THE AIR FORCE COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND: 1938-1986 AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY Revised Edition Thomas S. Snyder, General Editor Betty A. Boyce Shelley L. Davis Laurence B. Epstein Cora J. Holt Larry R. Morrison Daniel R. Mortensen Thomas S. Snyder Melinda A. Wigginton Tommy R. Young 42 Deposi y Copy AFCC OFFICE OF HISTORY Scott Air Force Base, Illinois 1986 AFCC Pamphlet 210-1 For sale by tho Superi nten dent of Documents, U.S. Gov ernment Printing Office, Washington , D .C. 20402 PREFACE Each unit in the Air Force is affected by the Air Force Communications Command. It provides the vital link for all levels of leadership within the Air Force and the national command authorities. The survivability and reliability of the command, control and communications network are critical parts of America's deterrent posture and warfighting capability. America's global responsibilities, the new frontier of space, and more sophisticated technological systems will make these tasks even more challenging in the years ahead . I am confident that Air Force Communications Command's dedication, ingenuity, and sacrifice will continue to meet this challenge as it has in its long history. General, USAF Air Force Communications Command provides critical support to Air Force operational and support commands worldwide. AFCC provides communications, computer and air traffic services vital to the accomplishment of our Air Force and DOD mission. Since the creation of the Army Airways Communications System in 1938, the means and methods of "Providing the Reins of Command" have changed dramatically-from the early days of semaphores to today's technologically advanced laser communications and highspeed data processing. Every facet of Air Force operations benefits from these changes, making our Air Force the most capable fighting force in history. AFCC contributes directly to this capability and represents a fascinating chapter in the growth of our Air Force as an instrument of national power. AFCC people harness today's technology to provide Air Force commanders the tools they need to fight and win. In doing this, today's AFCC professionals face a tremendous assortment of challenges. They take users' minimum essential needs and acquire capable systems to get the job done effectively, at minimum cost. They operate and maintain critical command and control systems, support systems, and the safest air traffic control system in the world. The end product is the same today as it was in the early days of our command: a strong defense and a free America. AFCC: An Illustrated History is, of necessity, broad in its approach. It discusses how and why the command was created, what the professionals of AFCC have achieved, and where the command is going. However, it does much more. It also offers a look at the dedicated, creative activists who made the command's many accomplishments possible. These are the people-scattered at hundreds of locations throughout the worldwho make the command work. These are also the people who make this history worth reading. JOHN T. STIHL Major General, USAF Commander ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The purpose of this illustrated history is to put the heritage of the Air Force Communications Command into perspective as it celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary as a major air command . This volume is an updated and enlarged version of a similar book prepared in 1981 . It is not meant to be a critical, analytical account, but a narrative highlighting the growth of this command since 1938 from a simple system with 300 men operating only within the continental United States to a major air command with over 60,000 people, worldwide responsibilities, and a highly complex mission. Historians from the Headquarters Air Force Communications Command , Office of History, prepared this history. Dr Thomas S. Snyder prepared the plan for writing the original volume and this updated version, served as overall editor, and wrote the first chapter on the establishment of the Army Airways Communications System and its activities through World War II as well as parts of the last chapter on the command during the 1980s. Dr Laurence B. Epstein prepared the second chapter, detailing the activities of the Airways and Air Communications Service, 1946-1961. M rs Shelley L. Davis wrote the third chapter on the first decade of the Air Force Communications Service as a major command, 1961-1970. Dr Daniel R. Mortensen prepared the fourth chapter which describes the activities of the command, 1970-1981. Dr Larry R. Morrison wrote the sections on systems for the chapter on the command in the 1980s. Mrs Cora J. Holt updated the appendices, helped edit the text, and readied the manuscript for printing. Ms Melinda Wigginton and Dr Larry Morrison selected the photos used to illustrate the new chapter. Dr . Tommy R. Young reviewed the entire history and his comments on the new chapter were especially helpful. Many civilian and military personnel at Headquarters Air Force Communications Command read and commented on the draft manuscript. Their suggesions were invaluable and substantially improved the manuscript. Special acknowledgement must go to Lt Col Eric L. Peterson, Executive Officer to the Commander, and Dr Timothy J. Mucklow, Office of History, who took the time and interest to read and comment on the chapter on the period 1981 -1986. Retyping of the original volume was done by the Directorate of Administration . Ms Tana Nordaker, Supe rvisory Printing Assistant, 375th Air Base Group, coordinated the photographs to the text and made the text camera-ready in preparation for publication. This illustrated history is based almost entirely on the official histories of the Air Force Communications Command and its subordinate organizations plus documents and interviews contained in the Head quarters Air Force Communications Command histor ical collection. Without the work of the command's full-time and additional duty historians, who prepared these official histories through the years , the present writers would not have been able to produce this volume. I especially want to acknowledge Dr William McClintock, Tactical Information Systems Division historian, whose history on the Grenada rescue operation was particularly helpful. In addition, this office is indebted to the Headquarters Air Force Communications Command Public Affairs Office; many Air Force Communications Command subordinate units; the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; the Defense Audiovisual Agency at the Pentagon; and the Air Weather Service Office of History, all of whom kindly provided photographs for this history. This office is particularly indebted to members of the Army Airways Communications System Alumni Association who ei ther donated or loaned photographs from their personal collections for use in this project. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS r Page ii Preface ........... . ..... . ........ .. ....... .. ...... ... . . .... .. .. . ... . . ..... .. . ... Acknowledgements . ..... . ... . . .................. . ........... . ....... . .. .. .. . ... .. . iii ARMY AIRWAYS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM, WORLD WAR II ERA: 1938-1946 1 Introduction . . . .. ... .. . . . . . . . .. .. .. . ....... .. ..... .. ......... . .. .. .... . ..... ... Establishment of the Army Airways Communications System .... ........ . . ................5 Pre-War Expansion ..... . .. . .. . . . .. ... .............. .. . . .. . .... .. .... . . ..... ... . . 8 North Atlantic Theater .. . . . .. . .. . ...... .. . . .. . ......... . . . . . . ......... .. ... . .. 8 Caribbean Theater .. .. ..... . . . .. ..... .. ....... . ..... . . . . . . ... ... ... . ... .. .. . 1 0 Pacific Theater .... . ................ . ..................... . ........ .. .. .. .. 1 2 .. . .. .. . ... .... . .... .. ... . ................. . ................1 3 Wartime Expansion Alaskan Theater .................... . . . . . .. ...... . ........ . .... . . .... .. . ... 1 3 South Atlantic Theater ...... .. ... . ... . ............... . ...... . .... .. .. . . ..... 1 5 African Theater ............ . ..... .. . ...... . .. . . . .... . .... .. ...... ... .... . . . 16 European Theater . . .. . ..... . ...... . ... .. ...... . . ...........................18 Pacific/China/Burma Theaters ........ . . .. .. . ........... .. .. .. . .... .. ...........22 Organizational Restructuring . .... . . . ... . . . ...... .. . .... . . .. . . . .. . .. . . . ...... . .. .. .42 AIRWAYS AND AIR COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE, 1946-1961 .. . .. .. . .. .. .. . . .. . .... . ..... . .. ..... .... . ... ... . ..... .. .. 4 7 Postwar Restructuring The Berlin Airlift . .. . ... ..... . . . . ... . ... . .. . .. .. ............. . ... . ..... .. ..... .49 The Korean War ... . .. .. .... .. ...... .... . ......... . ...... . ........ . ..... .. . ... 58 Air Traffic Control .. .. . ... . .... . .. .. . .... . ......... . . . ........ ... ..............67 Air Defense ..... . ...... .. .............. .. .. . .................. . . . . .... . . . . . .. 71 Engineering and Installation . .......................... . ... .. .... . . . ..... . ........7 2 Long-Line Communications ........ . ... . ........ ... ... . . . . .. ... . . . .. .. ... . ... .. ... 72 MARS ........... . . .. . ................ .. ................. ...... ... . .........76 AIR FORCE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE, THE SIXTIES 79 Organization and Management . . ..... . ... .. ..... . ........ . ......... . ... .. . . . ...... ...89 Operations .... ... .. ..... . .. ..... . ..... . . .. .. .......... . . ... . .. .. .. ........ On-Base Communications ...... . .. . . .. .. ... . . . . . . .. . . . .. . ...... . .... . . . ......90 Long-Haul Communications .. . ..... . . . . .. . . . . .. .. .. . ... .. .. .. . . . . ..... .. ......93 AUTODIN . .. . ... . ... . ..... . .......... . ...... .. ... . . ....... . ..............93 .. .. ..... .. .... ... ..... . . . .. . . . ... .. . ... .. ...... . .. .... . . ......96 AUTOVON Tropospheric Scatter and Satellite Communications . ... . . .. .. . . ...... .. . . .. ... . . ... . 97 100 Long-Haul Communications in Alaska .... ... . .. .. .... . ........ . .. .... .. .. . ...... Military Affiliate Radio System . . . ........ ... . ... . ................ . ....... . .. .. 103 Air Traffic Control . . ...... .. .... .. ....... .. .. . . . ... . . . . ... . .. . .... . .. .. . ... 104 Emergency Mission Support ... .. ....... .. .. .. . .. .. .. .. .. ...... .. .......... . . . 1 09 . .... .. . .. .. .. . . . . . . . .. ... . . . .. . . .. .... . . ....... .. . ......... . . . 11 2 Contingencies Short-Term Operations . .. . .. .... .. . . ...... . .. .. .... .. .......... . .... . ... .. . 112 Southeast Asia .... ... . . . . .. .. .... . .. . . . ... .. .. . .......... . ..... . .... ..... . .. 11 7 -1965 ... . .... . ... . .. .. . .. . .. ....... . .. . ....... . . . ... 118 The Advisory Years 1961 The Buildup 1965-1970 . ... . ........ . .... . . . .. . .. . . . .... . ... . ...... .. ....... 123 THE SECOND DECADE OF MAJOR COMMAND STATUS 141 Introduction ..... . ... . .. .... . .... . .... .. . .. .. .. . .. ......... . .. . . . ..... . ... ... Organization Changes in the Seventies ... . ....... .... .. . . . . ...... .. .... .. . . .... . . . . 142 AFCS/GEEIA Merger and Its Impact .... . ........ . . .. . ............... .. . ... . .. . . 142 Reduction of Intermediate Headquarters Organizations .. .. ................. . . . . . .... 143 Widening The Scope of Service With Communications-Electronics Support Offices . ....... . 143 Major Personnel Reductions in the Early Seventies . . . .. . .................. . .. .... . . 144 145 SAC Communications: A Birthday Present for AFCS .... ..... . .. .... . ... . . . . .. . . .... Additional Consolidations Broadened AFCS Responsibilities ... . ....... . . ..... . .. . ... .. 146 Back to Scott and Further Reorganization .. ....... . ..... .... . .... .. . . ... . ....... . 149 iv Air Traffic Control .. ......... .. . . . . .............. . ........ .. .... ... .. . . . ...... 150 Control Towers and Equipment .. .............. . . . . . ..... . .... ... . .. . . .... . ... 150 Mobile Air Traffic Service Equipment Changes .. .. . .. ............ .. ... ... ...... . .. 152 Solid-State Radios . . ........ .. . ... . . ...... ... .. . . .... . ...... . ... . ... ... . .. . 1 53 Radar and Landing Aids . .... . .. . ..... . .......... . ..... ..... . ...... .. . . . . . ... 153 T A CANs, Other Navigational Aids, and Flight Information Services . .. . . . .. ... . . . ...... . 1 56 AFCS/AFCC Aircraft Mission ........ .. ...... . . ... ......... . . . . . ...... . ....... 158 Long Distance Communications ............ ....... . .... ..... . . . . ..... . . . . .. . ... .. 159 Introduction . . . ... . ..... ..... . . ..... . .................... . .... . . . . .... .... 159 Common User Communications ... ..... . .. . . .. ...... .. ..... . ....... . .... . . ... . 1 60 Dedicated and Specialized Communications ............. .. .. . ........ ... ..... . . . . 167 On -Base Communications ..... ......... ............... . ..... . ................ .. . 173 Introduction ...... . .............. . . . . . .. . . .. . . .. .. . . . . .. . . . . .... . ... ... . . . 173 Base Telephone Exchange Upgrade and Replacements ... . .. .. .. ..... ...... . ...... . . 174 Telecommunications Centers .. ... . ..... .... . . . . .. ... ........... ........ ... .. . 175 Base and Installation Security Systems . . .... . . . . . . ... .. ..... .... ... . ... . . . .. . .. 176 177 Meteorological Data Gathering and Transmission ........ . . . . .. ..... .. . ... .. ... .... Readiness and Combat Communications .............. . ... ........ .... . ....... .. .... 180 Introduction . .... .... . ......... . .. ..... . .... ... ..... ......... ........... .. 180 Combat Communications ............................ . . . . .... .. .. .. ... . . . .... 181 Contingency Deployments .... ...... . . . . . . . .. ... ... . ... ...... ... ... . . ... . . . . . 182 Tactical Equipment and Organizational Modernization Programs .... . . ....... . . . . ... .. . 187 THE CHALLENGE OF THE EIGHTIES Introduction ..... . ........ .. .. ............. ...... . ... . . . ........... .. ... . .. .. 189 The Information Systems Revolution . . ... . . . ........... ...... ... . ....... . .. . ...... 192 The Air Force Communications Command and Information Systems .......... . . . ...... . ... 201 Communications and the Air Force Space Mission . . . ............................... . . 201 Data Automation Systems . . ... . .. . .................. . .. . ..... . . . . ... . . . . .. . . ... 209 Telephone Systems Modernization .. .. ........ .. . .. .. . . . . . .......... . . .. .... . ..... 21 5 221 Weather Communications Service ... . ... .. ... . ... .. .. . ... ...... .. . . .. ... ..... .... Radio Systems .... . .. .. . ..... : . ... . ............... . ...... .. .. . . .. ....... . .... 224 Air Traffic Services ... ............. . . . . . . . ......... . . .... . . . . .. .. . . . ......... . 229 Combat Communications and Deployments . . . .. . .....·. . . ... . ... . . .. ....... . ..... . .. 238 EPILOGUE: " A Proud Past-An Exciting Future" . ......... . .. ............ . .. . . . .... ... . .. 251 APPENDICES 1. Lineage . .. ... ........ , . .. .......................... . . . .......... . ... .. .. 253 2. AACS/AFCS/AFCC Headquarters Locations ......... ..... .. .. . .. .. .... .. ...... .. . 255 256 3. AACS Commanders . . ... ..... . .. . . .... . . . . ....... . ...... . . . . .. . .. .... . . . 0 40 AFCS/AFCC Commanders . ... . . .... . . .. o •• • •••• 0... ... ..... ... . . ...... o ••• • • 258 0 • ••• • • ••• • 0 • •• • •• 0 0 ••••• • • 5. AFCC Personnel Totals 1938-1985 ... . .. . .......... 262 6. AFCC Personnel Percentage of Total Air Force Manning .. . ...... .. .......... . .. ... .. 266 70 AFCC Aircraft Inventory . . ......... .. . . . . .. . ....... 268 0 • 0 • • • • 0 • ••• •• ••••• • •• 0 •• 0 • 0 •••• •• ••• • 0 ••• •• 0 • 0 • • •••••••• 8. Information Systems Organizations Overview . ... 0 270 27 3 • ••• • • •• •• • • 0 • •• • • • • •• •• 0 • Glossary ...... .. .. o 276 • • • • • • o 0 • • •••••••••••••• ••• • Index ... . . 0 • •••• • • •• • ••••• ••• • ••••• ••• • • v Ar111y Airvvays Co111111unications Syste111 Air Force vi Communications Service AFCS Air Force Communications Command AFCC vii A Proud Past Providing the Reins of Command viii Over 45 Years Providing Specialized Communications Support 1938-1986 ix An Exciting Future X 25 Years as a Major Command 1961 -1986 xi xii xiii xiv ARMY AIRWAYS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM WORLD WAR II ERA: 1938-1946 INTRODUCTION From the early days of manned flight, farsighted individuals predicted that the destinies of aircraft and communications would be closely linked. The Army transmitted the first radio message from an aircraft in 1910 and by the end of the decade, the Aviation Section of the Army Signal Corps was actively experimenting with air-to-ground and ground-to-air communications. In 1923, prompted by Gen William (Billy) Mitchell's interest in cross country flights, the Air Service began to establish an Air Alert Net consisting of radio stations which provided air-to-ground and point-to-point communications as well as the dissemination of weather data. But by 1938, only 33 such stations existed. Service, clearly inadequate, suffered for various reasons. Each station was the responsibility of the in dividual post commander who quite commonly did not give airways communications a high priority. Aircraft regularly reached their destinations ahead of the flight message heralding their departure. Radio operators could be ass igned to other duties such as KP and guard duty which virtually prevented the kind of continuous watch essential for safe flight. Moreover, the lack of centralized direction over all the stations prevented any uniformity of procedures. The impact on operations was even more serious. Air maneuvers went awry because of just such faulty communica tions and planes missed their rendezvous or never arrived at all. One irascible general, disgusted with the Radio beacon and tower. Wright Field , April 1928. World's first successful air-directed bombing demonstration using air -to-ground radio occurred at Ft Riley, Kansas, on 5 November 1912. Pictured from left to right are Lt Follett Bradley, Observer and Radio Operator, and Lt Henry H. Arnold. Pilot . 1 J slowness of air communications, had in exasperation filed his message w ith Western Union. And the story is told that during one of these maneuvers, a message intended for Gen George C. Marshall ended up in the hands of Admiral Richard E. Byrd in Little America, Antarctica . Not only was the ex1stmg system woefully inadequate, but pilots were reluctant to use radios. Until the mid-1930's, aircraft·engines were not bonded and shielded. Consequentlly radio reception was difficult, if at times not entirely impossible, because of engine ignition interference. Moreover, the complex wiring for receivers and transmitters often caused fires in the aircraft. Finally, early radio sets weighted so much that the payload and fuel load had to be reduced when radios were carried. As a result , many pilots developed an antipathy to radios so violent that many of them tossed sets overboard and reported their accidental Radio station of 1st Observation Sq., Mitchel Field. 1923. The radio compartment on board an aircraft in the early 1930s was often cramped. This radio operator was lt Ivan Farman, who later, as a Brigadier General. commanded AACS. 2 loss. Charles A . Lindbergh, for example, did not carry a radio on his record flight to Paris in 1927. Fortunately not all pilots held a hostility toward radios . One man in particular, Lt Col (later Gen) Henry H. (Hap) Arnold was a strong believer in the need for efficient airways communications. He gathered around him a cadre of men such as Capt (later Maj Gen) Harold M. McClelland, Maj (later Brig Gen) Wallace G. Smith, 1st Lt (later Brig Gen) Ivan L. Farman, 1st Lt (later Col) Lloyd H. Watnee, and MSgt (later Lt Col) Walter B. Berg who all shared his ideas. When the Army Air Corps flew the mail briefly in 1934, Co lonel Arnold, who managed one leg of the route, placed special emphasis on effective commurications. Then in July 1934, in an event which precipitated development of a rational airways communications system, Arnold led a flight of 1 0 Martin B-1 0 bombers on a record setting, long distance flight from Boiling Field, Washington D.C., to Fairbanks, Alaska, and back. Again, special arrangements for communications had been made and contributed markedly to the success of the flight. Motivated, by these successes, Arnold and McClelland initiated a campaign t o establish an effective, integrated, centrally managed, military airways communications system. Four years later, these efforts culminated in the establishment of the Army Airways Communications System (AACS). The flight of 10 B-1 0 bombers return from the Alaskan flight to Bolling Field , W ashington, D .C. 3 One of the 10 B-1 0 bombers of the Army Alaskan fligh t , flying beneat h the clouds to obtain ai r map pictures of the territory between Anchorage and Fairbanks. The territory shown here is Broad Pass. Col. H.H . (Hap) Arnold, pictured here aboard one of the Martin B-1 0 bombers. established a long-distance flight record on 19 July-20 August 1934, flying from Bolling Field , Washington, D .C., t o Alaska. The B-10 used by Arnold was t he first Army plane completely bonded and shielded to pre vent engine ignition interference w ith radio recept ion . All 10 aircraft were equipped with a new type of interphone vacuum tube and the 183 command set . A crude radio compass w as also installed in each aircra ft. ORIGINAL AACS OFFICER CORPS 1938 Major Wallace G. Smith AACS Control Officer HQ Army Air Corps Capt Russell A. Wilson 1st Lt Dudley D . Hale 1st Lt Lloyd H. Watnee Regional Control Officer Regional Control Officer Regional Control Officer 1st AACS Region 2nd AACS Region 3rd AACS Region 4 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ARMY AIRWAYS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM On 1 5 November 1938, following directions from the War Department, Headquarters Army Air Corps estab lished the Army A irways Communications System (AACS) to operate all fixed Air Corps radio facilities which aided air traffic between Army flying fields located in the continental United States. Since the system would be operated under the direction and control of the Chief of the Air Corps, it was placed as a function of the Headquarters Army Air Corps Directorate of Communications, within the Training and Operations Division. The mission of AACS was to provide three basic services: communications from station to station along the airways and between ground stations and the man in the air; dissemination of weather data from points of observation throughout the system to every unit having need of this information; and contorl of air traffic through radio and other navigational aids . Maj Wallace G. Smith, the Air Corps Communications Officer, became the AACS Control Officer as an additional duty. What was thought of in the field as Headquarters AACS was actually a single manila folder in the third left-hand drawer of Major Smith' s desk. By June 1939, when Major Smith gained Capt Thurston H. Baxter as an assistant to help with AACS, " Headquarters AACS" was housed in a four drawer steel file cabinet. To operate this system, Major Smith divided the continental United States into three communications regions and a communications squadron was assigned to each region . One commissioned officer served both as regional control officer and as squadron commander. Capt (later Brig Gen) Russell A. Wilson controlled the First Communications Region, comprising stations in the Rocky Mountains and far west states. The Second Region, controlled initially by 1st Lt (later Maj Gen) Dudley D. Hale, and after a few months by Capt (later Maj Gen) Wendell W . Bowman, consist ed of eastern and northeastern states. The Third Region, controlled by 1st Lt (later Col) Lloyd H. Watnee, in cluded stations in the south and midwest states. The fledgling AACS was beset with problems, chief of which was personnel. In 1938 and early 1939, AACS was authorized only three officers and 300 enlisted men to man 33 stations scattered across t he continental United States. Despite the limited person nel , most of these stations were operating on a 24-hour, seven days a week schedule. AACS also found it difficult to find qualified people . It was almost impossible to attract technically qualified radio operators and technicians for a salary of only $21 a month, especially when the men had to spend $3 of their own Receiving flight instructions from the tower, 1943. 5 The "Beam" for a course to steer by. money each month for the rental of a typewriter that the Army could not afford to buy. Radio maintenance men had to use their own cars and buy their own gasoli ne in order to travel from the station to the transmitter shack, usually several miles away. Amateur radio operators, popularly called "Hams" became the best source for recruits and during the early days of WW II they provided the technical expertise to command and operate a rapidly expanding AACS . But if they had the technical knowledge needed, they often lacked training as soldiers. So urgently were operators needed that there was not enough time to give them even the usual six weeks basic military t raining. When one base commander complained to Col Ivan Farman, who was then AACS Regional Control Officer, about this lack of training, Farman replied: " I can give you a G .I. or I can give you a communicat or. I cannot give you both. Which do you want?" The commander chose the communicator. Still, personnel was only part of the problem confronting AACS in 1938. By regulation, the Signal Corps was charged with procuring, developing, maintaining, and installing adequate equipment for AACS use. Equipment, however, was not plentiful at that time, nor was it fully suited to the demands of air communications. Moreover, there was a political problem. Congress looked suspiciously at what appeared to be a duplication of the civilian airways administered by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the forerunner of today' s Federal Aviation Administration. The fact that these civilian airways connected cities rather than military bases, that their operations were geared to peacetime passenger and cargo transport rather than to fighter, bomber, and combat cargo missions for defense was superficially brushed aside by economyin-governments blocs. During the next two years, the system grew at a snail ' s pace. By early 1940 the enlisted strength had only risen to 424. Interior of the control tower at Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson AFB). near Dayton. Ohio, in 1938. 6 ... :z: '> ... ..., r0 '> ~ z ..., c; (', ...: J:!o ~ 0 ..0 ~ ---z ... u w ...... 