Holberg, BC

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

On 1 Apr 61, 15339 Sgt. P Simpson, NCO i/c AFP was commissioned as a F/O in the Pers/AFSec branch and transferred to 446 SAM Squadron, North Bay, Ontario.

Effective 6 Apr 61, 202903 Sgt. R Jackson assumed the duties of NCI i/c AFP.

Four station defence alerts were sounded during this period. One infiltration attempt was successful which has resulted in a revised guard deployment.

On 7 Jan 61 a land search was undertaken for a trapper who was reported missing from his cabin at Raft Cove, 15 miles from Holberg. Within 48 hours he was found unharmed.

Renovations to the mess kitchen and Officers bar room were completed during this period.

During the month of May 61 landscaping was carried out by use of volunteer labour around the combined mess area.

Births during the period 1 Dec 60 to 31 May 61 are as follows: Male infants born in the Station Infirmary 14 living and 1 (one) stillborn. No female infants were born during this period.

There were eight air evacuations during this period.

There was an establishment increase of one F/O Med/Nur. There are now three on strength.

The Dental Corps visited this unit twice during this period.

Personnel visiting the Infirmary were as follows: Captain Rogers MD Surgeon Captain (RCN) two visits, S/L Waller MD, F/L McGorlick Pharmacist, F/L Poupst Med/Nur, S/L Thompson Med/Nur Command Matron, G/C Orr MD Radiologist, and Mr. Lowe Hygiene Department Naden.

Effective 15 Dec 50, 55165 F/L JM Cote took over the duties of Senior Medical Officer.

Special recreational activities included an East-West Rainbowl football game played on New Year’s Day.

On Easter Monday a station East-West Sports Day was held.

Station dances and bingo games were held monthly in the Recreation Hall.

Operation of the Recreation Centre was carried out with approximately 300 persons utilizing the facilities daily. The following sports were offered: broomball, badminton, swimming, children’s PT, basketball, volleyball, softball, square dancing, ladies 10-BX programme, 5-BX for overweight personnel, and bowling. In addition, Scouts, Cubs, Guides and Brownies were offered for dependent children in the newly completed Scouthouse.

On 21 May an Aquatic show was held in the station swimming pool. Participants were members of the swimming classes.

On 30 Apr 61 the Protestant Chapel was officially dedicated by G/C Light and W/C Rodgers.

On 14 May Bishop Martin conducted Anglican confirmation services.

The RC Chapel was blessed on 7 May by Bishop Hill. G/C Davignon, W/C Gallagher and F/L Murphy, the former RC Padre of this unit, also attended this ceremony. In the afternoon of the same day Bishop Hill conducted the confirmation services for RC children.

On 13 May F/O’s Marshall Langtry and Jaqueline Ward were married. This was the first wedding to be conducted in the RC Chapel.

During this period, construction and maintenance was divided into two phases, 2 CMU and the CE Section.

Projects completed and started by 2 CMU –

The SAGE Annex was 95% completed in mid January. During the final stages of construction, Burroughs Business Machines began the installation of the computer equipment.

The power plant extension is 90% completed. The construction of the building is finished and one engine installed. The other engine is expected in mid August.

The excavation of the basement of the Recreation Hall was commenced in late December. At the present time the project is 90% completed. The sports field and tennis court was started in December and is now 60% completed.

The new Telecom building was begun in late February and is now 98% completed. The GATR site construction was begun in early April. The blasting of the approach road has just commenced.

Projects completed by the CE Section –

The second floors of Nos. 1, 2 and 3 towers were tiled to provide safer working condition. A small modification to the Guard House was completed. These were part of a special Winter Works Programme.

Sixteen fender piles were replaced at Holberg dock. Also, 2,500 yards of rock fill was added to the causeway to repair damage done by erosion.

Regular maintenance of station roads and grounds was carried on. The road to the RCAF Dock at Holberg required repairing in two locations to prevent extensive damage due to erosion caused by the Good Speed River.

Station Holberg won an honourable mention for small stations in the National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Prevention Week Contest. A Certificate of Merit was presented to the Fire Department by the Commanding Officer, W/C Austin.

The unit was visited by the Command Fire Marshall during the month of March.

Two fires were recorded during the period 1 Dec 60 to 31 May 61. The first occurred on 16 Dec 60, involving the engine of a bus during a run to the Operations Site. The fire was extinguished by the operator with no financial loss. The second fire involved bedding in a PMQ bedroom ignited by children playing with a lighter. The fire was quickly extinguished with a financial loss of twelve dollars. Five false alarms and two precautionary stand-bys were also recorded.

On 7 May 61 the RCN supplied Marine Craft YFP 306 as a replacement vessel due to annual refit of RCAF Marine Craft M975 "Nimpkish II". The RCN vessel, manned by RCAF Station Holberg personnel, made the trip from Esquimalt to Holberg via the east coast of Vancouver Island. The refit of the Nimpkish II is to be carried out from 5 Jun to 23 Jun 61.

On 13 Dec 60, due to extensive oil leakage, the main Azimuth Bearing Assembly of the Search Radar (AN/FPS-508) was replaced by a MRP from 1008 TSD Winnipeg (Canadian Aviation Electronic).

Due to continued leaking of oil after installation of a new bearing assembly, another bearing assembly was installed on 19 Dec. This bearing proved satisfactory in all respects.

Power was shut down on 20 Dec to enable the replacement of a 300 kilowatt transformer by a 500 kilowatt unit, due to the increased power requirements of the AN/FST-2 and associated equipment. The transformer is located on the ground floor of Tower One in the main power distribution cabinets.

On 4 Apr to improve the SIF (Selective Identification Feature) of the SAGE environment a new high definition antenna, the AN/AS5012/UP, was mounted on top of the AN/FPS-508 main search antenna in the main radome (Tower One).

On 5 Apr, Mr. McDougal and Mr. Harder, CAE Engineer and Technician respectively, overhauled the AN/GPS-T2 Radar Trainer and the 15J1D Target Simulator.

A handover meeting was held on 13 Apr to accept the AN/FST-2, (Date Processing Equipment), installed in the SAGE Annex building. Participants were S/L McCuaig and Mr. D Cameron of AMCHQ, W/C Hill of ADCHQ, Mr. James A Meyers of GEEIA, Sacramento, California office, Mr. Vernon Sheppard of GEEIA, Ottawa office and Mr. Ron Andoff DND/IS Toronto.

On 10 Apr 61, an MRP from 1008 TSD Winnipeg consisting of Canadian Aviation Electronic personnel headed by Mr. Richard J Talbot as Overhaul Engineer, commenced an overhaul of both AN/FPS-507 Height Finders on the unit. They were completed in two weeks.

The technical inspection of all radar equipment and facilities on the unit was carried out by W/C Hill of SORS Branch at ADCHQ on 14 Apr.

On 12 Dec 60, installation began of VHF/FM installation in AFP vehicle and AFP headquarters. The installation of both the fixed and mobile equipment was completed by 20 Dec.

VHF and UHF equipment was carefully inspected, defects corrected and re-installed in Comm Site #2 from its previous location in the old receiver site. Action was completed by 30 Dec and resulted in improved VHF reception.

As a result of a request from Operations, all tactical frequencies are recorded during flying operations. This was accomplished by 10 Jan with four additional recorders installed in the telephone maintenance section and each controller position being recorded during flying operations.

On 11 Jan ADC message S671 closed down HF networks 52 and 53 with all equipment shut down and held pending further instruction. Comm Site #3 now provides only HF marine frequencies (TX) and VHF/FM for AFP.

AFP VHF/FM installation was renovated 20 Jan 61. The fixed station at the guard house was relocated at Comm Site #3, with remote control facility at the guard house. This gave improved coverage for the AFP vehicle.

The reinstallation of all UHF and VHF equipment was completed on 7 Feb 61. Comm Site #1 now houses UHF transmit and receive while Comm Site #2 houses VHF transmit and receive equipment.

On 10 Feb all patch fields at both Comm Sites were completely re-wired. This has proved to be a great improvement.

A maintenance repair party arrived on 15 Feb to overhaul and move as necessary all VHF and UHF antennae. This was completed by 27 Feb.

A basic theory transistor course commenced on 23 Feb and continued until all personnel had completed a three day course and examination.

HF networks 52 and 53 were formally cancelled on 4 Apr.

On 15 Apr a technical inspection of all Comm equipment and facility was carried out by W/C Hill, ADCHQ (SORS).

F/O Monaghan reported for duty as STelO on 1 May replacing F/O Rudderham and F/O Langtry.

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

The unit participated in weekly Sector exercises which are nicknamed "Bear Down". These exercises are comparatively small scale and usually last for only a few hours. At no time has this type of exercise actually tested the operational capability of the unit. However, "Bear Down" does provide satisfactory live training.

In addition to "Bear Down", 25^th NORAD Region conduct similar type exercises once or twice a month. These exercises do not provide any more activity but permit testing and training for simulated degradation of communication facilities within the region. Generally, the region exercise continues over a longer period of time and is considered to be a more satisfactory test of the units capability.

The operational highlight for the period was called Saga V and took place on 18-19 Mar 61. This was the USAF ADC Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) for 25^th NORAD Region and generated a great deal of enthusiasm and training. Several pre-ORI exercises were conducted, a conference was held at Tacoma by the Seattle Sector HQ and an evaluation of the unit was carried out by S/L Graham of 25^th NORAD Region. During the ORI itself, this unit was evaluated by S/L Ashworth from NORAD HQ. In addition, the RCAF ADC Air Staff Visiting Team used the exercise for their semi-annual ADC evaluation of the units operational capability. Final reports submitted by all observers gave the unit highly satisfactory ratings.

Routine training has been conducted by means of a fairly heavy SSTM schedule and live intercepts activity with CF-100s from 409 Squadron at Comox and F-102s 64^th FIS at McChord AFB. Also, the unit has conducted three Broadcast Control exercises using the CBC facilities at Vancouver during the six month period under review.

Finally, with respect to strength vs. establishment for this section, there has been a gradual increase in FtrCop strength from approximately 67 airmen in Dec 60 to 86 airmen on strength as of 1 Jun 61. Controller strength has remained the same and is up to full establishment.