Beausejour, MB

1959 – Historical Report – USAF Historical Division

Historical Report
916th AC&W Squadron
1 January 1959 to 31 March 1959

Section I

REQUIRED DATA
  1. Unit and Location

916th Squadron (Beausejour Air Station)
18 miles NE of Beausejour, Man., Canada
  1. Name and Grade of Commander

AJ Rantal, Major
  1. Chain of Command (Superior Echelons)

    2. The 916th Squadron is operationally responsible to the 31st Air Division, Fort Snelling, Minnesota. It is logistically responsible to Detachment #1, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (ADCR 24-10)
  • Subordinate Units (Down to and including squadrons)

    • N/A
  • Mission (Give authority and brief statement of primary mission)

    • (Attachment 12 to 31st CONAD Regulation 24-1). The 916th Squadron will operate and maintain a Direction Center, (except when reported as a surveillance station under CADF 55-24), part of the integrated air defense system of the 31st Air Division (Defense) for the purpose of conducting air defense operations within the area of responsibility assigned, and to conduct training required for the effective accomplishment of this mission.
  • Personnel
    		•
       

    Officers

    Airmen

    Civilians

    Total

    		  
     

    Assigned

    11

    156

    18

    185

    		  
     

    Attached

    0

    0

    0

    0

    		  
                 
  • Equipment (Give official nomenclature and quantity of mission-type equipment)
    •

    AN/FPS-3C (1); AN/FPS-502 (1); AN/TPS-502 (1); AN/GPS-T2 (1); AN/UPS-T5 (1).

    Section II

    COMMENTARY

     

    Operations:

    Activities of the Operations Section were normal during the last three months with only routine training activity.

    The Intercept Director Training was near normal for January but declined due to the insufficient number of intercepts available during February and March.

    Authorization to relocate the Movement’s and Identification section to the right side of the middle dias was granted by our support Headquarters in Ottawa. The relocation was completed in January and has added to the overall operations efficiency.

    A shortage of AC&W Operators now exists. This shortage is due to the recent large number of rotations to the ZI. It is anticipated that this shortage will be alleviated by June 1959.

    Personnel:

    The squadron was reassigned from the 31st Air Division (Defense) to the 29th Air Division (Defense) per CADF General Order 54, dated 1 December 1958.

    The 31st Air Division (Defense) continued to maintain operational control of the squadron.

    Our reenlistment rate for the three month period was 100% with 3 reenlistments.

    Equipment Performance:

    Equipment malfunctions and maintenance were normal with minimum breakdown experienced.

    One equipment modification was accomplished during this reporting period. This modification on the FPS-502 was in compliance with EO 35BA-15-FPS-502 and was designed to improve the stability of the monitor scope sweep.

    Re-sighting for the installation of the AN/FPS-6 was accomplished by the 4602nd Support Group Inspection team on 21 March 1959.

    A 4602nd Support Group Inspection team inspected and accepted the C&E conducted re-orientation of the HF antennas on 21 March 1959.

    Local CAE personnel installed an outside telephone plant cable to improve the telephone facilities in the upper trailer court. Inspection and acceptance was made by the 4602nd Support Group Inspection team on 21 March 1959.

    Facilities:

    Base installations activities were confined to daily routine repairs and maintenance, void of any major or new installations.

    Supply:

    Supply activities were stable during the past three months. There were no problems or notable supply deficiencies.

    Community Relations:

    The ending of this past curling season brought an opportunity to meet many of our Canadian neighbours. There were several local curling Bonspiels held on the base and many of the local surrounding as well as distant towns and military installations had representative curling teams entered. This was a most enjoyable period and certainly helped to strengthen our good community relationships.

    Other social activities were very light during these past few months.

    Morale:

    The morale of the personnel of this squadron is still high. With the cold weather nearly over, the opportunity for more outside sports activity and greater recreational facilities should help to increase morale.

    Awards:

    None.

    Typed Name and Grade of Commander

    AJ Rantal, Major

    Signature