00 :z: ~ ~ I ... -..0 ... ~ w ..0 J:!o J:!o n "' ~ ... a 0 z "' Routes Region Boundaries PRE-WAR EXPANSION NORTH ATLANTIC THEATER Not until 1 941 , as the United States daily moved closer to active warfare, did AACS really begin to expand. As new air bases were established for training purposes and for flyaway delivery of lend -lease aircraft, requirements for traffic control and communications grew rapidly . This in turn prompted the growth of AACS. AACS's first big assignment was the North Atlantic ferry routes to Britain. Communications and navigational aids were vitally needed if pilots were to ferry lend -lease aircraft along this route with any regularity. The primary route followed a path over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and then directly over t he cold and stormy Atlantic. Alternative routes ad ded later extended far into the perpetual snows above the Arctic Circle . AACS established its first foreign station at Gander Lake , Newfoundland, in May 1941 . Next AACS moved into Goose Bay, Labrador, then expanded on to Greenland , Iceland , and finally to the British Isles. The establishment of these stations involved severe hardships. There was bitter cold with temperatures reaching as low as 50 degrees below zero , temperatures so cold that even the Eskimos refused to work. Violent winds ripped up antenna masts. Freak midwinter thaws washed away some stations. Men were lost. In the far north, adequate living quarters were often unavailable; some crews spent the winters in tents. To conserve the small supply of fuel available , 10 personal communications were permitted and all 3musements were limited. Occasionally, fuel short ages forced the shutting down of all power except during transmitting period . This, of course , meant no electricity for lighting purposes. When equipment broke, the men often had to make the repair parts from whatever materials were at hand. Many stations used coke and beer bottles for insulat ors . The intense cold often damaged the equipment. Even at the best equipped stations in the far nort h it was a hard life isolated, lonely, and cold . The men made furniture from packing crates and improvised cooking utensils. Tra ined medical personnel and cooks were unavailable and the men were forced to be t heir own doctors and chefs. The men received mail every two or three months if they were lucky and every six months if they were not. In some isolated locations, a ship with supplies could only get in once a year . Despite these hardships , these AACS stations, under the direction of Maj Ivan Farman , provided essential weather information and airways communications so much in demand for safe and efficient ferrying of aircraft across the North Atlantic to Brita in . Undoubtedly, AACS's performance contributed to the fact that 98. 5 percent of the aircraft starting out on this run reached their destination. None of the t ransports were lost and in many cases the crews of combat ships forced down were rescued wit AACS help. During the Bolero Project, the mass m ovement of aircraft to Britain between July and September 1942, AACS handled over 1,000 aircraft during each month. The AACS weather station at Simiutak, Greenland, designated Bluie West 3 , was established in late 1942. Both climate and terrain were equally inhospitable to the AACS men stationed at this site . 8 AACS radio operators guided planes across the North Atlantic to Europe using signals transmitted from these towering steel masts of an AACS radio range station. Within storm-swept stations such as this one. AACS men helped establish an amazing safety record on the route to England. Receiver building at Goose Bay , labrador. early 1940s 9 A radio receiver site somewhere on the North Atlantic ferry route. CARIBBEAN THEATER During 1941 , even before America entered the war, AACS expanded into other regions . By August, somet hing like a Caribbean net was shaping up when two independent AACS detachments formed earlier in the year in Panama and Puerto Rico were unified into a squadron -Air Corps Communications, Caribbean. During the same summer and fall , AACS also established radio stations on the islands of St. Lucia, Jamaica, and Antigua in the British West Indies, at Atkinson Field in British Guiana , on the island of Trinidad off t he coast of South America and on St. Croix in the American Virgin Islands . Likewise an AACS detachment of 34 enlisted men, headed by a warrant officer and a borrowed officer, established four airways stat ions along the coast of Alaska. These stations located in the southern and northern hemispheres gave greater substance to our defensive posture in a time of growing crisis . The control tower at Smyrna Army Field , Tennessee . This field was used as a processing and training center for AACS men. 10 Direction finder nets covered most of the earth' s surface. .,... _. These nets, upon request from pilots, obtained bearing from ... . a continuous signal transmitted by the plane, determined the direction from which it was received , and filed results to cen tral stations for plotting. The position fix was then radioed to the pilot. Each net covered approximately 1.000 square miles of territory. Air routes over oceans and desolate for eign regions were blanketed with this system. A position fix could be gotten in four or five minutes. For all instructions and information regarding traffic and weather, the pilot communicated with the control tower by way of a radio . Air traffic control, 1944. 1 1 PACIFIC THEATER Nor did AACS neglect American possessions in the Pacific. Even before the creation of AACS, Lt Roger Williams had pioneered and Lt (Later Lt Gen) Gordon A . Blake had developed a small airways radio net for point-to-point communications between four air fields in the Hawaiian Islands. When the War Department created and Air Corps Detachment, Communications, for AACS in November 1940, Blake, by then a captain, became its commander. In the months preceding the attack on Pearl Harbor, Blake strengthened the Hawaiian air net and expanded it into the Pacific, es t ablishing a two-man station on Wake Island and a one-man station on Midway Island. In an attempt to open an air route in the central Pacific, Blake served as communications officer on the first experimental flight from Hawaii to the Philippines. Between 5 and 12 September 1941, the flight of nine B-17 bombers literally picked their way over uncharted sea routes, making scheduled stops at Midway; Wake; Port Moresby, New Guinea; Darwin, Australia; and finally at Clark Field in the Philippines. Without adequate weather information and the benefit of customary navigational aids and control towers, the B-1 7s made t heir way across the Pacific, landing in grass fields, on hard packed dirt, rough coral, or any clear, flat space big enough to take off from again. The trip was a feat of the first magnitude and the War Department recognized it as such by awarding the Distinguished Flying Cross to every man who participated in the flight. Plans for further development of a trans-Pacific route were cut short by the attack on Pearl Harbor. When Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, they struck without warning, in large numbers, and at great speed. They badly crippled the American Navy and devastated the air fields, neutralizing any possible retaliation . Everywhere in the Hawaiian net, AACS men worked expertly, under fire, to keep AACS on the air during the attack. Gordon Blake, by then a major, for example, working from the Hickam control tower, successfully landed a flight of 12 B-1 7 flying Fortresses arriving from California. One by one Blake brought the B-17's in, holding them out of enemy range and sneaking them in one at a time between waves of enemy aircraft. Around the control tower, havoc reigned. Planes burned on the ground; bullets ricocheted; nearly every building except the control tower had been hit at least once. Miraculously, no AACS people were killed during the attack even though the Japanese made repeated strafing runs against the control towers. For AACS, the bombing of Pearl Harbor meant that the airways communications facilities which had been planned as an aid to air navigation were now a necessity. Facilities would have to be installed in sufficient numbers to do the job, and they would have to be in stalled quickly. Wheeler Field, Hawaii. the morning of 7 December 1941 . Some 90 aircraft were destroyed by the Japanese attack. Here, smoke billows up from the Wheeler hangar line. 12 "Talking them in" from an AACS control tower, 1944. Air traffic control training, 1944. WARTIME EXPANSION ALASKAN THEATER The outbreak of war in December 1 941 prompted a flurry of feverish activity as AACS expanded its air way communications to meet wartime requirements. At the tip of the Alaskan peninsula, pointing toward Dutch Harbor, was Cold Bay. There, in March 1942, AACS secretly set up a hidden airways station under the cover of the Blair Packing Company who ostensibly continued to pack fish. At the same time, over on the first Aleutian island of Unmak, another AACS detachment moved in with Saxton and Company , Canners. On 2 June, two Japanese aircraft carriers were sighted less than 400 miles from Alaska. From the secret Army Air Force bases at Cold Bay and Unmak, B-26 and B-17 bombers took off, catching t he Japanese completely by surprise. Meeting such stiff resistance in their attack on Dutch Harbor, the enemy withdrew and occupied instead two other Aleutian islands, Kiska, and Attu. Following the battle at Dutch Harbor, AACS established a ferry route through Alaska to the Soviet Union to send aircraft promised to the Russians by the Lend Lease Program. Fort Glen on the Aleutian island of Umnak was the AACS headquarters of the Aleutian Sector of its 11th AACS Region . Pictured here is the Fort Glen loop range. 13 I AACS facilities on the Aleutian island of Adak left something to be desired . Army Air Forces ground personnel, including AACS men , landed on this island on 30 August 1942, just ahead of the invading Japanese. This was a critical island. If it had fallen to the Japanese, U .S. continental bases would have been within their air range . In U.S. hands, we could begin a counteroffensive from Adak against Attu and Kiska . Within 12 days an airstrip was built, and by mid-September, planes were taking off. Living and working conditions in Alaska required stamina. Pictured here is one of the AACS's Alaskan operating sites and living A high frequency antenna system at one of AACS's Alaskan operating sites. quarters. 14 SOUTH ATLANTIC THEATER The South Atlantic communications line also assumed critical significance, providing aid in the defense of the Canal Zone and the anti-submarine campaign . The Caribbean soon became a crossroads of communications airways. During the early part of 1942, AACS supplemented existing stations in the Caribbean and the Canal Zone with additional stations in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama , Peru, and the Galapagos Islands. From the latter base, aircraft could fly the AACS radio beam out into the Pacific as far as 600 miles and detect the approach of any Japanese aircraft. To counter the serious threat of German submarines which were sinking U.S. ships in full view of the Florida coast, the War Department instructed all Army and Navy planes, as well as surface craft, to alert AACS as soon as a submarine was sighted. AACS would then signal the enemy's position to all air p_ttrols. To aid this enterprise, AACS established stations in Dutch Guiana , British Guiana , and Brazil. From there AACS moved into the South Atlantic, establishing an airways station on lonely Ascension Island, located half way between South America and Africa. Flight control t ower and nose hangar, Atkinson Field , Brit ish Guiana . The AACS site on Wideawake Field , Ascension Island , half w ay bet ween South America and Africa, May 1943. 1 5 AFRICAN THEATER The next step was to Africa. In April 1942, Headquarters Army Air Force decided to establish a ferry and supply route across the middle of Africa to link America, Africa, India, and the Middle East . Pan American Airways, under contract with the U.S. Army, already operated an air service across Africa which joined the British Overseas Airways in Arabia and India . The approach of the North African invasion by the Allies, however, required absolute military secrecy and it be came necessary for AACS to take over the Pan American Airways stations and establish additional stations across Africa . Colonel Watnee, then Control Officer of AACS, selected Lt Col Wendell Bowman to be the architect for this system. Bowman in turn selected Maj (later Brig Gen) Haskell E. Neal to be commander of the new 13th AACS Region and Squadron in Africa . Under his direction, the men of the 13th built radio stations across the heart of Africa, north of the Equator, from Roberts Field in Liberia to Khartoum in Sudan and ultimately to both Cairo, Egypt, and Aden on the Arabian peninsula. Between July and August 1942, in mountains, in dense tropical jungles, and in hot desert sands, AACS personnel built their stations with equipment flown in by plane and from improvised materials at hand -mahogany, mud, tin, and bamboo poles. One station even cannibalized an alarm clock for spare parts and at one desert station, a radio shack was made from camel dung cemented with straw. Planes, ox carts, camels, elephants, and natives were employed to transport supplies to these remote lo cations. During the summer and fall of 1942, the war did not go well for the Allies in North Africa. The German Gen Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, and his Afrika Korps seriously threatened the Suez Canal, Cairo, and the existing AACS airways system across Africa. In late September, at El Alamein , the forces of British Gen Bernard Montgomery were backed up against their last defense position before Suez. Colonel Bowman prepared for the worst by establishing an alternate route across Africa, south of the Equator, but paralleling the one created by the 13th Squadron. In only eight days Neal and four of his men established stations at Pointe Noire, French Equatorial Africa; Leopoldville and Elizabethville, Belgian Congo; and Nairobi, Kenya; to create the alternate route. Once operational, this route was turned over to the newly created 14th AACS Region and Squadron commanded by Maj Glover B. Brock. The British position at El Alamein was desperate . They needed antitank shells to stop Rommel's Mark IV tanks, they needed them in large quantities, and they needed them in a hurry. Between the assembly lines and Montgomery's forces lay thousands of miles of submarine-infested ocean , and if the cargo ships could successfully get through, it would take six to eight weeks. It was doubtful whether M ontgomery could hold out that long. Fortunately, in the weeks before the battle, the AACS men of the 13th Squadron established a radio station in Cairo which meant that the AACS highway in the sky now reac hed from the United States to the battle front at El A lamein. The deci sion was quickly made to move the vital antitank shells over the AACS skyway rather t han by the slow and perilous sea route. Planes of the Air Transport Command (in numbers that approached the Bolero movement over the North Atlantic) immediately began ferrying the shells to Egy pt . A native guard stands watch over an AACS code room in Arabia . 16 On 23 October 1942, Montgomery ' s forces attacked Rommel' s Afrika Korps an d forced them to retreat, thanks in part to the AACS airways. Two weeks later, on 8 November, the United States forces, under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, invaded French North Africa thus catching the Germans in a pincer move. Again AACS provided assistance. The 18th and 19th AACS Squadrons were activated to keep pace with the advancing American and British forces. Colonel Bowman shifted men and equipment from the 13th and 14th Regions to operate airways communications in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia , Libya , and French West Africa. On 12 May 1943, when all enemy resistance on the African continent ceased , AACS had been in Africa 11 months and during that time had established a network in the skys so effective that it revolutionized the entire science of logistics. The AACS men had linked the East to the West, had made possible the transporting of antitank shells by air to Montgomery, and had provided vital support to the forces who drove the Germans and Italians out of Africa. A radio antenna of the 2d AACS Wing at an airbase at Bahrain, Muharraq Island. in the Persian Gulf. -· . 2d AACS Wing control tower and radio receiving station at Teheran, Iran . Members of the 2d AACS Wing at the radio receiving station at an air base at Bahrain, Muharraq Island, in the Per sian Gulf. Interior of the radio receiving station at Teheran, Iran. 17 EUROPEAN THEATER Having accomplished this, the Allies entered Europe through Italy, invading Sicily in early July 1943 and the Italian peninsula two months later. With the invading armies went AACS. The 18th AACS Squadron sent its first detachment into Sicily on 4 August and by 6 September it had two stations in operation at Palermo and Catania. In early October, a detachment set up a station at Capodochino, the first AACS station on the Italian peninsula. By November, when winter weather slowed the Allied advance, men of the 18th AACS Squadron were busily crisscrossing southern Italy with its radio nets. As the focus of combat operations moved up the Italian boot. the 19th Squadron, in March 1944, was divided into the European and African sectors, each of which received a separate AACS group in the reorganization that followed in May. The European sector became the 58th AACS Group and a new squadron was established to operate from headquarters in Rome. Even while the Italian end of the Axis' coalition was collapsing , preparations were underway in the United Kingdom for the main assualt. The first AACS detachment in the United Kingdom -two officers and nine enlisted men -reached Prestwick, Scotland, on 1 July 1942, to assist in the movement of the Eighth Air Force across the North Atlantic. They had come to Scotland on detached service from units stationed along the North Atlantic route. As their numbers grew, they were assigned in April 1943 to the newly activated 24th AACS Squadron and Region commanded by Lt Col Kenneth W . Klise. In May 1944, as a part of the overall AACS reorganization, the 24th Region became the 64th Group. Although the chief responsibility of the 64th Group was to monitor and guide Army Air Forces traffic along the transatlantic airways, it found another outlet for it s energies in plan ning for the invasion of Normandy. AACS readily accepted the Bradley Plan in the f all of 1943 which required AACS to organize, equip, and train mobile communications units that would move onto the beachheads with the first wave of the ground forces. By means of these mobile units, the Allies' air forces were to fly against enemy targets, supplies would be directed to where they were most needed, and they would assist in the medical evacuation of the wounded . As the invasion advanced, permanent stations would be installed in the rear to keep the airways open to the front lines. To meet anticipated demands on t he European continent, AACS formed the 65th AACS Group, commanded by Lt Col Klise with it headquarters near London, and the 133rd AACS Squadron with eight detachments to operate the mobile units. These detachments and the stations for which they would ultimately be responsible on the continent were lettered from A to H since it was not known precisely in what town or at what point they would operate. Stations A through F were designated mobile, but stations G and H were to be airborne. Ultimately, the detachments were numbered through S. Methodically, t he men prepared for the invasion. In the final days bef ore the invasion, they held full dress rehearsals . The men put their stations together under simulated fire and water conditions, practicing until each man could do his job blindfolded. American troops hit the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944, and close behind the shock troops came the AACS men. The two airborne units arrived first. Detachment G reached Normandy, near the Saint Great Britain -in AACS policy -began as a satellite of Iceland, which had begun as a satellite of Greenland and Canada, which had begun as a satellite of the domestic regions. Two AACS lieutenants and nine enlisted men arrived at Prestwick, Scotland, on detached service on 1 July 1942, to become the first AACS contingent in Great Britain. Their first headquarters is shown in the photograph on the left. By the spring of 1943, the detachment had grown into the 24th AACS Region with its headquarters housed in the building on the right. In April 1943, the headquarters moved to london. 18 An airborne detachment of the 133d AACS Squadron landed in Normandy on 12 June 1944, six days after D-Day. The above two photographs were taken at Carentan , France , on 18 June 1944. Laurent strip, on 12 June and Detachment H arrived the next day. Other detachments followed, especial ly after the breakout at Saint Lo in July. Detachment I, for example , reached Colleville on 18 July. The men set up their pup tents on the beaches , dug fox holes, and unloaded their supplies. That very night they were greeted by intense enemy action which prompted the unit historian to quip: "Each made a mental note to see his CO about a transfer somewhere where people were not so careless about hurting others. " The ir first task was to erect a control tower. Lacking materials, they spread out over Omaha beachhead bringing back whatever they could find . Using a glider NAPLES ITALY CAPODICHINO AIR FIELD COMMUNICATIONS -CENTER_ 31 J~-LY 1846 -• } RESTRICTED . -~.:.. fuselage , a pilot's seat , and a glider nose, they built the first allied control tower in the northern half of the continent. During the months of June, July, and August, AACS's mobile detachments raced into air strips snatched from the unwilling enemy only hours before. When General Patton broke loose across the width of France , the AACS detachments chased after him . The men of AACS were consistently the first Air Force personnel to appear in newly conquered territory. By September 1944, AACS was in Paris using t he Eiffel Tower as an antenna. By the spring of 1945, AACS had 25 stations operating in Belgium and France . ~4':".--·FACIMILLE ·- 1:-MARCIANISE . 7 2 POMIG.Ll ANO ' f"7o:a·-Me:os : . ' . . I l Facsimile transmission was first used in AACS in 1943 to relay weather maps. This system worked over ordinary telephone lines . Using 96 lines to the inch, it took 20 minutes to transmit a standard map covering the approximate area of the continental United States. The machines shown here were employed at Capodichino Airfield, Naples, Italy. 19 On 4 April , AACS men of Detachment 305 crossed the German border to set up the first AACS station on German soil at Strasfeld, southwest of Bonn. Other stations soon followed . One detachment, ordered to set up an airways station on a German landing strip, complied without being aware that Patton's army had not yet taken it. Calmly, their work completed, the men turned in for the night only to find themselves the next morning surrounded by German tanks and supply trucks. Without hesitation, the AACS men boarded their own vehicles and raced past the startled German drivers before they could react. Three miles down the road , the AACS men came upon Pat ton' s advance patrols, who showed no less amaze ment. Said one, "Bud, ain't you a little premature?" The AACS men agreed and adjusted their operations thereafter to following, instead of preceding Patton' s army. Typical quarters of the 24th AACS Region, London. 1943. AACS air traffic control men. working from a foxhole on a Ninth Air Force airstrip somewhere on the Normandy peninsula, signal w ith their " bisquit gun" to a pilot about to take off, June 1944. This landline teletype equipment was used at the communications center of Capodichino Airfield. Naples. Italy . 20 All through April and into May the tempo accelerated ing overhead , the risk of collision in midair increased constantly, and by the end of the first week of May, the war in Europe was over. Through all the weaving and reweaving dictated by the shifts in battle fortune, AACS had succeeded in building a vast airways network throughout Europe. This network was marked by a system of radio ranges strategically located to provide interlocking beams which were reinforced with radar and radio navigational aids such as direction finding for lost planes and ground controlled approach and instrument landing approach for bad weather landings. Supporting these navigational aids was a growing system of point-to-point communications along the airways . With so many aircraft mov alarmingly. Consequently, in the spring of 1945, the 5th AACS wing assumed full responsibility for air traffic control in Europe, including such neutral countries as Sweden and Spain. With full cooperation from the other allies, AACS developed a system comparable to that in the United States. The 5th Wing established centers in Paris and London with additional subcenters at Brussels and Marseilles. AACS also es tablished a central clearing house for weather in f ormation at Orly, just outside Paris, which disseminated approximately 20 million word-groups of weather information each month. Carefully camouflaged. this mobile control tower directs incoming and outgoing traffic at Hebert, in Normandy. A sod emergency landing strip was completed at Hebert by 2115 on D-Day , 6 June 1944. St. Laurent-sur-Mer became the first operational American field in France. A remote receiver site at Eleusis Field , Athens. Greece. 1945. The equipment in the tent is two PE -1278 power units. 