned buildings, ongoing investigations by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality deemed the area a health hazard and added it to the Orphan clean up list. Excavation and removal of some of the waste was conducted in 2004. 

As it silently stands sentinel over the communities it once protected from enemy attack, it’s unlikely “The Hill” will ever again buzz with the activity of its glory days during the Cold War. But if you listen carefully to the passing breeze, you just might hear the phantom voices of Air Force personnel mingled with the call of meadowlarks in the surrounding sage. 

Please join us to help document this unique feature of Harney County. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Harney County Historical Society. Phone: 541.573.5618

Email: harneymuseum@centurytel.net

When: Friday, April 5, 2024 at 6 p.m.

Where: Harney County Chamber of Commerce meeting rooms, 484 N. Broadway, Burns, OR