Lookout Mountain Air Force Station (LMAFS) is a Formerly Used Defense Site which today is a private residence of actor Jared Leto in the neighborhood of Lookout Mountain, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California. The USAF military installation produced motion pictures and still photographs for the United States Department of Defense and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) from 1947 to 1969.
The facility was built on in 1941 as a World War II air defense center to coordinate radar installations in the Los Angeles area. When the studio was established in 1947, its purpose was kept secret. The studio consisted of one large sound stage, a film laboratory, two screening rooms, four editing rooms, an animation and still photo department, sound mixing studio, and numerous climate-controlled film vaults. Using the latest equipment, the studio could process both 35mm and 16mm color motion picture film as well as black and white and color still photographs. It was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument number 1098 in 2015.
History 1947–1960 Beginning with Trinity, the first nuclear test in 1945, there was a need to document nuclear testing with still and motion picture photography. The film was needed for the study and understanding of the behavior of nuclear weapons. In 1946, in support of Operation Crossroads, the first atomic bomb test in the Pacific, the joint task force conducting the test had assembled a provisional photographic unit of still and motion picture photographers to document the test. Most of these photographers were part of a small detachment of the First Motion Picture Unit from Long Island, New York.
The 1st Motion Picture Unit ran from 1942–1945. A new 1st Motion Picture Unit was opened in Astoria, Queens, in 1947 with a detachment in Los Angeles. This would later be redesignated as the 4201st Motion Picture Squadron before closing in 1949. The Los Angeles detachment would then become the 4881st Motion Picture Unit under the Air Proving Ground.
After Operation Crossroads, it was determined that a permanent photographic unit, providing specialized photography and sound recording, should be established, trained and equipped to obtain scientific, technical and documentary photography of atomic bomb tests. Brigadier General P. T. Cullen, who had commanded the Air Photo Unit on Operation Crossroads, was directed to find a site in the Los Angeles area suitable for the accomplishment of motion picture documentation of Joint Task Force 7 (JTF-7), Operation Sandstone.
After an extensive survey of the Los Angeles area, the General chose the Air Force facility at 8935 Wonderland Avenue. The facility had been constructed on of land in 1943 at a cost of $132,000 to house the Los Angeles Flight Control Center. After World War II, the Los Angeles Flight Control Center was closed and the grounds and building declared surplus to the needs of the Air Force. In the fall of 1947 the 1352d Motion Picture Squadron was activated at Lookout Mountain.
In January 1948, the building was acquired from the War Assets Administration by the Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission for the Lookout Mountain Laboratory for use in support of JTF-7. Extensive remodeling commenced by the Los Angeles Office of the Army Corps of Engineers and was paid for by the AEC. One major modification was to install five individual fireproof vaults with a storage capacity of of 35mm film. Office equipment came from Air Force supply at San Bernardino, California, and technical equipment, in excess of $500,000, was obtained from the First Motion Picture Unit in New York and various Air Force photographic units.
During the period when Lookout Mountain Laboratory was used in support of JTF-7, it was under the command of the Second Air Division, which was commanded by General Cullen of the Strategic Air Command. Personnel consisted of 8 officers from the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine Corps. Civilian photographers with Top Secret clearances were supplied by the Air Materiel Command and the Strategic Air Command on a Temporary duty assignment (TDY) basis, their salaries paid jointly by the AEC and the Air Force.
In the fall of 1949, Lt. General Curtis LeMay decided that the production of motion pictures was not a proper function of the Strategic Air Command. Lookout Mountain Laboratory and all its staff, were transferred to the Air Proving Ground under the command of Lt. General William Ellsworth Kepner.
In December 1949, Lookout Mountain Laboratory and the 4881st Motion Picture Squadron were assigned the responsibility for accomplishing all documentary photography for Joint Task Force 3, Operation Greenhouse. This was the first time that a photographic unit, specifically staffed and equipped for documentation of an atomic weapons test, existed during the planning stages of such test. As a result, it was possible to pre-plan the photography.
In June 1950, the United States Atomic Energy Commission, later the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), made funds available for further construction at Lookout Mountain Laboratory. Between June 1950 and January 1, 1953, a new building covering approximately was constructed, new motion picture processing equipment installed, more humidity controlled film vaults built, editing and screening rooms updated, a new still processing lab built and a sound stage added to the multistory building, much of which was underground having been built down into the mountain. It was agreed that the AEC would have the privilege of storing all existing AEC film pertaining to atomic weapons tests and development programs at Lookout Mountain free-of-charge. A final 1955 addition to the facility would establish new security, offices, and film processing and storage facilities. The new Lookout Mountain Lab facility had an estimated value of $1,500,000.
