In 1951 the United States Air Force Air Defense Command selected a portion of the then-closed World War II NAS Hutchinson facility as a site for one of twenty-eight radar stations built as part of the second segment of the permanent ADC general radar surveillance network for the United States.

On 1 May 1951, the 793d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (AC&W Sq) was activated at Hutchinson Air Force Station (AFS) (P-47), the radar site on the facility.

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

By late 1959, Hutchinson AFS was performing air traffic control duties for the Federal Aviation Administration.

In addition to the main facility, Hutchinson operated two AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler sites: The 793rd Radar Squadron was inactivated on 8 September 1968, primarily due to budget reductions.