1 - AFRMA

AFRMA, Inc/Radomes’ Quarterly
Winter 2015
Volume IV, Issue 1
I just wanted to wish all our AFRMA and Radomes members, their families and friends a
very happy, safe Thanksgiving holiday.
In these unstable times, I feel that we all
need to reflect a bit on loved ones, and where
we've come from since the original Thanksgiving. Please say a prayer for our deployed
troops who cannot be with their loved ones
this week.
USAF photo
Many thanks, and thanks also for your continued support!
- Gene
And...
(Hey, some of y’all live in fairly remote locales, so this year we had to resort to
some extraordinary measures…)
And finally, from all of us at AFRMA/Radomes
central,
Kotzebue AFS/Radomes
1
Photo: Military Aviation Museum
Reunions and Coming Events
2018—693rd RADS, Dauphin Island AFS, AL. Long-lead
Constant Bearing
planning underway, for information or to contribute, contact David
Graves (251)861-8106 cell (251)391-8106 or djontheisland@gmail.com.
9-13 May 2016—VW-1 All Hands Alumni Reunion; gathering of the Willie Victors in
Branson, MO. For info, contact Ralph Link
(309)828-3244 or aewron1fe@gmail.com.
Search Mode
th
766
AC&WS/RADS, Caswell AFS, ME, 1961-1965—
Anyone interested in holding a reunion for those years, either in
Las Vegas or in the Limestone, ME, area, contact John Bialeck at
johnnybosox@aol.com.
19-21 May 2016—21st YAGR Reunion, at
the Radisson Hotel-Branson, 120 S Wildwood
Dr. Call (417)335-5767 or (888)566-5290,
when booking your room tell them you’re in
the YAGR group. For more info, contact Lee
Doyle (850)433-6930 or yagrs16@cox.net.
23-27 May 2016—Reunion of AEW&C,
Batcats, AWACs and Willy Victors, in
Reunions and Upcoming Events
Savannah, GA. Welcome buffet planned for
Tuesday evening with a banquet Thursday
night.
Contact
Kerry
Keehn
at
kikeehn@icloud.com or kikeehn@yahoo.com.
All
Reunions/Events:
Generally all previously
assigned or currently assigned military/civilian personnel
or members are invited. Check with appropriate contact
person (or visit their web site) concerning spouses/
dependents, latest updates and other details. Data is
subject to change without notice.
24-26 Jun 2016—All radar station veterans reunion, hosted by the 664th
AC&WS/RADS, Bellefontaine AFS, OH.
Open to radar station veterans worldwide,
spouses, family and friends. For information
contact
Robert
Walker
at
rwalker@ohiohipoint.com or Billy Stafford, wildbill@columbus.rr.com
(937)592-2306.
All Units Not Listed—check with these on-line sources:
www.radomes.org
www.military.com/Resources/ReunionList/
http://www.trea.org/US-Air-Force.html
http://www.hqafsa.org/reunions.html
www.legion.org/reunions/airforce
www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/upcoming/militaryreunions.aspx
www.realwarphotos.com/reunions_-_air_force
18-22 Sept 2016—623rd AC&WS, Naha AB, Okinawa plus
dets, at the National Museum of the US Air Force, Wright Field,
Dayton, OH. Details to follow, in the meantime call up the FaceBook
page
at
https://www.facebook.com/
OkinawaRadarSquadrons/.
The 750th AC&WS activated at Edwards AFB on 27 November
1950, replacing Det 2, 669th A&CWS at Lashup site L-40. In
January 1952, the squadron moved to its
permanent location at site P-59, Atolia, California (designated Boron AFS on 1 December 1953). The 750th inactivated on 30 June
1975; save for the FAA’s FPS-67 facility, the
site passed to the Federal Bureau of Prisons
as the Boron Prison Camp. The prison
closed in August 1999 but, as indicated, the
FAA is still on a portion of the site.
AFRMA, Inc/Radomes, the Air Force Radar Museum Association, is a member-supported non-profit corporation.
Our mission is to preserve the history of the defense of North
America from enemy bomber or missile attack during the Cold
War period. Memberships are open to U.S. and Canadian
citizens, veterans and non-veterans alike.
In the mid-1960s, Boron AFS became a BUIC-II site. In 1969,
the FPS-35 was replaced by an AN/FPS-67 (on the same tower,
with a radome), still in use today by the FAA.
Headquarters: AFRMA, Inc/Radomes, 9976 Stoudertown Rd.,
Baltimore, OH 43105.
Newsletter: Echoes, 1225 Dunloe Rd, Manchester, MO 63021
In 1956, Air Defense Command and the Rand Corporation featured Boron in a training video, “The Story of the System Training
Program.” At the time of filming, the only radar there was an AN/
FPS-10 dual search and height-finder radar (a variant of the AN/
CPS-6B). A few years later, a pair of FPS-6, -6A height-finder
radars would be added, and the FPS-10 would be replaced by an
AN/FPS-20 search radar. Still later, an AN/FPS-35 FD search
radar would replaced the FPS-20 and an FPS-26 FD heightfinder would replace the FPS-6. The FPS-6A height-finder radar
would soon be upgraded to the FPS-90 variant.
Echoes is the official newsletter of the AFRMA, Inc. Entire
contents is copyrighted under U.S. law and all rights are
reserved. Echoes is published four times each calendar year
(Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall). Submissions for possible
publication (without monitory compensation) may sent to the
editor at the above address. Send electronic submissions to:
echoes@radomes.org. Echoes is grateful for all submissions.
Radomes founders: Gene McManus and Tom Page.
Editor: “Ranger Mark” Morgan
Boron AFS (P-59)
Masthead: Warren Carman.
©copyright 2016 AFRMA, Inc. All rights reserved.
What Site is This?
2
GOING TO PLAN “B”…
Museum and AFRMA web site is driven by programming code,
mostly PHP with Javascript and jQuery. If you know instinctively
what I'm talking about, and have some time that can be donated
to the task, I'd like to get your resumé. Once I see what you can
bring, we'll talk.
The AFRMA/NADRM board held a short meeting today (13 December) at Hi-Point prior to the 664th Christmas dinner to which
we were invited. Our main point of discussion was progress on
the museum and funding. I’m very excited to report that with a
fairly small change of plan, that we’re funded well enough to be
able to complete a revised “Phase I” of our NADRM implementation with current funding.
