I remember flying in a C-47 taking parts to the 807th TCS, Det 1, at Tempelhof, in November 1958. The approach, letting down between the apartment buildings, was a bit hairy. Then on the way back, flying the southern corridor to Landstuhl, the cabin heater went out, and we dared not change altitude, so non-smokers lit up to create a little heat, and suit coats and sports jackets were wirn over fatigues. This was before the wall went up, so we were able to take a bus over to the Eastern Sector. Templehof had those crazy elevators, like a continuous series of moving boxes, and you stepped on or off as the thing moved. Not to good after a night at the Resi Bar.
Brian Coy, SMS, Retired

Larry et al: In your e-mail address, you still must enter the "at" symbol, "@." It will automatically change to "_AT_" after you send the message. (You may have noticed that by now.)

Gene McManus,

What is not viable with the EDF/SVW site??

New York Times, October 30, 2008

BERLIN — “Berliners turned out on Thursday to say their goodbyes to historic Tempelhof Airport, to share a few memories and to protest its closing one last time.

Tempelhof, although built by the Nazis, is best known as the site of the Berlin airlift of 1948 and 1949, after the Soviets blocked land access to the city. The United States and Britain brought in supplies by air, over 2 million tons of food, fuel and even machinery. It became a symbol of the Allies’ commitment to protecting the city and indeed Western Europe.”
____________________________________________________________________
For those who served in Germany, the use of the Templehof airport radar to look "East" provided great radar surveillance into several Soviet Bloc countries. Although prohibited by agreement for any use other than controlling airport traffic and the three corridors leading in and out of Berlin, Templehof was "used" by our manual system for tracking Soviet aircraft movement. Later, as 412L replaced our manual plotting system, Templehof remained our "secret" surveillance inside East German territory.

Jim Eyles, and other Alaska vets...,
The USAF web pages, which were on elmendorf.af.mil have disappeared, and we were getting a "Page not found" error with the link.

A "Google" search found references to a Doppler radar in Camas County, Idaho. Maybe that's it?

923rd AC&W Sqdn (Lovejoy), Hopedale, Labrador-1957.... 635th Ac&W Squadron (Mercury), McChord AFB, WA-1958-60 Spokane ADS-1961-62, Boston ADS-1963 & Portland ADS-1964.

Just a note to advise you all that since the USAF Elmendorf website for Sparrevohn is no longer viable, I've added the "Sparrevohn Survivors" web site as the "official" link from our Sparrevohn pages, per Chuck's note below.

Outstanding web site - Most interested in Korea CALL-SIGNS/LOCATIONS as am compiling (with others) joint Army Signal and Air Force Comm site names, call signs, locations. Keep up this great work.

It only took about an hour for me to get "pinged" for showing your email addresses with ' AT ' in the middle instead of an @ sign. Your email addresses are kept in the database as you entered them, but are displayed this way in an attempt to cut down on the amount of SPAM that gets created by web "bots" cruising around looking for email addresses. Simply replace the ' AT ' with an @ sign to use the address.

Gene - Chalk it up to old age and trying to write the e-mail while doing 3 other things. Keep forgetting I'm too old to multi-task!

Gene. Use of AT is an excellent idea. Maybe it will help at this end.

Then again, maybe not. When I tried to enter AT in the Email block above, MSN popped up a note and wouldn't let me do it. Oh well.

Then again, maybe not. When I tried to enter AT in the Email block above, MSN popped up a note and wouldn't let me do it. Oh well.

I worked at the GATR site at North Truro.
Do you have any contacts with the personal from North Truro Radar site?

Re: Camas County Radar. There was an RBS site in Idaho. However, it was in Wilder, Id - which is about 40 miles west of Boise. Fairfield, Camas County is about 75 - 80 miles east of Boise. There is currently a TPS-75 radar at Rattlesnake Station that supports operations over the Saylor Creek Range at Mt Home. It's located about 10 miles north of the town of Mt Home. Camas County is another 40 - 50 miles to the northeast.

RE: Camas County, Idaho

It may have also been a Nike Launch Control Site

Re the latest comments concerning a possible radar station in Camas County, Idaho: An RBS site does seem very possible (and even likely); I should have mentioned that possibility myself. (Thanks, John.) However, a Nike Missile integrated fire control (IFC) radar site would not be likely in this specific instance. As I learned from Mark Morgan (one of the co-authors of the book, "Rings of Supersonic Steel"), Nike Missile facilities indeed were once planned for the Mountain Home AFB Defense Area, but those plans were cancelled due to budgetary shortfalls. (Good thought, Jerry, as there are quite a few Nike Missile sites elsewhere in the country, as well as overseas. Thanks.)