1352nd Motion Picture Squadron
On April 1, 1951 the Air Force established the Air Pictorial Service (APS) with the primary photo unit being the 4881st Motion Picture Squadron. All photography of atomic bomb tests was quickly transferred from the Air Proving Ground to the Air Pictorial Service which was under the command of Military Air Transport Service (MATS).
On April 16, 1952, the Air Pictorial Service was redesignated the Air Photographic and Charting Service (APCS). APCS was responsible for mapping the world and providing accurate aerial charts to military aviators of wherever they needed. It also produced all Air Force training films, public information films and monthly newsreels. On April 28, 1952, the 4881st Motion Picture Squadron at Lookout Mountain was redesignated the 1352nd Motion Picture Squadron, effective on May 1, 1952.
The mission of the newly formed 1352nd Motion Picture Squadron was: "...to provide in-service production of classified motion pictures and still photographs for the Department of the Air Force in support of the Atomic Energy program and to provide such additional production of motion picture and still photography as directed by the Commanding General, Air Pictorial Service." The 1352nd Squadron contrasted with other APCS units in that it participated much more in "joint" defense activities, particularly joint Atomic Energy Commission and Department of Defense nuclear operations. It was the only film unit in DoD to be attached to this activity, calling for more secrecy than other but allowing for relative independence from the APCS.
In the early 1950s Lookout Mountain was firmly established in reputation and practices. New projects were consistent, with films such as the influential "Operation Ivy" (1954) on the 1952 test and 42 additional film projects in 1954. In 1956, Lookout Mountain official reports described the 1352nd Squadron working again with missiles in collaboration with the Western Development Division of the Air Force's Air Research and Development Command. In the fall of that year, a studio crew was sent to film the United States Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration squadron, leading to the development of the M-45 Camera mount. This technology helped earn the studio an Academy Award nomination.
As the studio continued to expand, its importance to military operations continued to solidify. The Lookout Mountain crew helped to identify equipment failures with their footage for Douglas Aircraft Company and their 1957 Thor 101 missile. This would lead to a successful Thor missile launch in 1958.
1958–1969
In March 1958, Lookout Mountain Laboratory was redesignated Lookout Mountain Air Force Station.
On July 1, 1960, the 1352d Motion Picture Squadron was re-designated as the 1352d Photographic Group with headquarters at Lookout Mountain Air Force Station (LMAFS), 8935 Wonderland Avenue in Los Angeles. The offices of the Commander, Executive, Administrative, Comptroller, Manpower, Procurement, Base Supply, Civilian and Military Personnel, and Information Office were located at the "Annex" at 10850 Riverside Drive, Suite 208 of the North Hollywood Federal Building in North Hollywood.
In January 1966 the Military Air Transport Service became the Military Airlift Command (MAC) with headquarters at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The Air Photographic and Charting Service became the Aerospace Audio Visual Service (AAVS) with headquarters at the 1365th Photographic Group, Orlando, AFB, Florida.
In March 1967, the 1352nd Photographic Group was composed of two squadrons, four Detachments (Det) and two Operating Locations (O/L). The squadrons were the 1369th Photo Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA and the 600th Photo Sq, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Saigon, South Vietnam. The Detachments and Operating Locations were: Det. 2 1352d Colorado Springs, Colorado, Det. 3 1352d Hickham Air Force Base, Hawaii, Det. 4 1352d El Segundo, CA, Det. 7 1352d March Air Force Base, CA, O/L 1 1352d Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, O/L 1 Det. 3 Yamato, AS, Japan.
From 1960 to 1969, the 1352d Photo Group, Lookout Mountain Air Force Station, was responsible for all documentary photographic capabilities and the maintenance and operation of laboratories and production facilities in the western part of the United States (west of the Mississippi River), the Pacific and the Far East.
1966–1975
In 1966 the 1352 Photographic Group took on a new role, the documentation of the growing war in Vietnam. On February 8, 1966, Det. 5, 1352 Photographic Group at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam became the 600th Photo Squadron charged with the increased responsibility of all USAF photographic services in Southeast Asia except reconnaissance photography. This responsibility grew over the years to include combat documentation, automatic gun-camera and high-speed pod and blister photography of ordnance deliveries, still photography, and photographic support of the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF).
Between 1966 and 1976, the 600th Photo Squadron lost 11 combat cameramen killed-in-action. Four were killed in 1968 at the height of U.S. combat operations in Vietnam.
Deactivation In mid-1969, the 1352d Photographic Group, AAVS Headquarters, and the 1360th Photographic Squadron all relocated to Norton Air Force Base, which became the Air Force’s film depository holding over 100 million feet of 16mm and 35mm film..LENSMAN – October 1969 – Official newspaper of the Aerospace Audio Visual Service.
Private use The facility was decommissioned and sold.