Holberg, BC

The principal events and developments for this period are as follows:

A five day inspection was carried out by the SOSec, 5 Air Div, entailing thorough inspections of the Domestic and Operations sites.

Three Station Defence Alerts were sounded during this last six month period. One of these, "infiltrators" were deployed and one successful penetration was achieved at the Power Plant.

The AFP investigated two minor fires since 1 Dec 59. Furthermore, under the guidance of the section, a search party was organized to find an airman who did not return from a hike on schedule. The search was short and successful.

The Officers Mess, Sergeants Mess and Airman’s Mess are at present being enlarged and nearing completion.

Approval has been granted for the following items: a new dishwasher, tiling of the dining room floors, reallocation of milk dispenser, coffee urn and toaster in the new dining area, and reallocation of filters in canopy in kitchen.

The food service section has served 45,000 meals and catered to 135 parties during the last six months.

During this period, there were seven babies born at the hospital, boys having a slight edge on girls (four to three). Three air evacuations were made by RCAF Search and Rescue to Sea Island, BC.

The main project has been the hospital renovation which was begun on 25 Feb, however, due to lack of funds, all work ceased on 18 Apr and is now awaiting completion. The bed capacity has been decreased to four due to having to use one of the wards as a Case room. The X-Ray department is using one of the bathrooms for a developing room.

Daily operation of the Recreation Centre was carried out normally with an approximate 270 persons utilizing the facilities daily. The following sports that provided a well rounded program for the personnel of this unit were: broomball, badminton, swimming, children’s PT, basketball, table tennis, Scouts and Cubs, Brownies, volleyball and square dancing.

Social items of interest during the winter season included bi-monthly bingos, monthly dances, special parties, for special occasions such as Halloween, Christmas, etc, and the second annual sports banquet which terminated the winter program.

The club house project for the Scouts and Guides at this unit is approximately 90% complete. Work was held up during the winter months but was resumed this spring when the weather was more favourable for working conditions.

Schooling at this unit comes under the British Columbia Department of Education, which provides the syllabus of instruction. Administration and teachers are provided by the Quatsino School Board on which the RCAF have a representative.

School accommodation is provided in the form of a two classroom school on the station and a one-room school in Holberg village.

Grades I and II are taught in one classroom and grades V, VI, VII and VIII are taught in the second classroom of the two-room school. Grades III and IV are taught in the one-room school at Holberg village. Dependent’s children in grades III and IV are transported by bus to the village school.

A new six-room school is under construction and will be ready for use in Sep 60. Schooling will then be provided from grades I to X.

The important projects completed during the last six month period were as follows:

1. Station landscaping; the building of a retaining wall behind the Recreation Centre was the last item of this project and was completed late in Jan.
2. Rehabilitation and soundproofing of the station training room, located in the bottom floor of #1 tower. A fiberglass false ceiling was installed and ten-test was used on the walls. The end result is a very attractive classroom and the noise level is satisfactorily low for training purposes.
3. 60 lightning arrestors were installed on various station buildings. This project was completed in Dec 59.
4. Two of the narrow bridges on the road to the dock were removed and replaced by 3 feet corrugated round culverts. This enabled the road to be widened at these two spots and thus a cause of delay and/or accident was removed from the road.
5. Renovations were made in the Message Centre, Crypto room and Central Registry. Central Registry was moved into the Orderly Room, allowing space in the message centre for new machines.

Besides this new construction work, the section carried on with maintenance of station buildings, roads and grounds.

Projects completed by this section during the period of review include the building of two new stock control desks, the conversion of Barracks stores from tower #1 to the old grocery store, and the painting of the Stock Control, R&I and LPO offices by the CE section. The construction of an Electronic (Supply Group) stores at the Operations site has been initiated.

With the help of 702 Detachment, Station Vancouver, the PMQs at this unit are receiving furniture replacements and all have received replacement refrigerators.

Highlight of the past six months was the winning of second place in the NFPA fire prevention contest for small stations by this unit’s fire department. The Certificate of Merit was presented to the Fire Hall by the Commanding Officer.

Two fires were recorded resulting in very minor damages.

During Swindel and Nodwell visit in Feb, CEPE carried out trials on Nodwell tracked vehicle JX1 and Western Flyer 28 passenger bus 7A32-1045 equipped with Selectronic transmission. The tracked vehicle JX1 was found unsatisfactory for Holberg terrain, while the A32 equipped with the Selectronic transmission proved suitable and it has been recommended that all A32s at this unit be modified in the same manner.

