One of the many lessons learned during the Second World War was that territory besieged or threatened by an enemy simply had to have some kind of attack warning system operating around the clock. In times of tension, a country must have a way of telling whos coming and from where. The war may have ended in 1945 but the Allies vowed never to let their guard down and be as military-naked as they were in the thirties. As a bi-national Canada-US composite of government bureaucrats, the Permanent Joint Board of Defence made several suggestions for the defence of the North American continent, one of which was the creation of a long string of radar stations along the 50th parallel that could pick up enemy bombers coming in from the north. The PJBDs recommendation was accepted by both Ottawa and Washington and by the early 1950s, construction commenced on this massive undertaking.
The new Pinetree radar network saw stations erected at every 200 miles from coast to coast. One of these was at Senneterre. This new base scanned the skies night and day around a 360-degree radius for intruders and when bogeys were detected, base personnel vectored interceptors towards them. Initially known by the deceptive title No. 208 RCAF Radio Station, the operating unit was soon re-named a more functionally-representative 34 Aircraft Control and Warning Unit (later, Squadron) and the base itself, RCAF Station Senneterre. Construction took approximately two years and on 1 June 1953, 34 AC&W Squadron became fully operational.
The radar equipment at Senneterre was of the same type seen at most other Pinetree sites. Thirty-four Squadron began its life with the standard FPS-3 Search Radar and two ISG-98 Height Finders, one for back-up. The minimum requirement for the FPS-3 was for a 200-mile radius of coverage but on some days, this was exceeded by far. The ISG-98s were only installed as a stop-gap measure until new height-finders came off the assembly line; all were replaced with FPS-6s and TPS-501s in the mid-1950s, Senneterre included. The 3 was modified late in 1959 to become an FPS-20A and this, in turn, was replaced with an FPS-508 a few years later. As a credit to the technicians who maintained them, the 508s remained in use until the Pinetree lines closure 25 years later.
As with every other radar station, operators at Senneterre scanned their scopes by shifts 24-hours a day. Once a target was detected, an Identification-Friend-or-Foe instrument sent out a code to the aircraft as an identification query. All North American and some European planes were equipped with transponders which sent out a recognition signal when queried by the IFF. The aircrafts response signal was translated by the stations decoder and displayed on the operators main console as a set of small bars under the radar track. One bar meant a civilian aircraft, two-military, three-military aircraft with VIPs and four-if there was an emergency. After the IFF was replaced with the UPX-14 Selective Identification Feature, the bar system was changed to two and four digit numerical codes. If the operator received no answer from his target, records and flight plans would be searched and if this did not suffice, interceptors were scrambled for a visual check.
In addition to changes in aircraft recognition technology, several more changes took place at RCAF Station Senneterre. In the fall of 1963, efficiency of radar operations was increased through automation. Relaying vectoring data by phone to other stations and by radio to nearby aircraft was simply too slow for the jet age and too prone to mistakes. Intruder data was now relayed to friendly interceptors through a Time Division Data Link by an FST-2 computer via a new remote Ground-Air Transmit/Receive site north of the base within seconds. The new process, known as SAGE, caused the operating unit to be re-designated 34 Radar Squadron. Yet another change was created by unification four years later whence all radar stations were re-named Canadian Forces Stations.
Yet bigger changes loomed at CFS Senneterre. In December 1968, the base was chosen as a Back-Up Interceptor Control (BUIC) site for the 22nd NORAD Region. BUICs were designated to control fighters in a given sector if the main regional air defence computer at CFB North Bay was ever disabled. Air defence data from North Bay and from all Pinetree sites in the western half of the 22nd Region was continuously fed to Senneterres new AN/GYK-19 computer giving it the capability to call the shots in the area during war-time. Furthermore, Senneterre also became an Alternate Command Post (ALCOP) for North Bay around the same time. As with BUICs, these posts were also alternate control centres but with the added capability of taking over all C31 functions. This would have made the base commander directly answerable to NORAD HQ at Colorado Springs and indeed, this was one of the reasons CFS Senneterre was run by a Lieutenant-Colonel instead of a Major. Including civilian support staff, the radar, BUIC and ALCOP roles gave the station the above-average base population of 317 in 1970.
In addition to its special BUIC and ALCOP roles, Senneterre was blessed with one more important designation. Every year, NORAD conducts efficiency tests at every North American radar installation. These tests involve sending aircraft at specific altitudes and on specific courses to gauge the effectiveness and efficiency of the operators and technicians. A station is scored on such things as how accurately it tracks the aircraft, how early a track is recorded and how much down-time it suffers over the rough course of a year. In 1976, CFS Senneterre had the honor of being the first Canadian radar station to win the NORAD Certificate of Achievement for excellence in operations and maintenance beating not only every other Canadian station but the American ones as well. To quote the award: The superior integration of maintenance and operations functions reflected exceptional esprit de corps, cooperation and devotion to duty. The certificate was a source of great pride for the base and its issuance led to promotions and a desire by other stations to request Senneterre personnel be transferred to them.
CFS Senneterre continued in its role of long-range radar site until 1988. A few years earlier, the Canadian and American governments undertook a study on the North American air defence infrastructure with a view towards modernization. With the passage of time, technology at Pinetree and DEW Line sites had become dated so after a lengthy review, the federal government decided to re-vamp the DEW Line and, given its high cost and questionable utility in the age of jet bombers and air-launched cruise missiles, to close Pinetree. Stations along the 50th parallel were shut down in three stages beginning in 1985 and on April Fools Day 1988, the power switch at CFS Senneterre was pulled down. With it went one more piece of the Cold War.
Whats happened to the station since? CFS Senneterre had the motto of Silens Exploro (Exploring in Silence) but when first visited by the author in the summer of 1988, it could very well have had the motto Silens Vivo (Living in Silence) since the base was a ghost town. It was put up for sale even before its closure and economically-speaking, it had a lot to offer since all of the houses and support buildings were in good condition. One guesses some use could have come from the half-dozen sandbagged machine gun posts left behind.
Some proposals from the private sector were received by the government but since governments at any level had first option, the station was sold to the town. The base, which cost $6 million to build in the 1950s, was sold for a paltry $1. The federal government got a better deal on the heavy equipment: $35,000. The station was officially disbanded on 31 July 1988 and the town took possession three weeks later.
When re-visited by the author in 1991, little had changed. Some of the married quarters were inhabited and the administration and support buildings were used by various concerns. The operations building had recently burnt and all radar towers on Mount Bell are apparently gone now. The base had been one of Senneterres key economic forces and if it wasnt for the railroad and logging, the town would have died. In a press release that announced the bases closure, the Commander of the Canadian NORAD Region thanked Senneterre by offering: a reluctant farewell. The civilians who worked on the stations have made an important contribution to our regional operations. The welcome and support given to our service people and their families by the local communities have made life at the radar stations much more pleasant and are sincerely appreciated.
-- Courtesy Paul Ozorak. Submitted in May 1998.