Resolution Island, NWT

My name is Charlie Miller and I spent a total of 11 months and 19 days with the 920^th AC&W Squadron in Resolution Island.

Like so many others, I was a green radar operator with the USAF, having finished my training in Biloxi MS when I arrived at Resolution Island in March 1958. Oh yes - I shouldn't forget to mention that I was "volunteered" for this tour of duty.

Getting there was a story within a story. We were flown to McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey and then proceeded to Goose Bay Labrador by the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in a DC-6. We staged for about a week at Goose Bay waiting for a flight to Frobisher Bay. I believe that we proceeded to Frobisher Bay by DC-3 although they were also making use of some L119s for transport between these two locations. After a couple of days wait at Frobisher Bay, we proceeded to Resolution Island on a 6 passenger, single engine Otter aircraft. All transportation to and from Resolution was by Otter which was with Mid Canadian Airlines if I remember correctly.

The Otter aircraft between Frobisher Bay and Resolution Island carried passengers, fresh produce, eggs and mail and it flew whenever the weather allowed. There were times when bad weather would sock Resolution Island for up to two weeks at a time and mail was like gold.

It was about 180 miles from Frobisher Bay to Resolution Island and it took about two hours to fly this trip. I recall the pilot as being a colorful character (a Canadian I think) who drank a lot and sat around waiting for the weather to break. He would make as many consecutive trips as the weather would allow and I believe he was paid $50 for each round trip. It was rumored that he was shacked up with an Eskimo woman but this I can not confirm.

The landing at Resolution Island was somewhat "hair raising" since there were cliffs at each end of the 1500 foot runway. It was very exciting for a 19 year old from Michigan.

There were about 100 men on the island at any given time. Most were USAF but we had two to four Canadian civilians to do heating and other maintenance work. They were paid well and extended for years of service.

All of the rooms in the barracks were single man and we could decorate them in any way we wanted. They were about 8 x 10 and seemed adequate for me. In the winter we would open the small window and carve out a refrigerator in the snow to cool our beer. When the snow melted in the spring there were hundreds of full beer cans on the ground under the barracks.

The radar operations section was manned 24 hours a day – 7 days a week. My the best of my recollection, our shifts were 12 hour days or nights which were rotated. We ran training exercises with SAC attacking us at random. We did handle intercepts during SAC exercises which lasted several hours at times and were very intense. When SAC jammed our radar we just turned down the gain and had coffee. Their countermeasures were far superior to our equipment. We also vectored military and civilian aircraft to Europe and Greenland on many occasions. Most times there was little to do on duty so we played chess and cribbage etc. No gambling on duty though.

Our radar was meticulously maintained by preventative maintenance and down time was rare. The range was easily 200 miles and overlapped with other stations so that if one station was down others took up the slack. Funny thing though – I just can’t remember our callsign.

Like so many other similar locations, the primary source of recreation was counting the days until we could return home. After that came gambling and beer drinking – but not necessarily in that order. We watched movies sent in on the mail plane but nothing racy was allowed. We hijacked a copy of "Jean Eagles" with Kim Novak and never returned it. We also kept all of the Road Runner cartoons and we usually showed these once a week.

We had an FM radio station "WORM" the Voice if Resolution Island. I did a turn as Disc Jockey from 12 to 4 a.m. twice a week. I cued in with "Pal Joey" as my theme song and played a lot of music by artists such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. The only listeners were on the base and perhaps an occasional military flight passing overhead. I seem to recall that our range was about 200 miles or so.

We had a large warehouse building where we played basketball but leaks in the roof always caused puddles of water on the floor which froze to provide an obstacle course in addition to your opponents. There was also a weight room but only a few of the personnel used it. For those who were somewhat energetic - you could obtain ski equipment and make your way to the airstrip which was located a few miles from the base. I recall doing so on one occasion. We were so cold that we decided to call the Motor Pool for transportation back to the base. We waited a full two hours before a vehicle arrived - and the heater in the small building which was located at the airport left a lot to be desired. This was the type of thing that sort of kept you on the base.

We were paid in cash once a month but most had a large portion of their check sent home by allotment. The pay for an Airman 3^rd Class was $208. A month to my best recollection but could have been less. We paid cash for everything in the PX but had credit in the clubs.

Everyone did their own laundry but some guys did it for cash. Washers, dryers and ironing boards were in the latrines which were large and well equipped. Haircuts were from a guy who did quite well and charged 50 cents. No fancy cuts though.

Off time we gambled constantly by playing poker, Newfie blackjack, dice, Pinocle etc. There were a few good players and most of the young airmen were broke most of the time. When I eventually returned home, I had sent home more money than I had earned that year.

Most of the airmen served the entire year but officers on flying status came and went all the time to get their flying hours. One humorous deviation on this subject concerned two men who converted to Judaism and were allowed to go to St. John’s Newfoundland during Yom Kippur. They brought back explicit photos of their sexual escapades in St. John’s where the ratio was female to male was about 6 to 1.

We never had a serious illness or accident during my tour but either could have been a disaster during bad weather. Fire was the biggest concern in that being so remote, rescue could have been impossible for weeks at a time. Fire safety was paramount due to the remoteness of the base. The plan in case of fire was to bulldoze the hallways and isolate the fire in an attempt to save some shelter. Our 5000 gallon storage was not touched during the pipeline shutdown – not even to drink. This was for fires – period.

We had a medical technician but no doctor or dentist. He dispensed pills and band aids but never had to face a crisis – to the best of my knowledge. What we have to remember is that most of the airmen were 19 to 21 years old and in good health to start with.

Before I arrived at Resolution there was said to be an airman who attempted to climb down the face of the cliff (known as "Old Shitface") and he fell to his death. It was said his body was stored in the frozen food locker for a few days until a plane came to take him home.

The Canadians once brought a film to be developed in our photo lab and I remember a picture of an Eskimo woman about 20 years old nursing a baby. It may well have been born on Resolution – as it was only a few weeks old at the time.

There were a couple of Canadian weather observers at the other end of the island and three or four Eskimos with them. My best recollection is that the weather or radio station was 15 or 20 miles from the radar base and not accessible during the summer since there were no roads or boats. They would come to the base by dog sled to shop in our PX.

The warmest temperature for the year was about 55 degrees F. In expected form, we all stripped down to our shorts to get some sun. The winds reached over 100 mph on several occasions but we were fortunate in that there was no real damage done.

I remember at least one Canadian Technician and an older Eskimo as well as a young Eskimo boy around 10 years old coming on dog-sled to visit and buy things from our commissary (PX). The dogs were feared by the airmen and I saw this young boy kick and scream the dogs into submission.

The fresh water lake was located about three miles, all downhill, from the base. I recall an occasion when our pipe line to the fresh water lake froze and it took about 10 days to dig up the frozen pump and repair it. During this ten days we drank beer and soda. Barrels were put in the latrines and we shoveled snow to replenish the water we used for washing and shaving. The dogs had camped outside one of the latrines and much of the snow we washed in had dog hair in it.

It would have been about 4 miles or so from the base to the beach. We were supplied once a year by ships and it took several days to unload and store the food, fuel and other supplies. The ships would usually arrive in July but it was sometimes necessary for their people to blow up some ice flows which tended to impede progress from time to time. One thing I remember by visualizing is the name of one of the supply ships. The name was "Wang Pioneer". I believe this ship supplied all of the bases during this time period. The only helicopter to land on the island came from the supply ship. I recall that we would be supplied with about 5000 cases of beer - all of which would be gone in a period of 6 or 7 months. For some unknown reason - the airmen were restricted to beer. The Officers and NCOs were the only ones allowed to have hard liquor.

I eventually departed the 920^th AC&W and Resolution Island in March 1959 having spent a total of 11 months and 19 days at this location. Looking back – I would never volunteer for Arctic duty again, but I would not trade the experience for anything.

As already mentioned – Charlie Miller (AF16542960) was a young USAF airman of 19 when he was sent to Resolution Island to function as a Radar Operator between March 1958 and March 1959. He is the first (from Resolution Island) to communicate with the Pinetree Line web site. Unfortunately, while he took and developed literally hundreds of photographs – he has none remaining in 1999.

Many thanks for your memories Charlie. Maybe, just maybe, someone else that worked at "Res" will show up with the passing of time.