Frobisher Bay, NWT

The 926^th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was activated at Grenier Air Force Base, New Hampshire, on 13 June 1953, with an authorized strength of 10 officers and 120 airmen. The squadron was moved to Site Number 31, Frobisher Bay, Canada, between 19 August 1953 and 2 December 1953. The authorized strength of this organization was changed to 7 officers and 100 airmen and 12 civilians by Unit Manning Document dated September 1955.

The primary mission of the 926^th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was to provide early warning surveillance of the assigned area of responsibility. The secondary mission was to provide navigational assistance to friendly aircraft.

The purpose of this squadron was to serve as a member of a group of similar organizations providing a system of early warning against the infiltration of enemy aircraft into the defense areas of the United States and Canada.

It was the responsibility of the Administrative Section to maintain all records pertaining to assigned personnel and to perform the duties pertinent to the office of the Squadron Commander.

During this period the administrative section established a 90 percent effectiveness. This was 10 percent less than the last reporting quarter. The loss was mainly due to weather conditions and transportation difficulties.

During the month of January this section was allotted one (1) Special Services airman, AFSC 72150. In the latter part of this month this allocation was cancelled, therefore, these duties were assumed by the administrative section.

In the month of January this unit was inspected by the 64^th Air Division (Defense) inspection team. Various minor discrepancies were brought to the attention of this section, which were corrected immediately. This section is now considered operating at maximum efficiency.

During the month of February A/2C Chester L Meyers, the unit finance clerk rotated to the Zone of Interior, leaving the administrative section one (1) airman short in accordance with the unit manning authorization. It should be noted that other sections of this unit did not have the authorized administrative personnel in accordance with UMD, therefore, this section absorbed the workload from the various sections of the Squadron.

During the month of March, 1^st Lt. Richard H Roberts, Adjutant, returned to the Zone of Interior. Lt. Roberts was replaced by 2^nd Lt. Lawrence R Murray, who reported to the squadron 17 March 1956.

During this reporting period no squadron personnel were extended beyond their normal tour. Replacements were received on a normal basis with the exception of the administrative section. Although the communications section has been short on personnel, replacements have been received and by the next reporting period this section should be 100 percent manned.

During this cycle one A/1C was promoted to the rank of S/Sgt., one (1) A/2C to A/1C, six (6) A/3C were promoted to A/2C and two (2) A/B to the rank of A/3C.

The On-the-Job Training Program was carried out in a very satisfactory manner resulting in the upgrading of one (1) airman to the "3" level and eighteen (18) airmen to the "5" level AFS. Other airmen are presently awaiting testing.

The General Military Training Program was established for the coming year. During this reporting period twelve Airmen Information Periods were held on the following subjects: Code of Conduct, Arctic Survival, First Aid, Fire Prevention, Personal Hygiene, Security Functions, Care of Clothing and Equipment, Passive Defense and Base Defense.

The mission of this section has remained the same, early warning, however the secondary mission of providing navigational aid required the most active amount of participation from Operations Personnel during the reporting period. Rendering navigational assistance is necessary, due to the lack of navigational aids in this part of the world. Pilots connected with the Canadian Civil traffic servicing the DEW line have continually expressed their gratitude for any and all navigational assistance provided by this unit.

Coordination with the RCAF tower at the lower base, 6650^th, continued on the best of terms. An agreement to the effect that this station would place aircraft on the precision equipment of GCA during the loss of GCA search was practiced as much as possible and found to be very satisfactory.

This station being located on higher ground is able to relay radio traffic from aircraft out of range of the lower base antennas to the lower base control tower. This duty although not a part of our mission, provided additional training and experience for operation personnel.

The traffic into the Frobisher area increased during the reporting period with 2692 tracks being plotted and 2176 flight plans recorded. The month of March was the most active of any previous month in the history of the site.

The increase in traffic was due, for the most part, to increased activity on the DEW Line. Better flying weather was partly responsible plus additional aircraft being put into operation in supplying the stations to the north.

The Operations section, for the first time in nine (9) months, was one hundred (100) percent manned. A shortage existed in seven (7) level supervisor personnel, but this did not hamper the proficiency of this section. A constant and efficient on the job training program was rigorously adhered to by all crews.

During this reporting period, the squadron was visited by the Inspector General of the 64^th Air Division. The operations section was considered very satisfactory and the few minor discrepancies noted were corrected on the spot.

This section participated in many Operational readiness tests during the reporting period and, as usual, was a credit to the squadron. Exercise Candy Bar, which was scheduled for this reporting period was postponed until a later date, but was kicked off by Division unexpectedly. Back-up communications were made operational immediately.

During the past three (3) months operations has gained eight (8) new personnel and lost four due to rotation. Rotation dates of nine and twelve personnel arriving in December 1955 were changed. This was necessary in order to prevent a mass change over next December and prevent extending personnel as much as possible.

The Radar Maintenance Section is responsible to the Operations Officer for the proper operation and performance of all ground electronics equipment pertaining to radar in the support of the Primary Mission of this squadron. This section presented on the job training, both formal and informal, and carried on all necessary coordination with other sections.

A new ground radar officer, 1^st Lt. Nelson T Fletcher, arrived in the squadron in January tom take over as OIC of this section. An unprecedented twelve (12) hours and fourteen (14) minutes of breakdown time in the prime equipment occurred during the month. Thirty-eight (38) minutes breakdown time was the result of power failure and the rest was caused by weak tubes. The lack of replacement tubes made the maintenance of prime equipment almost impossible. It was reported that our badly needed tubes were in traffic at Goose AFB. A total of three (3) modifications were made to the pressurization system for the Radomes.

A total of three (3) hours and fifty-five (55) minutes of breakdown time accrued during the month of February for the prime equipment. This breakdown time was the result of power failure, trigger trouble, failure of thyratron and a defective cable connector. The main motor generator PU 5004 for the AN/TPS-502 was UR’d and turned into supply for shipment to the depot on a repair return basis. The reason for the above action was excessively scored sliprings with only five hundred hours operation since last overhaul.

During March a total of one (1) hour and thirty-five (35) minutes of breakdown time was accrued to the prime equipment. This equipment breakdown was due mainly to power failure and shorted cables. Due to the lack of space in the maintenance room, the height-finder attachment to the target simulator had not been installed. Both the search and the height-finder simulators were moved to the projection booth above operations. The cables to connect the height-finder simulator to the search simulator would not fit on our equipment. The cables that we had on hand were for the TPS/IOD and our height finder was the TPS/502. The cables are now in the process of being modified to fit the TPS/502. The URM23A, power meter, which left this station 10 February and did not arrive at the depot until 15 March is still at the depot waiting for parts. The loss of this piece of test equipment has very definitely hurt the preventative maintenance of this section. The UPX 6, IFF, was sent to the depot on 1 March and as yet has not returned to this station. The loss of a relay on the spare IFF unit necessitated the placing of the FPS-502’s IFF in the FPS-3.

During the reporting period this section gained one (1) radar mechanic A/2C Robert P Meyers, and one mechanic A/2C James A Fennell rotated back to the ZI. Two of our maintenance men were on TDY with the Squadron Basketball Team. Six men passed the five level test and will be upgraded to 30352C in the near future.

During the reporting period the Communications section fulfilled its mission of operating and providing administrative and tactical point to point communications, VHF and UHF air to ground radio, message center, fixed plant telephone facilities using tropospheric scatter system circuits and HF and LF back-up equipment.

During this reporting period Mr. Roger Lewis, a Marconi Supervisor arrived this station to make a check of all communications equipment and its status. The Wire Maintenance Personnel replaced all seven (7) emergency phones on the lower base road with field type handsets. The field type telephones were gathering moisture and became inoperative due to that condition. The Wire Maintenance personnel made a complete physical inspection of the Public Address and Fire Warning systems. They also installed an additional speaker in the operations section. On 30 January, Telephone Maintenance rechecked controller hot lines from the control center to transmitters. Send and receive were also placed on separate lines. A total of seven (7) telephone outages were reported and four new extensions were installed. During the month of March considerable work was accomplished on the DDR-2, Radio Teletype equipment, which is expected to be operative during the early part of next month. Mr. Charles EC Semple, the Canadian Marconi Site Engineer conducted extensive on the job training in this and other equipment in the radio field. One Multi-Channel UHF transmitter with the modulator was received from depot after extensive overhaul. This brought our Radio Back-up on all frequencies up to requirements. No unusual failures occurred in any equipment during this period and no outages were encountered. From the 11^th through the 14^th of March, we were fortunate in securing the services of a Canadian Bell Telephone Teletype Technical Representative, Mr. Philip Bartholomew, from the lower base who rehabilitated all of our teletype printers with the assistance of two airmen mechanics. These airmen were just out of school and had not enough field experience to do the work. These airmen gained invaluable experience working with the Bell man. This man volunteered to help us with this work and it was completed without cost to the US. The cooperation received from various civilian and military organizations on the lower base was greatly appreciated by this section.

