I received this today via e-mail from a former AVCO employee / AFETS Tech / FAA tech who worked in radar ever since there was radar (I think); so, for your reading enjoyment:

THE RADAR MAN

If ever you saw upon the street
A man who walked with dipole feet
With a lagging train of pips behind -
He was a radar man with a micromind.

With microseconds and microwaves
And microvolts he filled his days;
And thus in the course of passing time
His brain had shrunk to a micromind.

His eyes gave out with a neon gleam,
His nose lit up like a radar screen,
His ears worked like an electronic gate,
And his heart pumped blood at a video rate.

This man obtained in passing years,
Infinite impedance between his ears.
At last he succumbed to a heavy jolt
When he probed what he thought was a microvolt.

The Doc looked up from his microscope
And said to the nurse, "Behold this dope!
Since of his brain not a trace can I find,
He was a radar man with a micromind."

Re post from Gary Jacobs---“Operators there can track up to 17,000 objects, although typically only 8,000-to-10,000 are on the screens at any given time.”

This quote reminds me of a busy day at a SAGE Direction Center. Or do you think that perhaps is it my age & memory falling apart!!!

In the mid-1980s I was at a Military Airlift Command conference for my career field. The colonel in charge decided, repeatedly over years, that each annum after our awards banquet we'd drink and have a "dirty jokes contest" as part of our organized activities. Each table would send someone to the microphone to tell the howler, ha, ha. I thought it was like playing with fire. It was conduct unbecoming and beneath what I expected of a senior officer. I wasn't alone in my opinion, but the colonel used to be quite forceful about attendance at his functions. Now I'm not a prude or moralistic, but really, my feelings aren't at issue. It's the uniform and what it represents, and what we represent. Stumbling around drunk laughing at obscenities -- I think the U.S. Navy did the same experiment to an even greater degree and called it Tailhook. Careers destroyed and a black eye that echoes even now over what looks in retrospect major league stupidity. They used to say with some wisdom in Officer Training School, "You're always being evaluated." Just so.

So for some reason I just typed Tin City AFS, AK.gov and low and behold I got 100% more than I expected. Many of the photos were taken around the time I was there in early 1970s (I think 73 -74). I'am Jim "Slackman" Curtis cutting rocks on the rock equipment I was in charge of. I ran the craft shop. One correction was , I was the "Turkey" not "Slackman" who was one of my troops in Radar Operations. My hats off to you outstanding troops for doing this site. I was also at King Salmon Airport (70 - 71) and Clear AFS (76-77).

The Riverside, Calif., Press-Enterprise newspaper, 7/27/09:

If you're in the air anywhere near the United States, Roger Caudill can most likely see you. Caudill is a supervisor at the Air and Marine Operations Center, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection nerve center housed at March Air Reserve Base. Caudill and other operators at the center spend their days perched before banks of computer screens monitoring and tracking air and sea traffic from the coasts of Colombia and Venezuela to Canada, and from the Bahamas to the Pacific Ocean. Maps littered with a confetti of multicolored triangles, squares and squiggly lines, clumped heavily in major population areas, light the screens in the dimly lit room. Operators there can track up to 17,000 objects, although typically only 8,000-to-10,000 are on the screens at any given time. It receives feeds from 285 radars and has twice the capacity of North American Aerospace Defense Command. Caudill clicks on a small white square in the Gulf of Mexico, a private aircraft. With the click of his mouse, an orange line appears showing the flight path of the plane since it left the ground in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Another click brings up the flight plan, showing its planned heading to New Orleans. Caudill brings up the registration information on the plane, which is owned by a medical company. If he wants, he can pull up a record of the plane's flight history over the past two years, as well as a screen showing any concerns about the craft registered by his or other agencies. The fields on that screen are blank. Everything seems kosher. He points to another square. This one is orange. "This is an aircraft of interest to us and we're watching it," he says ...

URL for the rest of this story:

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_amoc27.3ec47d9.html

Saw the Tin City name come up. I was there in 60/61. as an
equipment operator. I hope some contacts can be made.

I worked at j site from nov 1 78 to april 81 for fsi/itt, right out of highschool.was a utilityman on nights plus 4 hours a night placing moral calls thru NORAD using the Autovon.worked lots of extra shifts most due to phase 111 weather. recall the radome burning down and the horrendous clean up,also drove the tunnel tug when both shift were stuck on site due to weather.recall a KoreanAirlines have to land due to a sterward shot a sterwardess in flight over the polar route.Many great memories.went from being a boy to a man with the experience of a lifetime. I addtionally later, spent 4 winters,at McMurdo station Antarctica.wjth ITT. I have stories for many yearsa to come.

