Stephenville, NF

Subject: Historical Report, RCS: 1-AF-D2A (64-1)

To: Commander,
64^th Air Division (Defense),
Pepperrell Air Force Base

During April, 1955 Lieutenant General Glen O Barcus, Northeast Air Command Commander, visited this squadron. He was accompanied by Colonel Richard W Fellows, Ernest Harmon Air Force Base Commander.

During the reporting period, the warmer weather arrived, and with the concurrent advent of the athletic and fishing season, morale improved very noticeably.

Orderly Room:

The Orderly Room experienced a high turnover of personnel during this period. Rotating to the ZI were A/1C Richard Daegele, Finance Clerk, who was replaced by A/1C Clenard Stewart and A/1C Norman Pierro, Clerk-Typist, who was replaced by A/2C Charles Hurst. Also assigned as Sergeant Major was S/Sgt. Jack Cecil.

Promotions during this period include the following:

With the changes in personnel, it was necessary to almost entirely re-organize the Orderly Room during this period. It is believed that the new organizational structures is working in a very efficient manner. However, efficiency is expected to further improve when new personnel become more familiar with their jobs.

Medical Section:

The health of this unit is satisfactory.

Medical Organization – The primary purpose of this dispensary is to give medical support to this squadron by rendering medical treatment on an outpatient basis, or if necessary, hospitalize and treat as a bed-patient any of the squadron personnel for a period of time not to exceed four (4) days.

Ratio of Medical Personnel – The Ratio of personnel to total unit strength is two (2) medical personnel to 171.

Replacements – At the present we have two 90250’s. The turnover in medical personnel will not affect this unit until May 1956. The personnel here are qualified and are receiving further training in their respective AFSC’s.

Professional Services – Outpatient Care – The outpatient care of this medical installation is conducted in the following manner. Daily sick call is held in the morning so that patients who are referred to our support base hospital will arrive at that installation in time to attend the regular morning sick call of that medical installation, and need not appear only at a certain time of day. However, the men are encouraged to appear on sick call in the morning, as routine hours make for operating efficiency. Facilities appear to be adequate in treating outpatients. There is a sufficient quantity and variety of medications and drugs to treat outpatients symptomatically.

Dental Service – Dental service of this organization is being performed by the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base Dental Clinic where personnel are given appointment or treated immediately in case of an emergency. However, during the month of June a dental survey was held in the squadron dispensary. All personnel were checked, put in a dental class, and given appointment if needed. The dental survey also cut down on lost man hours.

Veterinary Service – All of the veterinary service and sanitary inspection of food and food products are being performed by the Ernest Harmon Air Force Base Veterinary Staff. Organoleptic inspections of questionable products are performed by the medical technicians assigned to the squadron. Investigation of food-borne disease are performed by the medical technicians of this unit, in conjunction with Ernest Harmon Air Force Base medical and veterinary services.

Summary and Conclusion – It is the opinion of the medical staff of this unit that the medical service program is working very well, regarding our medical mission within this unit and to the Air Force. The medical service program is offering immediate medical service to the personnel of this unit under semi-isolated conditions.

Air Police Section:

During this period 1^st Lt. Anthony G Scarpace relieved 1^st Lt. Joseph B McGinty, Jr. as Air Police and Security Officer.

In this period we have had four Air Policemen working in other sections which were extremely short of personnel, and although this condition has caused a hardship on other Air Police personnel, the section has been operating satisfactorily. Two of the above mentioned airmen rotated in June.

In April, the Air Police office, which until that time had been combined with the Information, Education and Training office, was relocated to another room in the same building. This eliminated crowded and ineffective working conditions under the former arrangement.

During May the additional duty of raising and lowering the flag for reveille and retreat was inaugurated with the help of the daily Charge of Quarters.

Plans for a new type sentinel house have been submitted. It is anticipated that the new house will be of the cinder block type to replace the wooden house now used which is insufficient for our needs. The new sentinel house will be equipped with a latrine. The house now in use does not have a latrine and as there is only one guard to a shift, at times, this is complicated.

The speed limit signs are now being taken down and repainted or replaced with new signs. Speed and caution signs are being placed along the main road to Port Au Port.

The Air Police have requested a vehicle for patrolling purposes and it should be delivered in the near future.

Six (6) new reflector type spotlights have been requested for the sentinel house. The present lighting arrangement is unsatisfactory.

The section has received eleven (11) Basic Air Police manuals which should prove helpful in the On-The-Job Training program.

A request for two (2) florescent lights for the Air Police office has been submitted as the present lighting arrangement is inadequate.

Special Services:

With the advent of warm weather the Special Services section has increased its output of athletic equipment to squadron personnel. A squadron softball team has been formed and is now competing in the Ernest Harmon AFB league. The team will also compete in the 64^th Air Division (Defense) league at Pepperrell AFB during the month of August.

Several items of dayroom recreational equipment are in bad states of condition. These items are being repaired or replaced through C&W Funds or through normal channels of supply.

The squadron Information Specialist has assumed the additional duties of Recreation Specialist. This arrangement has been satisfactory.

