History
On Sept. 17, 1947, Army Chief of Staff General Dwight D. Eisenhower directed the Army Air Corps to coordinate detection of nuclear detonations anywhere in the world. The following day, the United States Air Force was separated into a distinct service; the atomic detection mission was incorporated into the new entity.
Activated April 1, 1948, as a field extension of the Air Force chief of staff, the 51st Air Force Base Unit was tasked to experiment on various platforms for the detection of nuclear weapons. An infrastructure for detection was constructed quickly, amidst fears of the Russia's nuclear ambitions.
On Aug. 28, 1948, the 51st Air Force Base Unit was redesignated the 1009th Special Weapons Squadron. The 1009th was assigned to Headquarters Command, U.S. Air Force, Aug. 1, 1949. One month later, an air sampler aboard an AFOAT-1 B-29 flying between Alaska and Japan detected debris from the first Russian nuclear test.
By the end of June 1971, 13 detection techniques were being actively pursued by USAEDS: Seismic(B), Debris Collection (C), Whole Air Sampling (D), Geophysical Diagnostics (F), Magnetic (H), Acoustic (I), Debris Analysis (L), Hydroacoustic ( 0 ), Electromagnetic Pulse (Q), Vela Satellite system (T), Very Low Frequency Phase (U), High Frequency Radio (W), and Atmospheric Fluorescence (2).
AFTAC was activated in 1973, assuming control of the USAEDS mission.
Read more about this topic: Air Force Technical Applications Center
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