The installation of the FPS-508 (FPS-20) by Northern Electric Company was finalized 18 Jan.

Preparations for SAGE. Furniture has been cleared from the second floor of #1 tower in readiness for installation of telephone terminal equipment.

A survey was carried out of location at present Ops site for proposed relocation of GATR equipment.

Two radomes for the height finders arrived for #2 and #3 towers. The height finding radars will be installed in the near future.

Frequent visits were made to this section by both service and civilian personnel. S/L Birchell and F/L Hopkins from 5 Air Div, made a staff visit and later S/L Sansoucy and F/L Pinneo from ADCHQ carried out a staff visit and crypto inspection.

139.14 mcs replaced 133.2 mcs on channel 4 as RCAF GCI common. Modifications to NEG11 system, consisting of central switches and indicator panels for controllers using VHF and UHF tactical channels were completed. All wire communication circuits were turned down for North West Telephone Company carrier installations at Alert Bay BC and were restored within twenty four hours.

The most significant developments during the period under review was the assumption of operational control of this unit by the 25^th Air Division (USAF) and the completed installation of the FPS-508 search radar. The traffic load and the number of live exercises carried out compared unfavourably with that recorded during the previous six months. Communications improved considerably during the period under review and an unsatisfactory FtrCop strength developed.

A total of 9,084 tracks were recorded from 1 Dec 59 to 15 May 60. Included in this total were 60 which were classified unknown. Scramble action was taken against 47 of the unknowns and the period closed with two remaining unknowns.

A total of 3,703 intercepts were conducted by controllers of this unit during the past six months. Forty seven of these intercepts were made against airborne objects classified as unknown.

On 15 May this unit was placed on an advanced alert stage by NORAD. This condition lasted one day and maximum manning was achieved during this period.

1. Live Exercises – Teamwork (joint 5/25 Air Division exercises) comprised the bulk of the large scale air defence exercises in which this unit participated. In addition, Big Blast and Remote Control training employing the local CBC transmitter was carried out. In all, a total of 14 Air Defence Exercises were conducted. The MA rate during these exercises was 50% as compared with the 56% during the previous period.
2. Remote Control – Considerable emphasis was placed on Remote Control techniques during the reporting period. This technique was employed on all large scale exercises and during STP and normal training. Modifications to Addendum 7 to Standard AW Procedures was required due to space and personnel limitation.
3. Academic and STP Training – This training continued satisfactorily and increased emphasis was placed on STP problems.

After some delay the 25^th Air Division assumed operational control of this unit on 15 May 60. The immediate effect on this GCI was the loss of both the identification function and the scramble prerogative. Liaison with Vancouver AMIS was maintained, however, during a shakedown period of the Seattle Identification Section. The control of 409 AW Squadron aircraft by the 25^th Air Division appeared to be functioning adequately, although it was noticed that fewer of these aircraft were scrambled for Consort’s control during live exercises.

In addition to the foregoing, the main problem area centered on identification. Considerable effort was expended in attempting to resolve this and other problems.

This search gear was accepted at this unit by an AMC representative in January 60. The feeling on the part of Operational personnel in regard to this gear was one of disappointment, with the main criticism being directed at the performance in the range covered by the MTI. This problem, however, may be resolved when proper test gear is available at the unit.

Air/ground/air communications improved considerably over the past six months and the cross-talk referred to in the previous report was completely eliminated. Modifications to the telephone system has improved reception immeasurably. Four lines to the Seattle SAGE Sector were installed; however, preliminary impressions are that this number is inadequate and should be increased by a further one or two.

During the period 1 Dec 59 to 31 May 60, the controller strength held to an average level of 17. This figure is under the present establishment and as a result, controllers were required to work over-time to meet operational commitments. This, however, presented few problems and had the beneficial effect of increasing "on the job training".

FtrCop strength, on the other hand, has declined to a point considered to be the absolute minimum consistent with the present role.

The past six months were interesting from an operational point of view. The phasing in of this unit to the SAGE environment produced many problems, foreseen and unforeseen, and for which solutions for some are still being sought.

Although the manning problem remained, the majority of the operational personnel were mission oriented and intent on improving their operational effectiveness.

Due to a seasonal decline, the number of air defence exercises were fewer in number than those recorded in the previous report.

In all, it is considered that the past six months have been a successful period on this unit’s operational history and high hopes are held for the future.