Goose Bay, Labrador

Prepared for the Office of Information Services
64^th Air Division (Defense)
by
Second Lieutenant James A Voor (Historical Officer)

22 October 1956

(64^th Air Division (Defense), Northeast Air Command

James A Voor
2^nd Lt., USAF
Historian

Paul H Hansen
Major, USAF
Commander

The squadron Operations Section continued to effectively accomplish the primary mission of the squadron despite a serious shortage of Airmen and Directors. The following chart shows the number of tracks picked up in the Labrador Complex during the period of 1 July through 30 September 1956.

The Operations personnel continued to carry on training in conjunction with the 59^th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in a stepped up program. Directors have been attending 59^th Operations meetings and Wolf Pack type tactics are being worked out. Several groups of 59^th pilots and observers have visited out site in order to get a better understanding of our operations section. Along with this idea, schedules are being set up whereby entire crews will visit the 59^th Fighter Interceptor Squadron operations section. The following chart shows the number of intercepts, both practice and active air, made during the quarter.

We are experiencing very good co-ordination and co-operation with both Goose Approach Control and the Military Flight Service Center. However, our teletype communications for the reception of flight plan information is inoperative and the teletype reception of our needed weather information is very poor.

This Direction Center has assisted in several SAC refuelling missions and high flight missions during recent months. We now have a SAC liaison officer in the operations room during these refuelling missions.

The 64^th Air Division (Defense) Inspection team visited the site during September. They found our operations to be in very good condition except for a few minor discrepancies.

During this reporting period Captain Clark E Weaver replaced Captain Tollie R Mullins as the Operations Officer.

1^st Lt. Gilbert E Jones replaced Captain Richard A Leed as Direction Center Chief. Both Captains Mullins and Leed have rotated to the ZI.

Through July, and to this present date the personnel shortages have necessitated a switch from a four to a three crew operation. It appears that this change will not be adequate as 11 airmen are rotating in October and 11 more are due to rotate in November, while the first replacements are allocated for December. If the replacements are not received prior to December several airmen in the operations field will have to be extended.

The Operations hallways and the lounge are have been painted and have been greatly improved in appearance.

Several changes have been made in the main console and control technician’s tables to improve appearance and ease of operation. The new air to ground radio monitoring system has greatly improved the entire operation. All personnel working in operations agree to the feasibility and practicality of this system.

Many simulated missions using X-ray tracks and X-ray interceptors have been set up during the past three months. These type missions, usually conducted on the swing and midnight shifts, are designed to increase the capabilities of the airmen at our complex and also those at the Control Center. This improvement has been noted. Several CPX’s were completed by the Squadron during this period. These exercises have brought out our weaknesses in alert plans which are being corrected.

The 15-J-1C has been in commission for the entire three months.

Individual ECM Forms were made up in accordance with 64^th Air Division (Defense) Manual 55-4. This ECM training program was set up by Lt. Panoushek and is co-ordinated with the 6630^th REV/ECM Flight. There is an ECM form set up for each officer and airman assigned to the operations section. Seven (7) hours of ECM lectures have been given the personnel by the Directors and Crew Chiefs and six (6) hours of actual jamming for our ECM training was received from the 6630^th REV/ECM missions.

The Controllers Information file was screened and the index was brought up to date. The publications and procedures listed numerically in each sub-divided index were tabbed accordingly. This will enable the Directors to obtain the needed information more rapidly.

The senior NCO’s filling Duty Director vacancies continue to improve and display exceptional skill in these duties. Folders which reflect the same information as our 1641 – 1644 Director folders have been set up for these NCO directors.

The Radar Maintenance room and tower interiors were painted. The persistent leak in the 6B azimuth drive assembly oil pan has been corrected by the installation of a new pan and gaskets.

Some of the antenna drive problems have been traced to the RAPCON microwave installation which has now been disconnected until this problem can be solved.

All scopes have been overhauled, using the spare scopes from the B-Scan room as replacements. The TPS-502 indicator scope in operations has been moved to another location to make it more readily accessible. During the mover, the TPS-502 indicator was completely overhauled. Trouble was encountered in the exciter section of the motor generator.

Preparations have been made for the accomplishment of the annual overhaul. Canadian Marconi Company Personnel have started work on the test equipment.

The Communications and Electronics offices as well as the transmitter site have also been repainted.

The telephone cable to the LF site has been operative for some time. Base Communications Office has been notified but they do not have sufficient personnel to perform the needed repair.

The recent arrival of seven (7) communications personnel has brought the manning strength up to 83% in this section.