During this reporting period we had one (1) airman TDY to Goose Air Base for medical reasons. The airman returned in two (2) days and is back on the job at the present time. S/Sgt. Johnny L Dunham returned to the site from his emergency leave and is back on the job. A meeting was held by the Communications Chief and it was decided that due to the lack of teletype operators we would cross train the teletype and wire maintenance personnel until such a time when adequate operators arrive at this station. Teletype went on twelve (12) hour shifts to meet this emergency and also to allow one (1) teletype operator to leave on his scheduled rotation date. During this period the Communications section had five men promoted. A/2C Arnold L Cecconi was promoted to A/1C; A/3C Ronald L Bowers, A/3C Hiram E Wright, and A/3C Wilburn F Griffin were promoted to A/2C and A/B Larry L Dubois was promoted to A/3C. The Communications section had seven men rotate. They were S/Sgt. Kenneth J Medlar, A/2C Jimmy DD Johnson, A/2C Earl L Dennison, A/2C Chong G Ng, A/2C Wilburn F Griffin, A/3C Larry L Bost and A/2C Charles W Jackson. This section also lost A/3C Louis W McMurtrey due to illness and death in his family. The Communications section received eight (8) airmen within this period. They were T/Sgt. Thomas J O’Brien, S/Sgt. Chester Massy, S/Sgt. Robert D Gourley, A/1C Roland R LeBlanc, A/2C Loyd C Yelton, A/3C Larry L Dubois, A/3Cronald R Nelson and A/3C Walter W Allen. These airmen were sorely needed and should bolster the efficiency of the communications section. On the 21^st of March, Captain CP Zivalich reported from the ZI and assumed the duties as Communications Officer in addition to his regular duties as Radar Maintenance Officer. Captain Zivalich has had broad experience as Communications Officer at various AC&W sites in the Far East.

It was the responsibility of the Supply Section to acquire, issue and maintain records on Unit Authorization List property and spares required by the various activities of the squadron.

During the month of January follow-ups were sent to Base Supply at Goose Air Base, on items on back-order and urgently needed by this squadron. Action was completed on bringing to date the Control Register and all Allied documents. Preparations were made and re-warehousing was completed in time for the 64^th AD Inspection. Inventory of all tubes on hand was taken and a number were re-ordered. A new stock level was placed on these tubes. Overall inspection of supply, by Headquarters, 64^th Air Division (Defense), proved to be satisfactory.

Breakage allowance was re-submitted during the month of February. Typing of all UAL items was completed and sent to Base Supply for action on same. Follow-up on all back ordered equipment and items that have been coded shipped, were checked on at Base Supply by Captain Nolan F Young. Setting up stock levels on all classes were completed. A new level was set on all diesel spares in Class Engineering. Tubes were received and put all Radar sets back into full operation.

A new UAL was received at the end of February and cross referencing was begun. All classes were inventoried and short equipment was requisitioned.

Airman Linehan represented Supply on the Squadron Basketball team in the recent tournament at Pepperrell AFB. Airmen Linehan and Hughey also participated in the Saturday night squadron boxing matches.

During the reporting period no personnel changes occurred.

