St. Anthony, NF

921^st AC&W Squadron
APO 864, New York, New York

Sidney M Chesler, Major

AN/FPS-3(C), 1; AN/FPS-14, 1 (Gap Filler); AN/FPS-502, 1; AN/UPA-35, 1; AN/GPS-T2, 1; AN/GPS-T2A, 1; AN/GPA-30, 1; AN/UPS-T5,1.

1 October 1960 to 31 December 1960

Command Section:

During the period October through December 1960 the following visitations were made: During October Lt. Col. EJ Kloess, 64^th Air Division Staff Surgeon made an informal inspection to discuss medical problems of this station. Mr. Newhook and Mr. Manning from the Auditor General Office at Harmon AFB made the annual audit of the Squadron’s accounts in October. Visiting groups of the 921^st included a teletype IRAN in October and a team from Cabot Construction Company in November to install our new bowling alleys., also during this month we were honored by the Staff Visit of Colonel Victor Milner Jr., Commander, GADS. Major Chesler, Commander, 921^st AC&W Squadron attended the Commander’s Conference held at Goose AB, Labrador during the month of December. There were no major changes in organizational structure, policy, manning, or functions within the Command Section.

Operations Section:

During the past three months, four airmen returned to the ZI, three were shipped to the 931^st AC&WRON at Thule, and two were transferred to Detachment #2 at La Scie. Three Technical Sergeants arrived in December bringing the total number of NCO’s assigned to eight. One weapons controller returned from 90 days TDY at Thule. The section now included two Captains and Two First Lieutenants. The Commander was certified combat-ready 2 December 1960.

Changes in the direction center included an additional control scope, a new radio monitor unit, and considerable internal rewiring. An ARTCC position was created for use during missions and the tactical mission data board was re-painted. The training section acquired an office from the Communications and Electronics section and the crew break room was moved to the old training room.

The section workload has been considerably increased by the implementation of a weekly live mission in addition to two regularly scheduled systems training missions and periodic training flights. During the week of 12 December, all missions were cancelled and a comprehensive training program was conducted for all personnel. The program emphasized surveillance procedures, tactics and tactical action reporting, and Noah’s Ark messages.

Directors were assigned to individual crews in mid-December resulting in renewed crew esprit and closer supervision of the crew training programs.

Base Engineer Activities:

Power Plant – Normal operations and maintenance procedures were accomplished. During this reporting period number 6 engine had a faulty fuel pump which was replaced by a new one. The old fuel pump was sent to CMC for repair and return. The required thousand hour inspection on all engines has been completed. The ten engines in the Power Plant are in good condition and are operating very efficiently.

The cleaning and painting program has been completed and the housekeeping of the entire Power Plant is in commendable condition.

OJT classes were conducted to indoctrinate Pole Vault personnel on operating units in case of emergency. Classes were completed and all personnel are now qualified operators.

Maintenance Shops – Normal preventative maintenance on buildings and utilities was performed with no major problems encountered to date.

Construction on the new bowling alley began 15 November 1960 and was completed 15 December 1960. Partitions of the buildings were accomplished by squadron carpenters during the period 15 November 1960 through 25 November 1960. The Cabot Construction Company Ltd., personnel arrived 26 November 1960 and began work immediately. Installation of the alley was completed by 8 December 1960. Mr. Harold Mattews and Mr. Lewis Ivaney, of the Cabot Construction and Supply Co. Ltd., were commended on the exceptionally fine service rendered this squadron. The finished work, such as hallways, steps and final partition construction was accomplished by squadron personnel by 15 December 1960.

Transportation:

Commercial Transportation – All commercial aircraft flights were accomplished with no major problems. Cargo, mail and personnel transported by the thirty-one aircraft flights during this reporting period were as follows:

(see matrix at end of this report)

Motor Vehicles:

Operation and maintenance of motor vehicles was accomplished with no major problems occurring. The three snowmobiles were reconditioned and are in top serviceable condition.

Personnel:

A/2C Duane I Mosley replaced A/2C Brooks E Crites as Fire Chief.
A/2C Loyd H Reed replaced S/Sgt. George F Rocha as Transportation Agent.
A/2C Truman G Kellogg replaced A/2C Albert O Wilson as Administrative Clerk.

Fire Prevention:

Normal fire prevention activities such as inspections and drills were performed. Two fire alarms, caused by equipment failures, occurring during this reporting period, were answered by personnel of the Fire Teams. Due to the quick and effective actions of the Fire Teams these fires were limited to very minor damage to Air Force equipment.

Supply Section:

Personnel Changes – Three (3) airmen were reassigned to the ZI. Five (5) airmen were assigned to this section during this reporting period.

All SUNEC annual requisitions for 1961 were hand carried to Goose Air Defense Sector and reviewed during the month of October 1960.

A UAL Equipment review survey was accomplished during this period and as a result of this survey the UAL was reduced by $5,226.00.

Approximately 94% of 1960 SUNEC supplies have been received.

An annual audit was made by the Audit General during this period with no discrepancies noted.

Communications – Electronics:

Officer personnel status of the C&E section remained constant during this reporting period. T/Sgt. William J McMullen, NCOIC and Maintenance Inspector of the section, departed this station in November 1960. T/Sgt. Charles J Spright assumed these functions on 10 November 1960. Mr. John R McLeod, Philco C&E Engineer departed this station on 29 November 1960 and Mr. James M Linstead, Radar Technician, assumed the vacated position. Mr. Robert L Smith was assigned as Radar Technician on 28 December 1960. No replacement was received for the Communications Philco technician who departed here in August 1960. It is assumed that this position was deleted based on the stability of manning in the Radio Maintenance section.

Maintenance of prime C&E equipment remained at a high level with off-the-air time at a minimum. This is attributed to the quality of maintenance personnel assigned and the enthusiasm generated in the progressive training program.

There were no requirements for technical assistance since no major equipment problems developed during this reporting cycle. There were no contract or depot level overhaul scheduled during this period, however, major overhaul of radio antennas and tactical telephone equipment was programmed for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 1961.

Radar Maintenance:

During the past quarter of 1960 several important modifications were received and installed in the equipment as follows:

TO 31P4-2GPX-508 – This modification was performed on all the cabinets of the SIF equipment to allow for better air circulation for cooling and some new type heat dissipating resistors for longer life.

TO 31P1-2UPA35-507 – This was a major modification of the UPA-35 to allow use of the active (mode 2) portion of the SIF system. The station is now capable of using the entire SIF system, including the reading out of mode 2 codes.

TO 31P1-2UPA35-508 – This is the installation of a heat sensitive alarm system, built into the scope to ring a bell and flash a red light when temperatures within the cabinet exceed safe operation limits.

TO 31P1-2UPA35-509 – This is the addition of a relay within the scope to de-energize the DC servo motor B-1619 whenever the main power switch is turned off. Previously, the motor would continue to run until the cable containing the servo information was disconnected from the real jack.

The back-up PPI (0A-175) was removed from the 502 tower and installed in the operations room. This was done to allow operations to have another scope to be utilized in controlling aircraft.

Pages 4 and 5 of this report were missing.

Communications Center:

A new station teletype directory was published on 7 December 1960 with a picture of this station and AACS unit proudly displayed on the front cover.

A traffic analysis is performed daily to insure that electrical messages are prepared in the proper format and routed correctly. Close monitoring of electrically transmitted traffic by all concerned has helped to maintain our record of nonreceipt of violation reports for the entire year.

A traffic load chart graphically displaying volume of incoming, outgoing and relayed messages was implemented. The following is a traffic count for this reporting period.

(see matrix at end of this report)

Renewed emphasis was directed to security of the Communications Center. A sliding door was installed on the corridor window with a phone for contacting the communications center operator. The entrance to the adjacent office of the center was secured during non-normal duty hours to prevent possible message leakage to other section personnel who were prone to gather in the vicinity of the communications center during coffee breaks.

The unexpected loss of T/Sgt. Clifford A Abramson, section NCOIC, has hampered our seven level training program somewhat. However, another seven level technician is scheduled for arrival at the end of January 1961. Currently two NCO’s are undergoing seven level training and one airman is in five level OJT status.

Equipment rearrangement, a new tape rack and improved message relay procedures to the two Gap Fillers has added to the efficiency of the section.

Typed Name and grade of commander

Sidney M Chesler, Major, USAF