Red Cliff, NF

In mid 1948 the 108^th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron (Forward) was formed at Hancock Field, Syracuse, New York as part of the 152^nd AC&W Group of the New York Air National Guard.

The squadron went on its first summer camp to Fort Drum outside of Watertown, New York in July 1949, and trained with mobile radar equipment which I believe was a navy unit known as the SP-1M radar.

The second summer camp was conducted at the radar station at Twin Lights New Jersey in July 1950 where the 108^th personnel trained along side the active duty Air Force personnel assigned to the station. It is interesting to note that they trained on one of the first AN/CPS-6A radars which was installed. The 108^th was housed in old WW2 barracks on the Sandy Hook military reservation.

Following the summer camp and return to Hancock Field, the 108^th became involved in the installation of an AN/CPS-5 radar which was presented to the Air Guard by General Electric Company and their Heavy Military division also located in the Syracuse area. This particular CPS-5 was a Research and Development (R&D) unit and in many cases contained one-of a kind prototype devices. As the entire Radar Maintenance section of the 108^th was made up of employees from General Electric there was no problems with maintaining this equipment.

Preliminary work on what would prove to be called NEAC’s (Northeast Air Command) permanent radar system began in 15 August 1950. ConAC sent a survey party to look at sites in Newfoundland, Labrador and Baffin Island. The USAF authorized the Army Engineers to proceed on 27 March 1951 with design and construction of sites in the approved areas.

On June 1st 1951, 13 officers and 83 enlisted members of the 108^th were called up to form an advance party for subsequent activation of the 108^th AC&W Squadron for 24 months of active duty in the USAF. During the months of June and July 1951 personnel established communications, set up a complete administrative section under Major Murray Block the Squadron Commander and Captain Bob Gaughan the Squadron Adjutant. The major task of this advanced party (still actually Air National Guard personnel) was to prepare the necessary documentation for the activation of the entire unit.

On August 1st 1951, the remaining members of the 108^th AC&W Squadron were called to active duty and the members on the advance party were changed from National Guard status to Air Force status. Actually the entire unit was classified as ANGUS which in that time frame indicated that the unit was Air National Guard on extended active duty. In this case the active duty was for a period of not more than twenty-four months unless relieved earlier.

In September 1951 the entire unit was moved to Grenier AFB, Manchester, New Hampshire where it was to undergo training in preparation for active service as part of the USAF radar chain in the NEAC area. Upon arrival at Grenier, the 108^th was met by the 152^nd AC&W Group and the 106^th AC&W Squadron, both from White Plains, New York.

One of the problems confronting the 152^nd Group was that, in the area where they were going, communications facilities were limited to only short haul types and therefore it became necessary to train a fair number of personnel as radio operators to be used for communications between the radar sites and the group control center. A radio operations school was established and excess personnel from every section in the squadron(s) were formally trained in CW and voice communication procedures.

All equipment of the two squadrons and the group had to be packed for eventual shipment overseas. This project took from late November 1951 to mid February 1952 as everything had to be crated and water proofed as well as possible for the overseas move.

While at Grenier, the personnel were housed in very old WW2 style barracks throughout the winter. As New Hampshire gets quite cold and is deep in snow over the winter this was somewhat of a challenge for the men of the 108^th.

The radar operators trained with the active USAF personnel running a radar site across the road from the main the base. The radio maintenance and radio operations personnel not needed for the school were assigned to the transmitter-receiver site for added training.

Unlike many of the Guard units called to active duty, the 108^th was fairly well trained in the technical areas. All of the radar maintenance people worked on radar everyday in their civilian jobs while employed by General Electric at Electronics Park in Liverpool, New York. In the radio operations section over 90% of the operators were ham radio operators and 5 or 6 were even commercial radio operators.

In March 1952 the entire group boarded buses and were transported to Manhattan Beach, New Jersey POE for transport overseas. Due to the large number of personnel involved, sea transport was deemed necessary and the entire group boarded the USNS Samuel Heintselman (Liberty ship - Hull number 0651) and after a short stop at Norfolk, Virginia to pick up some Army troops, steamed to St. John's, Newfoundland.

The following detail applies to the 108^th AC&W Squadron which was to be located at Red Cliff, NF:

In mid March 1952, the 108^th AC&W Squadron arrived at Pepperrell AFB. Quarters to be used by the squadron were not completed when they arrived so the were billeted on the west end of the main base on top of the hill across from the WAF Barracks and next door to the I&M squadron.

After about a month the entire squadron was moved into the new quarters in the White Hills area up a dirt road past the dairy farm and close to the open supply area near the Logy Bay Road gate. Everything needed was in the White Hills area and the only need to go to Pepperrell proper was for the PX, and clubs. One of the barracks was converted to a theater where nightly movies were shown. The mess hall was new and well equipped. Of interest is the fact that many of the food service personnel were excellent chefs. Many worked for the large hotels in the Syracuse area in civilian life and three even owned their own restaurants.

The communications site for the "L" site was a Jamesway canvas shelter which housed the equipment used and the radio maintenance section's shop area. The communications building was powered by two PE-95 generators, one of which ran all the time as there was no commercial power available on the "P" site in the beginning, nor was the Cummins equipped power plant completed. The equipment used consisted of two BC-191 transmitters for HF with BC-342 receivers, three BC-640 VHF transmitters and three BC-639 VHF receivers. Three complete AN/TRC-1 four channel radio relay units were installed to handle voice communications between the "L" site and the command center plus telephone service to Pepperrell main base. Also an AN/ART-13 radio transmitter connected to a pair of 24 volt aircraft batteries was available in case of complete power failure. Also connected to the 24 volt system was a SCR-522 VHF 4 channel transmitter for emergency use to talk to aircraft or to Torbay tower also in the event of complete power loss.

At some point in late 1952, the AN/CPS-6B radar installation was completed and personnel moved from White Hills to the new quarters on Red Cliff. At this time both the "L" site and the "P" site were operational. There were some "bugs" to be ironed out in the "P" site equipment so a partial crew manned the CPS-5 at L-22 and the remainder stayed at the "P" site.

Once the "P" site was up and running properly, the "L" site was used only in the event of closure of the CPS-6B for routine maintenance.

In February 1953 the CPS-6B went down for over two weeks due to an accident in the radar dome. An extension ladder which was kept lashed to the rotating floor of the dome came loose and with the vibration caused bounced up and was caught by the bottom sail of the antenna and before the antenna could be shut down a gash was torn over half way around the dome causing the dome to deflate and drop onto the antenna. A new dome was obtained and now came the job of replacing the tattered dome. Built into the dome area is a device much like umbrella stays. The old dome had to be unbolted (Bolts about every 18 inches around the entire platform) and removed. The new dome had to be connected to the umbrella and raised over the antenna and bolted in place before it could re-inflated. All of the work was done in February, in Newfoundland, with 40 to 60 MPH winds whipping the vulcanized rubber material. Also with a wind chill factor of well below zero this was a time consuming and dangerous job which was done by everyone that could fit into the dome area. It took a couple of days of hard work to get the new dome in place and the radar back on line.

A few months later, on 1 August 1953, the 108^th was released from active duty and returned to Air National Guard status. The 108^th AC&W Squadron was re-designated the 642^nd AC&W Squadron.

Details of the NEAC (Northeast Air Command) Permanent Radar System as it applied to Red Cliff, NF are as follows:

Bob and I have been communicating off and on for over a year and I continue to be amazed at his ability of recall. His attention to detail rivals the quarterly Historical Reports which were obtained from the USAF Historical Division. The sketches are original and based on memory.

I am most thankful for the assistance which Bob has provided. His contribution to the Pinetree Line web site is one of the most valuable obtained to date.