Its mission is to counter all air threats to EADS' assigned Area of Operations through vigilant detection, rapid warning and precise tactical control of NORAD and NORTHCOM forces.
Mission and operations
The Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) is an Air Combat Command (ACC) unit permanently assigned to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). A joint bi-national for military organization, EADS is composed of US and Canadian military forces, federal civilians and contractors.[1]
The Air National Guard (ANG) provides the majority of the forces for the NORAD mission. At EADS, this responsibility belongs to the New York Air National Guard's 224th Air Defense Group. The 224th ADG consists of the 224th Air Defense Squadron, the 224th Support Squadron and two detachments in the Washington, D.C. area.[1]
Detachment 1 serves at the Joint Air Defense Operations Center (JADOC) at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C. Commanded by US Army National Guard air defense units that serve year-long rotations, the JADOC is responsible for the National Capital Region's Integrated Air Defense System (IADS). Detachment 1, composed of New York ANG members, is the permanent Air Force component at the JADOC.
Detachment 2 serves at the National Capital Region Coordination Center (NCRCC) in Herndon, Virginia. Operated by the Transportation Security Administration, the NCRCC is a fusion center that enables the federal agencies responsible for defending the NCR airspace to share information in real time. The New York ANG members at Detachment 2 are responsible for correlating, coordinating and rapidly sharing threat information with EADS Battle Control Center in Rome.
The Eastern Air Defense Sector has operational command and control over the following Air National Guard fighter units. All units are gained by Air Combat Command when federally activated.
539th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron Convair F-106A-64-CO Delta Darts McGuire AFB, New Jersey October 1959332d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron North American F-86D-45-NA Sabre 52-3901, 4709th Air Defense Wing, McGuire AFB, New Jersey, 1956
The wing operated a Manual Air Direction Center (MDC) at Roslyn AFS, New York. It was redesignated as the New York Air Defense Sector (NYADS) on 1 October. The sector's mission was to train and maintain tactical flying units in state of readiness in order to defend Northeast United States while initially continuing to operate the MDC.
In 1958, in response to the threat of long-range Soviet bombers, the U.S. and Canada signed a treaty creating the bi-national North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), responsible for both countries’ air defense and air sovereignty. Air Defense Sectors were established soon after, including the New York Air Defense Sector (NYADS) headquartered at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. Responsibility for air defense of the Northeast changed with various reorganizations.
The organization was in large part responsible for one of the foundational projects of the computer era: the development of the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) air defense system, from its first test at Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1951, to the installation of the first unit of the New York Air Defense Sector of the SAGE system, in 1958.
The idea for SAGE grew out of Project Whirlwind, a World War II computer development effort, when the War Department realized that the Whirlwind computer might anchor a continent-wide advance warning system.[4] Developed during the 1950s by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratories engineers and scientists for the U.S. Air Force, SAGE monitored North American skies for possible attack by crewed aircraft and missiles for twenty-five years. Aside from its strategic importance, SAGE set the foundation for mass data-processing systems and foreshadowed many computer developments of the 1960s. The heart of the system, the IBMAN/FSQ-7 computer, was the first computer to have an internal memory composed of "magnetic cores," thousands of tiny ferrite rings that served as reversible electromagnets. SAGE also introduced computer-driven graphic displays, online keyboard terminals, time-sharing, high-availability computation with a redundant AN/FSQ-7 to fail over if the primary system went down, digital signal processing, digital transmission over leased telephone lines, digital track-while-scan, digital simulation, computer networking, and duplex computing.
The SAGE Direction Center DC-01 40°01′51″N074°34′32″W / 40.03083°N 74.57556°W / 40.03083; -74.57556 (NYADS-SAGE DC-01) was activated on 1 July 1958, the first sector to achieve this status. In a ceremony marking this achievement, General Curtis E. LeMay was the guest speaker. He described SAGE as, "A system centralizing many air defense functions, minimizing manual tasks and allowing electronic devices to perform hundreds of complex computations accurately and simultaneously to improve air defense capability."
On 1 April 1966, the NYADS was inactivated, as were the other 22 sectors in the country. The SAGE system remained active until replaced in 1983 by newer technology Joint Surveillance System (JSS). The 3-story DC-01 SAGE building, with reinforced 3' concrete walls and roof now hosts the Headquarters, 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, Air Mobility Command at McGuire AFB.
In 1983, the 24th Air Division was assigned to Griffiss Air Force Base to provide air defense for the Northeast. In 1987, NEADS was activated and co-located with the 24th AD.
On 1 July 1987, four of the previous ADCOM Air Defense sectors were reactivated, redesignated, assigned and colocated with the four remaining air divisions.
The Montgomery Air Defense Sector (MOADS) became the Southeast Air Defense Sector or SEADS; assigned to 23d Air Division
The Los Angeles Air Defense Sector (LAADS) became the Southwest Air Defense Sector or SWADS; assigned to 26th Air Division
The Seattle Air Defense Sector (SEADS) became the Northwest Air Defense Sector or NWADS; assigned to 25th Air Division
The New York Air Defense Sector (NYADS) became the Northeast Air Defense Sector NEADS; assigned to 24th Air Division
In the mid-1990s, the Air National Guard (ANG) assumed responsibility for leading U.S. air defense. ANG flying units had performed the air defense mission for decades. But after the changeover, activated Guardsmen provided the command and staff for the Continental U.S. NORAD Region and its subordinate Sector HQs. All reported to First Air Force. The Northeast Sector was the first to transition. In December 1994, the New York Air National Guard activated the Northeast Air Defense Squadron to staff the Sector HQ.
On 1 December 1994, the Northeast Air Defense Sector was reassigned to the New York Air National Guard; NEADS redesignated Northeast Air Defense Sector (ANG)
On 1 October 1995, the Southeast Air Defense Sector was reassigned to the Florida Air National Guard; SEADS redesignated Southeast Air Defense Sector (ANG)
On 1 October 1997 the Western Air Defense Sector was reassigned to the Washington Air National Guard; WADS redesignated Western Air Defense Sector (ANG)
21st century
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Northeast Air Defense Sector pioneered many of the changes that now allow it to build a detailed internal air picture to identify and engage air threats originating from within North America. In addition to the Battle Control Center in Rome, NEADS helped establish and maintain two detachments in the National Capital Region to defend critical assets and improve interagency communication.
On 1 November 2005, the NEADS and SEADS consolidated, giving the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS) the responsibility of providing detection and air defense for the entire eastern half of the United States. NEADS was officially re-designated the Eastern Air Defense Sector (EADS) on 15 July 2009.
The Northeast Air Defense Squadron (NY ANG) formally became the 224th Air Defense Group in December 2014.
Lineage
Wisconsin ANG 115th Fighter Wing, Wisconsin Air National Guard over Wisconsin's capital city of Madison
Designated and organized as the 4621st Air Defense Wing, SAGE, 1 April 1956
Redesignated as the New York Air Defense Sector on 1 October 1956
Discontinued and inactivated on 1 April 1966
Redesignated as Northeast Air Defense Sector and activated on 1 July 1987
Redesignated as Northeast Air Defense Sector (ANG) on 1 December 1994
Redesignated as Eastern Air Defense Sector on 15 July 2009
F-16A 'Vipers' of the South Carolina ANG's 169th TFG, 1989
^See generally Redmond, Kent C; Smith, Thomas M (2000). From Whirlwind to MITRE: The R&D Story of The SAGE Air Defense Computer. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN978-0-262-18201-0.
