Receiving the Defense Secretary's approval on July 21, the Air Force exercised a right of return to the former World War II airfield and directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with construction.

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

It also formed a number of new Aircraft Control and Warning Squadrons which it deployed to newly built radar sites in its assigned area.

On 1 January 1960, the Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector (OCADS) was established, however it remained a manual ADS, with no SAGE blockhouse being constructed.

In 1963 the station became a joint-use facility with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with Oklahoma City AFS using AN/FPS-67 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars.

The FAA continues to operate the AN/FPS-67B search radar today as part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS).