Goose Bay, Labrador

1971 - Change of Command – As Indicated

After close to 18 years, it was decided to close down the Pinetree Line site which was located at Goose Bay, Labrador. Melville Air Station was the last of the original Northeast Air Command (NEAC) or 64th Air Division Pinetree Line radar stations. In reality, the radar station at Melville was not closing down. It was, on the other hand, simply being handed over to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). None the less - with the handover of the 641st AC&W Squadron from USAF to CAF control, the USAF, in effect, ceased to participate as part of the Pinetree Line - a participation which had involved active AC&W Squadrons in Newfoundland, Labrador and the sub-Arctic.

The change of command of was be effective 1 July 1971.

This process was not new to the USAF, as they had already handed over control of eleven other Pinetree Line sites scattered coast to coast in Canada during the early 1960s. It was somewhat different however, in two areas. As already mentioned, this change of command meant that USAF participation in the entire northeast was coming to an end. On another note, and more accurately stated, with the change of command at Melville Air Station, the USAF terminated their participation in the Pinetree Line as a whole. The 27 Pinetree Line sites which continued operation were all manned by the Canadian Armed Forces.

For the most part, from a military point of view, it was a case of bringing in an advance party of Canadian military personnel, and slowly phasing out the USAF personnel - until such time as the complex was totally manned by Canadians. We often tend to over look the "civilian personnel" which are involved at a change of command. When the complex was known as Melville Air Station, the civilians were employees of the US government. A change in command meant that their terms of employment were terminated. Offers of employment were extended by the Canadian government to those civilians who had been employed by the American government - an obvious process which would allow continuity of experience and skill level with existing equipment. It is interesting to note that not all of the affected civilian employees accepted the offer to continue their employment when the Canadian Armed Forces assumed command of the 641st AC&W Squadron.