Baldy Hughes, BC

918^th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron
Baldy Hughes Air Station, Prince George, BC

Major Alfred J Naigle

AN/FPS-20A (1), AN/FPS-6B (2), AN/GPS-T2 (1), AN/UPS-5 (1), AN/GPX-7A (1), AN/GRC-27 (2), AN/GRT-3 (2), AN/GRR-7 (2), AN/FRT-503 (1), AN/FRT-502 (2), AF/URG-60 (5).

On July 18^th, the 918^th AC&W Squadron received the ADC "A" Award for the period 1 April 1960 to 1 April 1961. Colonel Guideon, Commander of Seattle Sector, made the presentation to Major Naigle, Commander, 918^th ACWRON. The award was presented for outstanding performance during this period.

The 25^th Air Division Inspector General’s team arrived on the 17^th of July to conduct their annual inspection. The squadron received an overall rating of excellent.

The Commander’s Call program stressed the differences between democracy and communism. Several speeches and various films were utilized to this end. Corporal Mills from the RCMP and a representative from the Game Department spoke on BC driving laws and hunting regulations, respectively.

Due to the tremendous increase in on-base children, the school was too small to carry on its functions. With the co-operation of the BC Superintendent of Schools who provided an extra teacher, the site expanded to two school buildings and is now holding classes in both of them.

New arrivals in the squadron include Major Alfred J Naigle who took command of the squadron relieving Major Kenneth Coleman who transferred to Phoenix Air Defense Sector. Major Naigle was transferred from the 759^th RADCON, Nacelle, Washington, where he was the Commander. Captain Hodek replaced Captain Bussell as Operations Officer and Captain Wallace reported in from Weapons Controller school at Hamilton, California.

Project Money Tree was placed in full swing. Meetings are being held to find new ways to increase savings through management, money and material.

The squadron operations was involved in a large simulated exercise, Desk Top IV, during this period. Full advantage was made of this opportunity for exercising the Operations Plans which test the ability to maintain sustained operations. Penetration of the restricted area was attempted during this mission to test the effectiveness of the guards. All were apprehended successfully.

Operations has made several improvements in their section such as reaccomplishing the status board to display current weather at key airfields, winds aloft, equipment status, etc. New 10 line key unit were installed to increase flexibility and coordination between operating positions. A public address system was installed to brief personnel prior to the mission.

A new airmen training program was initiated in operations which provides 18 complete lesson plans and will be a continuous program.

Maintenance "Red Time" was held to a minimum with 28 hours for both Height Finders and 47 minutes for the Search. The radomes received their final caulking which was an installation discrepancy.

During July the communications cable to the lower site and the GATR Building lost its pressure and pairs began shorting out. The 4602^nd Support Wing dispatched a team that replaced the cable and reoriented the AS-505 antennas. The second element of the antenna was rotated with respect to the lower element. The Height Finder evaluation team arrived and ran several flight checks on the radars. Both sets were within limits. CAE also sent their Depot IRAN team who overhauled the radars. Two magnetrons were replaced due to a cracked RF window and bad spectrum. No other major problems were encountered during the IRAN. Due to the fact that the extra position on the 10 line key units that contains the communications with the simulated position is not being used during missions, the spare transmitter and receiver used for back-up is now brought up on that position to provide an extra channel for intercepts. This will provide several frequencies for the directors to switch to in case of jamming.

Construction was extremely active during these summer months. There was an addition to the Boiler Plant of one more boiler to handle the load. An addition to the Power House was begun. The foundations have been mounted. Power shutdown for 15 hours was necessary to install the new circuit breakers. The FPS-27 and 26 towers were started, both foundations are complete. Final acceptance was made on the water mains, Recreation Building and Telco Building. Interior work was done on both the SAGE and GATR Buildings.

Alfred J Naigle, Major