Information Section:

During this reporting period the Information Section published a squadron newspaper monthly. The squadron newspaper is used to supplement various publications received by this organization such as Air Force Times, The Northeast Guardian and the Ernest Harmon Flash.

Hometown news releases were forwarded regularly to headquarters at Pepperrell AFB.

Commander’s Call, news supplements, use of bulletin boards, etc. helped to further disseminate information.

Training and Education:

Lieutenant Robert S Hansen replaced Captain William O Symth as training and education officer during April. Staff Sergeant GL Schneider, former training NCO, has rotated to the ZI and as yet no replacement has been available.

During this quarter a class in 9^th and 10^th grade English was started on the site and is now nearing completion. It was received so enthusiastically that a more advanced class is planned for the near future.

The Training Section has held its scheduled classes in accordance with NEAC Regulation 50-1. We are progressing favorably and will undoubtedly exceed the requirement set forth in the above regulation. We are experiencing difficulty at the present time because so many men are rotating. This means we are losing a lot of student hours of training.

We must work hard in order that the training status of the squadron may reach 100% in all required subjects. Range firing will take place in August.

GED testing is conducted one (1) afternoon each week. Much interest has been shown by the men in this project. Time is very gratifying, personally, to this section. New enrolment in ECI and USAFI courses are being processed and counselling is conducted each day.

The Training Section received good support and coordination from the other sections within the squadron. This has helped a great deal in keeping a good training program going, although the squadron has experienced an extreme shortage of personnel.

Direction Center (ADDC):

During this reporting period, several skilled airmen rotated to the ZI for reassignment: one – 27370, eighteen – 27350’s, three 27330’s.

In return for the eighteen 27350’s rotating we received two 27370’s, one 27350 and fourteen 27330’s.

Captain Richard A North, A0706099, a 1644 returned to the ZI for reassignment and 1^st Lt. John R McDougall, A02219592, a 1644 was transferred to the 926^th AC^W Squadron, leaving a total of eleven directors; seven 1644’s and four 1641’s assigned to the section.

Second Lieutenant Bernard J Kobosky, A03016331, was promoted to First Lieutenant.

One airman received promotion to Staff Sergeant, seven were promoted to Airman First Class and two received promotion to Airman Second Class.

A new Manning Document was received in June, authorizing this section a total of 63 officers and airmen (10 directors and 53 AC&W operators). This authorization has proven unrealistic. We are designated as the Air Defense Direction Center for the entire Newfoundland complex. However, a request for change to the Unit Manning Document was submitted, and if approved the section will be authorized enough personnel to man four shifts twenty-four hours each day.

During the reporting period it was necessary for this section to convert to three teams, working eight hours on and eight hours off.

During the month of May this squadron assumed operational control of two additional GCI sites, the 226^th AC&W Squadron and the 642^nd AC&W Squadron, making a total of three sites under our operational control. With these additional responsibilities an extremely hard work load is on the section. Due to the shortage of personnel, plus the fact that the newly assigned personnel are untrained, the section is in an extremely difficult position. It is impossible to give new personnel proper training while working the shifts previously mentioned.

During this reporting period the section gave navigational assistance to several SAC movements and/or refuelling missions.

During this reporting period this station actively participated in giving assistance during two in-flight emergencies.

Electronics:

Changes in personnel – Since the last reporting period the Electronics Section has had another large change in personnel status. They are: (1) Replacing Mr. Tom Perry, Marconi Tech Rep, is Mr. John Young. Mr. Perry is now at St. John’s Newfoundland, in the Marconi depot. (2) This section suffered the loss of M/Sgt. William A Carter, our maintenance supervisor for the past 18 months, who rotated to the ZI for reassignment. (3) Also rotating to the ZI for reassignment were: T/Sgt. Wendell Hook (discharged), A/1C Alivan D Harris, A/1C Leo P DeRoy, A/1C Phillip W Jones, and A/1C Charles D Swift. These losses leave the Maintenance Section with six enlisted men and three officers. Naturally the work load has nearly doubled and shifts changed and lengthened as necessary.

Staff Sergeant Buddy Blair has completed his formal OJT, met and passed the board and has been awarded his primary 30372, and is presently the new Maintenance NCOIC.

Promotions – There have been no promotions in the Electronics Section since the last reporting date.

CADS PM Systems – This site is still awaiting a CADS PM system for the TPS-502. A temporary PM system is presently in use as described in Tech Orders pertaining to this set.

A CGE team has installed our back-up search radar, the FPS-502. All maintenance personnel are familiar with operation of the set and are presently learning different phases of maintenance on it. The MTI of this set is the most liked feature, plus ease of maintenance and alignments. A temporary PM system is presently in effect on this set, but it is felt that a CADS system would be much better.

The "Z" brackets needed to make the air seal change were received, and the air seal was changed by the Marconi Tech Reps and maintenance men. The installation of a new air seal, decreased the duty cycle of our small blower considerably. Prior to the installation the small blower ran almost continuously and one of the large blowers would have to "kick-in" to help it out. At the present time the small blower handles the large radome by itself with a duty cycle of approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds on and 2:15 off.

A Marconi team arrived and painted the 6-B radome and both back-up radomes. The painting team did a very good job of patching out-of-reach holes and sealing pin-holes with the inside sealing paint. Due to good weather, the job was done in a minimum of time.

A two-week period was spent in experimenting with the tilt of the vertical and search sails to determine just where the best coverage was at what tilt. A record was kept on different aircraft at different altitudes and computed on the "Radar Range Indicator". These records were forwarded to the 64^th AD (Defense) and the 64^th advised us that 2.38 degrees was the best tilt angle for the two sails at our site. From the same data the 64^th advised all other AC&W sites in the 64^th Air Division what the best tilt would be for their sites.

The leaking oil seal for the azimuth drive gear train was not repaired when the air seal was replaced, but will be accomplished by the overhaul team that is due here in September.

The difficulty in the 36 speed transmitting selsyn has decreased somewhat since the seven (7) PPI’s not being used have been disconnected. However, we did have one move failure after these scopes were disconnected. It is out opinion that the wear on these brushes is either normal or that we had an intermittent short that has corrected itself or we have corrected in trouble shooting the system.

Training at the present time is at a minimum due to our shortage of personnel and the increased work load.

Communications:

The critical manpower shortage was alleviated partially by the assignment of new personnel. Master Sergeant Lloyd B Nelson was assigned to the Radio Maintenance Section in June. Airman Third Class Alfred Butler, A/3C Willie Lee Jefferson, A/3C Roger W Kleman, A/3C Clarence Nathan, Jr., A/3C Francisco Pineda, A/3C Charles G Rossen, and A/3C Kenneth YF Tyau were assigned to the Comm Center. Airman Third Class Martin J Barrett was assigned to the Wire Maintenance Section. One of the Air Police who had been borrowed from the Air Police Section to help the Comm Section during the critical manpower shortage was returned to his proper section.

HF Nets were relegated to stand-by position.

The tail cable to Ernest Harmon AFB was repaired by base Comm and put back into use, thus relegating the AN/TRC equipment to standby again.

Technical Supply:

There have been no additions or losses in personnel for this section for this quarter. Training has proceeded gradually and the enlisted personnel have progressed to the point where they have become almost entirely self-sufficient.

In April of this quarter the warehouse and inventory of the Supply Storage Warehouse was completed. This included all of the bulk storage items too large for the Tech Supply building. Also this month a drum storage building was procured for the dispensing of oil and solvents.

In May effort was concentrated on an outside beautification project which included the policing of surround grounds and the planting of sod in front of the building. At this time an inventory of the stores in the Tech Supply building was initiated along with the close screening of all stock records cards.

In the final month of this quarter time was taken to completely revamp the filing system in the section. At this time the old CPS-5C Power Hut was moved to a new location in the rear of the Tech Supply building and set up as a lubricant and paint storage building. Also in this month "Bench Stock Consumption Sheets" were made up for intra-section use to reduce the time spent in drawing the more common bench stock items. Supplementary stock control cards were drawn up to facilitate requisitioning and follow-up procedures.

Unit Supply:

During this quarter Unit Supply welcomed the arrival of a Supply Sergeant. T/Sgt. Chester Juszczak arrived in April. His arrival made a welcome addition to the unit supply section. Sergeant Juszczak came to this command from SAC and brought many excellent supply procedures with him.

In checking our AF Form 1120 property records against our UAL, we found that we had cards on unauthorized items mixed in with our UAL cards. These cards have been removed from our files and placed in a separate tub file. Turn-in action is now being taken on these items.

A new filing system, the Linoflax filing system, was out into use. Under this system individual custody hand receipts are filed in a visible file. Under this filing system inventories are cut down on individual custody hand receipts from twelve hours to two hours.

During the quarter we submitted our changes for our new UAL. As we had little time for this tremendous job, supply personnel burned the "mid-night oil" for a few days. The job was completed on time and we feel our new UAL will be a considerable improvement over the old one.

A project to beautify the grounds around Supply has been accomplished. Dirt was hauled from the base and spread around the building. Grass seed has been sown and in a short time we hope to have a nice lawn for our building.

Food Service:

During the reporting period 2^nd Lt. Robert S Hansen replaced 2^nd Lt. Jackie L Loudermilk as Food Service Officer.

A new automatic dish washing machine was installed by Air Installations. This new machine is a considerable improvement over the old type machine by doing the job in less time and turning out utensils in a more sanitary and satisfactory condition.

Airman Second Class Eugene D Davidson, AFSC 70230, and A/3C Ellis D Lane, AFSC 62230, rotated to the ZI. Airman Third Class Nathaniel Eady, AFSC 62230, was assigned to Communications. Airman Second Class Albert L Swearington, AFSC 62230, passed his test for primary AFSC of 62250.

T/Sgt. Harvey L Benton, food service supervisor, was granted a compassionate transfer to the ZI for dependent medical reasons. He is being replaced, temporarily by S/Sgt. William Ayres.

Every man in the Food Service Section has been assigned a fire fighting station and instructed in his duties in case of fire.

For the Commander:

Joseph B McGinty, Jr.
1^st Lt., USAF
Adjutant