2. AFRMA membership manager and administrator. This requires someone who has an hour or so a day, not much time at
all, normally, to process AFRMA memberships, such as new
members, renewals, renewal reminders, etc. It also involves the
mailing of quarterly emails, etc. This one necessarily involves
handling some of AFRMA funds, depositing membership dues,
buying office supplies, paying for newsletter printing, postage,
etc. I'm not going to say that this individual must be bonded, but
we'll have to come up with some method of ensuring that our
funds are kept safe. No disrespect meant here to anybody, but
these funds belong to our members, and we have to respect that.
The FPS-26 tower structure, mainly the antenna support, has
been compromised to the point that it will be very expensive to
correct the current inadequacies to a point that will be safe to put
the AN/FPS-18 antenna on the roof. So, going to “Plan B” is primarily that of installing the FPS-18 antenna as a rotating display
very near the ground. It will be put on concrete supports several
feet off the ground, so as to be safe to visitors instead of on the
roof. This change in plan frees up enough money to be able to
get the first (ground ) floor enclosed, heated/cooled and will include an expansion of what is now the “mezzanine” into a usable
second floor which can be open to the public.
3. We need some younger folks who are simply interested in history and the little-known mission of the air defense of the North
American continent to ensure that we have ongoing continuity of
operations of our NADRM project. With two exceptions, those of
us involved in our everyday creation process are very rapidly
nearing the end of our involvement. We are getting way to close
to the "end of the tunnel".
We have put together a requirements paper to a local engineering
firm who will prepare the drawings for the tower improvements so
that the changes can pass all zoning and safety inspections. This
engineering spec should be released to the contractor this week.
If you are reading this, and able to do any of the functions above,
we want to hear from you. If a child or grandchild is able, we
want to hear from him/her. Successful applicants need not be a
U.S. Air Force or military veteran. We do need some specific skill
sets. An email to me at hq@afrmaonline.org will get things started.
We expect work to progress fairly rapidly, and we expect to be
into the tower as a museum in approximately 12-18 months.
Now having said that we’re adequately funded for now does not
mean that we won’t need donations and continuing and new support in the near future. This being a nonprofit venture, our only
means of support comes from donations and AFRMA/Radomes
memberships. If you’re able to help out, we welcome your support.
The AFRMA has no employees, so you can guess what the pay
for these skills might be. It's all volunteer work, and since we're a
501(c)(3) foundation, time spent using these skills in the behalf of
AFRMA can be deducted from your Federal and State (and perhaps local) taxes. See your tax consultant to be sure, but I think
that maybe 100 hours of skilled programmer time at $50/hour
would net one a $5000 deduction. Just sayin'. There are likely
some financial rewards available for helping us.
Thanks for sticking with us. As we move along, I’ll continue to
post progress messages. Here’s hoping they’re all a positive as
this was. Many thanks to the 664th folks for having us in this afternoon. It was a delightful dinner, with good conversation. Oh, and
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!
Gene..
Thanks very much for your considerations. Hoping to hear from a
few of you or yours.
IT'S A FACT OF LIFE
Gene
AFRMA Hq.
We're all getting older, most of us very rapidly. I'd guess
(completely unscientifically) that most of us in the Radomes, AFRMA and NADRM interest groups or members are into or over our
70s. Our time left is pretty short. Me, I'm very thankful that I've
made it to 76, and still am in fairly good (if pretty patched in spots)
health.
Missing eMail Addresses
We have a boatload of bad or missing email addresses in our
member database. If you haven't received an email from
hq@afrmaonline.org in a few months, please email Gene at
hq@afrmaonline.org so he can update member records. Please
don’t forget, make sure to include your name in the email so he
can find and fix you record.
The gist of this is that if we are ever to see the actual finish of our
National Air Defense Radar Museum, or if the Radomes/AFRMA
Online Museum is to continue to exist, we (I) am going to need
someone who I can get into the several roles I have in the project.
So call this a "Help Wanted" ad. Youth is needed. I consider
"youth" to be anybody under 60 with the skills, desires and time to
eventually take over these functions. If you don't have these requirements, maybe you know somebody who does, like a child or
grandchild.
Jobs I need to get passed on/backed up on:
1. Most difficult, IMO. I need to find a web programmer who has
skills in web application development. This is far beyond simple
web site page development. The page you see on the Online
3
Etc...
1200 – 10th Radio Relay lost outside antenna.
Ed note: This end-of-year issue of Echoes is something of a
“pigs and chickens” edition, ie, we have a fair amount of material
piling up here and figured to clear out some of it in one issue.
1600 – Equipment in tower started to vibrate.
1610 – Window in radome blew out and was replaced
We’ll start with some of the Alaskan-specific info that didn’t
make it into the last two issues as part of the ongoing “Air Defense 101” series; we’ll resume AD-101 in the spring with a look
at Northeast Air Command in Newfoundland and Labrador, followed by the Texas Towers and then a review of the 1957-1958
Defense budget cuts and their impact on Air Defense Command.
1615 – Rotation was stopped
1630 – Main doors started to blow in. All loose equipment was moved to one side.
1745 – Wall section behind latrine started to pull out.
Screws were torn from walls and were impossible to
replace. The wall section finally blew away.
BTW, “pigs and chickens?” The editor made a
flight in a DC-10 from Hickam AFB to Agana, Guam,
back in 1985 or thereabouts,
via
Continental/
Garuda/Air Micronesia. The
purpose for the Guam trip
was to conduct some train- Photo: Rarepostcard.com
ing for Navy personnel assigned to the fleet units at Naval Station Agana, although the
training actually took place at Andersen AFB (very interesting
base).
1749 – Furnace and stove were shut off.
1800 – Base of two wall sections upstairs were torn
loose. Screws remaining were tightened in an effort to
keep them intact.
1815 – Window in radome blew out again. The pressure dropped five pounds. The window had to be
taped in place.
1830 – Two more wall sections behind the latrine blew
away. The wind started stripping tin sheets off the
tramway like paper.
Besides being a very long flight, it seemed like the plane had
everyone and everything crammed into it: military, dependents,
small kids, supplies, food, equipment, etc…and maybe it was
fatigue, but I could’ve sworn I heard pigs and chickens (and for all
knew, goats) down in the hold. Quite an experience.
