Saglek, Labrador

Prepared By:
Thomas B Marson, Jr.,
2^nd Lt., USAF, Historical Officer, and
Lowell L Trent
A/2C, USAF, Historian

Shortage of personnel in this section seemed to be the greatest difficulty in January 1956. A two crew system was used with each crew working twelve hour shifts seven days a week. Captain McKay, operations officer, was sent TDY to Goose Air Base on the 23^rd of December for coordination and instruction of provost marshal activities. Due to weather conditions Captain McKay was at Goose until 23 January 1956 awaiting return transportation to this unit.

First Lieutenant Frank L Szabo was attached to this organization in January for cross-training as a director.

February found the personnel situation much better with the arrival of two seven level replacements during the latter part of January and early February. At this time a safe and filing cabinet was counter sank into the wall of the operations office. This improved the overall efficiency of the administrative section by eliminating a very congested area in the operations office and utilized wasted space in the compressor room. Plans for operation paint brush were formulated and paints ordered.

In March the personnel situation remained more than adequate with five gained and only one lost by normal rotation. Present strength is thirty-two military personnel.

An intensive OJT program was started the 6^th of January to train twelve of seventeen 27330’s and one 27350 for upgrading of their skill level. The completion date of this formal OJT for the majority is 6 April 1956.

Operation "Paint Brush" was completed the latter part of this quarter. The operations room was painted with paint of a non-reflective type as recommended by higher headquarters. This greatly improved the readability of the plotting board.

Our target simulator was situated adjacent to a PPI scope in the radar maintenance room. This facilitates preventative maintenance and repair and also makes it more readily useable for accomplishment of training requirements. New GCI letdown procedures were accomplished and forwarded to using agencies for coordination and acceptance.

During this quarter the prime search radar, AN/FPS-3, was ROCP due to wind damage in November 1955. At this reporting time about fifty percent of the ROCP items have been received, most of them small items such as nuts, bolts and washers.

Both the AN/TPS-502, back-up radar, and the AN/CPX-7 performed satisfactorily with little time off the air in January. Previous servo amplifier trouble was remedied in the AN/TPS-502 by the installation of a new vibrator.

The personnel situation of this section remained critical throughout the month of January. A three crew system was maintained with two men on each crew. Upon the arrival of two new maintenance men OJT was intensified and all three level personnel were given the proficiency test.

Weather conditions for February were no worse than could be expected with only two storms having winds above average. The first storm with winds averaging 80 miles per hour and gusts up to 100 miles per hour started on the 19^th and lasted approximately twenty-four hours. The second storm came about a week later with winds averaging 70 miles per hour and gusts up to 90 miles per hour. Very little dame occurred during these storms. One anemometer was lost and part of the outer fibers over a patch on one of the radomes was torn loose by the first storm. There was no loss of air pressure.

One storm occurred in the month of March with winds up to ninety miles per hour. No equipment damage due to this storm was noted.

The AN/TPS-502 was inoperative for a large part of March due to defective bearings in the motor generator group, PU-5004/TPS-502. A standby generator was not shipped in time last fall to go out on the last ship, so new bearings were obtained from Goose Air Base. These bearings were changed without too much difficulty despite the fact that proper tools were not available.

A team from CMC arrived and with their aid the prime search radome was installed in approximately one hour. The team is now awaiting the arrival of the rest of the antenna spare parts to complete the rest of the installations.

A bearing on one of the direction discs of the 15-J-1C, radar motion training device, had to be replaced. However, it still operated very efficiently during this period.

Full efficient operation of this section was greatly hampered during March by the shortage of personnel. One 30332 was lost by normal rotation in February. His replacement arrived in March. Although the 30332’s here are very willing and cooperative workers, actual experience, which is very necessary at a station such as this, is lacking.

Weather accounted for a great deal of trouble to this section during the month of January by distorting teletype messages and damaging radio antennas. This and severe damage to power lines made operation of the transmitter site difficult. Another problem to the efficient operation and maintenance of this section was the lack of spare parts and the use of Canadian equipment. Intense OJT aided greatly in the effort to overcome these difficulties. Personnel situation for the month of January was adequate.

In February a new equipment status card file was installed. These cards contain information as to type, status and location of all communications equipment on the site. They will help to insure proper maintenance and provide a readily available record of equipment sent out for depot maintenance. Then TO 31-1-10 is received it will put into the new record system.

The personnel situation at the end of March is critical, since 30433’s are working where 30453’s are authorized. Personnel whose AFSC are not authorized were assigned to fill critical slots in wire maintenance as well as radio maintenance. Present strength is military 27 civilian one.

Off the air due to power failure at the TX site in March was one T-217, four FRT-502’s and one LW-50, all are now in operation. Presently out of commission are a SCR-624 enroute for depot maintenance, two M-19’s being sent to Goose Air Base for depot maintenance, and four M-19’s awaiting parts.

A critical shortage of required technical orders and failure of both radio and teletype equipment with no spares on the site were two problems encountered by the communications section in March. Technical orders are on requisition and implementation of TO 31-1-10 is being initiated, and stock levels are also being formulated to insure an adequate supply of repair parts and spares. A table to hold a visible card display required for the new maintenance record system has been constructed and installed in the radio maintenance room. Plans are under way to install a new back up system for our authorized frequencies.

Weather played a big part in hindering operation of this section by keeping all transportation of supplies to a minimum in January and February.

March finds the FPS-3 still ROCP, however, numerous items were received during this reporting period and are being installed by a Marconi team. It is anticipated that the prime weapon will soon be back in operation.

Out of commission at the present reporting date was one diesel engine, deadlined for an overcurrent trip which is back ordered from Goose Air Base.

Difficulty in getting VDP parts for the varied assortment of vehicles supported was experienced in March. Transportation from Goose to the site is the main handicap. Breakdown of over the snow transportation also made movement of supplies from lower to upper site difficult. The arrival of a weasel from Goose Air Base helped to solve this problem.

Paper work was completed, checked and discrepancies corrected. AF Form 84B’s were almost half completed by the end of this quarter. New UAL was screened and authorizations were brought up to date.

Two men lost and none gained by rotation in March. The present operating strength of this section is four military personnel. This amount is entirely inadequate for efficient operation of this section. The only relief in sight is one 64131 due in April.

A critical shortage of personnel was the greatest of many problems faced by this section. In the month of January this section operated with less than 50% of the required personnel. Electricians and plumbers, requested from Goose Air Base, were sent here TDY. Although this was a great help the personnel situation remained critical throughout January and February.

The water supply (Ric-Wil) system became inoperative on 25 February 1956. Strict water rationing was in effect until the 7^th of March, when the water system was returned to operation.

The trouble experienced was found to be a break at a 135 degree elbow joint in our Ric-Wil line. The failure was caused by faulty design on the part of the manufacturer and poor workmanship by the installing contractor. The fracture was repaired by welding with several beads of number five weld rod. To locate the trouble a larger and more efficient diesel oil pump was installed in the pump house. We are convinced that two of these larger 50 GPM pumps should be installed permanently. These larger pumps would effect economy in man-hours spent in pumping operations.

Diesel generators in lower camp, which were in very bad condition, were overhauled by a diesel mechanic from Goose.

Two phases of the TX exterior electrical distribution line were severed by falling ice. The line was out of commission the 9^th through 15^th, 26^th, 27^th and 31^st of January. It was returned to operation by Drake Merritt linemen.

The personnel situation at the end of this quarter is inadequate. Two military personnel were lost and one civilian gained in March. This gives a present strength, at this reporting time, of three military and eleven civilian personnel. Loss of several men in 552 and 561 fields with no replacements largely accounts for this critical personnel shortage.

The two Denver-Carter pumps became inoperative 4 March 1956 due to worn out sleeves and pistons. The pumps are now being replaced.

