Receiving the Defense Secretary's approval on 21 July, the Air Force directed the Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction.

Gettysburg Air Force Station was activated on 1 January 1956 with the assignment of the 903d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron.

As a GCI station, the squadron's role was to guide interceptor aircraft toward unidentified intruders picked up on the unit's radar scopes.

During 1960 Gettysburg AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, initially feeding data to DC-11 at Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency