Final • Inventory and Evaluation of Cold War Era Historical Resources Moffett Federal Airfield Moffett Field, California NASA Crows Landing Flight Facility Crows Landing, California Prepared by Alexandra C. Cole March 1999 -~ -=- ------ Science Appl/cations ~~~ InternationalCorporation • - ... ~ An Employee-OwnedCompany 816 State Street, Suite 500 • Santa Barbara, CA 93101 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................ iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.1 PURPOSE ................................................................................................................................ 2 1.2 LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS .......................................................................................2 1.2.1 Section 106 Requirements ........................................................................................ 2 1.2.2 Cold War Building and Structure Requirements .................................................3 1.3 LOCATION OF PROJECT AREA ...................................................................................... .4 2.0 BACKGROUND RESEARCH AND METHODS ..................................................................... 9 2.1 BACKGROUND RESEARCH .............................................................................................. 9 2.2 METHODS .............................................................................................................................. 9 2.2.1 Research Objectives .................................................................................................. 9 2.2.2 Archival Research ..................................................................................................... 9 2.2.3 Field Inventory ........................................................................................................ 10 2.2.4 National Register Criteria ...................................................................................... 10 3.0 HISTORIC CONTEXT ............................................................................................................... ..13 3.1 EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY ..................................................................................... 13 3.2 WORLD WAR II ERA ......................................................................................................... 14 3.2 COLD WAR ERA (1946-1989)........................................................................................... 15 3.2.1 General History of the Cold War ......................................................................... 15 3.2.2 History of the Navy in the Cold War .................................................................. 17 3.2.3. History of Moffett Field in the Cold War Era (1946-1989) ................................19 4.0 CONCLUSIONS ........................................................................................................................... 36 5.0 SUMMARY AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................... 41 5.1 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................... 44 5.2 MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................................... 44 6.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................ 45 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... 51 APPENDIX DRP 523 Forms for Moffett Federal Airfield and NASA Crows Landing Flight Facility -- LIST OF FIGURES 1-1 Project Location Moffett Federal Airfield ......................................................................5 ... 1-2 Moffett Federal Airfield Buildings and Structures ..........................................................6 1-3 Project Location NASA Crows Landing Flight Facility ...................................................7 1-4 NASA Crows Landing Flight Facility Buildings and Structures ....................................8 3-1 P-3 Orion Antisubmarine Warfare System ......................................................................23 3-2 P-3 Orion from VP-91 Making a Pass over Surfaced Submarine .................................29 3-3 P-3 Orion Aircraft Dropping a Sonobuoy .....................................................................30... LIST OFT ABLES 4-1 Cold War Era Buildings at Moffett Federal Airfield ......................................................37 4-2 Cold War Era Buildings at NASA Crows Landing Flight Facility ...............................40 4-3 Buildings at Moffett Field Associated with the Cold War Era P-3 Orion Nlission ................................................................................................................ 41 ,... ii ACRONYMS AIMD advanced intermediate maintenance depot ASW anti-submarine warfare AUW advanced underwater weapon CANG California Air National Guard DIFAR Directional Frequency and Ranging Direction of recorded sound DoD Department of Defense ECM electronic countermeasure ESM electronic surveillance measure GIUK Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom ITTA heavier-than-air IFF Identification Friend or Foe LTA lighter-than-air MAD magnetic anomaly detector MFA Moffett Federal Airfield NAS Naval Air Station NASA National Aeronautical and Space Administration NATC Naval Air Training Center NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATS Naval Air Transport Service NHPA National Historic Preservation Act NRHP National Register of Historic Places SHPO State Historic Preservation Office SAIC Science Applications International Corporation SLBM submarine-launched ballistic missile sosus sound surveillance system SPA SOSUS probability area TACAN tactical air navigation TACCO tactical coordinator WST weapons systems training - Cover:Shadow of P-3 Orion Aircraft over a Victor Class Soviet Submarine. U.S. Navy Photograph iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A cultural resources survey was conducted at Moffett Federal Airfield (MFA), Moffett Field, California and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Crows Landing Flight Facility (formerly Naval Auxiliary Landing Field), Crows Landing, California, for NASA at Moffett Field. The purpose of the survey was to identify and evaluate all cultural resources within the MFA and NASA Crows Landing boundaries constructed between 1945 and 1989 for their Cold War significance. The survey consisted of an analysis of MFA and NASA Crows Landing's role in the Cold War, an architectural inventory of all buildings constructed during that period, and an evaluation of them to determine if they met the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) criteria of exceptionalsignificance used when assessing resources that are less than 50 years old (36 CFR 60.4, Criterion G). Of the 148 buildings and structures formally evaluated, none were considered eligible for listing on the NRHP. Twenty of these buildings were used specifically to support the P-3 Orion anti-submarine warfare (ASW) mission at MFA. Although this mission was considered of ,,... exceptionalnational significance within the Cold War context, the buildings themselves do not exhibit special architectural or engineering features that would give them exceptional significance as representatives of the Cold War P-3 mission. The remaining 128 buildings and structures are considered support buildings found at any installation and therefore are not considered significant. After the California State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has concurred with the results of the survey, the Section 106 process is complete. 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION This report presents the background, goals, methods and results of an architectural survey of Cold War resources conducted at MFA and NASA Crows Landing Flight Facility. In support of this survey, NASA contracted with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) to prepare a cultural resources investigation to fulfill the identification requirements under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA). The architectural survey was conducted from February to April 1998, and consisted of the examination and evaluation of 148 Cold War-era (1946-1989) potentially significant historical resources within the MF A and NASA Crows Landing boundaries. 1.1 PURPOSE The primary goal of this survey was to determine the significance of Cold War-era facilities at MFA and NASA Crows Landing to assess potential effects of the long-term goals and objectives of NASA. These goals and objectives include the possible future renovation and/ or demolition of a selected number of the surveyed buildings. Recommendations regarding NRHP eligibility have been developed to allow NASA to submit a formal declaration of significance to the SHPO for review and concurrence to fulfill NASA's requirements under Section 106 of the NHPA. 1.2 LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENTS Numerous laws and regulations require federal agencies to consider the effects of a proposed project on cultural resources. These laws and regulations stipulate a process for compliance, define the responsibilities of the federal agency proposing the