Resolution Island, NWT

A
History
of the

920^th Aircraft Control & Warning Squadron
N-30

1 January 1959 to 31 March 1959

Prepared for the Historical Office
64^th Air Division (Defense)

Gary P Reese, 1st Lt., USAF, Historical Officer
Jones F Webb, Major, USAF, Commander

The primary mission of the 920^th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron is to provide surveillance of assigned area of responsibility.

The secondary mission of the 920^th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron is to provide navigational assistance for friendly aircraft lost or in distress within the squadron’s radar communications coverage.

The three-month reporting period saw the squadron personnel strength gain thirty-two (32) persons and lose forty-one (41). This deficit in people was caused mainly by the loss of twenty-two (22) during the month of March chiefly from the Operations Section of the squadron. Replacements for these people, while scheduled for arrival at this unit in April, will probably not be present for duty until the end of that month or the first part of May. The rotation of a large number of people at one time continues to be a serious problem at this site and is one which often leaves one or several of the sections extremely undermanned until the expected replacements arrive. Officer strength did not change during this period, as all officers assigned to this unit arrived here between the months of May and October.

The unit manning strength of the organization as of the first day of each month is shown in the table below:

The following figures represent the officers and airmen present for duty as of the last day of each month of the reporting period.

In summation, the squadron had an average of 9.7 officers and 114 airmen present for duty during this three-month period. The squadron average total was 123.7.

Due to unusually favorable weather conditions for this time of year, the support aircraft for Resolution Island, a De Havilland Otter, was able to accomplish forty-three (43) flights during the months of January, February and March. March in particular was excellent weather, and twenty-three (23) flights were made during that month. On several occasions as many as three flights were made in one day. The backlog of materiel, cargo, and personnel at Frobisher Bay was completely eliminated for the first time in approximately five (5) months.

The following is a summary of the flights made during each of the three months of the reporting period and the payload carried:

The squadron basketball season came to an end in March with the Officer’s Mess winning the league championship and Administration copping the tournament crown. The opportunity to utilize the gymnasium, which was converted from an abandoned dining hall, proved to be a definite morale factor for unit personnel. Plans are being made to set up a volleyball court in it in the near future.

A squadron letter has been drafted to be sent to each individual who is being assigned to this unit explaining to him what facilities are available, what type of clothing he should bring, location of the unit, transportation procedures and problems, and policy on leaves, mail, and phone calls to the Zone of Interior. It is felt that insufficient information has been imparted to assignees to this squadron in the past and that this often has led to delays and inconveniences which could have been prevented by an adequate briefing.

The operations section lost approximately twenty (20) personnel during the three month reporting period. This out a severe strain on the station and it necessitated a change from a three-crew to a two-crew system, each crew working a twelve hour shift. Supplementary Operations personnel are forecasted for the month of April; however, this caused an approximate two-month period during which Operations operated at considerably under its authorized strength. This situation has made it impossible for the unit to comply with the 64^th Air Division desire for the four-crew system generally utilized by sites participating in System Training Programs.

The Systems Training Program was initiated at this site with the arrival in early February of Mr. Stewart F Tower, representative of The Systems Development Corporation of Santa Monica, California. Mr. Tower spent approximately one month here outlining the objectives of this program and briefing operational crews on possible problems and difficulties to be encountered while a mission is in progress. The first problem was run on 11 February and through the end of March thirty (30) Systems Training Missions had been conducted. No major difficulties have been encountered and valuable training has been received from these missions. The system, however, cannot now be considered fully operational, as an acceptable power supply for the AN/GPS-T2 has not been received. Tracks are presently being told to the plotters from a script read to them by another of the Operations airmen. While detracting from the realism of the problem, this method still permits an acceptable means of handling this shortcoming until it can be solved by the installation of a power supply.

The 15-J-1C was used as a surveillance trainer and to provide intercept directors with necessary intercept control work. Eighty-six (86) single intercepts and twenty-nine (29) multiple intercepts were amassed by the squadron controllers toward meeting the annual requirements as stated in ADCM 51-2.

ECM training consisted of the following:

The AN/UPS T-5 was utilized for a total of one hundred and fifty-three (153) hours of training during this three month period, and the M0-1 Trainer was used for sixty (60) hours of training.

During the month of January riggers arrived from the Marconi depot to repair antennas damaged due to ice and high winds. Three UHF antennas were damaged beyond repair, and a requisition was submitted by Supply to replace them. All of the Net 45 transmit-receive antennas had been damaged, but were repaired by the team of riggers. This team also dismantled, checked, and cleaned all air-to-ground antennas. The LF Net 45 transmitting antenna was not repaired due to the lack of materiel; however, it has formerly proved to be very ineffectual, and it was felt that delaying the riggers until the proper materials for repair arrived could not be justified in view of the time and money involved.

The Marconi radio Technical Representatives at this site recently completed their study of the re-siting of the A/G communications equipment. Their recommendations were approved by Headquarters, 64^th Air Division, and immediate action was taken to procure the required materials for this undertaking. The A/G equipment is presently being re-sited at a location further away from the Operations Section to alleviate the problem of radar interference from the communications equipment.

The Communications Section was greatly undermanned during the month of January, but needed replacements arrived in March filling seven (7) of the eleven (11) Unit Manning Document positions. Three (3) more personnel are forecasted for the month of April, which should give this section adequate manning.

The advent of STP has required a considerable rewiring effort on the part of the Wire Maintenance Section. To provide the Operations Section with all the positions they would require for STP it was determined that two (2) additional five-line units would be required. The re-wiring plan has been submitted and the five-line key units requested.

Authority has been received enabling personnel of this unit to place long distance phone calls to the Zone of the Interior. This system will utilize military circuits from Resolution Island to Goose Air Base, Labrador, and civilian circuits from Goose to the United States.

The AN/FPS-3 was ROCP for a magnetron for one hundred (100) hours and fifty-three (53) minutes during the month of January. However, the back-up search gear was 100% operational during this period and no out-of-net time was experienced. Two sections of the waveguide for the upper and lower beam were received on 29 January and have been installed. Seventeen (17) hours and forty-five (45) minutes of preventative maintenance were expended during February on the FPS-3 with back up gear fully operational for continuous in-the-net operation.

The AN/FPS-502 back-up radar was operational during this three-month reporting period, and no major problems were encountered with regard to its maintenance.

Troubles were routine in nature for the height finder, AN/TPS-502, during January. However, in February a series of difficulties caused a total of fifty (50) hours and fifty (50) minutes to be expended for corrective maintenance. In addition, eleven (11) hours and twenty-three (23) minutes were needed for accomplishment of preventative maintenance.

In January the Marconi Installation Team arrived for the purpose of installing the AN/GPS-T2, the simulated target projector, for use in conjunction with the Systems Training Problems. However, work was suspended due to the failure of the power supply assembly. This assembly was not repairable at this unit. Another power supply unit was ordered through the Marconi depot and arrived here in March, but it also failed to function properly. Therefore, this installation problem was still unsolved at the end of the reporting period.

A projected shortage of personnel in the Radar Maintenance field within 64^th Air Division (Defense) has caused that headquarters to direct that all personnel in this field will remain at their present duty station for a maximum of ninety (90) days past their tour anniversary dates or until their replacements arrive, whichever occurs sooner.

This unit lost its water supply for a five-day period during February due to a malfunction in the Ric-Wil line, which carries all water to the site from a lake some two miles away. Electrical failure had occurred in sections 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the line, and ice had stopped the piper in section 5. The secondary electrical energizing circuits were replaced by running wire on the exterior of the line along the snow, and the pipe was tapped to isolate the damage. During the emergency a snow melting tank was erected adjacent to the Heating Plant. It was never used since the Ric-Wil line was repaired before this became necessary; however, it is substantially complete and could be placed into operation within a one day period. The tank will be left in this location for possible emergencies. The air compressor shipped in for Project Rocksite was installed in the Heating Plant to aid in purging the Ric-Wil line of water or for locating leaks. The discharge junction at the 90,000 gallon storage tank was modified to prevent water from running back into the line from the tank. Also, the operating procedure has been changed to provide more thorough precautions for the operation and maintenance of the system.

Trouble with the Ric-Wil line was encountered during March due to a broken power line. A snow drift had pulled this line from one of the poles and buried it under twenty feet of snow. Repairs were made at the junction box, and the line was lowered from station #9 to gain slack and relieve further strain.

Transfer of fuel oil from the Yellow Beach storage tanks to the upper site storage tanks was started on 28 January. Since July of 1958, approximately 7400 barrels of diesel fuel have been used for an average of 233 barrels per month. The large storage tank has a capacity of 15,000 barrels which is enough to last for twelve months; however, because of a broken seam at the thirty-foot level of the tank, it was filled with only 10,620 barrels of fuel last summer, which necessitated this mid-winter pumping. Repair work for this tank was originally requested from 64^th Air Division (Defense) during September of 1958, since this site had no welders experienced at welding in hazardous areas. Completion of this repair work would eliminate the operation of the pump house during the winter months, which is an uncertain and hazardous operation. This station can be reached only by Weasel vehicles on favorable days and is completely inaccessible for at least a two-month period.

For at least the last four years, the Power Plant has been operating with water instead of anti-freeze in the engine cooling system, and at least one of the radiators has been severely damaged from freezing. The cooling system will be filled with anti-freeze as soon as the new radiator arrived at the station, as well as the Marconi cooling system maintenance team which is to install it. All the cooling systems are in urgent need of overhaul and cleaning. Maintenance personnel have reported that the engines have excessive sludge in the cooling passages and have noted that ordinary flushing does not remove this accumulation.

This unit received its anticipated paradrop of supplies on 27 January by crew members of a C-54 stationed at Harmon AFB, Newfoundland. The weather was not entirely suitable for a paradrop, as there was fog, light snow, 25 mile an hour winds, and limited visibility. The drop began at 1435 GMT and was completed one hour later. Seventeen (17) drops were made, sixteen of which were recovered. The package which was not recovered was a large drum of compound which broke loose from its parachute harness during the fall and is now buried in deep snow at a considerable distance from the landing strip.

The following items were received in damaged condition: typewriter, PT fuel, water pumps for diesel engines, and glass ashtrays for Base Exchange. Approximately 85% of the property, however, was recovered in serviceable condition. It has been determined that some of the paradrop packets were too heavy for the size of parachutes which were used. If the packs were limited to 200 to 250 pounds with all heavy or rigid items placed at the base and cushioned with absorbent material, damage could be held to a minimum.

A second paradrop was made on 19 February and was a complete success. A total of four thousand, three hundred and fifty (4350) pounds of material were dropped.

New 1220 cards have been made for all Unit Authorization List items. The UAL was cross-checked with the current on-hand inventory taken in December 1958 with the applicable source documents. Preparations are now being made to process out all excesses discovered during this UAL review. When the new UAL is received from 64^th Air Division (Defense), the corrections will be annotated, and the new UAL will reflect the true status of the UAL property at this station.

Complete warehousing of all electrical, plumbing, Heating Plant, and refrigeration supplies has been accomplished. The re-warehousing program has served a two-fold purpose: (1) increased warehouse space, and (2) established item identity, which has provided a more efficient operation. The number of line items involved in this project was approximately 3200. Approximately 120 line items of Jeep parts are to be shipped to the 926^th AC&W Squadron, inasmuch as they are excess to this squadron.

The following projects which were initiated in September 1958 were completed during March: