Today the site is part of the Joint Surveillance System (JSS), designated by NORAD as Western Air Defense Sector (WADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-34.

Point Arena AFS was one of twenty-eight stations built as part of the second segment of the Air Defense Command permanent radar network.

Receiving the Defense Secretary's approval on 21 July, the Air Force directed the 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.

In late 1960 Point Arena AFS joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system, feeding data to DC-18 at Beale AFB, California.

In August 1963, with the closure of the San Francisco Air Defense Sector, Point Arena was transferred to the SAGE Data Center (DC-13) at Adair AFS, Oregon.

In addition to the main facility, Point Arena operated an AN/FPS-14 Gap Filler site: Laytonville, CA (P-37A) 39°41′13″N 123°34′56″W / 39.68694°N 123.58222°W / 39.68694; -123.58222 (P-37A).

Over the years, the equipment at the station was upgraded or modified to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information gathered by the radars.