A note to former 719th AC&W Sq, Sparrevohn, Alaska grunts:
There is now a Yahoo group dedicated to that lovely outpost. It presently has 20 members. There are numerous stories (mostly true), and lots of pictures of teenagers who are now in their 60's and 70's. We are always looking for new members. It is by no means meant to compete with Radomes....rather it compliments the Radomes site.
If interested, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sparrevohn719/
Chuck Sunder Sparrevohn 55-56

I wonder if the Idaho radar site mentioned earlier was a SAC radar bomb scoring (RBS) squadron or detachment? These radar sites were scattered around the country like our ADC sites. Some were located in areas that also had an ADC radar site. For example, in Watertown, NY there was the 655th Radar Squadron and a SAC RBS squadron (possibly part of the 10th RBS squadron) based near the Watertown airport. The two radar sites were less than 10 miles apart.

was there ever a air foce station in camas county idaho. i believe i remember seeing one north of fairfield idaho in the 1970s.but never could find any info on it on computor. thanks.

Re Robert Cook's entry below, the answer is no. There was never an ADC radar station in Camas County, Idaho. The only blue-suit AFS in Idaho was Cottonwood AFS, well to the north. There were two FAA joint-use radar sites in Idaho, one north of Boise, and one north of Ashton. There were also several gap-filler annexes up north. Now, possibly, TAC or AFCC had some off-base installations associated with Mountain Home AFB in Camas County (?) ... but I myself would not know. Maybe someone else can say? In any case, there were no ADC radar sites in that part of the state.

I was stationed at Cross City,AFS Fl 66-67. Sparrevohn AFS, Ak 67-68 McCoy AFB (966th) 68-69. McClelland AFB, Ca (964th) 69-71. Tuslog Det 8 71-71. Would like to hear from anyone who was at those places then and might know me. The people that served at these places are very special COLD WAR Vetrans. God Bless you all for your sacrifice and srevice to our nation

I was stationed at Champion in 57/58. Absolutely beautiful environment! The down side...like being in prison for a year.
Great experience though.

I have some more Laughlin, Nevada freebies if anyone is interested. These are free two-night stays at either the Edgewater or Colorado Belle hotel/casino. The coupons are good up until December 24 and exclude Thanksgiving. There are no strings attached. I gain no benefit from these coupons. This is NOT a timeshare come-on. My wife and I stay at this hotel often and because we play in the casino, they send us freebies like this all the time. I have 5 coupons available on a first-come, first-served basis. If you would like one (or more) e-mail me directly and I'll drop one in the mail.

Fond memories. I was an instructor at Kessler in 1968 and 1969 for Radar Sets and BED. Then went to Pleiku, Vietnam for a year before serving 4 years at the AN-FPS85 near Eglin, Fl. I’m now retired and trying to see the country in an RV. Started out as a 30332 and after moving through T30352, T30372, and T30870, ended up as a T30970B. What a CF just to keep maintenance personnel at the FPS85.

I was stationed at the 750th AFS, Boron, CA in 1966-1968. The site was located in the Mojave Desert, about 6 miles north of the Hwy 395/58 junction (Known as "Four Corners").

I worked at the GATR site, about 5 miles further North.

The FPS-35 could be seen for about 10 miles from all directions.

Bill

Re the C&E Digests, the issue I have in my possession (donated to me for use for the Radar Museum) is Sept 1962.

Re: Steve Weatherly's 10/07/08 entry regarding C&E Digests.
I have an issue, from which came many of our Radar Museum images and articles on the Montana and other sites.
I recall making an effort via letters and emails to locate the archives for the C&E Digest, in order to scan images and articles for other sites. At the time, perhaps four or five years ago, I was unable to come up with a point of contact (civilian or military) for obtaining other publications. Perhaps many of them will have been scanned and recorded somewhere by now. It's definitely worth another shot to reinvestigate availability of the publications. If memory serves, some of the issues we have come across came from ebay. Gene or Tom may recall.
I haven't done any internet searches for copies of the C&E Digest lately - has anyone else?

Re the C&E Digests, it's possible that all (or most, or some) of them are archived at Maxwell AFB, AL. I don't know. If anyone resides in or near Montgomery, AL, and wishes to check this out, please do so. Now, even if the publications are archived there, it's a do-it-yourself job to copy them (and the photocopier is coin-operated). The best and cheapest way to copy archived material there is with one's own portable scanner. Any volunteers? If so, thanks!