The General Military Training Program was supplemented by a new series of Code of Conduct lectures which started in September. These lectures, covering the Code of Conduct for our military fighting men, different aspects of Communism and our American Heritage, were and are being conducted by the Commander and the Junior Officers. Fire Safety lectures were also conducted by Goose Air Base personnel as part of our training program. Tests were administered to all personnel to check the results of these fire safety lectures. A score of 100% was required. Those personnel who did not achieve this score were required to attend additional lectures until that score was achieved.

Weapons familiarization was also conducted on Carbines, M1 rifles, BAR, 45 calibre submachine guns and the 45 calibre pistol. All personnel participated in firing the weapon they would be assigned on their respective station defense positions.

On the Job Training for the squadron has and is progressing nicely. The majority of the personnel have completed and in many cases have been awarded their next higher AFSC in their respective career fields. All sections have made up respective phase tests, to be administered to airmen upon the completion of a specific phase of training as outlined on AF Form 623. This test is designed to insure sufficient understanding of the training received during a particular phase.

The water supply system was cleaned. The 30,000 gallon tank was drained and washed down. The contractor has installed a new filter inlet on this system. This action is not believed to be adequate and the area engineers have been so advised. The intake pipe clearance is insufficient to prevent sand from getting into the system and causing excessive wear on the pumps.

A leak in the POL line was discovered and has now been repaired. Work Orders were submitted to Goose Air Base for assistance in constructing new supports for this line.

The second cycle of preventative maintenance was completed. The painting of all the radomes was completed and were found to still be in good condition. All guy wires throughout the site have been tightened. Several poles have been replaced. The overhead power lines also have been tightened.

The boilers have been cleaned and inspected. Certificates of good condition were received. Subsequent to this cleaning, the entire boiler room was repainted.

Much work was done towards eliminating erosion of our main access road. Installation of road snow markers was recently completed. We hope these 9 and 12 foot markers will be sufficient.

We do not have a replacement for the carpenter who rotated during July. Maintenance efforts have and are suffering for the need of a carpenter.

The Supply Section has thoroughly screened its contents to insure compliance with the check list contained in the subject: GOOD MANAGEMENT (UAL) which appeared in the 13 June 1956 TIG BRIEF.

In conjunction with the Air Force austerity program, a survey of all excess turn-ins was conducted and $58,497.42 was turned in during the fiscal year 1956. Supply records were closed out for fiscal year 1956 and were audited during August. New custody receipts have been prepared for each section within the squadron and inventories were taken.

Reports on equipment at Canadian Marconi Company Depot for overhaul indicate that supply on replacement parts is very low. Action on requisitions for parts required for this annual overhaul are slow and about 95% of these items have been back ordered. Follow up on outstanding requisitions was made on 31 August.

The new Air Force and Canadian UAL lists were received 21 Sep 56. A special note contained in the UAL indicated that a change of AF Form 1120 cards was necessary. The in-use inventory was accomplished and submitted to NEAC Headquarters.

The report of vehicle use from 23 June through 22 September 1956 is as follows:

This squadron has driven 139,282 miles during the last 453 days since the last accident. Any squadron could be proud of such a record.

With the assignment of 11 airmen since July, this section’s manning strength if now 95%.

The annual Range Familiarization Firing was completed during September.

A new site defense plan was set up for greater effectiveness. A chart showing the positions of all personnel during a site defense alert has been drawn up. Several such practice alerts have been conducted this reporting period.

Some new easy chairs have been received for the library. We also receive twenty-five new books each month under a special package plan from the Goose Air Base library. These books are available in our squadron for a period of two months and then passed on to other sites.

Under the Group Study course program being conducted by Lts. Woulbroun and Voor, two Algebra I classes and one Algebra II class have been completed. Nine men have received completion diplomas. Four of these men passed with distinction. A Physics I class and an Analytical Geometry class are now being conducted. Twelve men have passed their High School Level GED tests during this period. The squadron softball team had a very successful season, losing only three of sixteen games in the Goose Air Base League. After taking third place in the Division Tournament held at Pepperrell AFB, the softball team won the Goose Air Base Championship of 1956. A judo club has been started here at the site. The men have received their judo suits but are awaiting plastic mat covers. The basketball team is working out regularly and it is apparent that the team should be quite successful.

Several USO camp shows visited the site during the past three months. Interest in these shows is at a maximum.

T/Sgt. Leroy W James, our MARS Station operator rotated during September. Our station is not being operated at this time.

We have been without a qualified airman in the Special Services Career Field so we are using an airman with the AFSC of 27350 (Radar Operator). This is definitely not to the advantage of the squadron.