During the early part of January this section was faced with the problem of hauling water with a 2 ½ ton truck due to a breakage in the Ric-Wil water line which occurred during the month of December 1955. Goose Air Base Installations was notified immediately of this breakage due to the fact that repairs were beyond the capability of this section. In February, Goose Air Base sent Mr. Jim Barter, and Electrical Engineer, to this station to get an estimate of damage and to decide the quantity of materials and labor needed to repair the water line. Eight hundred feet of water pipe had to be replaced. The entire system was removed and reworked. All electrical connections were brazed. At that time another problem was encountered due to the shortage of acetylene and oxygen necessary for cutting and welding the Ric-Wil system. Since acetylene and oxygen are classified as hazardous cargo, approval was requested from Headquarters NEAC to ship this material by air. This request was approved and material was received in March. The water pipe was airlifted from Goose Air Base and also arrived at this site in March. Mr. John Murphy, Utility Supervisor, and Mr. Jim Barter of Goose Air Base supervised the rehabilitation of the water line using one welder, one electrician, two plumbers and two laborers. The plumbers and laborers were furnished by this station. Total estimated cost of this project was $9,000.00 and the estimated completion date was 8 May 1956. Lt. General Glen O Barcus and Brigadier General JP Knapp, NEAC and Goose Air Base Commanders, made two separate visits to this station for first hand inspections of the system and progress of the rehabilitation project.

During the month of January this section was inspected by the 64^th AD (D) Inspectors. The Inspectors found this section satisfactory with a few minor discrepancies, which were corrected immediately and those not corrected were noted and action was taken at a later date.

Another problem encountered by this section during this quarter concerned the temperature variations in the Operations and Communications Section. Inside temperature would vary from extreme cold to excessive heat, depending on outside wind velocities and temperature changes. Mr. Lawrence Farrell, Refrigeration specialist, located a mechanical defect in the automatic closer for the louver control. Mr. Farrell locally manufactured a thermostat controlled modulating motor which has proven satisfactory. It is believed that this louver system could be adopted by all AC&W sites located in the NEAC area, at a great savings to the Air Force. A suggestion has been submitted through channels concerning this system. Usual minor defects which were detected during the reporting period were considered routine and necessary corrective actions were accomplished.

A total of 13,038 man hours was expended for the operation of utilities plants and maintenance of real estate facilities from 1 January through 31 March.

The following are personnel changes for this period.

A/3C Norman J Lirette – reported for duty in January from the ZI. Assigned to Power Plant on OJT as Diesel Operator.
Mr. Thomas E Hoare – Reported for duty during January and was assigned as Power Plant Production Operator.
T/Sgt. Ralph A Gill and S/Sgt. Leonard W Shinkle – rotated to ZI during month of February.
Mr. Stanley McLeod – Reported for duty during February. Assigned as Senior Plumber for this section.

The following vehicles were assigned to the Motor Pool during the past quarter:

During this period the Squadron vehicles were driven a total of 10,173 miles. Due to the breakdown of the water line the water truck was used to carry water from a nearby lake. The water truck hauled 510,000 gallons of water during this period. Three major breakdowns were encountered during the past three months which resulted in 40 hours of labor from mechanics. All other breakdowns were considered of minor nature and repairs were completed during the course of the day. In order to keep the roads open the snow removal vehicles were used approximately 500 hours during the three months. Due to a new squadron policy of meeting all incoming aircraft, this section had to dispatch a vehicle to lower base (approximately 7 miles round trip) at the rate of 14 times weekly. Twenty-five (25) preventative maintenance services and inspections were performed and 50 filled maintenance work orders were performed. An average of 15 vehicles daily were dispatched during this quarter. No vehicles were deadlined due to lack of parts.

As of the last of the quarter there were seven (7) personnel assigned to this section. The following personnel changes occurred during the quarter.

The 64^th Air Division Inspection Team visited this section in January for the annual inspection. Minor deficiencies were noted and action was taken immediately to correct them.

No accidents occurred during the quarter. This is credited to the preventative maintenance completed on all vehicles and also due to the cautious driving of all personnel.

Due to the isolated location of this unit, it was imperative that the Special Services section utilize effectively all facilities providing entertainment and off duty educational opportunities for assigned personnel. With this mission in hand, the Special Service section, with the voluntary assistance of interested personnel, initiated many improvements in programmed activities during the months of January, February and March.