Maintenance is now being performed on vehicles at night in order that they may be ready for dispatch during the day.

The Commander departed this station 4 January 1956 to attend the Commanders Conference at Pepperrell Air Force Base. On the return trip to the squadron he attended the N-Site Commanders Conference at Goose Air Base, returning to this squadron 25 January 1956.

This section is in the process of accomplishing squadron memorandums for sections and activities not previously covered. Much work remains to be done on this project but progress is being made in the effort to have current squadron memorandums for all sections.

Lack of aircraft and transportation for personnel during this period affected morale and impaired squadron efficiency. Each of the months of January, February and March had periods of at least nineteen days when no mail was received or sent from this squadron.

The 924^th AC&W Squadron was relieved of the responsibility for the lower camp on 4 March 1956. Goose Air Base is presently responsible for keeping the runway open and supporting this detachment. Inexperienced personnel, bad weather and equipment failure hindered the detachments operations during March. The runway was open only four days during this month.

First Lieutenant Carlin J Buttigig, the squadron Adjutant, completed his tour and departed this station on 10 March. Second Lieutenant Thomas B Mason Jr., the new adjutant, arrived at the site on 23 March 1956.

The Ground Safety Council and Character Guidance Council conducted their monthly meetings during this period. No outstanding or unusual problems were encountered.

A total number of 617 visits and treatments were recorded. Only one of these required hospitalization at Goose. Three airmen were sent to the dental clinic to have complete sets of dentures made. One airman was evacuated to Goose with a diagnosis of acute appendicitis and was hospitalized for five days. He was released with a diagnosis of subsiding appendicitis.

During the eleven days of water rationing the amount of chlorine in our water was greatly increased because of the use of melted snow for drinking water. The high chlorine content was maintained for three weeks following the end of water rationing.

Master Sergeant Nick Rossi, preventative medicine technician, visited the site. He made several recommendations for the improvement of our dining hall. All his suggestions have been accepted and are in the process of completion.

In general the health of the squadron is very good.

Personnel shortages and difficulty in receiving fresh vegetables and meat from Goose Air Base were the main hindrance to mission accomplishment of this section in January.

During February the dining hall was painted and both cooks put on OJT for senior level AFSC’s. An apprentice cook was put on OJT to fill 62150, Senior Baker, position.

Out of commission in March but now repaired were one bake oven and one range oven, both were repaired on 30 March 1956.

Organizational and functional charts were completed and all personnel were thoroughly briefed on their respective areas of responsibility. New forms and procedures for mess check were received and implemented. New SOP for mess check was also completed.

Despite the lack of personnel and failure to receive perishables from Goose Bay weekly a varied diet and quality output were maintained throughout this quarter.

Two men were lost and none gained by normal rotation in March. This leaves food service with a present operating strength of four military personnel.

Harsh cold weather wouldn’t permit moving of the theater from the airman’s day room to the cold storage warehouse dock which is much more convenient and spacious.

The personnel situation is now quite adequate considering the arrival of a 72130 late in February. Personnel previously working in this section did so on a voluntary basis.

In February new cushions and rails were installed on the pool table in the airman’s day room, library shelves painted, KSAG radio station records were assorted and indexed and magazines and newspapers were more efficiently distributed.

Some difficulty was experienced in the squawk box system and repaired by the wire maintenance section in March.

The most critical equipment situation in this department was the shortage of projection lamps for the RCA Victor projector. These bulbs are short lived and need periodic replacement, but they are almost unavailable in the command. We have, however, been able to meet this problem by modifying the projection lamps for the Bell and Howell projector so that they will fit the RCA projector.

At present the section is engaged in cataloging all our musical selections. A cross index is being prepared by title, composer and artist. The off duty education was stimulated during this quarter with most of the interest being in the courses offered by USAFI.

As soon as the record index is completed it is planned to start work on a card catalog for our library. This will facilitate better control of our books and make the library more convenient to use.