My son is a retired AF officer this comes to me from him about clubs, attending a club function or just stopping in for dinner and a drink get in your car and get stopped on base could be carreer ending

I recall a "dining-in" held at the 656th for a 1-star general in the summer of 1964. All officers and NCOs of the squadron were required to attend. The event was catered and the dining tables were set up in the gym adjacent to the NCO club. Several of us were detailed by the first sargent to be waiters for the event. Before dinner was served, there was a cocktail hour where booze flowed freely. We waiters had access to the wine that was to be served with the meal and we made sure we had our fill. As the dinner progressed, toasts were made up the chain of command from our commanding officer all the way up to the commander-in-chief. Needless to say, the dinner turned into a drunken affair. The 1-star general was as drunk as the rest of the group. It was a good thing that everyone at the dinner was drunk, because in their drunken stupor, they did not recognize that we waiters were also equally drunk. I dimly recall spilling coffee as I tried to pour some for the general. I was especially drunk and stupidly suggested that I could drive a group of us waiters into town to continue the festivities. Fortunately, we all survived that night. That type of officially sanctioned behavior would NEVER be tolerated today.

I had one somewhat negative experience regarding our Consolidated Club and drinking at Fort Fisher AFS, NC. Not my own drinking, though. It was the Christmas season (1978, I think it was), and there was one HUGE party going on at the Commissary and the Consolidated Club. Beer and liquor were freely flowing at both locations. People were coming and going all evening. No one was really paying attention to who did what, or who came and went, or when. Everyone was having a good time. Towards the end of the evening, one young NCO left the Club with his wife; he then ran his car into a power pole on site, knocking out commercial power briefly, and causing a 30-minute radar outage. As I recall, neither person was hurt -- that was the good part. However, the site commander (Major Ruane) decided he needed to place blame for the incident on someone (not him, of course, because he was the site commander; it should be noted that Major Ruane had previously been the aide to General Humphries, the 20th AD Commander who liked to bully everyone below him, and the general was our site commander's role model). Anyway, according to the major (who was not in attendance), I was the highest-ranking officer at the club at the time of the accident (I was a 1st Lt at that time). So, the major decided he was going to issue an official written reprimand to me because "I was there and should have prevented the SSgt from leaving intoxicated." There was no written policy on this, or any prior direction; this was all after-the-fact. So I made it clear that I refused to accept the blame, as people were coming and going all night. I had no control over the situation, and refused to be the scapegoat. I had no idea this guy was even there, much less had left or what condition he left in. Further, I informed the commander that if he tried to pin the incident on me, I'd stop supporting the Club. At that point, he had nothing more to say. Knowing him, he probably wrote it up anyway blaming me. However, I never signed anything, and never heard any more about the incident. But it sure soured me on attending Club functions, at least at that site. I still shake my head when I recall that situation and the major's blame game.

Why are folks bemoaning the reduction of drinking and the loss of business at officer and airmen clubs. The problems caused by overindulgence were bad. I recall an incident at airmens club at Rockville, Iceland in 1957. Our mess seargent was in dress blues at the club one night and had had too much. After he left the club someone went outside and found him floundering in a large mudpuddle. When asked what he was doing he replied "I,m making it for the States". He lost several stripes for that.

To Arnold's remarks...I don't think people are bemoaning the reduction of drinking at base clubs. I think most of the writers recognize that the military's encouragement of drinking in years past was NOT a good thing. The decline of the clubs is just another sign of the times in which excessive drinking is no longer socially acceptable. I look back at my days as a young man in the Air Force and recall many things that I did while drinking that were really stupid, like driving a car while totally plastered. I could have been killed and killed others. I could ramble on with tales of lives wasted due to booze, but I'm sure all of you know of similar tales of lives wasted and relationships ruined.

FROM LUKE AFB WEBSITE: To offset those challenges, many bases, including Luke Air Force Base, "consolidated" officer and enlisted clubs into facilities with a shared dining room and separate officer and enlisted bars. Luke used a slightly different approach by keeping BOTH facilities open and designating each as consolidated clubs. In 2005, what was the Officer's Club and Enlisted Club became Club Thunderbolt and the Desert Star Club, respectively.

Luke AFB Cont: Secondly is cost. If we maintain the status quo, it will cost an estimated $3.474 million to suitably repair, upgrade and operate both consolidated clubs. Combining our two consolidated clubs into one will reduce that cost by more than $2.355 million. We'll use those savings to provide our patrons with a more robust staff, better customer service and first class events.

sent to Keesler from Sampson AFB 1954 what I remember was the Airmans Club serving quarts of 3.2 Beer as long as you had the latrine close you were OK was like colored water Jax beer was one of the brands ( terrible) got to Ger. after that and got into some real beer ,aso grew out of my tailored uniforms

WASHINGTON (ABC NEWS), 7/22/09, - The North American Aerospace Defense Command will conduct a one-day exercise in the Washington area. The exercise, called Falcon Virgo 09-10, will be conducted beginning early Wednesday. The exercise will include training flights conducted in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Capital Region Command Center, the Joint Air Defense Operations Center, the Continental U.S. NORAD Region, Civil Air Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard and others. Civil Air Patrol aircraft and Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopters will also take part in the exercise.

Re: Alcohol use and the military. I can recall at Keesler AFB, Miss., circa 1971-72 as a tech school student 25-cent beers at the Airman's Club. Now granted, we made very little money. Even so, they'd have "2 for 1 nights." For a buck, you could get hammered. Later I saw firsthand the toll the excessive use of liquor took on guys and their families, and it wasn't pretty. I had a boss once who was a nice guy until after about three beers at the Club, thereafter changing into a mean drunk who wanted a good fight. His wife and daughters used to find him passed out on their front lawn before he had made it back into the house after nights out. Squadron parties were typically beer busts, with guys literally falling down drunk.

Later as an officer I HAD to have my Club membership, the chief benefit of which was cheap drinks, to be avoided as a certain career killer in a changed era. Moreover, the Clubs were usually poorly run, overpriced events with indifferent or frankly stupid wait staffs. I may be mistaken since it's been so long, but I seem to recall that being a Club member or not included on evaluations.

Sometime we'll have to recall those "voluntary-mandatory" charity events, complete with quotas by work section. Sure there was the Combined Federal Campaign. But one station I had, we basically had a charity-a-month club out of the wing commander's office. You didn't have to give. You didn't have to be promoted, either, was the subtext.

Some things were a change for the better, the smoking policies, the alcohol de-emphasis. You'd think there'd be a way for Clubs to reinvent themselves with innovative marketing strategies. Then again, maybe not.

1876 Radio Relay Squadron/922 AC&W - Cartwright Labrador, October 1958-59. One year duty in a leap year. I'm pleased to have served the time there. I rotated out to Davis Monthan AFB, Tucson AZ and worked radio homing on the boming range. When the unit was transferred to McChord AFB, Tacoma WA is took an early out and worked a variety demolition projects for 2 weeks in the 'graveyard'; a dubious honor.

According to a recent article in the Arizona Daily Star, the drop in the number of single people in the military and an anti-drinking campaign is taking a toll on military clubs. Things have gotten so bad at Davis-Monthan AFB that the Officer's Club and Enlisted Club merged in order to survive financially. They have also had to curtail hours of operation. This problem is Air Force-wide. Some 19 clubs have closed over the last five years, and others have had to go the merger route to survive. I have to say I was very surprised when I read the article. Back in the "old days" it seemed that life revolved around the club. In Iceland, drinks at a dime a pop encouraged overindulgence. Once I was assigned back in the US, the NCO club was the center of many off-duty activities, most involving alcohol. I have many memories of wild and crazy parties at the club. I'll bet that you have some of those memories too.

SORRY! THE 768TH WAS AT MORIARTY NM. THE 685TH WAS AT LAS CRUCES.
I WAS AT ALL THREE IN THE 50S. JUST A CASE OF THE DA I GUESS. BILL

Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of mankind’s first walk on the moon. Jim Lovell's (Tom Hanks) final quote from the movie "Apollo 13" becomes most appropriate:

“I sometimes catch myself looking up at the Moon, remembering the changes of fortune in our long voyage, thinking of the thousands of people who worked to bring the three of us home. I look up at the Moon and wonder, when will we be going back, and who will that be?”

SORRY TOM BUT U HAVE THE SAME PICS I HAVE. I GOT MINE FROM SGT HOWARD PHILLIPS AND I GUESS HE SENT THEM ON TO U....BILL

ANYONE EVER COME IN HERE FROM THE 767TH AT TERRIA AMARILLA OR THE 768TH AT LAS CRUCES?
MAYBE THERE IN THE MID 50S?

Back in the 50s in Germany we were allowed 4 cartons a month at 1.10 a carton, I did not smoke at that time , we would sell our s to German cab driver for 20 marks ($5.00)then have a night out lots of Brew, also took cig. out of the c ration cartons that we had at comm. site for emer. and sold them after sticking in a used carton WOW! those Germans most have choked after inhaling old c ration cigs. that were about 5 yrs . old

John,

You are so right. I went through basic training in the early 60's and the TI's used to give us smoke breaks all the time. The guys who didn't smoke had to police the area. I knew a lot of guys that started smoking so they didn't have to work. I smoked Camel (non-filters) at the time. In Viet Nam they were 1.25 a carton, but you could only buy 6 cartons a month.

801st Radar Sqdn - Malmstrom AFB MT 11/1967 - 7/1969
Wolfcall - Eglin AFB FL 3/1973 - 4/1975
King Salmon AK 4/1975 - 5/1976
Caswell AFS ME 6/1976 - 10/1977
PARCS BMEWS, Concrete ND 1/1979 - 4/1982
Cape Newinham AK 4/1982 - 4/1983
ROCC March AFB CA 4/1983 - 5/1985

Looking forward to speaking with anyone who has been to these sites.
Dennis Lammens

News Item, http://www.wtvr.com/news/dp-va--virginiabeach-rad0708jul08,0,3133153.story/ (8 July 2009)

"... VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Virginia Beach is rethinking plans for a new convention-center hotel and other Oceanfront-area projects after the Federal Aviation Administration told city officials that structures taller than 110 feet would obstruct its surveillance radar.

The FAA has recommended against building the hotel, which would be almost double the height of the FAA limit, because it would interfere with the giant radar facility at Oceana Naval Air Station. The cost of moving the radar would cost at least $12 million. ..."

The "surveillance radar" in question of course is the ARSR-4 used by the FAA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy in the Joint Surveillance System (JSS).

Move the radar? Hey, who was there first?!!

More on the "Radar Battle" in Virginia Beach, VA:

http://www.wvec.com/video/index.html?nvid=378424

Has a fairly nice news video showing the ARSR-4 radar at Oceana NAS and the surrounding area.

Don't smoke 'em if you got 'em! This from USA Today, 7/10/09:

WASHINGTON — Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco by troops and end its sale on military property, a change that could dramatically alter a culture intertwined with smoking.

Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon's office of clinical and program policy, says he will recommend that Gates adopt proposals by a federal study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban.

The study by the Institute of Medicine, requested by the VA and Pentagon, calls for a phased-in ban over a period of years, perhaps up to 20. "We'll certainly be taking that recommendation forward," Smith says.

A tobacco ban would confront a military culture, the report says, in which "the image of the battle-weary soldier in fatigues and helmet, fighting for his country, has frequently included his lit cigarette."

Also, the report said, troops worn out by repeated deployments often rely on cigarettes as a "stress reliever." The study found that tobacco use in the military increased after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began.

Regarding smoking in the military...It's a far cry from the days when the military openly encouraged smoking. In the early 60s, we could buy a carton of cigarettes in Iceland at the BX for a buck. That's 10 cents a pack. Booze was also subsidized. We could buy a beer or any mixed drink for a dime. I guess we all know of the health risks associated with smoking. The military, in my opinion, is doing the right thing on this one. I think the day will come when smoking in public will be socially unacceptable. What few ashtrays that are now available in public will go the way of the spitoon.

We were at Buckley ANG Base from 75 to 81 and watched it grow to almost what it is now. Spent time at Sparrevohn Air Station with the BMEWS system. Also with 7499th Aerial Photography Group in Germany from 1768 to 1972

I am MSG. Ken Taylor, USAF Ret. The original Founder of the Texas Tower Association and Tower Groups. I was station on the Texas Towers 59-60. I am the Leader of the Associated Texas Tower Veterans Group. We plan to meet in Branson, MO. Sept. 11-15, 2009 at the Melody Lane Inn.

What I am about to tell you is true. Tower #4 was never evacuated during its life time. We were ordered to ride out Hurricane Donna and not to tell our families about any danger. Tower #4 received the same order. With that being said. I knew a retired Colonel who at the time was a Captain. Two weeks before Tower 4 went down; he went to see the Division Commander at his quarters. He told the General that he must evacuate the men from Tower #4 their lives were at stake. The General had been drinking and curse at him and kick him out of his house. Just before the investigation the Captain was transferred to Europe so he was unable to attend the hearings and tell his story.

For your information. The plaque you have on display from the USAF Museum is the one that I designed and had made, for the Texas Tower Veterans

I was at Indian Mountain AFS from 1964 to 1965. I just found this site and it sure brought back memories. I was on my way up to top camp when Kenndy got killed. Wow what a start to a year. Every once in a while I get out my old 8 mm movies and go back in time. Thanks for putting some pics. on this site. It was one interesting year. I think, if I remember correctly 3 people died up there that year and one plane crashed on the top of the mountain. Funny I just recalled many stories.

Yours truly
Les Block

All so a B-36 on display at the SAC Museum on Interstate 80 between Omaha and Lincoln, NE. Stopped by there on a trip to south east Nebraska last month. Will email pictures to anyone that would like to see them.

All so B-36 at Castle AFB Museum in California. So that makes four on display. Wright Patterson, SAC, Pima and Castle. We were at Wright Patterson once when they were working on moving theirs. And is in hangar surrounded by other aircraft. AMAZING!

Would like to see operations of Pave paw radar setup, we have one here at Cape Cod Air Station on the old Otis AFB but can not seem to make a connection to get a tour of ops. guess my old security clearance is long gone, so much for us old scope dopes guess we are now a big security threat

Blimps??? The trend is clear. Next up...perhaps we will revitalize the Ground Observer Corps concept. True, as a former teenage "observer," I am now collecting social security...but you never know!

Jeff.....What do you thinks? Maybe a reincarnation of the radar network is on the horizon? My sister flew aboard the Zeppelin "Eureka" at Long Beach, CA, on the 2009 Memorial Day weekend. (Burt Rutan was a fellow passenger that day)

Zeppelin Eureka via You Tube. Note the pilot---I don't remember pilots being that good looking during my time in the Air Force.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdJLiPU1dE8

An interesting relic of the Cold War was recently put on display at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, AZ. The last B-36 produced by Convair was rolled out after a several year restoration and put on display in the yard along with other aircraft. Because of its size and clearance issues, the plane was moved into place minus two propellers and the jet engine pods on each wingtip. These will be installed later. I have only seen one B-36 up close and that one was at the Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. The B-36 was and still is the largest bomber ever used by the Air Force. I was impressed when I saw the one in Ohio, and I was impressed again last night when I drove by the Pima Air Museum and saw this one standing proudly in the yard along with other aircraft of the era. The Pima Air Museum has documented the restoration and posted the many photos on its web site. Go to www.pimaair.org/project.php?rid=1 to see the restoration photos.

RE the B-36:

My first meaningful employment in the Air Force was as a reciprocating engine mechanic on the B-36 at Carswell Country Club in Fort Worth. I fought the Korean thing from there (51-55). It was a very satisfying time of my life, although in a later incarnation as an FST-2 maintenance type and later 412L in Germany, along with Radar Eval and a windowless place on Westover I had different responsibilities and weather conditions. John, your mention of the old monster brings back a time when I thought I was the most important guy in the Air Force. My wrench work actually meant that a bunch of persuaders stayed in the air successfully!!!

Thanks for reminding me.

Walt

Walt...

I'm glad I brought back some pleasant memories for you. I once saw a complete B-36 recip engine on display in an auto museum in Norwich, NY. One of the wealthy patrons of the auto museum was an aircraft enthusiast and that's how it got there. As I recall, it was quite large and had 20-odd spark plugs. I was told that the engine was very maintenance-intensive, requiring the spark plugs to be changed on every engine after each mission. When you consider the plane had six recip engines, you mechanics must have spent an awfull lot of time changing spark plugs.

John,

Back to scarred knuckles...
There were twenty-eight cylinders arranged in four segments of seven amounting to 4,363 cubic inches displacement, with two spark plugs per cylinder. At first, plug changes were constant, but eventually Sperry came up with an electronic (to keep it in a context of our general radar field) o-scope kind of thing which read the voltages of the plug firing. That slowed down the plug changing considerably once the mechs and engineers learned to rely on it. Later this device added a feature which placed a magnetostrictive pickup on each cylinder, and it could display the physical shock of valve opening and closing for timing, and firing patterns for efficiency. Maintenance became much more economical and less labor-intensive.

Before retraining out of the cold and wet, I worked on variations of this engine on B-36, C-124, WB-50 and KC-97. They are hard to find now outside of a few exotic racing planes.

would like to know if anyone can tell me how to get a patch of the 663rd ac&w sqd. was there from sept. 1954 until december 1956. then shipped out to korea. what a place.

F.Y.I.: Radar-related news article --

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529695,00.html
1 July 2009
"U.S. Army Tests Blimps to Shoot Down Enemy Missiles"

The article describes a new Army program involving a tethered aerostat being designed to carry a surveillance radar and a fire-control radar, to detect and to help in destroying cruise missiles and other hostile airborne vehicles of interest.

Do any of you happen to know exactly where the AN/FPS-30 DEW Radar Test Site (later AN/FPS-30 Training Site) was located at Eglin AFB, FL? If you do, please drop me a note, and let me know. I'm trying to pin down its precise location. Thanks!