Library – The Squadron library was moved from the Airman’s Bar to its present location in the West Wing. This move was necessary due to the lack of access to the library while in its old location. The library is now open 5 times weekly for 2 hours per day. A/3C Ronald Nelson is now acting librarian working on a voluntary off duty time basis. During the reporting period the unit library possessed an estimated 1100 volumes of assorted books which were made available for personnel use. A Book Kit of approximately 45 books was received during the quarter from the Goose Air Base Library and was also available for personnel use.

Photo Laboratory - The photo laboratory was moved to a new location where hot and cold water and sinks were available (necessary for developing and printing of film). It is expected to be operating in the near future.

Bingo Night – Bingo was a Special Service Activity provided every Friday night in the Squadron dining hall at 2000 hours. The price for player cards was fifty cents. The proceeds were returned to the players through established single card prized of $2.00 per game and a monthly jack pot prize of thirty ($30.00) dollars. The bingo games were voluntarily operated and supervised by S/Sgt. Donald Ray. Bingo was self supporting.

Movies – Movies were shown when available at 1825 and 2045 hours during the week and at 1400 hours on Sunday. The projectionists A/3C Roy Groham and A/2C William C Brooks donated their time without cost to the government. Movies continued to be the most popular mode of entertainment as capacity attendance was noted at each showing, according to the class of movies available.

Sports – Due to inclement weather conditions athletic activities were limited to indoor sports, however squadron personnel’s interest in sports remained high.

Visiting Personnel:

On 21 March 1956 this site had the pleasure of being host to one of Canada’s most outstanding dignitaries, the Right Honorable Vincent Massey, Governor General of Canada. The Governor General was accompanied by other Canadian officials. Major Richard Fox, Commander, conducted the Governor General and his party on a tour of the AC&W site and its facilities. A luncheon was held in the squadron dining hall in the Governor General’s honor, all officer personnel of this site attended.

On 27 March a group of official reporters and photographers representing leading American and Canadian publishers toured this site in relation with a scheduled Arctic Tour which would take them to all bases across the northern defense line.

Mr. Pitt, writer and reporter of Time and Life Magazine toured this site on or about 30 March. Mr. Pitt is writing a book concerning life in the Arctic.

The Commander of this station recognized a need for a physical training program. As a result a program of voluntary competitive boxing came into being. The First Sergeant, M/Sgt. Joe B Osteen and S/Sgt. Donald Ray personally helped construct a boxing ring in the lower floor of tower three, and a boxing commission was appointed. This new organization was the first of its kind in the history of Baffin Island, and it was appropriately named "The Baffin Island Boxing Commission". (BIBC)

Boxing events were staged each Saturday night. Contestants registered with the BIBC before 1300 hours on Thursday of the week they intended to participate. Each Thursday afternoon each contestant was carefully checked by the medical section of this squadron, before he was allowed to participate as a contestant in the ring. At the official weigh in, each contestant was interviewed over the squadron radio station (SKIMO) and announcements were made concerning the coming attractions. Contestants for each weight group were announced and placed appropriately on the fight card. The events were given full publicity coverage all week prior to the actual fight on Saturday night. The fights were announced over radio station SKIMO and it’s affiliated station WORM on Resolution Island each Saturday night at 2000 hours by T/Sgt. Ronald W Duffy and Alfred M Clark.

The fights were limited to three, two minute rounds, with one and one-half minutes rest between each round. As a safety factor, fourteen ounce gloves, head gear and teeth protectors were also used by participants. A medical technician was stationed at ringside to take immediate care of any minor cuts or bruises contracted while boxing.

The fights were officiated by a referee and two judges. Each fighter was entitled to a second and a trainer, if a fighter didn’t have a second available at ringside, the BIBC appointed an experienced second to assist the fighter.

The fights were strictly amateur and a "No Contest" was called when it was evident to the judges that a miss-match had been made.

Enthusiasm by press, radio, contestant, promoter, manager, second, section represented, and most of all John Q Airman was exemplified by the tremendous turn out for these Saturday night events. The titles won were often short lived. The fights were packed with fast action and were followed weekly by the most savage fight fans on Baffin Island.

Officials of the BIBC

SKIMO Radio Station Weekly Schedule – Page 1

SKIMO Radio Station Weekly Schedule – Page 2

Squadron health remained in satisfactory condition with treatments being minor in nature. During the past reporting period 184 treatments were performed. The following is a complete breakdown: