Goose Bay, Labrador

1960 – Historical Report – USAF Historical Division


Historical Record
641st AC&W Squadron
Goose Bay, Labrador
1 April 1960 to 30 June 1960

Section I

REQUIRED DATA

  1. Unit and Location

641st AC&W Squadron
APO 677, New York, NY

  1. Name and Grade of Commander

Delbert R Smyth, Major, USAF

  1. Chain of Command (Superior Echelons)
  2. 641st AC&W Squadron
    Goose Air Defense Sector
    64th Air Division (Defense)
    Air Defense Command

  • Subordinate Units (Down to and including squadrons)
  • None

  • Mission (Give authority and brief statement of primary mission)
  • The mission of the 641st AC&W Squadron is to conduct Air Defense operations within area of assignment as outlined in ADC (RCAF) ASI 3/4/3, to support the Goose NORAD/CONAD Combat Center area of responsibility as described in NORAD GO Nr. 14 and CONAD GO Nr. 8 dated 13 May 1960, and to function as a Master Direction Center within the Air Defense system.

    Authority: Paragraph 1, Goose Air Defense Sector Regulation 20-2, dated 30 June 1960.

  • Personnel
  •    

    Officers

    Airmen

    Civilians

    Total

     
     

    Assigned

    23

    266

    11

    300

     
     

    Attached

    3

    22

    2

    31

     
                 
  • Equipment (Give official nomenclature and quantity of mission-type equipment)
  • AN/CPS-6B Prime Radar, AN/FPS-502 Back-up Search Radar, AN/GPX-6 Radar Identification, 10 Cummins Diesel Generators, 8 AN/GRC-27 Multi-Channel UHF Transmitter-Receivers, 6 AN/GRT-3 Single Channel UHF Transmitter-Receivers, 6 AN/GRR-7 Single Channel Receivers, 5 AN/FRT-502 VHF Transmitters, 11 AF/URG-60 VHF Receivers.

    Section II

    COMMENTARY

    Operations:

    Full scale training was resumed on 1 April 1960 following a complete physical renovation of the 641st Direction Center. The rearrangement of facilities within the 641st Direction Center allowed for the installation and operation of the NORAD/CONAD Combat Operations Center which was located from Newfoundland to Labrador on 1 April. The primary and secondary missions of the 641st ACWRON did not change; however, the Direction Center was changed to a Master Direction Center in order to align the operational functions according to the geography involved. The Labrador complex of Air Defense stations remains under the 641st MDC, while the Newfoundland complex remains under the 640th ACWRON. Both ACWRONs are under the operational control of the NORAD/CONAD Combat Operations Center. Training schedules for the period of this report are listed below according to the equipment on which training was performed.

    (see the matrix at the end of this report)

    The intercept rate during this period was .9948 or 99 percent.

    C&E Performance and Maintenance:

    The following modifications were made to carious radar equipment during this period: (a) Goose Bay RAPCON system trigger was coordinated with the AN/CPS-6B Interference Blanker Circuit to eliminate RAPCON interference with the AC&W Radar. (b) Twelve modification kits were installed on the KY-118/GPX to reduce outages caused by circuit overheating. (c) The KY-120/GPX modification was accomplished in May. (d) Ten modification kits for AC powered test equipment were received and installed during this period.

    An unsatisfactory report has been accomplished on the ACTER portion of the AN/GPS-T2 Noise Generator. A low value resistor was constantly overheating and burning.

    Formal OJT was completed on the AN/UPX-6 during May.

    Orders were received from the 64th Air Division to decommission the AN/TPS-502 back-up height finder in preparation for installation of the AN/FPS-6B height finder.

    Eight on-line synchronous encryption machines were installed on 641st ACWRON circuits in June.

    New line and distribution cables were installed in the 641st Communications Center to accommodate a better flow of Goose Air Defense Sector message traffic. Establishment of the Goose Air Defense Sector has increased the 641st ACWRON wire service by nine hundred percent. As an example of this increase, 1364 emergency alert messages were processed in May and June on one special circuit alone.

    Supply:

    The AN/TPS-502 Radar Set was dismantled and transferred to Base Supply at Goose Air Base on 27 June.

    Civil Engineering:

    The station heating plant was rehabilitated during this period. Approximately 150 steam traps and 100 shut-off valves were replaced. Six main check valves were repaired. A Mobile Maintenance team also installed a potable water meter in the power plant and a water make-up meter in the heating plant. Total cost of this project was $4,500.00.

    A two story walkway complete with stairs and ladder access was installed behind the vertical plotting board in the 641st Master Direction Center. This installation permits easy access to that section of the plotting board which covers the Thule and Eastern DEW line area. This work was accomplished by the 64th AD Mobile Maintenance team.

    Motor Pool:

    Drivers of the 641st Motor Pool completed 176,678 miles of driving by the end of this period without a reportable accident. In the period of this report, 641st drivers completed 34,594 miles. The total number of days without accident amounts to 695. Statistics for the period of this report are as follows:

    (see the matrix at the end of this report)

    Provost Marshal:

    Periodic exercises in site disaster control were held during this period. Phase One Disaster Control exercises were held on 14 April and 12 June. All posts were secured within 16 minutes during both exercises.

    Special Services:

    At the time of this report, the 641st Softball team had won sixteen (16) of seventeen (17) games played at Goose Air Base. The team will be host at the 64th Air Division Tournament which will be played at Goose Bay from 7 to 12 August.

    Summer Survival Camps are providing 641st members with fishing trips into the Labrador wilderness. Approximately sixty airmen will take part in these special fishing expeditions.

    Typed Name and Grade of Commander

    Delbert R Smyth, Major, USAF

    Signature

     

    Operations Training by Equipment

    AN/GPS-T2

    101 hours

    AN/UPS-T5

    114 hours

    MD-1

    18 hours

    ECM

    104 hours

    STM Missions

    116 hours

    Motor Pool Driving Statistics

    Vehicles Assigned

    8

    Miles Driven

    34,594

    Passengers Carried

    17,598

    Cargo Carried, Lbs.

    623,463