AGENT ORANGE- The precedent is set........
If you served in Thailand... Then you set foot in Vietnam... Almost everyone going into or out of Thailand, stopped in or passed thru Vietnam.

kpriessman@msn.com is an expert on AO in Thailand and how to file a claim for exposure to AO, outside Vietnam. see http://tmai18.spaces.live.com/

Remember the ADC C-E Digest? For 28 years until Dec 1979, this monthly publication made the rounds throughout ADC and included information about radar squadron facilities, systems, and people. I certainly looked forward to each issue while I was at Mt Hebo AFS and sought out the digest in later C-E assignments in Korea, at Hq ATC, Hq AFCS, and Defense Comm Agency. It was a great way to keep track of people, learn what was going on elsewhere, read about solutions to problems, find out about existing system and equipment milestones, follow progress on new systems and programs, and see what the senior C-E leaders were thinking. Right out of Keesler when I got to Mt Hebo, the C-E Digest was a good way to open discussions about what we were doing, had done, or how others were doing.
Wish I had kept a copy of the unclassified issues. Sections like Changes in the Family Circle, and the Family Group (aka News) had details about people and their careers. In the Radomes Museum achieves (www.radomes.org) there are very few C-E Digest issues. The final issue of Dec 1979 is available from Radomes and many pages are devoted to people at the Radar Squadrons and Hq ADC. There are also memos from C-E Directors and Deputies over the years. This includes Generals James, Jacobsmeyer, and Powers. Photos of the ADC Directors of C-E are included. I found many familiar names and places from the past in this remembrance of times past.
I think we need to find and share copies of the C-E Digest. They are a valuable historical tool in preserving the record of our Cold War efforts in the Air Defense of the US. The Radomes archive includes the following issues. Jan 68, Mar 68 and 72, May 68, Aug 67 to 69, Sep 69, Oct 69, Nov 69, and Dec 79. There were also NORAD Region and Air Division newsletters that should be found and achieved. Anyone else interested?

Remember the ADC C-E Digest? For 28 years until Dec 1979, this monthly publication made the rounds throughout ADC and included information about radar squadron facilities, systems, and people. I certainly looked forward to each issue while I was at Mt Hebo AFS and sought out the digest in later C-E assignments in Korea, at Hq ATC, Hq AFCS, and Defense Comm Agency. It was a great way to keep track of people, learn what was going on elsewhere, read about solutions to problems, find out about existing system and equipment milestones, follow progress on new systems and programs, and see what the senior C-E leaders were thinking. Right out of Keesler when I got to Mt Hebo, the C-E Digest was a good way to open discussions about what we were doing, had done, or how others were doing.
Wish I had kept a copy of the unclassified issues. Sections like Changes in the Family Circle, and the Family Group (aka News) had details about people and their careers. In the Radomes Museum achieves (www.radomes.org) there are very few C-E Digest issues. The final issue of Dec 1979 is available from Radomes and many pages are devoted to people at the Radar Squadrons and Hq ADC. There are also memos from C-E Directors and Deputies over the years. This includes Generals James, Jacobsmeyer, and Powers. Photos of the ADC Directors of C-E are included. I found many familiar names and places from the past in this remembrance of times past.
I think we need to find and share copies of the C-E Digest. They are a valuable historical tool in preserving the record of our Cold War efforts in the Air Defense of the US. The Radomes archive includes the following issues. Jan 68, Mar 68 and 72, May 68, Aug 67 to 69, Sep 69, Oct 69, Nov 69, and Dec 79. There were also NORAD Region and Air Division newsletters that should be found and achieved. Anyone else interested?

I served four years in the U.S. Air Force (1981 to 1985) as an Aerospace Control and Warning Systems Operator working primarily in the Identification Section. I was stationed at Fort Lee AFS and March AFB 26th Air Division (so named at the time).

It's great to see some of the old equipment and technologies again.

This'll answer your question

http://www.freedomteamsalute.com/news/fts-news-2008-10-03.aspx

I've been tring to get into Clear AFS web site and am not having any luck. Anyone have any idea as to what has happened to their site ??

Yesterday I received a mailing from "Freedom Team" with a commendation for serving in the ARMY,since I never served in the army but did in the AIR FORCE I was wondering if anyone else received one of these (lapel pin included). It looks and sounds official but I'm "Air Force" not Army. Just curious.

Leo....If you are referring to BMT photos, here is the link http://www.bmtflightphotos.af.mil/
For the photos themselves, use this link
http://www.bmtflightphotos.af.mil/photoindex.asp
I do not believe you can purchase the photos....but you are permitted to download them. Be advised, however, only photos submitted voluntarily are on the website.....the Air Force did not archive the original BMT photos. According to the website, photos were maintained by the outside concessionaire, but only for a short time after they were taken.

Great site that brings back a lot of memories. I'm one of those brats that grew up on radar sites. My father was Marion "Van" Vanscoy and we were stationed at Baudette, Turkey Hill, Goose Bay, Point Arena and Caswell throughout the sixties and early seventies. I would love to get in touch with anyone that knew my father back then. Thanks

i heard there was aan address where the basic training pictures can be viewed. what is the address? can you order copies of the pictures. thanx