1840 – VHF and UHF equipment were turned off.
1845 – High voltage was shut off.
1900 – Wall with torn base was still holding. All the
quilts were brought down stairs in the event that evacuation to the cellar might be necessary.
Anyway, away we go.
1945 – Another section was lost downstairs.
Life in the Last Frontier
2015 – Wall section extending from the top of the first
floor to the bottom of the second floor was blown away.
So what were the tours like at the Alaskan Air Command aircraft
control and warning installations? According to a declassified 11 th
Air Division (Ladd AFB) history dating from 1954, the crews at the
remote sites had a time of it. The following concerns the 710 th
AC&WS at Cape Prince of Wales/Tin City AFS:
2035 – Bottom half of the third wall section on the first
floor was blown away.
2100 – Nine wall sections that were getting loose upstairs were tightened
The tramway became inoperative
during the first part of November
1953 and was expected to be out
for an indefinite period of time.
Personnel stationed “on the hill”
had enough foresight to attain sufficient fuel to last through the winter
months. Their request for food was
denied, however, because cargo
use of the tram was anticipated
during the winter. As a result, in
January, the hilltop ran short of food supplies. Their only
means of replenishing them was by manual carrying with
packs.
2220 – Screws in wall sections upstairs were tightened
again. The wall seemed to be holding well
0015/15 March 1954 – Next section of wall to the right
of the latrine started tearing loose. The screws were
all stripped and could not be tightened. The suction
caused the main doors to be pushed in badly.
0130 – Bad sections of the wall seemed to be holding
very well. Radome was checked to see whether operation could be resumed. It was still dimpling severely.
0655 – Winds subsided somewhat and operation was
resumed.
Wait,
it Breezy day at Tin City...
wasn’t over
yet…while
conducting
preventative
maintenance
on the 29th,
personnel
discovered a
tremendous
amount
of
pressure on
the interlock
On the 13th of March 1954, high winds were felt with the
result that the radar became inoperative. The list of
events are listed chronologically.
0053 – Rotation stopped due to very high winds. Walls
of radome were pushed in to within six to twelve inches
of the antenna.
0615 – Snow started drifting through walls behind
maintenance bench.
0630 – Wind subsided slightly. Rotation was continued.
4
Photo/Radomes
Bob Moore served at Tin City with the 710th:
door prevented access to the radome. Upon visual check it was
discovered that the radome had split along the seam from the
very top to within four feet of the bottom. All available maintenance personnel were notified and loose equipment was removed. The radome collapsed within minutes. Immediate action
was taken to lower the antenna to protect it from possible high
winds. Waveguides and feedhorn assemblies were removed.
The azimuth drive motor and the antenna pedestal were protected with comforters tied in place. The new radome was part way
up the hill but could not be taken any further until the road was
removed of snow.
There was little or no recreation…unless you want to
consider movies where Joan Crawford was a teenager.
We were shown that two or three times a week until
weather permitted the landing of an airplane with a new
film. There were no bowling alleys, no television, Armed
Forces Network radio was sent to us via microwave, which
at best was received over a lot of static.
Our days consisted of getting up, going to work, getting
off, going to the bar, drinking ourselves silly, going to bed
and getting up the next day and doing it all over again. I
can remember card games which never ended, just
changed players as one got tired or had to go on shift.
One spent many hours just walking the hallways and trying
to overcome the boredom while listening to the wind howling outside and what seemed the never-ending night.
In early April, 710th personnel used a tractor to haul the radome
to the top over the recently cleared road. Once at the tower, they
rigged a frame and the winch (Note: the report used the word
“wench;” interesting imagery if you think about it) to physically
haul the radome over 15 feet of snow to the weapons floor. They
managed to get the radome seated on 5 April.
Maybe I am a little bitter at what those who after had
which we did not, but, we endured and made it through. I
feel those guys who served on remote AC&W sites in the
early years paved the way for those who came later.
Same period, the 11th reported the following to Headquarters,
Alaskan Air Command, concerning a certain situation with the
708th AC&WS Indian Mountain AFS:
…unsanitary conditions were much in evidence at the
top camp at this outlying station. This was due primary to
the scarcity of water. First of all, due to improper assembly, wooden stave storage tanks for water could not be
used. Water was obtained by melting snow by diesel power units. Unfortunately, the wind had blown the diesel exhaust fumes over such a wide-spread area that the snow
was completely permeated with the odor of diesel oil. The
only other beverages available other than oily water was
beer (Ed note: and that’s a problem?)
and coffee. No provisions existed for
personal cleanliness.
Personnel
were forced to individually melt snow,
using helmets as wash basins.
Housing was grossly overcrowded
and inadequate. Proper heating of
the buildings was impossible during
windy weather as the oil-fired space
heaters were constant fire hazards.
Most Remote Site?
Some years back, members of the USAF Radar Station Veterans Group got in a rather entertaining debate on which of the
AC&W installations truly qualified as a remote site. Here are
some of the results:
Sounds like Yaak would take the honors, but those of us who
did Cut Bank back in the ‘50s would think we were. We had 30
miles of dirt road to 10 miles of “paved” road into town. When it
rained the dirt road turned into gumbo and it was more than once
when people had to have their vehicles pulled out; when dry, they
left horrible ruts. Our support base was Great Falls, Montana,
which was about 160 miles away. Those of us who serviced the
gap-filler radars drove 18 miles cross-country in the summer and
80 miles around in winter to Babb (Browning) and about 50 to
Sweetgrass—Joe Sargent
The division requested – and hopefully, received – funding for a Butler building for vehicle warm storage, two Mk3 huts for housing, two other Mk3s for use as mess
hall and kitchen, a 2500-gallon bulk oil storage tank, central heating plant, additional water storage and other improvements.
I too would consider Yaak, Montana, as possibly the radar site
farthest from civilization. I was stationed there from May 1956
until June 1957. The radar site had 31 miles of gravel and stone
logging road to get to the nearest paved highway. Our mailing
address and the nearest grocery store were in Bonners Ferry,
Idaho, which I believe was 58 miles each way. Geiger Field was
the nearest base with a BX and commissary.
Joe Bonta did a tour at
Indian Mountain, known
by its tactical call sign of
“Utopia.” He pretty much
backs up the problems
described above:
In the winter you could not get to town with individual cars. The
wives would write up grocery lists and two airmen would take a
6x6 truck and travel to either Bonners Ferry or Geiger and buy
groceries for the families at the radar site. There was one business just outside the radar site that was known as “The Dirty
Shame.” It included a saloon, dance hall and barbers chair. The
sign over the bar stated, “Check Your Knives and Guns at the
Bar.”
Living
conditions
were hard at Utopia.
We had flooded barracks from broken
pipes from the minus
Indian Mountain. Photo/Radomes.
40-degree
weather.
There were times
when the weather kept us from going to bottom camp, let
alone Fairbanks. The only good thing was the food. But if
we did not get resupplied, we had to resort to C Rations.
When I arrived there as the communications officer, the only
communications with the outside world was a phone line that
went alongside of the logging road and would go out whenever
trees or ice would take down the lines...at the time I was there,
the population of Yaak was listed as 24. We suspected they may
have been counting the dogs to reach that number. The best you
could say about Yaak was that the hunting and fishing were excellent—Richard Miles
There was one incident where the outhouse blew over
and no one noticed until someone realized we were missing a man. A search was started and we saw that not only
a man was missing, so was the outhouse. When we
looked for the outhouse and found it we also found our
missing resident. We solved the problem by resetting the
facility and tying it down with steel cables.
(Continued on page 6)
5
Climbing Towers
Etc (Continued from page 5)
Anyone out there with a fear of heights?
I agree the Texas Towers were most likely the most isolated
CONUS assignment (not including Alaska). Another put forth by
one member is Santa Rosa Island, off the coast of California and
only accessible by boat. As for those on land, many candidates
have been put forth. Yaak and Havre, Montana, seem to be near
the top of the list as well as Angel’s Peak, Nevada, all with a 40mile drive to a town of any size and nary a gas station or watering
hole in between.
On my first assignment out of tech school I was sent to the
2875th GEEIA Squadron at Tachikawa, Japan. My first TDY was
just after I arrived in July 1965 and it was to Yoza Dake, Okinawa.
Our job was to remove an FPS-3 and install an FPS-20. Shortly
after I got to the site the team chief learned I was afraid of heights;
I did not even like to walk on the concrete catwalk around the tower.
There are many others, I’m sure, and one man’s definition of
civilization is different from the next…it was rare in earlier times
for most airmen to be able to afford a car, so wherever the Air
Force in its infinite wisdom decided to station you, the best was
made of it and hopefully the next assignment would be better—
Les Layton
Near the end of the installation I was given the task of installing
the UPX-14 OMNI antenna on the top of the inside of the rigid
radome. An extension ladder was strapped to the back of the
radar sail; I climbed it and installed the antenna and the semi-rigid
coax that followed down the inside of the radome. I was never so
scared as I was then.
Later, I spent nine months at NKP, Thailand, and one of the
MPS-11s we had was on a Subic tower extension. I did not like
climbing the tower or working on the antenna. The worst part was
having to change the light bulbs on top of the antenna.
As I remember, Havre AFS was 32 miles from Havre and at
3290-feet elevation. The road from Havre was paved to the gate
and still is, in the same condition now. The population of Havre
was 10,000 and was just a little less in 2007.
To this day I do not like heights—CMSgt Ray Buda
Regarding Murphy Dome, it was somewhere around 27 miles
from Fairbanks and was somewhere around 2970-ft elevation.
Duty at the Dome may have been amongst the best (for a site) in
Alaska. We could go to Fairbanks pretty much at will, but were
required to check in/out at the orderly room and the USO, and
carry Arctic gear with us from October through April—Hank B
I too, was afraid of heights. Still am. But being stationed at
Cape Charles AFS, VA in 1959-1960, I got over my fear of
heights, somewhat.
We had four temperate towers on the site. Our search radar
was the AN/FPS-3 and a AN/FPS-8 back-up and there were two
AN/FPS-6 height finders. All were on 100-foot temperate towers.
Four-legged steel towers. We had to make our tower checks on
all radars each shift...rain or shine. So that meant we climbed
those towers by a steel ladder up the side of them at least 12
times a day. Of course there was always something that went
wrong a few other times a day, so that meant another trip.
My vote for the farthest radar site from civilization would be the
670th on San Clemente Island, off the California coast. I don’t
recall the exact distance, but it was at least 70 miles and nothing
but water in between. I was stationed there from November 1953
‘til June 1957. Once a month we got to take an LSM to San Pedro for a few days—Ernie Bickford
As you may remember, the FPS-3 had a lot of the components
hanging on the antenna frame.
The FPS-6 had its
components in a 10x10 steel box at the top of the towers. All the
spare parts would have to be hoisted up by hand and a bucket on
a rope. We did have a safety belt that we wore while climbing the
towers, but once you were on the platform, you watched very
carefully where you stepped.
The distance didn’t matter...if you were an A/3C or A/2C during
the ‘50s and ‘60s, you probably didn’t have a car. Town might as
well be 200 miles away. As a new airman at Lockport, New York,
I might as well have ben at Sparrevohn, Alaska. Rarely got to go
to town.
Once, a rocker arm come loose on one of the FPS-6 and tore a
big hole in the antenna. Luckily it was decided the repair was too
big a job for the maintenance personnel on site, and GEEIA was
contacted to do the repair. Didn't hurt my feelings one iota.
Good thing the NCO Cub and Airman's Club were together. I
joined the “Flamers Club” like an idiot. Did 13 flaming shots and
spent the night with the big white eye, never again!—Phil H
Cape Charles AFS sets at about 12 feet in elevation, which was
the reason for such tall towers. Being so low in elevation and
close to the water, made for a lot of mist and usually damp weather. The steel rungs on the ladder, the steel flooring of the towers
were usually damp which made the footing unstable. I finally got
used to climbing them and working 100 feet in the air without a
net, but never did like the feeling. I finally was assigned to the
gap fillers section, where the towers were only 75 feet tall and had
a stairway and not a vertical ladder. Also, all the equipment was
in a building on the ground. Made daily checks and PM's a lot
easier and safer.
Fortuna AFS, North Dakota, was not the farthest in miles, but
think of this: 3 miles to a village of 150 folks, 10 miles to one of
300 folks, 25 miles to a town of 3000, 35 to another of 2000, 65
miles to one of 10,000 and to get to one larger, it was 120 into
Canada or 160 to Minot, pop 30,000. In the US, the nearest big
city was either Minneapolis or Denver, maybe 500 to 600 miles Rick Asscherick.
I've never really gotten over my fear of heights. Don't like especially tall buildings or even flying. Ladders, I still hate 'em. My
motto is, I'll climb a ladder, doesn't matter how tall, as long as I
keep one foot on the ground—Larry Whitten
Since I was never stationed there, I am not really sure of the
distances, but everyone I knew who had been there always talked
about Mount Lemmon AFS. “You can see the lights but you can’t
get there.” I have been to Tucson many times and you can see
Mount Lemmon, but from what I have been told, it was about a 50
mile drive to the top—Wally Weidner
6
Site Updates
Saratoga Springs AFS, NY
Between the 1930s and 1970s, billions of dollars
were spent to build early-warning systems—often in
the most remote parts of the world. But by the late
1980s, most of these sites had been abruptly shuttered—made increasingly obsoleted by the emergence of satellite communications. Yet the hulking
shells, discs and towers often still remain.
th
Veterans of the 656 Radar Squadron, Saratoga Springs, New
York, met on the 22nd of September to dedicate a historical marker identifying the site at the end of Radar Road in the town of
Stillwater. John Tianen of Tucson, Arizona, led the effort to commemorate the location of the radar site, which was active from
1952 to 1977. Donations from the 656th veterans and friends
funded the marker.
The American sites/systems mentioned include the SCR-270;
PAVE PAWS; the NSA’s Teufelsberg site, Berlin; the White Alice
Communications System; and the DEW Line’s DYE-2 station
(although Radomes historian Tom Page noted the photo with the
DYE-2 article actually depicted DYE-4) The international sites
include the 1930s-era acoustic mirrors of southern England; RAF
Steingot, England, one of the original Chain Home stations; and a
Soviet early warning site near Chernobyl.
Nearly 90 gathered at the Holiday Inn for the initial dedication
ceremony, followed by a prime rib buffet dinner (no one left hungry). The following morning, the 656th veterans placed the
marked on its pole at the site.
Montana Sites
Each comes with a short description/commentary, along with
some outstanding photography. The PAVE PAWS write-up
states,
The Yahoo group site for Montana radar site veterans is back
up and operating following several problems with spanners which
led to the site’s shut-down.
The PAVE PAWS—aka Precision Acquisition Vehicle
Entry Phased Array Warning System—were built by
the United States Air Force in the late 1970s to track
missiles. What made it unique was its "phased array,"
in which the antenna is stationary while a distinctive
sloped face—composed of thousands of individual
mechanisms—is constantly readjusted to focus the
radar beam in a specific direction.
The late MSgt RH Beeson established the Montana group in
2010. It provided a forum/”recollections central” for veterans of
the 680th, Yaak AFS; 681st, Cut Bank AFS; 694th, Lewistown AFS;
716th, Kalispell AFS; 778th, Havre AFS; 779th, Opheim AFS; 801st,
Malmstrom AFB; 902nd, Miles City AFS; 903rd, Great Falls AFB;
24th Air Division; 28th Air Division; 29th Air Division; Great Falls Air
Defense Sector; and 4642nd Support Squadron (SAGE).
Please join us and enjoy the camaraderie! The site address is
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/
MontanaRadarStationVeterans/info, or check in via email at MontanaRadarStationVeterans@yahoogroups.com.
Though PAVE PAWS were originally built to detect
missiles, today they're also used to track satellites
and space trash that could potentially harm spacecraft. Most are now decommissioned, although there
are three still in use—on Cape Cod, at Beale Air
Force Base in California, and at Clear Air Force Base
in Alaska.
On the Road: Hebo, OR
You can check out the entire article at http://gizmodo.com/ 8abandoned-radar-stations-that-were-once-state-of-the1323041365.
Mount Hebo AFS (M-100/Z-100, 689th RADS and Det 2, 14th
Missile Warning Squadron) may be long gone but the Hebo Inn
still stands! Photo taken 12 October 2015.
Finland AFS/756th RADS Reunion
Veterans of the 756th Radar Squadron, Finland AFS, Minnesota
(P-69/Z-69) held a reunion the weekend of 11-12 July. In advance of the gathering, the Duluth News-Tribune ran an article
concerning the site and its personnel.
8 Abandoned Radar Stations That Were Once
State-of-the-Art
This online article by Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan actually hit
the internet in September 2013, but it’s making the rounds again.
The intro by the author states,
(Continued on page 9)
7
Mystery Radar: the AN/FPS-53
Recently, AFRMA/Radomes historian Tom Page and Gene
McDonald engaged in an email exchange concerning a rumored/
planned radar which never made it to production and deployment: the AN/FPS-53. Tom turned up mention of the -53 in the
declassified July-December 1958 CONAD/NORAD command
history, as follows:
The answer was to just cover them with plywood and a shallow
bit of concrete. Not a bad idea, since they never figured on the
later plans to restore the sites to more supportable radars (FPS20 family), and with the -24 cabinets covering most of the holes.
Funding for the Port Austin tower mods did not cover the funds
to make these holes safe to walk on! So we traded out with the
building contractor to make real safe floors to walk on and gave
up on his building a new office area in the -26 tower! Of course
we never told anyone about the trade-off; just us, the contractor
and the contract out of Wurtsmith knew. Anything to get us back
up and operating. Had lots of fun keeping 30 odd radar troops
busy and interested without any radars!
The Frequency Diversity (FD) Radar Program
NORAD’s concern about getting ECCM modifications
for existing radars was heightened by what appeared to
be certain delay in the FD Program. As of 31 December
1958, the FD program was fairly unstable due to budget
reductions and technical production problems.
- Gene
The FD program was designed to provide the surveillance system with a “family” of radars having improved
capability in search, height, and ECCM functions. Radars included in the FD program were the FPS-7, FPS20, FPS-24, FPS-26, FPS-27, FPS-28, FPS-35, and FPS
-53. These radars would provide a maximum ECCM
capability consistent with the “state-of-the-art.” They
were to operate at widely separate frequencies between
200 and 5600 megacycles with the capability of switching
operating frequencies within a few seconds.
What was the combined radar to be? Transmitter of one, and
receiver of the other? Or common anti-jam features?
Any idea?
- Tom
As I understood the plan was for one channel to be a 24 and
the other channel a 35, each on its own floor. Never heard if
they could both be on the air in a duplex configuration. If I remember right they were to use the same video processing equipment. Heard that the big problem was with both wanting to be in
charge of the project.
A preliminary operational plan for the FD radar program
was sent to USAF by ADC in 1957. It was approved on
10 January 1958. Then on 1 June 1958, ADC published
a final operations plan approved by both NORAD and
USAF. The plan provided that the FD radars would be
deployed within the U.S., Canada, and the 64th Air Division.
How many were envisioned I never heard. The big idea was
to spread the tx spectrum out but I suspect things like waveguide
vs huge rigid coax transmission lines, actual configuration of the
reflector (GE wire grids vs Sperry's holes drilled in metal plates),
and so forth.
First priority installation would be directed toward establishing an FD capability in the ADC combat zone of the
U.S. The FD radars would replace most of the existing
radars. Exceptions to the replacement policy were the
one FPS-6 would be retained at each prime site and ten
FPS-20’s would be kept in the active network. Phasing in
of the new ZI radars – at 175 sites – was to take place in
the 1959-1964 time period.
Also I heard that Bendix was involved with initial planning etc,
and that their engineers has company pull out as this would be a
truly unworkable idea!! About that time Bendix got out of the
radar building business. Plus Westinghouse's - - 27 was making
an appearance.
But I do know that the -35 was the most difficult piece of AF
equipment to maintain for years, until the C-5A nosed it out. In
the late 60s, our bench stock alone for the -35 at Montauk ran
over a million dollars a year. And I am sure all of them ran about
the same! However, when all was working as advertised, nothing could knock the -35 off the air with ECM, but the other 364
days were hell.
Here’s Tom and Gene’s commentary with some good details
on one of those “might have been” systems:
Radar trivia: Reportedly, a planned FD radar was the AN/FPS53 (according to the Jul-Dec 1958 history, page
59). The AN/FPS-53 was to have been a combined AN/FPS-24
and AN/FPS-35. I cannot imagine how that would have worked,
given that the -24 was made by GE, and the -35 by Sperry Gyroscope. Interesting.
I remember being on an E&I QC team visit to Benton, Pennsylvania, when E&I were installing an FPS-20 family replacement
for the -35 (1973), and all the unit's CEM OIC wanted was a
guarantee of how long the -20's antenna pedestal would last!
Meanwhile, E&I was fighting getting the system up and to latest
TCTO configuration as this radar had been removed from Nam
and we understood that it fell into the Mekong River while being
loaded on a ship!
- Tom
Tom, this plan came back to haunt many of the 24/35 towers
later modified to have FPS-20 family radars. At Port Austin, as
we got into modifying the 24 tower and the 24's cabinets were
removed,
SURPRISE
there
were
holes
constructed in the floors to support the FPS-53 plan. When that
plan went out the window due to continuing conflicts
between GE and Sperry (remember Sperry had a huge contract
to computer control New York City’s traffic signals to make traffic
flow better. AND lost this contract for nonperformance, Circa
1970s), someone made the decision to go with single systems,
so now what do we do with all of the extra pre-built holes?
Of course I liked being on the HQ NCA QC team and bingo, I
got transferred into the Electronics Defense Programming shop
and assigned as the program manager for Benton and about 250
other projects! So all the shortcomings I had help identify became mine! Nothing like answering the phone and end up talking to a GS-15 from FAA wanting to know how soon would I have
Benton operational?
Oh, by the way, Benton 's -35 pedestal ended up at the Stockbridge Research Site (New York), planes under test (B-52, C-
8
Former Air Force Captain Tom Page served with the 21 st Air
Division at Hancock Field, New York; the 762 nd Radar Squadron
at North Truro AFS, Massachusetts; and the 701 st RADS, Fort
Fisher AFS, North Carolina. Retired Senior Master Sergeant Eugene J. McDonald served with the 754th, Finley AFS, North Dakota; 719th, Sparrevohn AFS, Alaska; 773rd, Montauk FAS, New
York; 705th, King Salmon AFS, Alaska; Headquarters, Northern
Communications Area (E&I Division), Griffiss AFB, New York;
612th Tactical Control Flight, Pruem AS, West Germany; 21 st AD,
Hancock Field; and the 754th Radar Squadron, Port Austin. He
retired in September 1983, concluding a 22-year career as
Maintenance Superintendent for the 754th.
130, F-111, F4s, etc) were mounted and were rotated at 1/8 RPM
for antenna pattern testing. Still there I believe.
- Gene
Tom summarized:
Details are sketchy, but from what I can gather, the proposed
AN/FPS-53D search radar was to have two versions (perhaps an
‘A’ and ‘B?’). One version would have had an AN/FPS-24 antenna and one FPS-24 channel, plus one -35 channel. The other
version would have had an AN/FPS-35 antenna and one FPS-35
channel, plus one -24 channel. Existing AN/FPS-24 and FPS-35
radars, some or all, would have had one channel replaced with
the other.
Apparently, the idea was to transmit (and receive) a pulse from
the FPS-24 channel at one frequency in the band of 214 to 236
MHz, then to transmit (and receive) a pulse at one frequency from
the FPS-35 channel in the band of 420 to 450 MHz. That obviously would have made this hybrid radar even more jam-proof.
Reportedly, both GE and Sperry wanted to be in charge of the
modifications, also Bendix and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratories (later,
MITRE) did too.
I think it's easy to see why this kluge system never came to
fruition!
AN/FPS-24 at Port Austin (left), and FPS-35 at Montauk. Photos via
Radomes.
Site Updates (Continued from page 7)
The article, written by
Lisa Kaczke and published
by the paper on 9 July in
advance of the reunion,
provided a good amount of
information about the 756th
and the radar site, along
with several period photos.
She summarized the site
and the mission:
The main road through the Finland Air
Force Station near Finland, Minn.,
shortly before the base closed in May
1980. The base was open for nearly 30
years. (News Tribune file photo)
From a hillside
three miles northeast
of Finland, for 30
years during the Cold
War,
the U.S. Air
Force watched the
skies for any unknown aircraft entering U.S. air space.
The Finland Air Force Station in Lake County was a
self-contained community that could continue to function if it was cut off from the outside world. Opening
in November 1951, the 163-acre station operated
radar surveillance until its technology and the base
closed on June 15, 1980.
"The last name, the only one under June 15, is
base commander Maj. Richard Hughes. 'I'll turn out
the lights,' he said," according to a 1980 News Tribune report.
The article includes an interview with reunion organizer Marvin
Crawford. According to Mr Crawford, about 100 turned out for the
gathering. We’ll run some photos of the reunion in the next Echoes; in the meantime, the full article is available at:
www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/3782952-finland-air-forcestation-personnel-gather-reunion.
9
Radomes Obituaries
LtCol Frank Eugene Brown—Passed 18 November 2015,
age 96, in the Orlando, Florida area. He spent his entire career in
air defense, including assignment to the Perrin AFB, Texas, detachment of the 745th AC&WS, where he served as a controller
involved in training F-86D pilots of the 3555th Pilot Training Wing
from 1952 through 1954. His other assignments included the
661st AC&WS, Selfridge AFB; 801st, Malmstrom AFB; 625th,
Elmendorf AFB; 39th Air Division, Misawa AB, Japan; San Francisco Air Defense Sector; 623rd, Okinawa; 660th, MacDill; 313th
AD, Kadena AB, Okinawa; 601st, Germany; 619th, Republic of
Vietnam; 4660th Support Squadron (SAGE), Richards-Gebaur
AFB; and the 551st AEW&CW, Otis AFB. He was interred with full
military honors at the Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell.
career included assignments at multiple radar installations including Charleston AFS and North Truro AFS, along with a tour at
Area 51. Following retirement from the Air Force, he joined GE
Aerospace where he worked on the OTH-B system; he subsequently worked for Harris Corporation as a satellite tracking station manager at Vandenberg AFB and New Boston AFS. He is
survived by his wife of 48 years, Lynette, son William (Audra) and
daughter Leigh-Ayer (Bill). Interment was in the family plot at
Dover Cemetery. Tom Page worked with Bill; he recalled he was
“...a great guy. He and I were at North Truro AFS at the same
time. He started as the NCOIC of the AN/FPS-107 search radar
work center, then he was my CEM Maintenance Supervisor. Finally, he was First Sergeant for the 762nd RADS.
Gerald Robert “Jerry” Guite—Passed 28 June 2015, age
CMSgt Forrest G. Wright—Passed on 5 December 2015,
William T. “Bill” Rayfield—Passed in Dover-Foxcroft, Massa-
age 85, in Seattle, Washington. A Navy veteran and member of
the Cherokee Nation, Chief Wright subsequently enlisted in the
US Air Force and as a Radar Technician assigned with the 552 nd
AEW&CW at McClellan AFB, California, flew missions in the EC121D/T. He was instrumental in the design and procurement of
the T-model Connie; from 1973 until his retirement, he served in
the E-3 AWACS Joint Fest Force. Post-retirement Chief Wright
worked for The Boeing Company as a manager in both the E-3A/
B/C and E-4A programs. His wife of 61 years, Joyce, preceded
him in death, in October 2014; he is survived by sons Mark and
Mike, daughter Margaret Ann, five grandchildren and one greatgrandchild. He was interred at Tahoma National Cemetery.
Newswire (Continued from page 12)
Cusolito also said the improvements are showing their worth.
71, in the Seattle, Washington area. After leaving the Air Force
he earned his MBA from Seattle University and worked for many
years as a local businessman and community leader, including
several years as commissioner of the Highline Water District. He
is survived by his wife of 48 years, Patty, son Robert, five brothers and five sisters and many nieces and nephews. Internment
was at Washington Memorial Cemetery.
Charles T. “Chuck” Nilson—Passed in Edgewood, New
Mexico, on 30 September. He served from 1964 to 1968 at Makah AFS, Washington, and Cape Charles AFS, Virginia.
chusetts on 21 November 2015, age 69. His 20 year Air Force
More than 25 radar systems were upgraded, including Hill’s engineering facility, with the last site in Hawaii being returned to service in late June after all personnel overseeing operations and
maintenance had been trained.
As many of the sites are located in locations that experience severe weather, the teams faced many challenges.
"Install teams had to brave exceptionally harsh conditions in the
Alaskan and Canadian Arctic, including subzero temperatures,
during the dead of winter in order to keep the install schedule on
track," Cusolito said. "Once on station they were isolated and
confined to relatively tight quarters for five to six weeks at a time
and had to remain self-sufficient during that timeframe. Many
members were not able to go home for months."
"It was critical that these upgrades got completed in order to
maintain key situational awareness for the U.S.," he said.
From here, software updates will be ongoing. Also, a contractor
logistics support program will be established to continue sustainment of the system's hardware and software beyond the current
warranty period. During this time, the program office will also look
at transitioning to organic sustainment of the hardware to meet
the Air Force's core logistics capabilities and save on repair and
replacement costs.
New York Air National Guard activates 224th Air
Defense Group at the Eastern Air Defense Sector
In addition, a change to the Canadian radar operations and management contractor during the middle of installs was also a challenge. According to Cusolito, the team had to shift their focus
entirely to the Alaskan theater until the new contractor was in
place and up to speed.
By Timothy Jones
January 10, 2015
He added that users in the field and the prime contractor, Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training, also came up with
innovative solutions to obstacles faced during the installs, including how to move electronics cabinets, which weigh several hundred pounds each, up narrow stairwells without damaging the
walls, cabinets or sensitive electronic equipment.
The 224th Air Defense Group was activated by Maj. Gen. Verle
Johnston, commander, New York Air National Guard. Col. Wade
Dewey, the former commander of the Northeast Air Defense
Squadron and current EADS vice commander, assumed command of the 224th ADG. The 224th Support Squadron was also
activated, and Col. Emil Filkorn, EADS deputy commander, support, became its commander.
"Our exceptionally dedicated and passionate users out in the field
were extremely flexible in adapting and accommodating to help
solve the predicaments that came up," Cusolito said. "This truly
was a team effort where all stakeholders contributed equally to
the successful outcome of the program, allowing the capability to
be delivered on time and well within budget."
ROME, N.Y. - The first air defense group in New York Air National
Guard history was activated Saturday afternoon during a threepart ceremony at the Eastern Air Defense Sector.
The Northeast Air Defense Squadron was re-designated as the
224th Air Defense Squadron (ADS) during the last part of the ceremony. Col. Wendel Smith, EADS deputy commander, operations,
assumed command of the 224th ADS.
10
(Continued on page 11)
The 224th ADG and its two subordinate squadrons provide New
York Air National Guardsmen for EADS federal mission. A headquarters unit of the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace
Defense Command Region (CONR), EADS is responsible for the
air defense of more than 1 million square miles east of the Mississippi River.
noting that their total combined experience includes nearly 80
years of Air Battle Manager expertise.
The activation and re-designations of the three units now structures WADS, a wing equivalent, more like other Air Force organizations. WADS will continue to execute their federal mission
aligned under First Air Force. The 225 ADG, 225 ADS and 225
SS, units of the Washington Air National Guard define the approximately 280 Washington Air National guardsmen who man the
WADS mission.
“This is historic,” said Tuohy. For 65 years WADS has been performing an air defense mission, guarding America’s skies. The
designation of the 225th “comes off the history of the 25th Air Division which existed back in 1951, so that’s a historic nomenclature
for the numbers and one that will preside well into the future,” said
Tuohy.
Maj. Gen. Verle Johnston, commander of the New York Air National
Guard, hands the guidon of the newly-activated 224th Air Defense
Group to Col. Wade Dewey Jan. 10, 2015, in Rome, N.Y.
WADS is headquartered on Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington state. Staffed primarily by active-duty Washington Air National guardsmen and a Canadian Forces detachment, the unit
supports NORAD's integrated warning and attack assessment
missions and the U.S. Northern Command's homeland defense
mission. WADS is responsible for air sovereignty and counter-air
operations over the western United States and directs a variety of
assets to defend 2.2 million square miles of land and sea.
"With these actions, two key EADS leaders assume the titles,
responsibilities and authorities associated with military commanders. While this is an important milestone for these new commanders, it represents a seamless transition for EADS 24/7 mission," said Col. Michael J. Norton, EADS commander.
The 224th designations are in recognition of the 24 th Air Division,
the first air defense unit assigned to Rome. In 1983, the 24 th Air
Division was transferred from Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, to the old Griffiss Air Force Base and tasked with the air
defense of the northeastern United States. The Northeast Air
Defense Sector (NEADS) was established in 1987 at the 24th Air
Division. The air division was deactivated three years later, leaving air defense responsibilities to NEADS. NEADS formally became the Eastern Air Defense Sector in 2009, when it assumed
the air defense mission for all of the eastern United States.
The Eastern Air Defense Sector is headquartered at Griffiss Business and Technology Park in Rome. Staffed primarily by activeduty New York Air National Guardsmen and a Canadian Forces
detachment, the unit supports NORAD's integrated warning and
attack assessment missions and the U.S. Northern Command's
(USNORTHCOM) homeland defense mission. EADS is responsible for air sovereignty and counter-air operations over the eastern
United States and directs a variety of assets to defend 1 million
square miles of land and sea.
th
225 Air Defense Group activated at WADS
Posted by Washington National Guard
May 4, 2015
JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, Wash. -- The first Air Defense
Group in Washington Air National Guard history was activated
Saturday afternoon during a three-part ceremony at the French
Theater on Fort Lewis.
The 225th Air Defense Group was activated by Brig. Gen. John S.
Tuohy, Washington state assistant adjutant general - Air. With
the new designation, existing WADS leaders were formally placed
in new command positions. During the ceremony Tuohy highlighted the incoming commanders and their accomplishments,
Col. Ronald “Dave” Harmon, current Western Air Defense Sector vice
commander, assumed command of the newly activated 225 ADG. The
225th Support Squadron was also activated and Col. William A. Krueger,
WADS director of Support, became its commander.
Editor’s note: In his remarks Brig Gen Touhy inadvertently
mixed the histories of the 25th Air Division and the Seattle Air Defense Sector, the lineal predecessor of the Western ADS. The
25th AD activated at Silver Lake, Washington (Everett) on 25 October 1948 while SeADS activated as a subordinate unit of the
division at McChord AFB on 8 August 1958.
As an aside, during the run-up to the activation of the 224th and
225th Air Defense Groups, the former historians for the Northeast
and Western ADSs mounted a valiant campaign to get the eastern organization designated as the 226th ADG. The intent was to
honor the first air defense division activated in the eastern US, the
26th AD(D) which stood up at Mitchel AFB, New York, on 16 November 1948. However, as mentioned in the New York Air Guard
article above, the 24th AD held a prior association to Griffiss AFB,
Rome, New York, thus the selection of 224th as the number for
the air defense group, operations squadron and support squadron.
11
Ah well, it was worth the effort...
Radomes
The Air Force Radar Museum Association, Inc.
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Radomes Newswire
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (AFNS) -- A Battle Management
program to improve Air Force long-range radar systems recently
reached full operational capability when all long-range sites were
certified and deemed effective.
The AN/FPS-117 is a 3-D radar system that provides advanced
warning and air traffic surveillance. The Essential Parts Replacement Program replaces four major subassemblies: maintenance
and control system, beacon system, uninterruptable power supply/communications rack, and local control terminals, which allow
remote monitoring, troubleshooting and control of the radars.
According to program officials, it also reduces the line-replaceable
unit count by about 80 percent, easing maintenance and the number of parts on the shelf.
A Battle Management program to improve the reliability and maintainability of Air Force long-range radar systems recently reached full operational capability. The AN/FPS-117 is a 3-D radar system that provides
advanced warning and air traffic surveillance and an example of the radar
system in Alaska is shown above. (Courtesy photo)
Radar upgrades ensure situation awareness
By Patty Welsh, 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
October 21, 2015
"Prior to the EPRP modification, the radars, which were originally
installed in the 1980s, suffered from excessive parts obsolescence and diminishing manufacturing sources," said Capt. Nicholas Cusolito, a former program manager. "The focus of the program was to eliminate many of the obsolete components in the
radar and to ensure continued supportability through 2025 to
meet NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense) mission objectives.
“Furthermore, the modification provides the hardware necessary
for the eventual implementation of Mode 5 (identification, friend or
foe) capability," Cusolito continued.
(Continued on page 10)
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