21 Point-to-point communications from one station to another was an important part of AACS's job. Sometimes messages were sent by Morse code over radio (known as continous wave). teletype, or by radioteletype. A variety of messages could be transmitted by point-to-point co m munications, but This was the first AACS station built on Tontouta, New the primary uses were to relay information on the movement Caledonia, in the early days of April 1942. of aircraft or weather conditions. T h ese AACS men in Berlin are receiving continous wave (CWl transmission. PACIFIC/CHINA/BURMA THEATERS With the war in Europe over, AACS turned its full atWhile Blake built his airways route between Hawaii tention to winning the war in the Pacific. After Pearl and Australia, the 1Oth AACS Squadron worked to Harbor, there was little left of the ambitious peace link the African and Middle East air routes to India and China. The Allies planned a great pi ncers movement plans for a Pacific airways. Wake, Guam, and the Philippines fell to the Japanese and the Pacific posfor their offensive against the Japanese with one claw sessions of our allies were rapidly overrun. It became coming up from Australia and the other closing across imperative for the United States to have a safe airChina. The situation in the China-Burma-India theaways route between Hawaii and Australia, the one ter was very grave in the spring of 1942. All of French large land mass left to the Allies in all of the vast Pa Indo-China , Thailand, and Malaya pl u s nearly all of cific. This task fell to AACS. Between January and Burma had fallen to the Japanese. China was reeling September 1942, Col Gordon Blake , Regional Control under the concerted blows of the enemy and India Officer of the 7th AACS Region, with only 50 men was threatened. To hold on, the Allies needed supplies in a hurry and could not wait the three months and virtually no equipment, established the needed route. Almost under the very noses of the Japanese, it would take ships to reach Karachi, India, the closest t he AACS men set up stations on the islands of Christsafe port to endangered China. Even then the ships mas, Canton, Nandi in Fiji, and Tontouta in New would have to elude the German and Japanese submarines which were exacting a high toll. As at El Caledonia, with a final station at Amberley Field near Brisbane, Australia . In September 1942, AACS actiAlamein, the alternative was an air ro ute and the 1Oth vated the 5th AACS Region for Australia , so desigAACS Squadron, under the leadership of Maj Walter nated because the American Fifth Air Force operated B. Berg, was given the job. The most formidable part f rom there. After 1942, AACS was forced repeatedof the task was providing communications along the famed "Hump" formed by the Himalayas, the highest ly to adjust its organization in the Pacific to the demands of several advancing battlefronts. In January mountains in the world and a natural barrier between 1943, the Pacific Airways Communications Area was India and China . Despite continual harassment by the Japanese and woeful shortages of men and materi activated at Hickam Field for control of the 5th and 7th Regions. A year later, in May 1944, this area beals, the 1Oth Squadron established st ations at both came the 7th AACS Wing with jurisdiction over the ends of the Hump route. A new unit, the 25th AACS 5th, 7th, and 20th Squadrons which were in their turn Squadron, was given responsibility for the Hump itself. Later these two squadrons were placed under the redesignated the 68th, 70th, and 71 st AACS Groups. 22 The entrance to the AACS receiver dugout on Tontouta, New Caledonia . The dugout was built in early April 1942. 4th AACS Wing . Once completed, this route allowed the Air Transport Command to ferry large quantities of vital supplies to China. Flying the Hump was still difficult, but it was made easier and safer by the vigilance of the men of AACS who monitored the ai rways around the clock and under enemy fire . Only Tarzans need apply for duty in this Indian operations tower. The ladder sways a foot in each direction during the well camouflaged climb to the trap door. AACS's responsibilities in the China-Burma -India theater were not limited to maintaining the supply trail across the Hump. Under Col Albert J. Mandelbaum, who replaced Major Berg , the 4th AACS Wing assumed a tactical mission as well. From the start, he made it clear that the 4th Wing would serve not only the Air Transport Command, but Combat Cargo, the 1Oth and 14th Air Forces, and American and British ground forces as well. In fact, he established stations at Hengyang and Kweilin, China , exclusively for combat use by the Flying Tigers against Japanese shipping in the China Sea . When the Japanese overran these stations in 1943, the AACS men were the last to evacuate. They stayed on, clearing all aircraft from the field but one. Then they destroyed all radio equipment and ciphering devices before embarking on the remaining plane . Gradually, through 1944 and into 1945, the Allies forced the Japanese back and in record time, the AACS men had planes flying safely in and out of the landing strips wrested from the enemy only a few hours before. While AACS played a major part in the successful employment of the pincer Operations office and control tower at Jorhat. India. 23 During World War II, Karachi, India (now part of Pakistan). was the major port, both by sea and by air, into the China-Burma-India theater. From here , men and materiel could move across India to reach embattled Burma and China . AACS personnel first reached Karachi in the fall of 1942. Pictured here is the administration building and control tower at Karach i. The inset is the interior of the control tower. Original 20th AACS Region HQ and transmitter dugout on Tontouta, New Caledonia , built in the summer of 1942. This station was part of the attempt to connect Hawaii and Australia in the early days of the war. 24 strategy in this theater, their counterparts in the Pacific theater were also making strides forward . Nowhere were arrangements for communications more complex than in the Pacific. An early need for hard -pressed Army and Navy units to pool their resources in the face of threatened disaster set a pattern that was perpetuated by the complexity of command arrangements in the Pacific area . Because the South Pacific was a Navy theater, all communications personnel and equipment on each island were pooled to form a single signal center that served air, ground, and naval units. The system of communications used in the Southwest Pacific, on the other hand, was under Army control where each headquarters had its own signal center, connected laterally to adjacent headquarters and vertically to higher and lower echelons in the chain of command. Assignment of communications duties in the Southwest Pacific varied with time and circumstances. Initial responsibility for air communications was at first vested in the tactical units, with AACS becoming responsible for control towers and most other navigational aids only after installation of more or less permanent facili t ies . In 1943 this policy was changed to assign such responsibilities to AACS immediately upon the capt ure or completion of an airstrip. For t hat reason, AACS mobile control tower teams were formed to serve with tactical forces. In some cases they were not far behind the assault troops who hit the beach or spearheaded an advance. Many hardships confronted AACS men in the Pacific campaign. AACS detachments were generally short of people and the men compensated by working 1 2 and 16 hour days. Unfortunately, operators could work their best only six hours a day for five days a week if the flow of messages was heavy. Some detacl">ments were stationed in extremely isolated places where they had to be self-sufficient and the men doubled as cooks or carpenters and did whatever there was to be done. This strain was magnified by nature. The lush tropical jungles were natural habitats for a variety of snakes and insects. Malaria and other tropical diseases constantly harassed the men . At one time, for example, 85 percent of the AACS detachment at Gusap were sick with tropical fevers. Add to this the strain of air raids and counter attacks on the ground and it is not surprising that many men became psychiatric cases when pushed beyond their en durance. Equipment and personnel shortages were only aggra vated by the weather. AACS units generally had to make the best of inferior sites and housing because they had to get on the air as soon as possible and were not prepared to do engineering work . It was not un common for radio operators to stand ankle deep in mud while sending important operational messages or for rain water to seep through cracks in the roof and drip on communications equipment and message SCS-51 instrument landing system of the 130th AACS Squadron of the 4th AACS W ing at Kw aghan , China , November 1944. Point-to-point communications somet imes requ ired relatively simple equipment. This facility w as in Karachi, India . 25 To primitive places. AACS brought modern airways communications, 1944. AACS message center at Chengtu, China , 1943. 26 paper. Such primitive conditions improved with the arrival of additional people and the erection of better buildings at the more important stations. In out of the way places, however, the period of rugged pioneering continued almost to the end of the war. Communications equipment, not built for the rigors of the tropics, broke down at an alarming rate as fungus coated delicate instruments and salt water rusted metal surfaces. As in other theaters of the war, scrounging, improvising, and bartering allowed AACS stations to remain on the air . More than one unit learned that critical equipment might be secured more readily through the judicious use of a bottle of liquor than through official requisitions. Many a poker game in the wee hours of the morning settled the difference between a fair and super AACS station. The 130th AACS Squadron, part of the 1st AACS Tactical Group (later redesignated the 69th AACS Group, 4th AACS Wing). had a tactical station at Hsingching, a town in northwestern China. When AACS began assisting large numbers of naval aircraft, a joint Army-Navy Facility Chart was devised to take care of their needs. This was known as JACSPAC (Joint Airways Communications System Pacific Ocean Areas). This is the installation on Christmas Island . Heavy jungle had to be cleared and sites leveled before this tower in Burma could be built and before any airstrip could function efficiently. The tower belonged to the 4th AACS Wing. This was the communications shack at Kunming, China. The building was at least protection from the monsoons. Its scars attest to the beating it took from the repeated Japanese attacks. 27 In all theaters of World War II. AACS men often had to improvise. Shortages were a fact of life and the AACS men proved the adage that necessity is the mother of invention. "No ~othin'": Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 1944. Wash day at Carney Field on Guadalcanal using a homemade washing machine. The control tower at Carney Field on Guadalcanal used sirens made from the horns of a Japanese auto. An AACS member improvises by using a blowtorch This swirling stream in Burma served as a swimming hole and wash to cook his meal. basin for an AACS det achment. The Japanese had used it before them. 28 Radio installations located in the fuselage of a C-46 at Kunming Army Air Base, China, 11 February 1945. Temporary tower on completed Bolo Strip, Okinawa, part of Interior shot of the radio installations in the C-46 the 148th Army Airways Communication System. fuselage .Equipment includes command transmitters and receivers and a BC-348 high frequency receiver . Cryptographers coded and decoded all communications to guard in every way possible against enemy intelligence. The Karachi, India, crypto facility is pictured here . 29 Nansin was a Japanese airfield in Burma wrested from the enemy by British forces in late 1944. Within hours of Nansin's capture one of AACS's tactical teams moved into the airfield to make it serviceable for allied pilots. Despite ankle-deep mud, the radio station on Mission Island, in the Green Island Group, is in operation. The transmitting and receiving equipment has been set up; the generators have been started. and the first powerful signal has been sent out, March 1944. Pictured here is one of AACS's mobile range stations used to broadcast radio beams, which served as highways in the air for Army Air Force planes. These stations enabled the armadas of Boeing B-29 bombers striking Japan to return to bases on pinpoint islands in the vast Pacific in instrument weather. 30 Ground control approach radar was probably the most significant navigational development during World War II. This new system, first employed by AACS in England in the spring of 1944, enabled aircraft flying in extremely bad weather to land safely. An approaching aircraft could be sighted via radar through the heaviest fog when it was within a radius of 30 miles from the airfield. The aircraft could then be guided in by means of instructions from the control tower via radiotelephone. These two photographs display the exterior and interior of a ground control approach installation. The first control tower at lwo Jima was built by SeaBees under enemy shelling. 31 In some cases, AACS relied on prefabricated control towers to shorten the time required by a detachment to become operational. Such a tower could be shipped by air and could be erected in 100 man-hours. These photographs show the tower ready for shipment and after being assembled. Not a campaign can be named in which AACS did not play an important part. Munda, Saipan, Guam, Leyte, Luzon , Bougainville, lwo Jima, and Okinawa all found their way into the history of AACS' s Pacific units. As the Americans and Australians pushed the Japanese back along the coast of New Guinea, up the island chain of the Solomons and out of the Gilberts and Marshall Islands, the men of AACS went in with the first wave, sometimes as soon as a beachhead had been gained . Across beach after beach, or in one of the f irst planes to land on hastily prepared or repaired airstrips , advanced AACS detachments followed on the heels of assaulting forces to establish emergency facilities that would be improved as increased personnel, equipment, and circumstances allowed. In the Central Pacific, AACS detachments served with Admiral Nimitz's Navy-directed task forces to the Philippines and then to Tokyo. Throughout the Pacific campaign, AACS men gained praise for their attention to duty · while under fire. Conrtrol towers were prime targets during an enemy attack, but AACS operators calmly st ayed at their posts, bringing crippled planes to safety. Technically, AACS troops were considered noncom batant, but when necessary they took up arms to de fend themselves and their stations. The Buri incident is a good example. On 22 October 1944, the third day of the invasion of the Philippines, a detachment of AACS men went ashore at Leyte and within two hours had an operating station at Tacloban airstrip. Two weeks later, they established a second station at the Buri airstrip near the village of Buraun. During the st eady advance of the U.S. infantry, our forces be came too thin and on 6 December, the Japanese broke through the American lines one mile from Buri. For three days and nights the AACS men formed a cor don around the station. When it became clear that the 32 " Japs keep out: This one didn ' t ," reads this gruesome signpost at the entrance of a foxhole for AACS men at Carney Field , Guadalcanal. An underground radio station in the Far East, 1944. The Japanese sometimes Control tower on Espiritu Santo, New located AACS radio beams and tracked them down for merciless bombing. Hebrides, June 1943. This one was bombed as often as ten times a day. Japanese bombs damaged this station in China , but radio communications continued without interruption. 33 Life in the Pacific was not without relief . Even in the midst of war, AACS men could find the light side . An officer of Detachment 10 at Bougainville, Solomon IsAn evening at the movies, Munda, New Georgia , 1944. lands, attempts the hula, 1944. The AACS/Air Transport Command theater on Tontouta, New Caledonia , built in 1943 or 1944. 34 On 29 June 1944. the 70th AACS Group made its entry into the Marianas Islands, and set up installations on Saipan Island . On the first day, the AACS detachment settled in amidst six bombing attacks. The portable range was in operation on 1 July, and despite Japanese raids. AACS had permanent and continuous direction/finding service on Saipan by 27 July. This island later became the departure point for 20th Bomber Command B-29s in raids over Tokyo. This photograph shows a general view of AACS facilities at Isley Field. Saipan, on 7 July 1944. I Control tower at Tontouta Field, New Caledonia, Septem ber 1942. The heart of long -haul communications during World War II Control tower at Plaines des Gaiacs . New Caledonia, June was the radio operating room. 1943. 35 This barricaded, camouflaged tower in the South Pacific was prepared to withstand enemy bombing. The operator on the platform used the light-gun to signal landing instructions to incoming aircraft. Operating positions at Plaines Des Gaiacs, New Caledonia, 1943, Detachment 1. Direction/Finding site and station on T ontouta, New Caledonia, 1944. Two Gls operate a ground control communications system in the Isley Field control tower on 7 July 1944. 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G N S C IIC A F R£ 0 UENC IES · A N O·STATI 0 N·OESI G NAT I 0 N p .. ............... ............................................................... -· ............. ··--···· ·.-·;~;····~· ;· ..:·~·;· ;;· : · ·;;;····;·...:·;·;··:"···e·MH·•····;·a;·;·;··•·~··;·;·;····w~M··:·•·:··;'";··;·:·;;·;··;;·;:··:.;";;·;·;··;· ;:· ·;·;·;· ·;;·· ·;·;·;·;:··;·;;u···· :·;··:;·;·;···;;;;·;·;· D ES! f~ A draftsman of the 5th AACS Wing prepares General Ridge way's message to Korean and Chinese forces calling for negotiations to end hostilities. This copy was transmitted by AACS facsimile facilities in Tokyo in 1952. During the Korean War. the officers and airmen of the units of the 1818th AACS Group supported an orphanage in Seoul, Korea . AACS organized an Air Traffic Control Committee in February 1951 , to handle the increasingly crowded airspace over Japan and Korea. It determined the requirements and priorities for the use of available air space and handled procedural conflicts. The different characterist ics and speeds of the multitude of aircraft types operating in the theater made air control difficult. The weakest link in the system was created by aircraft arriving at and departing from the airfields. It was under these circumstances that mission-bound tactical aircraft intermixed with aircraft on the regular air routes. Congestion often led to aircraft being stacked up over the airfields waiting to land. Jets returning from missions, with their high rate of fuel consumption at lower speeds, often did not have the endurance to linger in the air. AACS had implemented and conducted a Republic of Korea Air Force training program to develop their Korean counterparts. This program was operated in conjunction with the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. After the war, Koreans who trained under this program assumed the functions of their former AACS teachers. In spite of everything, AACS managed the heavy burdens of the Korean War with distinction. Even so, it was obvious that changes in aviation technology would require new types of AACS equipment, techniques, and training. Although the fighting ended on the embattled peninsula in 1953, the war's implications continued to have a far-reaching impact upon the United States, the United States Air Force, and AACS . 66 AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL The AACS air traffic control mission included engineering, installing, operating, and maintaining ground electronic aids to air navigation, maintaining air traffic control at, and in the vicinity of, the Air Force' s airfields, ensuring air traffic control along the air routes outside the borders of the United States, and providing military flight services within the continental United States. The number of AACS personnel involved with the air traffic control mission continued to increase throughout the 1950s until almost half of AACS' s manpower was dedicated to this task. AACS personnel strength grew from 20,000 in 1951 to 29,000 in 1956, of whom nearly 13,000 were involved with air traffic control. They operated 2,000 facilities at approximately 250 strategic locations, nearly twice as many facilities as in 1951. Despite the increased size and scope of Air Force ac tivities since 1950, technological advances enabled AACS to provide more services at a larger number of bases with fewer personnel than previously possible with the older , more manual-type equipment. Control tower construction was constantly and radically changing during the postwar years, both to improve effectiveness and to incorporate t he improvements in electronics. Much of this research and development was directed by the Headquarters AACS Supply and Maintenance Directorate, Technical Division. A variety of improved consoles, power units, and recorders were developed and steadily improved, relieving the tower from its dependency upon the eyes and reactions of operators alone. Not only was landing and taking off made less hazardous, but these changes also enabled the Air Force to fly 24 hours a day regardless of the weather. AACS installed, maintained, and operated radio and radar beacons, radio and radar ranges, and air-toground communications, which provided regulated highways in the skies. Aircraft used standard radio compasses to take bearings on radio beacons, w hi le special receivers were needed to use the radar beacons and ranges . Air-to-ground stations along the routes provided a system of exchanging information with the aircraft through high frequency voice or radio telegraph transmissions. The pilot was kept informed of changing weather conditions, other aircraft in the area, and any necessary alterations in flight plans . Ground control approach was one of the main navigational aids used by AACS units to bring aircraft into the base during bad weather. Here . members of the Women' s Air Force work in a ground control approach trailer, May 1951 . 67 A B-29 "Superfort" passes by a ground controlled approach unit. Most of these navigational aids were operating on ultra high frequencies by 1957. High frequency radio had declined in usage because it lacked the selectivity and stability needed for air/ground communications. It experienced, however, a major comeback during the 1950s when improvements in single side band (SSB) techniques did much to eliminate these defects. Single side band modulation used less of the radio spectrum and could travel greater distances than the amplitude modulation equipment in use since World War II. These long-range capabilities led the Air Force to develop extensive point-to-point and air/ground high frequency networks utilizing single side band radios. Beginning in 1951 , all Air Force air/ground radio stations were converted from continuous wave Morse code to radio telephone. The smaller crew sizes on the new jet bombers did not allow for a radio operator, hence the conversion to voice communications. AACS was directed to install, operate, and maintain these integrated voice air/ground facilities on a global ba sis . The demands of both military and civilian agencies for use of the radio spectrum led to the adoption of the ultra high frequency band. It was used for shortrange communications with aircraft as well as radio relay. Newly developed equipment permitted the rapid selection of a large number of channels. Its use was extended to NATO to enable all Allied military aircraft Learning "stacking" procedure by hand was part of classroom instructions at Keesler AFB. Mississippi. that gave control tower operator students a good mental picture of the relationship of aircraft when traffic was heavy under inclement weather conditions and required instrument flight rules . 68 to communicate with one another and with each other's ground stations as well. Ground controlled approach radar became the primary means of bringing aircraft in for safe landings when the weather prevented visual approaches. It was often used in conjunction with the Instrument Landing Sys tem which sent out a beam that aligned the aircraft with the runway and allowed for correct angle of descent. AACS's air traffic control and navigational aids interfaced with those of its civilian counterpart, the Civil Aeronautics Agency-now called the Federal Aviation Administration. AACS maintained uniform procedures and standards of operations so that Air Force pilots flying anywhere would be familiar with its methods and equipment. The civil and military systems were generally interchangeable, except for those functions and equipment that were essential for performing mis sions unique to the Air Force. Improvements were also made in the avionics which interacted with AACS equipment and facilities on the This AN/CRD -6 ultra frequency. crystal-controlled. automatic direction finder operated on one of 10 preset channels and could be remoted . Its range was limited to line of sight. This AN/FRN-12A very high frequency omnidirectional range (VORl provided an infinite number of radial courses. thereby permitting great flexibility in the establishment of routes. ground. In the late 1940s, aircraft were equipped with detection and navigational radars of limited range and accuracy. Navigational aids included the Adcock fourcourse radio range and manual determination of the lines of position with LORAN. Voice communications between the airplane and the ground were transmitted primarily by low and high frequency radio. By the end of the 1950s, air-to-ground communications used the electronic spectrum from low to ultra high frequencies. Modulation techniques included AM, FM, single sideband, data link, and digitalized command . Navigation aids used operational radio, radar, stellar, and inertial guidance systems. LORAN -e eliminated time-consuming manual operations by automatically computing the airplane's position. Not only were the position reports obtained quickly, a requirement in operating supersonic aircraft, but they were also more accurate . The very high frequency omni directional range (VOR) was one of the early improved navigational aids. This omni directional radio range system told pilots their direction from the station by transmitting timed pulses at very high frequency. These signals, which t ravel in a straight line, did not follow the curvature of the earth and hence were limited to line-of-sight ranges. 69 The Tactical Air Navigation System, called TACAN, came into use in 1957. This system employed a ground radio beacon which produced a steady stream of ultra high frequency pulses that were received by a transponder in the airplane which translated the signal into the distance of the airplane from the beacon whose location was known. Some were later combined with VORS to create VORTAC. These systems eventually replaced most radio ranges , beacons, and direction finders. They were developed with AACS technical engineers working in concert with the Air Materiel Command, the Navy, and commercial firms . AACS absorbed the Flight Service, one of its fellow five subcommands under the Military Air Transport Service on 1 October 1956. The two-fold purpose was to reduce costs and help standardize flight services throughout AACS's operations. Meshing the point-to-point flying aids of the Flight Service , which operated within the boundaries of the continental United States, with those of AACS outside the continental United States, was the first step in standardizing such services. Each overseas command was operating its own version of flight service at the time. AACS took over the personnel and equipment, designating the former Flight Service headquarters as the 1925th AACS Group (Flight Service) at Orlando AFB, Florida. Flight Service estimated that over $36 million in aircraft, flight time, and personnel time was saved dur- This facility is a tactical air navigation (TACAN) system. 70 ing 1955 alone. The merger gave AACS 11 new functions. The three most important were flight clearance authority; inflight advisory service such as posi tion reports, weather, and air navigation hazards; and the handling of aircraft movement messages and flight plans. During the 1950's, AACS employed various types of specially configured aircraft to flight test and calibrate navigational aids and flight control facilities . The AC-470 pictured here remained active in the command's inventory until1962. AACS maintained its own group of aircraft to flight check AACS-operated electronic aids in air navigation and air/ground communications facilities. It was necessary to ensure that these facilities were functioning within the tolerance levels required for the safe operation of aircraft by the Air Force. The majority of the aircraft, which were specially equipped with the necessary electronics, were used for these calibration functions. Some aircraft were assigned to the installation and maintenance squadrons for locating and evaluating new facility sites, while others transported mobile units to their destinations. A few aircraft were used for administrative support and did not differ from similar aircraft in other Air Force commands. In the late 1950s, AACS operated as many as 14 aircraft types with a total inventory of 86 aircraft. Many AACS activities were esoteric and little known to many members of the Air Force it served. That was not true of air traffic control . Here a strong bond had been established between AACS personnel, who helped take the terror out of flying and the men who do the flying . One pilot wrote: "You'll never be able to describe what it means when you're lost up there -maybe with your fuel running low -and AACS comes through and brings you home. I'm not particularly a praying man, but many a time I've said 'God bless 'em' .... And sooner or later, every pilot does the same." An oft-quoted expression of the 1950' s was that "AACS enabled the Air Force to fly when birds walked." AIR DEFENSE The expansion that AACS experienced during the an important role in the establishment of this new system by aiding in its installation and providing much Korean War continued through the end of the decade. of the long-distance communications that enabled it Fear that the Korean conflict was only a prelude to a Soviet conquest of Western Europe led the United to function. States to general rearmament in which the Air Force occupied a prominent position. Sixty-seven air bases The requirements for Air Force communications were were built overseas within striking distance of the changing so rapidly and drastically that the basic sys Soviet Union while the combat size of the Air Force was more than doubled. These bases required longtems and techniques which had once proved satisfactory were soon outdated. Adaptations and extensions distance communications as well as air traffic control of existing systems were no longer adequate. New and navigational aids. Consequently, AACS steadily increased its personnel strength to meet these new capabilities had to be provided. Weapons, radar, and obligations. communications could no longer be operated as separate systems held together by human operating links. The need to reduce time lapse by the greatest amount possible and then attain the highest reliability called for stringent new requirements. New capaScientific changes greatly influenced AACS and bilities became possible with the electronic comput er served to direct it into new areas beyond its traditional dat a and the development of its associatedfunctions. The Soviets had the atomic bomb by 1949 processing, conversion, and transmission equipment. and detonated their first thermonuclear weapon in The electron tube, the transistor, and a common1953. Jet aircraft rapidly replaced piston-engine airlanguage system of digital data gradually reduced the craft. Air defense systems needed earlier detection, human functions to maintenance and decisionfaster analysis, and more rapid and accurate commu making. nications to defend the North American continent against Soviet nuclear air attacks. Although AACS did The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system, not command or operate these systems, it did play called SAGE, was the first to incorporate these new an important part in their installation and provided the elements into a single system. Operational in 1957, communications upon which their effectiveness de it provided earlier detection, reliable identification, pended. No longer a local affair, air defense covered quicker and surer communications, deleted extrane the entire northern hemisphere and was dependent ous data, and presented the critical information in a upon reliable long-distance communications. form that enabled air defense commanders to make quick and accurate decisions. This had not been true in the immediate postwar periTropospheric scatter facilities were extensively in od when air defense systems were basically the same stalled from 1954 on to connect the radars of the Dismanned systems that had been used during the Battant Early Warning Line, the Ballistic Missile Early tle of Britain in the critical summer of 1940. ShortWarning System, the Labrador-Newfoundland Air distance radar scopes were watched by operators Defense System, and the Alaskan Air Defense Syswho directed defending fighters to their intercepts via tem, known as Project WHITE ALICE. Tropospheric voice radio. Control was passed to the next sector scatter was also extended to Western Europe . It was when the aircraft reached the edge of the radar scope. particularly valuable in the Arctic and sub-Arctic This slow, manual system proved adequate because regions where it proved to be over 99 percent reliathe aircraft were subsonic. ble even under those harsh conditions. Depending upon the size of the antennas and the power of the transmitters, their links could handle from 36 to 72 voice channels. The first of these systems was in The Base Air Defense Ground Environment system, operation only two years after completion of the inicalled BADGE, was designed against jet aircraft. It tial study .was soon outdated when the launching of Sputnik I in 1957 demonstrated that the Soviets had the potential to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile with The long distances, rugged terrain, and t he need for reliability required new technologies and techniques. a nuclear warhead. When this weapon became a reality two years later, the warning time needed to deIonospheric scatter systems followed tropspheric fend against an enemy attack was now drastically cut scatter circuits and other programs were begun. A simplex test circuit, called Forward Propagation to minutes. The Soviet missile threat led to the construction of t he Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, Ionospheric Scatter (FPIS), was set up between Labrador and Greenland to determine the feasibility known as BMEWS, which was able to survey the air space over the Soviet Union itself. Again AACS played of this technique. The success of this thousand-mile 71 i nk in 1952 led to the employment of further exten Each agency was beset with the problems of correlat sions to Great Britain via Iceland. The system was ing the problems of each facility : construction, pow completed in 1954. er, installation tools and machinery, personnel, funds,operational support, monitoring, as well as actuallydoing the installation. This decent ralized methodAACS helped to engineer, install, and operate much proved both uneconomical and unsuccessful. Fromof the communications that tied this complex system 1950 through 1957, every program slipped drasticalof computers, radars, and communications together. ly. There were approximately 8,000 Air Force personThe Strategic Air Command the Air Defense Comnel involved, mostly full-time, in these installationm and operated the systems with their own commuprograms. n ications personnel assigned, but AACS'sinvolvement and participation with air defense systems led to its major participation in newer and largerlong -haul communications systems. It was obvious that a single agency was needed tomanage all Air Force engineering and installation.General Lemay, Vice Chief of Staff, picked the AirMateriel Command over AACS to command the new ENGINEERING AND INSTALLATION agency. The Ground Electronic Engineering Installation Agency, better known as GEEIA, was the result. The 1823d AACS Group was established at Andrews Established in June 1958, this military construction A FB in 1954 to coordinate engineering, installation organization began full-scale operations in July 1959. an d supply efforts involved in providing new facilities. Initially, two out of every three people in GEEIA were The Army Signal Corps had furnished communications from AACS. The entire 1823d AACS Group was reas and limited electronics support during World War II, signed to the new agency. but most of it was tactically oriented. The Army'sPl ant Engineering Agency did the limited amount ofinstallation engineering needed since there were nomassive or complex permanent installations involved.ften AACS found it necessary to perform its own GEEIA supported 300 major air bases and 3 , 000 offinstallation, using its own personnel for the purpose. base sites around the world. Organized into RegionsThis system remained in effect until the Air Force be and Squadrons based at strategic location, it ensured came independent in 1947. Even then, the limited maximum support in planning, programming, en communications resources were shared by the Army gineering, and installing fixed ground communicationsa d the Air Force on a pro rata basis. fac ilities-at a minimum cost. GEEIA consolidated all the Air Force' s technical skills and set priorities. Mostimportantly, it ensured that the installed systems weretechnically compatible with related systems and capaThe major air commands, the Air Weather Service, ble of interfacing with them. a d AACS had been dissatisfied with both the ArmySignal Corps service and methods. Consequently, theAir Force gave communications and electronicsresponsibility, along with its limited resources , to thecommands. During Headquartered at Griffiss AFB in New York, GEEIA 1950, AACS was given fullresponsibility for worldwide installation and mainprovided centralized management of its decentralized t enance of communications facilities under Air Force units. Mainly a field organization, about 1.400 of itsRegulation 20-51 . However, other commands were 5 , 700 personnel were engineers who traveled fromt o continue to perform this function until 1958. site to site in the accomplishment of their tasks. Service improved under this system, but managementcontrol continued to suffer. There was little interLONG-LINE COMMUNICATIONSchange on communications between commands othert han that occasionally directed by Air Staff. As a During the 1950' s, AACS was retailored to meet theresult, there was little effort to assure standardization growth of Air Force responsibilities. Operations needand eliminate duplication of systems. ed to be centrally coordinated for strategic control.Air Force personnel were deployed in 73 foreign geographic areas. The increase in Air Force strength, re There were 24 Air Force agencies, each with its own vised war planning, the vast increase in the numbercommunications systems. When later attempts were of aircraft flights, and the greater amount of intelli-. made to join these systems together, extensive en gence and weather information required all served togineering was required because there were fundamenoverload the existing point-to-point and air/ground t al differences which prevented interface. communications systems. 72 Air Force missions and operations, particularly after Korea , shifted away from the theater commander con cept where joint operations and functions were centralized under a single commander. Instead, they now were under functional commands which exercised vertical control. The result was that each of the major commands, such as the Strategic Air Command, had their own communications networks tying their command headquarters in the United States to their activities around the world. This allowed them complete and instantaneous control of their components in a precise time frame , whether it was scheduling in-flight refueling, providing weather information, or conducting airlift operations. This was to change somewhat during the 1950s with the establishment of the Global Communications System (GLOBECOM). This system, which was to play a critical and important part in the Air Force Communications Network, was a project in which AACS played a key role. Until 1947, AACS's pattern of operations for pointto-point communications was based upon the World War 11 -organized Army Command and Administrative Network. This system, called ACAN , utilized single channel voice, teletype links, and torn-tape relays which were carried over both low and high frequency radio as well as wire. This system, outdated by its slowness and low volume of traffic it coul d carry, was replaced by GLOBECOM in 1951 . GLOBECOM was originally a modest program call ing for the installation of a globe-encircling system of high power trunk circuits and modernization of the major AACS point-to-point circuits. Planning, which began in 1946, continued into 1950. The Korean War led to the expansion of the plan and caused Congress to free the monies needed for construction . Construction began in 1 951 with no agreement on the proper organization or management of the system. Nor was such an agreement reached even after GLOBECOM'S completion. AACS wanted it operated as a system under centralized control of one command to satisfy the long-line communications needs of all Air Force commands and activities. This could not be realized if the relay stations were operated by several different agencies. The fixed, or relay, stations were not to serve, by themselves, any specific airbase or command headquarters. AACS was made responsible for installing, maintaining, and operating GLOBECOM, thereby fixing respon sibility and ensuring uniformity in met hods and The Global Communications System, which was basically a radio system, was the first integrated communications system to span the world. Construction began in 1951 . Pictured here is one of the system's torn-tape relay centers. 73 procedures. It operated the system in the same manner that American Telephone and Telegraph ' s LongLines Department serviced the entire Bell System. Therefore, it did not infringe upon the prerogatives of t he various commands. GLOBECOM was basically a radio system and was the f irst integrated communications system to span the world. It was an extension of the Air Force Communications Network which was primarily a continental wire system. Larger than any commercial system in t e world, its cost of a quarter of a billion dollars by 1953 made it already about eight times the worth of t he Radio Corporation of America and slightly more t han that of Western Union. It came to represent onehalf of AACS' s effort and one-third of the Air Force's entire communications manpower resources. It was an integrated and engineered system of interconnected Air Force radio stations, together with other leased commercial or allocated Army and Navy long-haul wire and radio channels, the necessary terminal equipment, relay facilities, communications centers, and cryptographic facilities. The facilities were all permanent and similar to civilian commercial systems. Internal, tactical, and special purpose communications systems of the various commands, used to accomplish specific missions within their organizations , were excluded. Its central nervous system consisted of seven main or " beltline" stations, which were interconnected by high-power, multi-channel radio circuits. Each station had spare multi-channel transmitting equipment to en sure reliability. Voice, teletype, and facsimile circuits, along with torn tape relay and offline encryption, were used on four-channel low and high frequency radio and landline circuits that employed semi-automatic switching. Linear amplifiers, boosting transmitter power to 50-kilowatts, were installed on special circuits to offset the effects of jamming and overcome adverse atmospheric conditions prevalent over the Atlantic Ocean. These beltline stations served 36 other stations. Each GLOBECOM station had four separate facilities; a relay or message center and a technical control facility serviced by remotely located transmitter and receiver plants. The last two were placed far apart to avoid being affected by local noise or transmitters. Microwave connected them all because cable was expensive and difficult to protect in overseas areas. AACS was designated as the responsible agency for engineering and the installation of all GLOBECOM facilities, except for those portions done under civilian contract. It operated all stations with the exception of several key stations in Europe and some in the United States which were operated jointly with other agencies. Those major commands that used the system were responsible for organizational and field level maintenance . Each major command wanted individual ownership of all its own communications and support. But the quantum jump in the volume of communications and the sheer size of the networks they required, plus the skyrocketing costs, served to curb independent ownership of all command-needed communications. Air-to-ground capability, added in 1952, allowed commanders to talk to aircraft up to 3 ,000 miles away. The system was renamed AIRCOM, which stood for the Air Force Communications Complex, in 1955. Under this system, both 16-channel single side -band facilities and 36-channel ionospheric and This switching console of the Global Communications Sys· tern was located at the Headquarters USAF Communications Center. Messages were received on perforated tape from the typing reperforators (center of photo). and were electrically relayed by depression of a selected button, using the transmitter pictured under the push-button panel. February 1956. 74 tropospheric-scatter systems were added . FourIn 1955, AACS expanded the Global Communications Sys channel multiplex circuits for high frequency radio and landlines became standard. Microwave relay systems with 24-voice channels , each channel capable of carrying 16 teletype channels, became common. The first fully automatic switching equipment was added in 1957. Operated by Western Union for AACS, these automated switches saved millions of dollars annual ly by eliminating the need for hundreds of operators. One operator could do the work formerly done by eight. In 1956, AIRCOM was renamed Strategic Communications System or STRATCOM. It integrated the important military and civilian circuits and terminals, operated until then by other commands, with the GLOBECOM system. These included the Air Force Communications Network, the Air Force Operations Network, the Air Force Global Air-to-Ground Communications System, the Air Force Weather Teletype and Weather Facsimile Networks, the Air Force Global Weather Broadcasts and Intercept System, and the Strategic Air Command Communications Network. STRATCOM was a $350 million investment which handled a monthly average of 3. 5 million messages and 232,000 aircraft contacts. The terms GLOBECOM and STRATCOM were dropped in 1959 to return to the term AIRCOM . By 1960, the system consisted of 33 major and many minor stations, all of which were compatible with the Army and Navy portions of the Armed Forces integrated communications network. Messages were handled via speech , teletype, facsimile, Morse code, and data. A new network was added to the AIRCOM system in 1 960. Called the Combat Logistics Network, its purpose was to furnish the communications needed for the Air Force electronic data processing equipment programs. AACS was given full operational control and responsibility for the new network. The Air Force Communications Network and the Air Force Operations Network were the busiest sub systems in the AACS-operated Air Force communications complex, known as AIRCOM . During the second half of 1960, relay stations of the Air Force Communications Network handled 33 million messages, while those of the Air Force Operations Network handled another 7 . 5 million . Altogether, AACS operated approximately 1,350 channels of communications that connected its major relay stations alone . tem, and renamed it the Air Force Communications Complex. Pictured below are two t ypes of transmitter stations and one of the system' s terminal f acilities. • 75 The Air Force's nationwide, push-button communications system was inaugurated on 9 April 1951 . The high speed telegraphic communications network linked 179 stations in the United States. Five switching centers replaced the 28 centers of the previous system. The Air Force leased the system from the Western Union Telegraph Company, but staffed it with its own operators. The five centers were the continental portion of the Air Command Communications Network. MARS AACS also became involved in a number of other communications and electronics programs. One of these programs, the Military Amateur Radio System, bett er known as MARS, was jointly formed by the Army and Air Force on 26 November 1948. In 1952, it was renamed the Military Affiliate Radio System. Its main purpose was to create interest among amateur civilian radio operators in military radio communications practices and procedures in order to provide a pool of trained personnel in case of national emergency. Its predecessor, the Army Amateur Radio System, was formed in 1925 with the coordination of the civilian American Radio Relay League . When all amateur radio broadcasting was terminated following Pearl Harbor, the program was disbanded. Many of the more than 8,000 civilians it trained in military radio procedures during its 16-year existence served as rad io operators during the war. The MARS mission was en larged in 1952 to allow transmission of quasi -official communications and messages from the Red Cross . It also served the Fed eral Civil Defense Agency and carried official A ir Force message traffic during emergencies when established Originally, membership in the Military Amateur Radio System (MARS) was restricted to off-duty active or reserve per sonnel, but on 26 September 1950, membership was opened to Federal Communications Commission-licensed amateur radio operators . MARS was to provide backup communications for normal military communications systems in times of domestic emergencies and to provide communication facilities for use in implementing contingency plans of the Army and the Air Force . 76 systems were not operating. During 1954, the Air Force Chief of MARS authorized mobile units capable of sustained operations for use at disaster scenes. By 1959, MARS was empowered to back-up all Air Force communications circuits which, in turn, brought it into the domestic contingency planning of the numbered air force in whose jurisdiction they resided. The MARS program grew to over 8 ,000 members by 1956. The size of the program was outdistancing the ability of the MARS directors, one Air Force officer for each major Air Force command, to adequately and effectively control them . Therefore, the Air Force decided in 1955 to create a civilian MARS coordinator for each state to help manage the program. During the 1950s, the Air Force MARS program provided communications assistance during military operations and emergencies as envisioned by its founders. For example, MARS stations were authorized in Korea in 1953. A MARS station was established in New Zealand in 1956 to support Antarctic explorations during Project DEEP FREEZE. In addition, MARS members provided radio aid on many occasions during rescue operations following airplane crashes and during natural disasters . The Military Amateur Radio System. better known by its acronym. MARS. was jointly formed by the Army and the Air Force on 26 November 1948. Here . Maj Gen Francis L. Ankenbrandt (left) and Maj Gen Spencer B. Akim try out the new system on 30 December 1948. MARS stations have played an important role in Air Force communications since 1948. not only as a backup system but as a means of boosting morale. This station at Taegu. Korea, in 1955. was one of many which enabled servicemen to communicate directly with their facilities at low cost. AACS was a key element in the postwar period throughout the 1950s. A whole new generation of highly sophisticated electronic facilities was available for handling the large quantities of data that were now essential for the centralized control of widely dispersed forces. Punched cards, perforated tapes, magnetic tapes, teletypewriters, computers and digitized voice transmissions-all were now reduced to a common digital form for transmission and reconstitution in any required form by the receiving station. Computers and machines could now talk to each other. Besides data transmission, AACS facilities of the Air Force Communications Complex were handling video, automatic switching, on-line encryption, and airborne command facilities to communicate with both manned and unmanned satellites in space . From the essential but relatively limited functions it performed at the end of World War II, AACS's role and functions had expanded to the point that at the end of the 1950s its services were indispensable. AACS furnished the invisible hands that transformed men, missiles, and airplanes into air power. 77 78 AIR FORCE COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE THE SIXTIES ORGANIZATION AND MANAGMENT The decade of the sixties marked both a challenge and a revolution in Air Force communications. Rapid ad vancements in electronic communication technology, coupled with dramatic changes in the world political situation, prompted the establishment of AACS as a major air command in 1961 and its simultaneous redesignation as the Air Force Communications Service (AFCS). The formidable developments in communications in the years immediately preceding the birth of AFCS created a need for new procedures and centralized management to assure that communication services would function in harmony with the new technology and that the United States would maintain its leadership in this vital field . In past years , communications had been an integral part of the various military commands, and each commander owned and operated most of the facilities he needed to support his mission. The evolving character of military operations dictated centralized control over widely dispersed forces and the mounting costs of communications made individual command ownership and support increasingly prohibitive. By the late fifties it was apparent that command, control, and communications were inseparable and the Air Force had to find a way to achieve a new management concept for its growing global networks which already transcended geographic, political, and military boundaries. The transition of AACS, administratively assigned to the Military Air Transport Service , to AFCS and its designation as a major air command was the result of an Air Staff decision and the last of three organiza tional steps taken by the Air Force since 1958 to improve the management of its communications. The first step, in 1958, included the creation of a central communications and electronics procurement and logistics agency, the Rome Air Materiel Area, and an organization to provide installation and engineering of ground equipment for the Air Force, the Ground Electronics Engineering and Installation Agency. Both of these new organizations were assigned to the Air Force Logistics Command and were located at Griffiss AFB, New York. The second step was the establishment of the Electronic Systems Division, formerly the Command and Control Development Division, located at L.G. Hanscom Field , Massachusetts. This organization was assigned to the Air Force Systems Command for development, integration, and procurement of command and control systems under the management of a single Air Force agency. As a prelude to the third and final step in the reorgani zation of comunications management, the Air Force tested the feasibility of a "single manager" concept for meeting its communications needs by having AACS assume responsibility for all nontactical communications operated by the Pacific Air Forces and the Alaskan Air Command in 1959. Planners visualized that the acceptance of a single point for management of Air Force telecommunications would result in a potential reduction of more than 3 ,000 manpower spaces and annual monetary savings of nearly $8 million through more efficient employment of equipment and facilities. Despite such perceived advantages, the major reason underlying the transition of AACS into a major air command cannot be simplified to one of manpower and monetary savings. Rather, the desire to improve operational effectiveness and to keep pace with technological advancements dictated that the organizational structures of the Air Force be geared to meet the compressions of time and rapidly evolving requirements. As a result of studies conducted throughout 1959 and 1960 which validated the concept of single management of Air Force communications, the Air Staff established AFCS as the Air Force ' s sixteenth major command on 1 July 1 961 to absorb telecommunications responsibilities previously assigned to other major commands. This action was designed to be a time-phased transition over the next two years. The decision to organize Air Force communications on a global scale under a single manager was the result of AACS's more than 20 years of experience in developing communications specifically responsive to the needs of airpower. AFCS continued to provide the basic services previ ously pe rformed by AACS -air traffic control and long haul message handling -and began to gradually ex 79 Providing communications in a variety of locations, from the remote radar unit in the central highlands in Vietnam (above) , to the luxurious surroundings for this radar antenna installed at the Bangkok Air Traffic Control Center (below). required centralized management within the Air Force . pand its ability to meet the global communications and flight service requirements of the Air Force . This expanded mission fell into four principle categories . First, AFCS coordinated most on-base communications systems, base cable plants, and maintenance networks. Second, long-line communications provided by AFCS included global radio , teletype, and telephone networks to link Air Force activities around the world as well as other special networks to transmit data from aircraft and missile early warning systems. Third, the air traffic control services of AFCS included both point-to-point and ground-to-air radio stations, airdrome control towers, precision radar approach control services, navigational aids, and flight service evaluations. Fourth, AFCS provided emergency mission support through its mobile units which could be quickly transported to any point in the world to establish essential communications, navigational aids, and air traffic control to support Air Force emergency operations. Appropriately, the ceremony at Scott AFB, lllinos, to officially recognize the new organization climaxed when USAF Chief of Staff Gen Curtis E. LeMay picked up a Pentagon telephone, probably the most common communications device, and welcomed both the new system for Air Force communications management and Maj Gen Harold W . Grant as its first commander. On the same day, the first of several planned management transfers occurred as AFCS assumed responsibility for providing communications to the Military Air Transport Service, the Air Force Accounting and 80 Finance Center, the Aeronautical Chart and Information Center, and the Caribbean Air Command. Functioning as the most widely dispersed command within the Air Force, AFCS assumed administrative and operational responsibility for 11 lower echelon units, consisting of two areas, seven regions, the 3d Mobile Communications Squadron, and the 1865th Facility Checking Flight. The areas were the European, Africa, and Mid East Area and the Pacific Area, while the regions included the Alaskan, North Atlantic, Southwestern, Midwestern, Western, Continental, and Southeastern Regions . Organized unlike any other Air Force command, each AFCS area headquarters was comparable to a numbered Air Force and the independent regions equated in stature to air divisions . An AFCS technician splices cable on high wire to ensure efficient on-base communications. AFCS provided direct dialing systems throughout Vietnam AFCS air traffic controllers worked out of control towers such and Thailand in the sixties. as this one at Pleiku AB , Vietnam. 81 .-----lEGEND-----, fT'1 0 REGION HEADQUARTERS c::: ::c .. 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The " Talking Bird " aircraft provided AFCS with the ability to establish essential communication facilities in a minimum amount of time. 84 The gradual consolidation of communication respon sibilities continued during the next yea r when on 1 January 1962 AFCS assumed communication functions from the Air Force Logistics Command, the Air Force Systems Command, the Alaskan Air Command, Air University, Pacific Air Forces , the Air Force Academy, and the Air Defense Command' s sites at Thule and Sondrestrom, Greenland . On its first anniversary as a major command, 1 July 1962, AFCS assumed communication responsibilities from the Continental Air Command, the United States Air Force in Europe , the Air Training Command, and began the first phase of the transfer of United States A ir Force Security Service communications, a process not completed until the late seventies. Attempts to assume the communications of the Air Defense Command and the Strategic Air Command, however, met resistence. The two commanders believed that the tremendous importance of the air defense and strategic bombing missions of their commands demanded that they own, control, and operate their own communications. Also, they believed that AFCS, as a growing and developing organization, would be unable to provide the high caliber of communications they required . On 1 July 1962, the Air Staff directed that participation of the Strategic Air Command and the Air Defense Command in communication consolidations would be held in abeyance in definitely and the issue remained unresolved until the late seventies. High riggers from the Ground Electronics. Engineering. and Installation Agency install cables on a mobile service tower at Cape Kennedy AFS . Florida . prior to a missile launch. AFCS personnel worked closely with members of the Vietnamese Women' s Armed Forces at the Binh Thuy AB switchboard. 85 On 1 January 1963, AFCS activated its first organization that provided direct support to an individual command when it established the Tactical Communications Region with headquarters at Langley AFB, Virginia. This new region assumed responsibility for the operation and maintenance of all fixed base ground communications, air traffic control, and navigational aids to support the operation of the Tactical Air Command. The formation of this region marked the end of the rapid, phased growth of AFCS and the command paused to consolidate its gains. On 1 July 1963, in an effort to simplify internal command channels , reduce the number of intermediate contact points, and lower costs, AFCS deactivated three of its communication regions located within the United States: the Midwestern, Southeastern, and Southwestern Regions. The command also redesig nated the North Atlantic Region as the Eastern Region and the Continental Region became the Central Region. Five years later, on 1 July 1968, AFCS redesignated its European, Africa, and Mid East Areas as the European Communications Area. Development of tropospheric scatter technology was only one of many innovations in communications handled by AFCS in the sixties . 86 c::::> :::::c C") > :z: co 1'.1 "' > --t - NORTH ATlANTIC c::::> :z: RAMEY AFB KINDLEY AFB lEGEND I 0 INDEP. REGION HEADQUARTERS An increase in personnel paralleled the absorbtion of communication responsibilities in the sixties. By De cember 1961 , AFCS possessed slightly over 32,000 communication and air traffic control technicians, 30,000 of whom were former members of AACS, while the other 2,000 came from initial consolidation actions. By June 1962, the commmand total reached 36,480 and by December 1963, AFCS boasted 50,149 members, surpassing the World War II high point of AACS'. In June 1970, because of the war in Southeast Asia, the total strength of AFCS reached 57,8?5 people, a sum not equalled again until 1985. T he rapid growth in the early sixties, which had to be maintained and then accelerated because of the Southeast Asia conflict, brought with it a number of personnel problems.Compared to an Air Force average of 4 7 percent, 80 percent of jobs in AFCS required people possessing highly technical skills. The resultant demand for well trained people strained the ability of the Air Force to recruit and retain the requisite numbers of qualified people . Worldwide commitments compounded AFCS's personnel problems by creating an imbalance of personnel stationed overseas and at remote or very isolated ' locations, such as parts of Alaska. Perched sometimes on impassable and completely isolated mountain eaks strategically located throughout the world, t hese lonely, remote sites provided a vital link in a network of radio relay stations. One third of all AFCS personnel assigned to the Alaska Communications Region were stationed at remote sites. At some locations, the temperatures rarely rose above 50 degrees Providing worldwide communications required that many AFCS personnel be stationed at r~mote sites. A narrow road provides access to this remote site at Elmadag, Turkey. Intensified air traffic figures in the sixties required an increase in training efforts by AFCS. and winds occasionally approached 70 miles per hour. The airstrip at Cape Newenham, Alaska, ran up the side of a mountain, at an incline steeper than many planes could climb. A junior officer st ationed there in the late sixties called it a "test of character" to live at a remote site. These locations became a strange kind of small community for AFCS people. The war in Southeast Asia also placed severe demands on AFCS's personnel system. In addition to meeting its other worldwide responsibilities, the command had to rapidly increase its strength in the Pacific to keep up with the expansion of United States involvement in Southeast Asia . These deployments, combined with long term requirements for communications in that part of the globe, created serious shortages among personnel who could be assigned to other areas . This combination of factors -rapid growth in the early sixties, highly technical jobs, worldwide commitments many of which were at remote sites, and the war in Southeast Asia -pinched AFCS throughout the decade. Lack of trained personnel resulted in low skill manning in some career fields, increased training requirements, and reduced personnel stability, all of which adversely affected morale and retention and increased operating costs. Gone were the days of World War II when the command could recruit ham radio operators to operate its equipment, which in comparison to the highly technical facilities of the late sixties was relatively simple. A partial solution to its manning problems was increased system automation, an answer which the command increasingly pursued in the sixties and into the seventies. 88 OPERATIONS Upon its activation in 1961 , AFCS assumed a fourfaceted mission. As already mentioned, this included providing on -base comunications, long-haul communications, air traffic control services, and emergency mission support. By the late sixties the communications explosion was exceeding the population explosion and necessary improvements were evident, largely as a result of developments spurred by AFCS. The use of computers that permitted large scale data recording and analysis and the introduction of miniaturized electronic components using integrated and high-speed data circuits opened new avenues in the communications field . Predictions indicated that in the seventies satellite communications, refined fre quency stabilization, complete circuit encryption, and standardization and automation of equipment would greatly increase the speed and efficiency of communication systems. Such developments were possible due to the emphasis AFCS , as the single manager for Air Force communications, placed upon testing and acquiring new facilities. This large radar antenna was only one of a multitude of modern communication systems managed and developed by AFCS in the sixties. 89 ON-BASE COMMUNICATIONS As one of these key areas of support, AFCS was charged with the responsibility for establishing procedures and techniques for operating facilities associated with base communication functions. This included such equipment as telephone exchanges, record communications centers, base cable plants, public address and intercom systems, intrusion alarm systems, and vehicular radio systems. On-base facilities also included terminal connections with long -haul communications, the maintenance of on-base logistics computers at some bases, and the maintenance of radio and television stations at major overseas bases. These communication services were customized to meet the needs of each of the more than 200 Air Force bases served by AFCS throughout the world. In addition to performing such routine functions as standardizing base telephone directory services, switchboard operations and procedures, AFCS assumed the responsibility for operating the Air Force weather system. Before 1960, Air Force communicators had recognized the need to modernize and expand weather networks so that they could satisfy present and future requirements. In 1962, AFCS converted the Weather Communications Center at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, f rom manual to semi-automatic operation and commissioned it to receive and transmit weather data from 143 strategically located stations. Establishment of this system made Tinker AFB the central military weather data collection and relay point within the United States. AFCS monitored the progress of the weather network station at Tinker AFB and developed a program to expand and modernize the command's weather intercept facilities to meet foreign weather data requ irements. As the Department of Defense expanded its efforts to provide more weather transmission services, the Automatic Weather Network began operating in July 1965. As a worldwide computer system, this organization collected and edited weather information and distributed this data to military forecasting facilities. Three dispersed automated digital weather centers, operated by the AFCS personnel and located at Tinker AFB , Oklahoma; High Wycombe AS, England ; and Fuchu AS, Japan, provided these services for the Air Force. In November 1969, the Carswell AFB, Texas, auto matic digital weather switch replaced the similar fa This storm-detection radar , an AN/FPS-77, was part of the cility at Tinker AFB and became the focal point for the A ir Force weather network, operated by AFCS . 90 Automatic Weather Network. Carswell AFB received weather data from all over the world and transmitted it to the Air Force Global Weather Central at Offutt AFB, Nebraska. There, forecasts were developed and sent to individual users through the Automatic Weather Network. In providing communication services to a variety of commands and locations, AFCS found that some of its needs could best be met through the use of civilian contractors. As a new major command, AFCS was concerned that new communication systems be fully tested before accepting operational responsibility for them . Within the military structure, AFCS depended on the Electronics Systems Division of the Air Force Systems Command for the latest information on the development and design of communications equipment. Despite the resources available through this command, the trend towards civilian contractual operation and maintenance of Air Force communications that appeared in the late fifties required AFCS to develop a system for coordinating its affiliations with commercial organizations. Maj Gen Russell K. Pierce . Jr.• Commander of the Global Air Weather Service and Major General Paul R. Stoney, AFCS Commander, cut the ribbon that officially accepted the Automatic Digital Weather Switch at Carswell AFB, Texas, in 1969. Because the Air Force was the largest customer of commercially leased facilities within the continental United States, the dispersal of responsibility for ordering leased commercial communications among 18 different agencies that existed in the late fifties was a cumbersome and inefficient method of meeting defense needs. In January 1961 , to rectify this situation, the Secretary of the Air Force ordered a gradual consolidation of commercial communications w ith AFCS to be the sole leasing authority for the Air Force. The results of this consolidation were immediately evident, and by June the effort had already resulted in a savings of $4 million. On 1 July 1961 , the Office of Commercial Communications Management was established at Colorado Springs, Colorado, and assigned to AFCS, with responsibility of negotiating, ordering, and managing leased communication services for all major commands. On 1 January 1962, the Office of Commercial Communications was transferred from Colorado Springs to Scott AFB, Illinois, and collocated with AFCS headquarters. Subsequently, the Air Staff redesignated this organization as the Defense Information from this UNIVAC tape facility at Carswell AFB, Texas, provides a complete history of transmissions in the Automatic Digital Weather Switch. 91 Commercial Communications Organization on 31 De cember 1962. Under direct authority of the Defense Communications Agency, this organization became the focal point for leasing all commercial communications throughout the Defense Department, and AFCS lost this function . By 1964, it was obvious that a central management point of contact between the Air Force and the Defense Commercial Communications Organization was necessary, due to the rapid increase in annual expenditures for leased communications . In fiscal year 1960, the Air Force spent approximately $122 mil lion for leased communications, but by 1964 this had increased to nearly $1 91 million. As a result, AFCS assumed management responsibilities for coordinating Air Force leased communication requirements with the Defense Commercial Communication Organization. An AFCS airman operates the UNIVAC 1004 high speed printer and reader . This small computer is used in the Automat ed Weather Network for transmitting weather data. :', ~ ~ ,,... ,.. .;;-j . This huge radar antenna is used by RCA to train personnel and test equipment for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. RCA was the prime contractor to the Air Force on this project to give prompt warning of enemy missiles approaching the United States from over the polar regions. 92 LONG-HAUL COMMUNICATIONS The first year of operation for AFCS was one of continuous testing and steady progress towards " single management" of the most extensive m ilitary communications network in the world . Rapid advancements in weapons system technology and control and support techniques brought increased needs for a rapid exchange, categorization, and display of data. Long haul communication services provided by AFCS included record and voice systems as well as satellite and tropospheric scatter radio communications for the Air Force . In the sixties, AFCS was also involved in the development of a long-range proposal for measuring and evaluating the performance parameters and capabilities of the communication systems it operated and maintained . In February 1968, the command completed testing of technical specifications for a new program aimed at improving future system engineering, dubbed SCOPE CREEK . This program expanded into the seventies and served as a focal point for determining areas that needed improvement. AUTODIN In the fifties AACS developed an advanced system to provide point-to-point and ground-to-air communications for the Air Force, known as AIRCOM . In 1961 , the new command assumed operational responsibili ty for this system, the nucleus of which was a 1 0 -station network of Plan 55 automatic communication relay centers. Despite increased capabilities from earlier years , there existed a need to integrate all command teletype traffic into a single network. A study conducted by AACS in 1960 revealed that there were 13 major networks within the continental United States. As a result, AFCS recommended that it be designated the implementing command to integrate these networks into a single long -haul transmission system. In addition to problems created by the dispersion of individual networks over many commands, the manual operation of these systems hampered effectiveness and speed of service. To alleviate this situation, AFCS demonstrated a prototype of a new system in 1 961 , the Combat Logistics Network, des igned to be an au tomatic, fully electronic, transistorized , high -speed data communications network. Plans indicated that AFCS airmen check equipment in the "Plan 55" Automatic Teletype Relay at Andrews AFB. Maryland. Incoming teletype messages , received at 60 to 100 words per minute are read , automatically " switched" across the center at a rate of 200 words per minute, and sent to the addressee at the speed his equipment will receive it. A communications center specialist operates a UNIVAC 1004 AUTODIN computer. 93 The Air Force established a new era in long-haul communications when it activated the Automatic Digital Network, commonly known as AUTODIN. Here , Air Force personnel work in the switching center at McClellan AFB , California. this would be the largest and most advanced digital data system in the world, with a capability of connecting 450 bases, air stations, and civilian suppliers. By November 1962, the first Air Force Data Communications (AF OATACOM) center opened at Norton AFB, California, replacing the Combat Logistics Network station. With a second center activated at McClellan AFB, California, in December, AF DATACOM served as the initial increment of an even more extensive data system to be known as the Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN). As the first high-speed , digital communications system to use advanced techniques of information handling in the Air Force, AF DATACOM enabled subscribers to send messages originating from teletypewriters, punched cards, accounting machines, paper tapes, and magnetic tape devices. The system used automatic electronic switching centers to convert the differences in codes, formats, speeds, and control, as well as to forward priority messages. In February 1963, when the AUTODIN network became fully operational, AFCS initiated the most extensive communications data system ever built. With the primary objective of integrating the advancements in automatic switching into a single long-haul system, Introducing equipment that would transmit and receive mes AUTODIN would make use of all circuitry available at sages in a variety of formats was one of the advanced fea any given time for fulfilling the priority of the use r. tures of the AUTODIN network. Here . an airman prepares a message on paper tape. 94 As originally constituted, AUTODIN could handle seven million punched cards daily, the equivalent of 100 million words, and could exchange data freely between a variety of information forms . To handle the gigantic capacity of the AUTODIN network, AFCS managed five automatic switching centers, located at Norton AFB and McClellan AFB, California; Tinker AFB, Oklahoma; Gentile AFS, Ohio ; and Andrews AFB, Maryland. By the end of 1963, the system was already saturated and the Secretary of Defense approved 14 additional switching centers to enhance AUTODIN's capacity. The development of high -speed , inter-base record communication systems provided the most dramatic accomplishments in communications in the early six ties. Department of Defense communications progressed rapidly toward use of fully automatic switching systems, yet the lack of effective base communications impeded rapid message delivery. As demands for more rapid and accurate communications increased, AFCS responded by coordinating Air Force and Defense Department efforts to implement and expand the entire long-haul communications network. Rapid increases in the volume of AUTODIN traffic, exemplified by a 66 percent increase in total activity during 1966 was a matter of crucial concern due to the inability of facilities to handle the traffic loads. To alleviate this problem, AFCS ordered new computers which would allow card, paper tape, and magnetic tape media to transmit and receive AU TODIN traffic . The chief of operations for the 2187th Communications Group at Aviano. Italy. checks tapes from the electronically controlled Digital Subscribers Terminal Equipment. Upon its activation in 1961 , AFCS assumed control of telephone systems for the Air Force. The next ten years witnessed many advancements in providing an internal telephone capability for the entire Def ense Department with AFCS providing the initiative in development. Here. operators connect calls at the Washington switchboard in the USAF Communications Center at the Pentagon. 95 AUTOVON Another major development began in 1 963 when the Automatic Voice Network (AUTOVON) was activated in December. Derived from the Army' s Switched Circuit Automatic Network, AUTOVON was designed to provide the Defense Department with an internal telephone capability to replace toll and WATS calls and to allow precedence preemption for high priority users. During World War II communications between major commands were conducted through high frequency radio with only a few channels available . Following the Korean War a number of radical changes occurred with a profound impact on communication require ments. Development of the AUTOVON network represented one of the most significant and comprehensive telecommunications programs ever undertaken by the Defense Department. While the dedicated circuits used in earlier networks provided good response time, weakness in survivability and reliability was a significant problem. The loss of a sin gle circuit between two points disrupted communications between subscribers and each termination placed on the dedicated circuit required a separate instrument. Although the AUTOVON network continued to expand rapidly, the Defense Communications Agency placed a moratorium on the installation of any new AUTOVON access lines in February 1965 due to the lack of inter-machine trunking facilities at some bases. This situation was gradually remedied and the Air Force was operating 1,249 AUTOVON access lines by the middle of October. For further expansion, the command ordered 869 more lines as well as completed plans for providing AUTOVON services to Alaska during the year. The maximum funding effort directed in support of Southeast Asia limited progress in modernizing telephone systems throughout the Defense Department, yet AFCS continued to expand the AUTOVON network wherever feasible throughout the sixties. There's more to using the phone than just dialing a number. A constant check on telephone circuitry is necessary to en sure that phone service is kept reliable . Here. a telephone repairman checks a trouble call to keep the AUTOVON network running smoothly. Development of tropospheric scatter technology in the sixties allowed AFCS to erect sites throughout Europe, vastly increasing the long-haul communication ability of the command. This site. at Humosa. Spain , provided both tropo and AUTOVON services to the Spanish Communications Region of the European Communications Area. 96 TROPOSPHERIC SCATTER AND SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS AFCS worked to expand its research and development efforts in the recent evolution of satellite and other advanced techniques of long distance communications during it s first months as a major command. In 1961, AFCS personnel activated the first Forward Propagation Tropospheric Scatter circuits into Son drestrom, Greenland, and added new stations to the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System in Alaska . In tegration of these facilities into the White Alice tropospheric scatter system provided Alaska with the most modern, flexible, and reliable communications system of any military theater. Development of tropospheric scatter technology expanded AFCS's ability to meet long distance communication requirements with increased economy. accuracy. and efficiency. With the lowest area of the atmosphere as its environment, tropospheric scatter used the distinctive layers of temperature and moisture content to reflect and refract radio energy. An AFCS technician makes equipment adjustments in a tropospheric scatter van used in SEATO exercises in 1963. A Turkish native looks over the various antennas used at this main control station at Elmadag, Turkey. maintained by AFCS for communications systems throughout the country . 97 New developments in sensitive satellite communication equipment in the sixties required a parallel development of protective devices. This diagram depicts a fiberglass and aluminum metal frame radome to provide protection from wind pressure and other environmental factors for the saucer-shaped antenna. Construction of a radar dome at Patrick AFB, Florida . 98 The introduction of powerful transmitters and sensitive receivers permitted the transmission of many separate telephone conversations and telegraph messages over a single radio signal which was relatively free from atmospheric interference. As data processing and management techniques became more sophisticated and demanding, communication requirements were expected to grow at a pace far beyond the 10 to 25 percent per year growth rate in the early sixties. To meet these increased demands, microwave and tropospheric scatter systems played a dominant role and served as both a primary and backup means of reliable transmission . As a result, it was imperative that these new techniques and equipment possess the sophistication and capabilities required to support high-density digital data networks. Military use of satellite communications became a reality in 1967. Under a project labelled the Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program, AFCS ac tivated its first satellite terminal, an AN/MSC-46, at Clark AB, Philippines, on 1 July 1967 and placed a second in operation at Brandywine, Maryland, in November. Improvements in satellite communications systems proceeded and by November 1968, tests performed by the 3d Mobile Communications Group proved the feasibility of a mobile ground satellite communication terminal (the AN/TSC -54), with an 8 ,000-mile range of reception and transmission. In July, additional tests by an AFCS KC -135 aircraft flying above Antarctica demonstrated the feasibility of long-range tactical communications between aircraft and satellite by communicating through the Lincoln Experimental Satellite. The increasing demand for satellite communications prompted the Air Staff to direct AFCS to establish an Air Force planning office for testing and development of new systems. By April 1969, AFCS accumulated sufficient equipment and facilities to activate the Satellite Test Control Terminal at the Belleville, Illinois, Communications Annex to Scott AFB. This aluminum and fiberglass radar dome protects a comGEEIA member construct a microwave antenna at lzmir. Turmunications and space research antenna in Massachusetts. key. for use by AFCS . 99 LONG-HAUL COMMUNICATIONS IN ALASKA As part of a series of Defense Department management consolidations, the transfer of the Alaska Communications System from the Army Signal Corps to AFCS occurred on 1 July 1962. Since the Air Force already had the major communications responsibility in Alaska, this was a natural move towards a more efficient and economical situation. As the system operator in Alaska, AFCS gained a network of longline communication facilities supporting both military and civilian needs, as well as the developing radar systems on the Alaskan borderlands. Radar stations designed to spot flights of enemy bombers stretched across the northern rim of Canada, Alaska, and Greenland. Known as the Distant Early Warning Line, radar readings were fed into an electronic control center, the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment, with computers programmed to display air attackers and their positions, direct interceptors to their targets and launch missiles within seconds. AFCS also managed communications for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System in Alaska, designed to provide an advance warning of ballistic missile attacks on Canada and the United States. Building these new communication ·routes in the Arctic presented unprecedented problems for AFCS. Under conditions of extremely cold weather and high winds, coupled with limited transportation capabilities, ocean submarine cable was placed above the Arctic Circle to support these radar systems. Such working conditions were reminiscent of AACS experiences during World War II. In the late sixties, the Air Staff moved to dispose of government-owned long-line communication facilities in Alaska. On 22 May 1967, the Air Staff designated AFCS as the Air Force manager for disposal of the Alaska Communications System. As such, the command became responsible for developing sales policies, procedures for soliciting bid proposals, and management of the actual sales transaction . The long distance facilities of the Air Force's defense operations in Alaska were the backbone of the entire system. In addition to the Air Force, the Federal Aviation Agency, and the Department of the Interior, other government and commercial agencies owned and operated facilities connecting the various geographical locations in Alaska . On 1 July 1967, the property transfer of the Alaska Communications System to AFCS represented the first real property for which the command had jurisdiction, control, and accountability. On 14 November, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed an act authorizing the disposal of the system Ice and snow driven by the severe arctic winds accumulate on antenna supports at Cape lisburne AFS . Alaska. Instant communication was possible t hrough telephones like this one located throughout underground Semi-Automatic Ground Environment sites. This one is at North Bay, Ontario , Canada. 100 ,...---lEGEND--- fil\1 ~ @; INDEP. REGION HE~DQUARTERS CAPE • COMMUNICATIONS GROUP '---.. 0 COMMUNICATIONS SQUADRO e DETACHMENT CAPE ROMANZOK-1 0 _. 0 _. SHEMYA-2/ ~~0 C>/o ~ NOTE : All DETACHMENTS EXCEPT "WilDWOOD , ElMENDORF, JUNEAU, AND SHEMYA " ARE ASSIGNED TO 1930 COMM SQ. LISBURNE-12 eNORTHWAY-23 \ e BETTlES-19 e FT YUKON-17 eiNDIAN MT-8 eGAlENA-1 e MURPHY DOME-3 0 1995 EIHSON INSERT 1929 [ACS] SEATTlE > r > en ==" > :z ~ <::::) 3: 3: c::: :z - ~ > ---4 <::::) :z en :::c fT'I ~ - <::::) :z and AFCS moved ahead with developing plans to M. Nixon that the Alaska Communications System be complete this transfer. In June 1969, the Secretary sold to RCA Global Communications, Inc. , and the fiof the Air Force recommended to President Richard nal contract was signed by the end of the year. The huge, concave radar tracking antenna for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System consists of 24 pie-shaped sections. The segments are interchangeable. augmenting system maintenance. Overall . the antenna weighs more than 13.000 pounds. 102 White Alice sites such as this one provided the heart of the long-haul communications system in Alaska. MIUTARY AFFIUA TE RADIO SYSTEM Besides handling increased communication functions of individual commands, AFCS assumed responsibility for several specialized communication systems throughout its first years as a major command. The Air Staff assigned operation of the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) to the new command . MARS stations located at Air Force bases were to be used primarily as a back-up or emergency communication Military Affiliate Radio System operators have made it possible for military personnel overseas to contact their loved ones at home on matters that need immediate attention. They also aid in furnishing communications during natural dis asters. such as tornadoes and hurricanes, when other communication facilities have been destroyed. River flooding required the replacement of telephone cables over this Alaskan stream. 103 system for the Air Force . The main components of the Air Force MARS program were military radio stations located on bases and stations throughout the world and civilian amateur radio operators. By 1 964, AFCS controlled the MARS duties for all major air commands, and had become t he single manager for the entire Air Force MARS program. The Vietnam conflict dramatically increased the use of MARS stations by AFCS in the sixties, providing an essential link between servicemen and their families . The 1964 Alaskan earthquake also demonst rated the importance of the MARS system by providing emergency communication support. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL In the United States, the Federal Aviation Agency is responsible for the control of air traffic, with the exception of military aircraft. Although this agency wrote the basic regulations under which AFCS operated, the command contributed to overall control through coordinated planning, facility operation, and maintenance of Air Force air traffic control facilities. Throughout the sixties, the command pursued an ag gressive program to improve and modernize its air traffic control and navigational aid equipment and services. AFCS conducted operational tests and evaluations of new and improved air traff ic control equipment required to accomplish the command' s mission. Development of technical standards for performance and recommending acceptance or rejection of new or modified equipment was also a major responsibility for AFCS . In the sixties, technological improvements in facilities, combined with the demands for improved services generated by the Vietnam conflict, increased the need for better navigational aid services at all bases and air fields. In this decade, AFCS monitored many traffic control, navigation and landing systems development and modification programs which were expected to bring significant changes in the equipment necessary to support air traffic control operations. Included in these programs were development and acquisition of surveillance radar , direction-finding facilities, all weather instrument landing systems, video mappers, and weather dissemination systems to meet air traffic control requirements. Also, the publication of a new Terminal Instrument Procedures manual in 1966 cul minated 1 0 years of research, planning and revision. A communications technician installs an antenna for the M ilitary Affiliate Radio System station at Pleiku AB. South Vietnam. AFCS controllers direct aircraft traffic inside an approach con trol unit. 104 A C-130 Hercules aircraft flies over an extensive strobe-light system which points toward the landing strip at Cam Ranh Bay AB, South Vietnam. The lights are turned on by the control tower during inclement weather. Monitoring the status of all its navigational aids is a big job for AFCS. Here. an airman posts this information on the Command Post status board for review and analysis. Updated on a 24-hour basis , this board helps personnel keep a vigil on minute-by-minute communication operations and air traffic control equipment status. This manual would provide safer and more realistic air traffic control procedures and had the flexibility needed to keep pace with future aircraft design characteristics . In the sixties, AFCS expended considerable effort in developing operational concepts for mobile air traffic control equipment. With the objective of replacing conventional radar and ground control approach facilities and control towers with lightweight and transportable facilities, the command made use of miniaturization and modular construction techniques to provide these services. In addition to furnishing the equipment and systems necessary for air traffic control, AFCS monitored these facilities through flight check and service evaluation programs. To fulfill the responsibility of providing safe and efficient air traffic control services for the Air Force, the first Lockheed Jet Star C-140 aircraft scheduled to provide evaluation of navigational aids for AFCS arrived at Robins AFB, Georgia, on 17 August 1962, and was placed in operation by October. 105 One of the most demanding and intense jobs within AFCS is the ground control approach team which coordinates to direct pilots to safe landings in all weather conditions. The speed, range, and special capabilities of this all weather jet aircraft enabled it to reach any contingency area within 1 0 hours. The acquisition of this new aircraft enhanced AFCS's ability to evaluate the performance of its air traffic control equipment. Because every facility was required to undergo a f light check before it could be commissioned, the AFCS procedures ensured that no aircraft would be subject to hazardous condit ions due to erroneous information obtained from the ground support and guidance systems. AFCS and the Federal Aviation Agency worked toward mutual goals of providing safe and efficient air traffic control procedures and both organizations recognized the advantages that could be gained from cooperation and some sharing of aircraft control responsibilities. As a result, on 1 June 1963, AFCS completed the transfer of the Air Force flight inspection mission to the Federal Aviation Agency in all areas except contingency operations. This action allowed AFCS to reduce its aircraft inventory dramatically, from 59 to 16 aircraft. Also, the AFCS program to obtain Federal Aviation Agency facility ratings for all AFCS tower operation personnel w ithin the United States was well underway. A control tower is just as much an integral part of the Air Force as an airplane . Here. an AFCS technician rewires the control tower as part of the continual rehabilitation. modification. and maintenance efforts to ensure adequate support of aircraft. 106 j A mobile runway supervisory unit directs aircraft at Phu Cat AB, South Vietnam, as a C-54 takes off in the background. - AFCS acquired several C-1 40 aircraft, similar to the one above, in the sixties to enhance its service evaluation and flight check responsibilities. In defending the United States from enemy air attack the man on the ground has become equally as important as the aircrew. Ground control intercept radars such as these are essential in directing pilots to the exact location of their target, whether in training or combat. 107 The flight checking function of the command improved with the delivery of the first T -39 aircraft for use by the 1866th Facility Checking Squadron at Scott AFB, Illinois, in 1969. Management of flight checking responsibilities between the Federal Aviation Agency and AFCS also changed during the year, as t he FAA agreed to reestablish the Air Force role in both contingency and fixed inspection in combat areas . The FAA maintained its responsibility for flight checking in the continental United States, its possessions and territories, and Central America . To increase the effectiveness of its navigational aids, AFCS activated a central Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) facility at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, on 20 June 1962, to cover requirements within the continental United States. To meet overseas requirements, AFCS establi shed a European central NOTAM facility at RheinMain AB, Germany, on 15 October 1962. Both facilit ies collected and disseminated information for pilots via weather circuits. In September 1968, the automation of Notice to Airmen (NOTAMs) from base operations in the continent al United States to the central NOTAM facility eliminated the previous manual relay function. Also, in the flight facilities areas, AFCS continued efforts t o obtain an aircraft with increased range capability t o expand its service evaluation function to additional bases . As air traffic control operations continued to increase, AFCS sought a solution to the recurring problem of low-skill manning in the command's f acilities. In January 1969, the first female Air Force air traffic controllers in 1 5 years graduated from technical school at Keesler AFB , Mississippi. The command had first utilized female air traffic controllers during the last 1 5 months of World War II. Mobile tactical air navigational facilities. such as this one at Udorn AB. Thailand, provided air traffic services to aircraft in areas that lacked fixed equipment. AFCS increased its training efforts in the late sixties in an attempt to alleviate the problem of a lack of skilled air traffic controllers throughout the command . Here. an instructor and two students discuss a training problem in radar approach control in the air traffic control operator course at Keesler AFB . Mississippi. 108 This tactical air navigation equipment. maintained and operated by AFCS at Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri, provided essential air traffic control services to all Air Force aircraft in the area . A T -33 Shooting Star aircraft flies over a precision approach radar site at Scott AFB , Illinois. EMERGENCY MISSION SUPPORT The "cold war" climate and the emergence of contingencies in "third world" countries such as Leba non an d the Congo prompted AFCS, as well as most other major air commands, to place increased emphasis on developing its quick reaction capabilities . A lso, numerous events of this decade demonstrated the need for personnel and equipment to meet the demands of national defense in any emergency. From its earliest days in World War II, AACS maintained combat or mobile communication units to support locations that lacked established communications and air traffic control facilities or to ensure continued operations in the event of a natural disaster or combat situation. Upon its activation in 1961, AFCS gained three mobile communication organizations which operated air transportable equipment to provide base communications, long-haul communications, and air traffic control in support of tactical environments and other situations where fixed facilities were not 109 Two AFCS members check control tower equipment during a field test of the 4th Mobile Communications Group. available. The 1st Mobile Communications Group, at Clark AFB, Philippines, supported the Pacific Area ; the 2d Mobile Communications Squadron, at Toui Rosieres AB, France, supported the Europe, Africa, Mid East Area; and the 3d Mobile Communications Squadron, at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, supported the Western hemisphere. Throughout the sixties, these organizations remained in an alert status to meet needs resulting from the world political environment, to respond to emergen cies caused by natural disaster, as well as to support exercises or projects that required temporary facilities . An increase in situations that required the use of AFCS's mobile units in the sixties prompted the com mand to expand its emergency mission support facil ities . On 1 August 1963, the 2d Mobile Communications Squadron attained group status, as did the 3d Mobile Communications Squadron on 1 July 1964. On this same date, AFCS activated two additional units: the 4th Mobile Communications Group at Hunter AFB. Georgia, and the 5th Mobile Communications Group at Robins AFB , Georgia. At the same time, AFCS rapidly acquired a plethora of specialized equipment which increased the effective ness and versatility of its mobile units. Command of all five mobile units was exercised by AFCS, yet each group was aligned to a specific " user" command to provide the responsiveness re quired in contingency operations. As a result, the command to which a group was aligned exercised Mobile facilities, such as this control tower being swallowed by a Military Air Transport Service aircraft allowed AFCS to perform its emergency mission support functions. 1 1 0 operational control over the unit. The complications of this arrangement were most evident in the Vietnam conflict, which required the deployment of a majority of the 1st Mobile Communications Group's equipment through the sixties. In late 1966, the 2d Mobile Communications Group moved from its French location to Sembach AB, Germany, and the 4th Mobile Communications Group moved to Altus AFB, Oklahoma. Contingency operations, as well as abundant require ments for communications support in Southeast Asia, ensured that the mobile units of AFCS were used extensively throughout the sixties. These demands caused the units to grow to augment the emergency mission support capability of AFCS and the entire Air Force. The remodeling of the Mountain Home AFB , Idaho, control tower necessitated the use of a mobile air traffic control tower. This equipment was deployed and setup by Air National Guardsmen from Washington. An AFCS controller checks out air traffic control equipment inside a mobile control tower during an evaluation of the 4th Mobile Communications Group at Fort Sill , Oklahoma. in 1967. 1 1 1 CONTINGENCIES The evolution of United States defense policy in the sixties from a primary orientation towards massive nuclear retaliation to one that emphasized controlled response was the result of both gradual developments and situations that required immediate and selective responses. A series of events in this decade, highlighted by United States involvement in Southeast Asia, dramatically increased efforts to improve the responsive capability of the Air Force. It was a testimonial to the planners who established AFCS and a vindication of the single manager concept that the command was able at such times to effectively and efficiently marshal its resources to meet these challenges. SHORT-TERM OPERATIONS During 1962, AFCS supported two important contingency operations. In September, the command used the Talking Bird aircraft to support airlift disaster relief in Iran after a major earthquake devastated parts of that country. AFCS had developed this specially equipped C-1 30 aircraft in 1 961 and 1962 to keep pace with the swift deployment policy of tactical forces. The Talking Bird aircraft provided airborne and initial on-site communications for contingency situations. The second contingency supported by AFCS in 1 962 proved far more dramatic. The discovery of Soviet missiles on the island of Cuba brought the nation to the brink of war when President John Kennedy demanded their removal . Without a noticeable effect on the reliability, speed, and accuracy of its global services, AFCS quickly responded by deploying substantial numbers of communication and air traffic control specialists to operational areas in the southeastern United States. AFCS support in the Cuban Crisis began on 1 8 October, when the Tactical Air Command requested ex tension of the on-base weather circuits to the command post at Homestead AFB, Florida. By the end of the first week, AFCS technicians from the 3d Mobile Communications Group had placed air navigational equipment at strategic locations throughout Florida, had installed commercial circuit extensions, and had deployed weather teletype machines. The success of this rapid deployment of facilities and personnel demonstrated the ability of AFCS to respond to a cri sis and emphasized the need for future planning in coordination with other commands to improve projections for AFCS services. ~ ---b..__- /j\ AFCS crews are shown setting up communication equipment from the '"Talking Bird" aircraft. 1 1 2 The "Talking Bird" interior displays the variety of communications-electronics equipment packaged for delivery anywhere in the world to support emergency missions in advance of full-scale communications. The " Talking Birds" are operated by AFCS commu nicators to provide an immediately available " Command Post" for any emergency operation. A " Talking Bird" crew is shown with its equipment laid out for display. In a quick reaction operation. AFCS personnel load the " Talking Bird" aircraft in a minimum amount of time for deployment to Iran. 1 1 3 Developments in the Middle East in 1963 prompted the Joint Chiefs of Staff to task the 2d Mobile Communications Group to provide communication equipment to support a show of force to deter the United Arab Republic from harassing or attempting the overthrow of the Saudi Arabian government. To accomplish this, the Talking Bird communication package was deployed to the area on 4 May, and remained in operation until 13 May. Alaska was the site of special AFCS activity early in January 1964, when MARS became the state's emergency back-up communication system. The timing was providential. In March, communication systems in Alaska were put to a critical test when the most severe earthquake ever recorded in North America crippled the state. The earthquake damaged terminal structures, communication equipment, cables, and open wires. Because of the damage, MARS was the only means to alert the lower 48 states of the disaster, and for several days MARS was the main system of communication in the earthquake area. Restoration efforts began immediately, and within 1-1 / 2 hours, AFCS had 11 circuits operating to Seattle and all pri The Alaskan earthquake damaged or destroyed much of the ority circuits were restored within seven hours. state's communications facilities, including the air traffic control approach lights in this picture. A mobile generator unit is loaded aboard a C-124 cargo transport aircraft at Tinker AFB. Oklahoma. for deployment to Alaska follow ing the 1964 earthquake. The diesel-powered generator is part of the mobile control tower airlifted to Alaska t o replace the damaged control tower at Elmendorf AFB . 114 When political turmoil disrupted the Dominican Republic in 1965, AFCS units became part of the response team called up by President Johnson, who directed that refugees and Americans living in the area be pro tected.Mobile controllers were among the first American troops to arrive on Dominican soil , and as they prepared to handle local air traffic, controllers in the United States were directing traffic to San Isidro AB. Within hours of the initial alert , AFCS technicians placed communication and navigational aid facilities into operation. The first AFCS unit into the area was a Talking Bird communications package which provided services within 55 minutes after its arrival, and for three days served as the initial command post for United States operation. This AFCS support was an in dispensible part of what became the largest airlift from a sing le United States on-load base in transport history. From 29 April to 7 May, Air Force aircraft flew 1 6 , 51 5 persons and 1 6, 068 tons of equipment and supplies in 1,649 missions from Pope AFB, North Carolina. Members of an AFCS ·'Talking Bird·· detachment erect an antenna alongside their C-130 aircraft during a training exercise at Scott AFB . Illinois . 115 The ability of AFCS and the entire Air Force to respond rapidly to crisis situations was tested with the seizure of the USS Pueblo by North Korea on 23 January 1968. This action abruptly altered the United States military posture in Korea from a peacekeeping force to a combat-ready force and precipitated a period of hectic activity to expand and augment existing communication and air traffic control facilities in Korea. The situation required immediate personnel actions, accomplished through extensive temporary duty assignments, and the mobilization of Air National Guard and Reserve forces. Within 72 hours, the 1st Mobile Communications Group planned, packed, and readied for deployment personnel and equipment for " bare base" telecommunications for five bases in Korea . In a matter of days, the Group deployed over one mil lion tons of communications equipment, using over 40 C-141 aircraft. By February, the strength of the 2146th Communications Group in Korea had more than doubled, from 510 to 1,047 people. The four provisional squadrons established in immediate response to the Pueblo Crisis gave way to six squad rons subordinate to the 2146th Communications Group, and the transition from temporary to permanent assignment was in progress. In addition to supporting military contingencies, AFCS also provided important assistance to the United States space program. Although principally nonmilitary in nature, the space program used Department of Defense communication facilities and services wherever practical to support its missions. In May 1963, AFCS's 2d Mobile Communications Group deployed single sideband radio teams and equipment to several worldwide locations to support the Project Mercury "Man in Space" program. In 1965, AFCS increased its support of space projects when technicians were posted around the globe to provide communication service for the Gemini space shot launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida. Specialists from the 1st and 2nd Mobile Communications Groups established operations throughout the Pacific and Atlantic supporting the four-day flight. Mobile facilities were also poised in readiness to support recovery operations if needed as well as handled other communication traffic associated with the space shot. The communications teams worked hand-in-hand with the A ir Rescue Service to assure instant recovery of the space capsule wherever it landed . In 1968, the Apollo Aircraft Control Center, operated by AFCS at Patrick AFB, Florida, provided support to the Apollo 8 lunar space flight by deploying mobile units to strategic positions around the world . Members of the 217th Electronics Installation Squadron of the Illinois Air National Guard put some muscle into placing an antenna tower at Antigua AS, British West Indies, to aid the AFCS support of NASA projects. Air National Guard technicians, during their two-week training stint with AFCS , work on an antenna being installed on the island of Antigua in support of a NASA space flight. AFCS personnel have helped maintain the communications link with the astronauts on every manned space flight. 116 SOUTHEAST ASIA Blazoned across the nation's headlines throughout the sixties were stories about United States involvement in Southeast Asia. Never before in the history of the United States did a military involvement receive such wide and diverse coverage, exemplified in the public response to events such as air strikes against Hanoi . Despite such prolific publicity, seldom mentioned were a comparative handful of men who provided services vital to those headline-making missions -AFCS communicators and air traffic controllers. Communication responsiveness to the massive operations in Southeast Asia brought together a legion of specialists performing every known communications-electronics function, and devising new ones as the combat situation dictated. The war in Vietnam dramatically tested the responsiveness of communication operations to the varied demands of tactical combat operations and counterinsurgency. The installation of technologically advanced communication systems in Southeast Asia provided a stark contrast to the barren countryside. Here, native Vietnamese and their ox cart are dwarfed by tropospheric scatter communication antennas at Pleiku AB. South Vietnam. in 1966. 117 THE ADVISORY YEARS 1961-1965 One of the most important functions performed by the allied air control system was that of air traffic con I. trol. The first United States Air Force team deployed to Southeast Asia for this support was a detachment of the 1st Mobile Communications Group, which arrived in Thailand on 1 5 February 1 961 , to assist in providing air route traffic control for the Thai Air Force. Subsequently, other teams were deployed to the area to support the 2d Air Division, the Vietnamese Air Force, and other allied forces. At the end of December 1961, because of rising tensions in the area, the Pacific Air Forces directed that a tactical air control system be installed and operational in South Vietnam within two weeks. At this time, mainland Southeast Asia was virtually devoid of modern communications systems. The available airfields and communication facilities were outdated, largely of French design, and difficult to maintain. In response to the request of the Pacific Air Forces, the 1st Mobile Communications Group was tasked to provide voice and teletype service at Tan Son Nhut, Pleiku, Da Nang, and Nha Trang, South Vietnam. This represented the beginning of a lengthy and heavy involvement for AFCS in Vietnam. Reminiscent of events at Atsugi Airfield in the closing days of World War II, the initial activity in Southeast Asia demonstrated the tradition of communications preceding other defense elements into an area. After the first aircraft landed without the benefit fI Portable air control towers such as this one were set up to direct planes into areas where permanent or fixed equipment did not exist. of navigational aids at a new bare base site, AFCS personnel immediately unloaded equipment to prepare for the installation of facilities to provide communications between operating locations. Getting the necessary facilities in and out of difficult locations validated the importance of inter-service teamwork. AFCS mobile communication personnel and equipment supported combat operations through facilities such as this makeshift con trol tower at Fire Base Phouc Vinh, South Vietnam . 118 A C-141 aircraft rolls past the radar approach control vans located between the two runways at DaNang AB, South Vietnam. Inside the vans, air traffic controllers of the 1972nd Communications Squadron directed all aircraft in the DaNang area 24 hours a day . Transportable facilities, such as this m obile cont rol tower operated by two members of t he 1st Mobile Communications Group, gradually gave w ay t o permanent f acilities. To unite the expanding number of AFCS detachments in Thailand and South Vietnam, Headquarters AFCS established the Southeast Asia Communications Region on 8 January 1962, with headquarters Clark AB, Philippines. Immediately following the creation of this region, requirements for fixed , rather than mobile communication and electronic, equipment were identified for several locations in Southeast Asia, including Tan Son Nhut, Don Muang, Bien Hoa, Pleiku, Nha Tran, and Da Nang. In response , on 1 May 1962, AFCS activated the 1964th Communications Squadron at Tan Son Nhut, South Vietnam . Lt Col Kenneth Keyte was its first commander. In October, this unit was elevated to group level and was given responsi bil ity for four detachments in Vietnam and two in Thailand . As air operations increased in Southeast Asia, and as it became apparent that extended use of contingency gear was inefficient, efforts increased in 1963 to transfer most navigational aids and air traffic control facilities from the 1st Mobile Communications Group to the 1964th Communications Group. Although the mobile communication detachments were used in a variety of emergency situations, their primary function was to provide combat support. Detachments of the 1st Mobile Communications Group were frequently deployed to Southeast Asia tactical air bases which consisted merely of a runway, a portable water supply, and the necessary air traffic control and navigational aid equipment to support Air Force operations. This responsiveness was illustrated, for example, during the Gulf of Tonkin incident on 119 SHU LIN KOU -1 --LEGEND--------, @ REGION HEADQUARTERS 0 COMMUNICATIONS GROUP UNG KUAN -3 TAIWAN en C) MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS [MDC] GROUP c:::: --4 ::1: F"T'1 en --4 > en 0 > > C"') .... C) N 0 3:: 3:: c:::: ::z:: 0 - --4 C) u ~~ -> ::z:: PHILIPPINE IS ~~CJ'Si en 0 ::::c F"T'1 C"') - C) ::z:: A communications site near Monkey Mountain. South Veitnam. 4 August 1964. The Group deployed 134 people and 156 tons of equipment to Southeast Asia within only eight days. Such large airlift operations and the general increase in air traffic in Southeast Asia generated several problems for air traffic controllers. During the early sixties, navigation throughout the area was based largely upon outdated equipment augmented by AFCS's mobile navigational aids and control towers. Often AFCS teams occupied control towers alongside Thai or Vietnamese personnel to facilitate local traffic handling at airfields shared by both nations. Large deployments of aircraft through sovereign airspace without prior notification to host air traffic control agencies ca used some difficulties. Moreover, there was some dissatisfaction with host nation services at certain locations. These conditions created several delicate diplomatic problems for the Air Force. Although United States Air Force methods could not be forced upon the sovereign nation controllers , AFCS personnel worked closely with them, promoting "assimilation by example" as a primary training method. Requirements for support in various areas of communications-electronics increased with time. Teletype circuits in Southeast Asia caused many problems in 1962 due to serious logistics deficiencies . Premature deployment of nonsupportable new equipment in the lush jungle environment resulted in poor performance. Lack of air conditioning for the sophisticated, heat-sensitive equipment and the general lack of proper supply support for all equipment added to these troubles. Despite this situation, however, the teletype centers operated by the 1964th Communi cations Group at Tan Son Nhut, South Vietnam, handled 1, 775,000 messages in 1963. Teletype equipment shown in this photo of the communications center at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, required increased air conditioning and supply support. 121 AFCS played a prominent role in the engineering, procurement, and installation of a vitally inportant tropospheric scatter system to handle long-haul communications throughout Southeast Asia. By September 1962, a 72-channel trunking system had been completed which provided the heart of fixed communications programmed for the area. This system con nected Saigon, Pleiku, Da Nang , and Nha Trang, and was given final certification on 1 0 July 1963. As requirements for weather data from Vietnam increased, the weather relay center at Tan Son Nhut became operational on 26 January 1964. AFCS personnel also installed a wideband communications system with 60 voice channels between Nha Trang, South Vietnam, and Clark AB, Philippines using submarine cable and microwave systems. This project was completed in December 1964. The assumption of flight checking responsibilities for some Army navigational aids by the 1867th Facility Checking Flight also increased AFCS activity in Vietnam . Flight checking in Southeast Asia could be very dangerous. Navigation equipment often had to be set up outside the base security perimeter and low-flying, incoming planes were inviting targets for Vietcong sitting off the end of the runway. An increase in Vietcong activities in the area of Tan Son Nhut AB made ground fire a serious hazard to aircraft, prompting controllers to develop new procedures, calling for a higher altitude final approach . Despite such efforts, AFCS fl ight checking aircraft were hit by hostile fire 25 times by mid-1969. A tropospheric scatter antenna (AN/TRC -1 03) at Clark AB, Philippines. An AFCS sergeant measures the approach angle of an incoming aircraft during a check of the tactical air navigation unit at Chu Lai Marine Air Station. Vietnam. 122 THE BUILDUP 1965-1970 The mid-sixties was a period of dynamic growth for United States participation in the Vietnam War. The most dramatic increase in military personnel strength occurred in the last half of 1965, as troop levels rose from about 60,000 in July to nearly 250,000 by the end of the year . Late in the year, new troops arrived at the rate of over 300 per day. The requirements for initial and follow-on communications-electronics support proved monumental. The situation in Vietnam presented American forces with unprecedented problems. For the communicators entering the area in 1965, there were no welldeveloped communication systems serving either government or commercial needs. Unpredictable guerrilla insurgents prohibited the use of cable or wire outside protected areas and only exacerbated this problem . In earlier wars in Europe and Korea, military forces could reconstruct and use buried cables and remnants of the previous communication structure, but in Vietnam, the only significant communication facilities available in 1965 had been installed by United States forces. These included teletype and tele phone terminals at the eight main bases in Vietnam : Tan Son Nhut, Bien Hoa, Pleiku, Nha Trang, Binh Thuy, Cam Ranh, Phan Rang , and Da Nang. There was also a tropospheric scatter system linking Saigon with Thailand and Da Nang AB via Nha Trang AB; high frequency, single sideband radio to Thailand, Okinawa, and the Philippines; a technical control facility in Saigon; and a small telephone plant at each base. The military buildup in Southeast Asia especially strained the fledgling AUTODIN network when traffic at Clark AB, Philippines increased from 500,000 to 950,000 messages per month in 1965. The result was an unprecedented demand for fast, accurate, and dependable communications throughout the area . AFCS responded to these demands by deploying parts of several of its mobile communication groups as well as assigning many of its communicators to combat zones. The command also expedited plans to upgrade and extend AUTODIN services in Southeast Asia and expand the Clark and Hickam relay centers. Air traffic operations multiplied at a rate parallel to increases in personnel and communication equipment. At Tan Son Nhut AB the lowest volume of air traffic handled in any single month in 1965 was only slightly short of the traffic total in 1964. At peak periods, the single runway accepted as many as 180 aircraft In 1965. many locations in Southeast Asia were forced to rely on revetted power units, such as these deployed to Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam. Working together, a Vietnamese sergeant and an AFCS serv iceman hoist radar equipment to a tower at Binh Thuy AB. South Vietnam. 123 local children observe a communications technician splice cable at Don Muang AB, Thailand . an hour. Air traffic figures for Bien Hoa AB exemplified this increase, rising from a total of 11,870 operations in January 1965, to 27,807 operations in June. By the summer of 1965, navigational aid installations in Southeast Asia had expanded to the point that the two C-140A aircraft assigned to the 1867th Facility Checking Flight at Clark AB, Philippines, could not keep pace with flight check requirements. As a result, AFCS transferred the two C-140s assigned to the 1868th Facility Checking Flight , at Wiesbaden AB, Germany, to the Pacific. The tremendous increase in military forces in Southeast Asia necessitated changes in the management structure of AFCS to meet communication requirements in a combat environment. The buildup affected every AFCS worldwide unit and the strategic location of portions of the Pacific Communications Area caused it to be committed heavily in the area . On 1 November 1965, a new organization, the 1974th Communications Group, was formed at Karat AB, Thailand, to augment United States forces in Southeast Asia . Lt Col Charles R. McMahan became its first commander. Overlaps in command and con - A technical controller verifies the status of a communications system in the Don Muang AB , Thailand, Navigational Aid and Communications Management Office. trol complicated the military management structure during this period. The appointment of the commander of the 1964th Communications Group, Tan Son Nhut, Vietnam, as t he Deputy Commander for the Southeast Asia Region meant that the 1964th Communications Group and the 1974th Communications Group in Thailand had a single commander, with the 1964th staff managing the communications-electronics effort for both countries. The structure was further complicated with the realization that the 1st Mobile Communications Group functioned under the command control of AFCS, but the operational control of the Pacific Air Force. Because the Pac ific Air Force had overall Air Force communication support responsibility in Southeast Asia , the Group's assets were often combined with those of other orga nizations to meet increasing commitments. This frequently resulted in the installation of a mobile communications or air traffic control facility as emergency mission support and subsequently having it transferred to a fixed unit. This forced the Group to continually reconstitute its equipment to maintain sufficient resources to support Southeast Asia efforts. 124 The military buildup required a parallel escalation of AFCS personnel. To augment their efforts, the command authorized extensive periods of temporary duty assignments and increased the length of the work week. Accomplishing the AFCS mission with too few people to meet constantly in creasing requirements made long work weeks the norm in Southeast Asia. Because manpower requirements greatly exceeded the number of available military personnel, the Defense Department established Project Mix Fix, designed to replace military personnel in non-combat support positions with civilians. AFCS promoted an accelerated recruitment program to fill its 166 authorized Mix Fix positions by 31 December 1966. Demands for increased weather support prompted the installation of fixed meteorological equipment throughout the com bat area . This wind speed and direction set provided crucial data to Air Force personnel responsible for forecasting weather. Utilizing civilians to augment military personnel in Southeast Asia relieved some of the manning problems. Here, a civilian technician inspects a tandem switch at Pleiku AB. South Vietnam, which w~l give the base and the surrounding area direct, long-distance dialing capability. The switchboard at Don Muang AB. Thailand , manned by AFCS and Royal Thai Air Force personnel, provided telephone support to forces early in the sixties. 125 AFCS also used the native population to augment the work force . Here , a Thai national places a long distance call from Korat AB . Thailand. The intensification of combat and tactical supply operations in Southeast Asia generated a need for greater air conditioning and supply of communication facilities. What in other areas and under other operating conditions would seem abnormally high air conditioning requirements were considered absolutely essent ial in Southeast Asia. Beyond the heat, dust, and high humidity that plagued communication equipment in the area, there were other virtually insoluble problems. Remote monitor and control lines were cut by water buffalo and the presence of poisonous snakes necessitated some rather unique actions. Special bridges were constructed in some areas to provide access to communication facilities that were cut off by snake-infested waters. Another problem arose with the need to remove trees to construct a runway in Thailand. In most places this would have been a relatively simple matter, but by Thail and custom, removal of the trees required a reli gious ritual. Untold manhours w ere al so expended in Southeast Asia replacing and repairing cable damaged by contractors during the building and expanding of air bases . By 1966, the dramatic increase in air operations could be attributed largely to the steady increase of land ings and take-offs in the Pacific area , primarily in Southeast Asia . The South Vietnamese airspace was rapidly becoming the most crowded in the world . CorTwo airmen from the 1877th Communications Squadron at Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, repair underground telephone ridors used by non -tactical military and civilian aircraft cables . 126 This radar approach control facility at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, kept pilots out of trouble. AFCS technicians who manned this equipment were responsible for keeping aircraft separated while flying in bad weather, assisting with emergency landings and directing pilots away from restrict ed areas . were cluttered with tactical strike aircraft, battledamaged and low-fuel aircraft emergencies. At the busiest bases in Southeast Asia there were times when as many as 60 aircraft were waiting to take off while several aircraft circled overhead waiting for their turn to land. Further complicating these operations were enemy attacks on bases involved in launching and recovering aircraft. AFCS air traffic controllers displayed their professionalism on 1 3 April 1966, during a Vietcong attack on Tan Son Nhut AB. Although personnel evacuated the control tower due to a f ire and the possibility of an explosion in a nearby fuel storage area, radar approach control personnel remained in the van and kept contact with tower traffic as well as maintained control over their own. In March 1966, AFCS provided the first communication support for Project Sky Spot in Vietnam. This was a radar system in which controllers operating mobile radar sets tracked aircraft, corrected their direction and speed, and signalled pilots when they were over their targets. This radar permitted a controller to accurately direct aircraft through poor weather conditions, in darkness, and on strikes against enemy positions. Members of the 1877th Communications Squadron at Bien Hoa AB . South Vietnam, feed telephone cable into a ditch. 127 In contrast to earl ier phases of the Pacific Communications Area effort in Southeast Asia, when rapid reaction to urgent communication requirements was t he primary concern, by 1967, AFCS directed its efforts toward greater expansion of the fixed units and their capabilities . Another major development was the public acknowledgement of United States activities in Thailand and that country's affirmation that it was actively supporting the South Vietnamese effort. Under the supervision of the Ground Electronics Engineering and Installation Agency, AFCS installed in terim AUTODIN facilities in Southeast Asia, providing improved data services to commanders. Also, the Southeast Asia coastal cable began operating in November 1967. Known as Project Seed Tree, the system consisted of six submarine cable sections surrounding the coasts of South Vietnam and Thailand with cable heads at Da Nang, Qui Nhon, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh Bay, and Vung Tau in Vietnam and Satahip, Thailand . The m~itary buildup of forces in Southeast Asia had an impact on the area far beyond that of creating a modern communication network. Here, men of the 1880th Communications Squadron at Binh Thuy AB, South Vietnam, distribute clothing they solicited from families and friends in the United States to the people of Phong Dien , a hamlet near the base . Youngsters from the Tan Mai Orphanage in the village of Tan Two AFCS outside maintenance men work on telephone lines Hiep exercise their lungs as they receive their weekly baths below the control tower at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam. from the 1877th Communications Squadron, Bien Hoa, AB. 128 To expedite vital messages to Vietnam from Washington, the Air Force contracted civilian firms to lay an undersea communications cable . Here, members of the ship crew coil the underwater cable on the deck of the ship. The Vietnam conflict continued to drain AFCS resources of qualified airmen , since the manpower authorizations for Southeast Asia totaled 5, 299, in cluding 3 ,061 for Vietnam and 2,238 for Thailand. In July 1967, AFCS suffered its first battle casualty in Vietnam when SSgt David Fasnacht was killed during a mortar attack on Da Nang AB . In September, the command sustained two more battle casualties . Requirements in Southeast Asia demanded coopera t ion bet ween all American forces involved in the con flict. Units other than those assigned to the Southeast Asia Communications Region became involved in providing flight facilities to augment the forces in the area. The 1958th Communications Squadron at An dersen AFB , Guam, provided air traffic control for numerous Tactical Air Command fighter squadron ro tations and thousands of B-52 sorties and tanker support aircraft to service the fighters headed toward Vietnam. Also, more than half of the aircraft traffic handled by Clark AB, Philippines, was either inbound or outbound Southeast Asia traffic. Vietnamese girls aided in the effort to complet e the under water communications system by digging t ren ches for the cable on the beaches. 129 Emergency cable repairs in Southeast Asia often took AFCS technicians into deep quagmires . Ten bases in Vietnam provided air traffic services , six of which were Vietnamese Air Force bases where AFCS controllers supplemented the control tower personnel and fully manned the air traffic control radars. These bases included Bien Hoa, Binh Thuy, Da Nang, Nha Trang, Pleiku, and Tan Son Nhut. At the remaining bases , including Cam Ranh Bay , Phan Rang , Phu Cat, and Tuy Hoa, AFCS controllers fully manned both t he control towers and the radars . AFCS and Vietnamese controllers worked hand-in-hand in Towers such as this one high above the Tan Son Nhut AB , air traffic control facilities throughout Vietnam. South Vietnam, flightline controlled all aircraft landing and t aking off at airfields throughout Southeast Asia. 130 Air traffic control was a distinct problem for AFCS in Vietnam. Handling high -density traffic was no easy task for even the best-trained , experienced controller, and it was even more difficult for the relatively inexperienced controllers in Southeast Asia. These con trollers operated some of the busiest bases in the world, as combined monthly control tower and radar operations at Da Nang and Bien Hoa ABs averaged more than 71 ,000 and 67,000 respectively in 1967. About 75 percent of the traffic into Da Nang was unannounced, with notification of intent to land seldom made before the aircraft was directly in the control area . The nature of the war being waged in Vietnam and the monsoon weather contributed to other air traffic control problems. To provide improved service for air navigation in Vietnam, the Southeast Asia Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) center was completed at Tan Son Nhut AB in October 1967. With all four of the command's C-140 aircraft being used in support of Southeast Asia flight check and service evaluation functions, AFCS found its abil ity to provide these services throughout the remainder of the command limited. Still , in August 1967, increasing demands in the Vietnam conflict prompted AFCS to deploy two EC-47 aircraft from Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, to Clark AB, Philippines, to augment the C-140s. As military operations increased in Southeast Asia. AFCS controllers often worked under fire to maintain control of aircraft traffic. AFCS controllers used a variety of radar equipment to control aircraft. Here, a C-123 aircraft passes a radar approach control unit at Cam Ranh Bay AB, South Vietnam . 131 Early in 1968, the United States Army mounted a major campaign in Southeast Asia, which required a massive airlift of troops and equipment to specified combat areas . To support communication require ments for this buildup, AFCS deployed portions of the 5th Mobile Communications Group to Southeast Asia on a temporary loan basis. The AFCS tradition of being the first in and the last out of combat areas was once again fulfilled during the Tet Offensive in January 1968. Since 1966, communicators from the 1st Mobile Communications Group had supported Special Forces and Marines at Khe Sanh . When the base came under attack early in 1968, AFCS communicators left only when the Marines abandoned the base for tactical reasons. Throughout the seige, a team from the group kept tactical air navigation equipment operating . When the facilities were destroyed during the heaviest enemy attacks, they were quickly replaced so that vital navigational aids for the critical airlift support to Khe Sanh was maintained. The highest military combat award for gallantry in action ever received by a member of AFCS, the Silver Star, was presented to SSgt Vernon 0 . Gentry, of the 1st Mobile Communications Group for actions at Khe Sahn in February and March, 1968. SSgt Gentry, an air traffic control team chief assigned to the 1972d Communications Squadron, exposed himself to hostile fire in an effort to keep vital navigational aids at Khe Sanh in operating condition . Extensive cable damage resulted from Mortar attacks damaged this signal site at Vung Chua , South Vietnam, in 1968. Damaged circuits required that AFCS technicians be constantly ready to provide repair services to insure continued operation of important communications facilities. 132 the intensified enemy attacks during this period and caused temporary loss of hundreds of telephones and special circuits. During the Tet Offensive, there were 25 instances of cable damage due to mortar and rock et attacks at Tan Son Nhut AB. Monsoon rains caused additional damage as water seepage knocked out cables that had no other visible damage. As a result of persistent high -level activity throughout the area, AFCS's global air traffic control operations reached an all -time high , handling 19,539,435 operations during 1 968. Air traffic controllers at three bases in Vietnam routinely handled traffic exceeding that at America's busiest airport, O' Hare Airport in Chicago. With a single runway, controllers at Bien Hoa In 1968, Bien Hoa AB. South Vietnam, earned the title of the world's busiest airport when air traffic controllers from the 1B77th Communications Squadron handled more than 850,000 takeoffs and landings. AFCS controllers handled a world record of aircraft traffic from the Bien Hoa AB. South Vietnam , control tower in 1968. In the foreground is an HH43B Husky helicopter. AB handled 857,679 operations in 1968 and the traffic count at the other two bases, Da Nang and Tan Son Nhut, was not far behind, recording 846,649 and 804,327 operations respectively on two runways apiece. Each base had about five controllers per shift who handled everything from routine flights to battledamaged aircraft and Navy aircraft unable to return to their carriers . In contrast, O' Hare had six runways and 99 controllers, handling an average of 650,000 operations during the year. In May, air traffic opera tions at Da Nang AB reached 80,549, an average of 2, 595 operations daily. This count was the greatest known to have occurred at any airport in the world at this time. Civilian controllers at Chicago' s O' Hare International Airport, operate from their modern control tower with the latest Federal Aviation Agency equipment. Although O'Hare is considered the busiest commercial airport in the world, three airfields in Vietnam-Bien Hoa , Da Nang, and Tan Son Nhut-each handled more aircraft per month than the busiest airport in the States in 1968. 133 Air traffic controllers direct aircraft at a busy airfield in South Vietnam. In other actions, the responsibility and control of the Southeast Asia Military Altitude Reservation Facility was transferred from the 13th Air Force to AFCS's Pacific Communications Area late in 1968. This facility had been established in 1966 to coordinate the massive movement of military aircraft in the geographical areas of the 5th, 7th, and 13th Air Forces . In July 1968, the 1974th Communications Group as sumed operational responsibility for five Thailand sites of the Integrated Communication System for Southeast Asia, designed to provide long-haul intercountry communications. The Army maintained overall system responsibility for all but the sites in Thailand . The extent of AFCS support in the Vietnam conflict was demonstrated through the amount of equipment deployed to the area . In 1967 and 1968, the 1st Mobile Communications Group deployed 162 sets of high frequency radios, 25 tropospheric scatter systems, 72 radio relay terminals, 44 telephone systems, 4 7 communications centers, 26 control towers, 22 ground control approach facilities, and 41 tactical air navigation systems, in addition to other equipment. Although troop levels in Southeast Asia began to decline in 1969, AFCS continued to provide essential communications support throughout the area. Command personnel installed six Air Traffic Regulation Centers in Vietnam, and scheduled two more for An AFCS airman assigned to the 1880th Communications Squadron makes a daily equipment quality check of a recorder used in the Binh Thuy AB, Vietnam. Air Traffic Regulation Center. The equipment is used to record all voice communications between aircraft and the center. 134 Thailand during the year . This equipment employed radar and ground-to-air radio to regulate distance and altitude between aircraft. Probably nowhere in the world did the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS) play a greater role in improving the morale of military personnel and their loved ones than in Vietnam . In late 1965, telephone facilities in Vietnam were limited to a single line to the United States, and at most could handle only 30 servicemen' s telephone calls per day at a rate of about $12 for three minutes. High costs and shortages of both equipment and manpower prohibited installation of additional telephone facilities in that area . The chief of MARS offered a solution whereby portable MARS radio stations were airlifted immediately to Vietnam. Servicemen could then speak to the United States through the use of a telephone patch, or they could send a written message, called a MARSgram, which would be relayed by radio teletype to a MARS station equipped to receive the message. The MARSgram was then relayed by radio to a MARS station nearest the serviceman's home. AFCS provided a wide variety of communication equipment to support the Air Force effort in Southeast Asia. This tactical air navigation facility at Pleiku AB, South Vietnam. provided en route and terminal navigation assistance to aircraft. These radio relay antennas near Takhli AB, Thailand, were operated by the 1980th Communications Squadron . 135 Army " Chinook" helicopters from the First Field Forces Command at Nha Trang AB, South Vietnam. assisted in transporting 90-foot antenna poles for AFCS from Qui Nhon to the Phu Cat transceiver building pictured on the right. By 14 December 1965, seven Vietnam MARS stations were operating, and more than 17,000 teletype messages and 400 telephone patches were processed during the 1965-1966 Christmas holiday season. By 1 May 1966, AFCS had established five MARS sta tions in Thailand and by November 1966, 11 MARS frequencies provided direct telephone patching from Vietnam to the United States. During 1966, the 1964th Communications Group placed more than 14,000 telephone calls by way of MARS. The number of messages and phone patches increased with each year. Between 1 January and 30 June 1968, MARS operators handled more than 80,000 phone patches and between 1 July 1968 and 30 June 1969, they handled approximately 210,000 phone patches. During the period between July 1969 and 30 June 1970, an average of 20,000 phone patches a month were made to bring Air Force pe rso nnel in Southeast Asia in contact with their families. The boost to morale was tremendous. As one operator in Da Nang put it, " When a sold ier gets a letter from home, he ' s happy. When he sets down the MARS telephone receiver after talking to someone special back home, he' s ready to scale 1 0-f oot walls." The phone patc hing was nearly a free service for the servicemen . The MARS service itself was free, but the caller might have to pay a dollar or two for the commercial phone call portion of the patch from the MARS civilian operator to the person called . A few MARS stations even paid this charge. A group of businessmen in Omaha , Nebraska , for example, picked up the cost for 70 percent of the MARS calls transmitted 136 through that city. Their bill in 1970 ran about $1 ,500 a month. One of the most prominent MARS stations was Senator Barry Goldwater's station (AFA7UGA) in Phoenix , Arizona, which placed well over 100,000 phone patches between 1967 and June 1973. Military Affiliate Radio Stations in Vietnam provided both backup for official communication systems and message/telephone service for military personnel wishing to contact their families in the United States. Complex computers. such as the one pictured, assigned to the 1882nd Communications Squadron at Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, supported the communication systems managed and operated by AFCS in Southeast Asia. A security policeman at Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, enters the Military Affiliate Radio Station to place a call to the United States. Air Force and Thai personnel use a "cherry picker" to install an antenna at the Military Affiliate Radio Station at Nakhon Phanom AB, Thailand . 137 While still providing extensive communications support throughout Southeast Asia, AFCS began preliminary planning actions in the late sixties to reduce the size of the 1st Mobile Communications Group. An orderly withdrawal without sacrificing all that had been built up in the way of facilities and equipment required thorough planning. Greater training efforts than those of earlier years were necessary to ensure that host nation communicators and air traffic controllers possessed the essential skills to operate and maintain these facilities. Despite preparations for the gradual reduction of American troops in Southeast Asia, the command expected that until the final resolution of United States involvement in the Vietnam conflict, AFCS units would be continually called upon to support contingency and emergency communication re quirements in the Pacific Air Force theater of operations. As combat operations escalated in Vietnam. AFCS personnel took increased measures to ensure their safety. With an M -16 ready in the background. members of the 1877th Communications Squadron man the telephone switchboard at Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam. By the end of the decade, AFCS could look back at its first nine years as a major air command with justifiable pride. The command had established itself as the single Air Force leader in communications-electronics and air traffic control support. During these years , AFCS w itnessed many significant events that affected the entire area of communications management. Diverse interests and needs, from direct operation and maintenance of systems to planning for future systems, caused the activities of AFCS to be interwoven with the interests of all Air Force commands, other government agencies, as well as United States and foreign commercial interests. In 1 964, the Dickerson AFCS personnel found time to aid Vietnamese refugees from the Tet offensive. Men from 1880th Communications Squadron volunteered to build 16 houses for refugees they found living in an elementary school in Binh Lac, a hamlet near Binh Thuy AB, Vietnam. A vital preliminary to turning over dial central offices at Vietnamese bases to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force was the training of Vietnamese in maintenance procedures. Here , an on-the-job trainee soldiers a connection among the maze of wires making up the dial central office at Binh Thuy AB. South Vietnam. as a member of the 1880th Co mmunications Squadron observes. Committee, so named for its chairman, Col Robert W. Dickerson of Headquarters USAF Directorate of Command and Control and Communications, had evalu ated the effectiveness of AFCS as a major command. The committee concluded then that the need for a true single management agency for Air Force communication planning, programming, maintenance, and operation was more urgent than ever before. Experience in Southeast Asia bore this out and it is to the lasting credit of AFCS and its dedicated personnel that the command was able to meet the challenges of the sixties so effectively. 138 By the end of the sixties, AFCS was firmly established as the single manager of Air Force communications and had been the leader in many developments and innovations throughout the decade in all areas of communication systems, including the long-haul tropospheric scatter sites, air traffic control, and microwave relay antenna pictured here. ' . 139 140 THE SECOND DECADE OF MAJOR COMMAND STATUS INTRODUCTION While some would say the growth in responsibilities during the decade of the seventies could not match the dramatic gains by AFCS * in the sixties, AFCC could still look back in 1 981 at some notable achievements in the preceding decade. Certainly, technological advances and the associated communications systems modernization meant constant change in the standard ways of doing things. New programs kept planners, program managers, engineers, and installers busy setting up new and updated communications systems, and, of course, operators busy learning how to twist new dials and adapting to new procedures. Like other Air Force commands, AFCC faced the insatiable demand for new and better systems which, through technological advances, would make the Air Force weapons and managements systems not only more productive, but less costly. Technological imperatives in communications system development, modernization programs, and decreased Southeast Asia activity pressed against AFCC concurrently. However, consolidation, one of the popular ways to reduce forces, affected AFCS in a different way. Confidence in the AFCS service record to the Air Force, along with the more intangible or subjective and po litical factors that bring change to military organizations, prevented AFCS from returning to a subordinate position under the Military Airlift Command in middecade. Instead, during a period so marked by the drawdown of Vietnam, AFCS absorbed communications functions and data processing managership -a technology closely associated with communicat ions -from other commands and agen cies, which resulted in a larger role for AFCC in the total Air Force by 1981 . During the sixties, AFCS maintained a personnel force which represented 4 percent of the Air Force personnel, military and civilian. With acquisition of the Ground Electronics Engineering Installation Agency in 1970, AFCS increased to 5 percent of the Air Force personnel. That percentage remained relatively constant until 1976, when the acquisition of the Strategic Air Command communications responsibilities raised the percentage to 6 percent. Assumption of HO USAF functions and the Air Force Data Automation Agency in 1978, and assumption of communications functions of the Aerospace Defense Command in 1979, assured the vitality of the Communications Command as it began its third decade in 1 981 . The twentieth anniversary of AFCC as a major command was met with some new missions in engineering and installing of communications-electronics and meteorological equipment, and the appropriation of automated data processing functions. But the original mission, which dated back to 1938, remained constant: to provide the communications-electronics, meteorological, and air traffic control services for the Air Force and for other agencies as directed by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. By rationale of the 1960 Williams Report and the single -manager concept, other Air Force commands relinquished their communications activities. By 1981, except in a few special situations, AFCC possessed operational and maintenance control of most communications responsibilities of the Air Force. A cable splicer with the 1974th Communications Group works in a manhole at Scott AFB , Illinois . * The Air Force Communications Service was redesignated the Air Force Communications Command in 1979. The command' s two acronyms, AFCS and AFCC, are employed appropriately to fit the time period under discussion. 141 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES IN THE SEVENTIES Two predominant ideas combined in the early years of the seventies to change the AFCS organizational structure. The first, the Air Staff decision to live with austere budgets coalesced with the second, the recurring effort to develop Air Force communications under a single-manager concept. Advancing technology resulted in worldwide, automated communications Members of the 1842d Electronics Engineering Group at Scott AFS, Illinois , review circuit board negatives. AFCS/GEEIA MERGER AND ITS IMPACT Actions taken by the Air Force to reduce cost and manpower resulted in, among other projects, the consolidation of the Ground Electronics Engineering In stallation Agency (GEEIA) with AFCS in April 1970. Henceforth AFCS would not only furnish, manage, operate and maintain communications-electronics, meteorological, and air traffic control equipment, but would also engineer and install the equipment and facilities. As part of the GEEIA/AFCS merger, AFCS combined its Western, Central, and Eastern Communications Regions with three newly acquired GEEIA regions, all located in the continental United States, into two geographic areas, which compared to that of numbered air forces. Effective 1 May 1970, the Northern Communications Area, with headquarters at Griffiss AFB, New York, and the Southern Communications Area, with headquarters at Oklahoma City AFS, Oklahoma, began management of AFCS continental United States activities. The Northern Communications Area included 39 communications squadrons, four groups, six electronics installation squadrons, and one elec tronics engineering squadron. The Southern Commusystems that required standardization rather than specialization according to an individual command's mission . Consequently, the Air Force conceived communications as functionally oriented, rather than mission-oriented, and AFCS continued with plans to consolidate Air Force communications functions un der its own centralized, more efficient control. Civilian employees augment the AFCC work force. nications Area included 42 communications squadrons, four electronics installation squadrons, one electronics engineering group, and one electronics engineering squadron. Along with the redesignation of the single GEEIA squadron in Europe , the area headquarters in Europe added an engineering and installation deputate to its staff organization. As part of the AFCS /GEEIA merger in the Pacific, four GEEIA squadrons came under control of the Pacific Communications Area , and the new 1843d Electronics Engineering Squadron was ac tivated at Wheeler AFB, Hawaii. Although the consolidation costs for the AFCS and GEEIA merger reached nearly $5 million, an estimated $14 million would be saved the first year and $17 million henceforth. Approximately 2,000 manpower spaces were also eliminated. One of the positive outcomes that came with the consolidation of GEEIA into AFCS was the need for a separate base to accommodate the expanded head quarters. Facilities at Scott AFB, Illinois, where Head quarters AFCS then resided , were saturated, leaving 142 no room for expansion. Consequently, the headquarters moved to Richards-Gebaur AFB, M issouri , near Kansas City . For the first time since World War II , the Air Force Communications Service had its own base. The short move from Scott AFB to Richards-Gebaur AFB took place in the summer of 1970, with the offi- REDUCTION OF INTERMEDIATE Between 1971 and 1973, AFCS el iminated its regions, or intermediate headquarters organizations, in compliance with continuing Air Force budget austerity. When Headquarters AFCS inactivated the 9th and 12th Tactical Communications Regions, all their groups and squadrons, henceforth, reported directly to the Tactical Communications Area headquarters, making that organization similar to the Northern and Southern Communications Areas . The Alaska Communications Region was inactivated and its activities were assumed by the 1931 st Communications Group, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska . Even though the Pacific Communications Area remained the largest AFCS organization, its two subordinate regions were also inactivated and its groups assumed some of the intermediate headquarters functions. Finally, the four regions reporting to the European Communications Area were eliminated and the groups and squadrons reported directly to the area headquarters. Eventually, this consolidation saved several hundred manpower spaces since only a few expanded support staff spaces were required to provide the necessary communications-electronics support to a particular command headquarters or base organization which an AFCS unit served. With this reorganization, the command struct ure had four echelons : headquarters at Richards-Gebaur AFB, areas reporting to the command headquarters, groups and squadrons that reported to areas and command headquarters, and cial assumption of command taking place on 1 5 July 1970. To support the new command headquarters, the 1849th Air Base Wing, with associated consolidated aircraft maintenance, supply , and civil engineer ing squadrons, and the 1849th USAF hospital were designated, activated, and assigned to AFCS. HEADQUARTERS ORGANIZATIONS squadrons, detachments and operating locations that reported to any of the first three echelons. Members of the 5th Combat Communications Group install an 8-foot parabolic antenna at Eielson AFB , Alaska . The an tenna is part of a system to provide communications and air traffic control services during mobilization. WIDENING THE SCOPE OF SERVICE WITH COMMUNICATIONS-ElECTRONICS SUPPORT OFFICES In 1970, following the dictates of lower budgets with centralized communications management, Gen Paul R. Stoney, AFCS commander, directed a feasibility study of AFCS providing communications-electronics staff support to selected commands. Savings of manpower positions did not prove as dramatic as with intermediate headquarters eliminations, partially because AFCS could not submit major reduction proposals without infringing on other commands which AFCS units, as tenants, served. Nonetheless, by providing this staff support to several commands in 1971 and 1972 some manpower was saved and AFCS cou ld claim increased efficiency under the single-management concept . Accordingly, after negotiating joint agreements with the Air Force Logistics Command, Air Training Command, Air University, Air Force Systems Command and several Air Force Systems Command subordinate units, Headquarters AFCS established "Communications-Electronics Support Offices" (popularly called CESOs) to provide the traditional communications-electronics staff functions to the respective commands. Under the common dualhat system, the CESOs served as operating locations of AFCS Headquarters and as a communicationselectronics staff office at major command headquarters. 143 MAJOR PERSONNEL REDUCTIONS IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES In keeping with American free enterprise traditions, AFCS lost part of its role in the Alaska communications business with the sale of the Alaskan Communications System to a commercial carrier. On 8 January 1971, Secretary of the Air Force, Dr Robert L. Seamans, signed the document transferring the Alaskan Communications System from the Air Force to RCA Alaska Communications Inc. By that action, AFCS began the transfer of 37 sites throughout Alaska , valued at $7.6 million. In addition, communicat ions and support equipment at 82 locations in Alaska and Seattle, Washington, valued at $23.9 million were also transferred. The sale of the Alaskan Communications System, and the subsequent deactivation of the 1929th Communications Group at Seattle, and its detachments and operating locations on 30 June 1971 , affected the lives of over 1,000 civilian and military personnel through reassignment, retirement, or separation from the service. Only one problem remained after 1971 in the disposition of this system, that of establishing a final value for the cable ship, Colonel Basi l 0. Lenoir. The Lenoir, pride of Air Force seagoers , had been designed for submarine cable work in the Alaskan inland waterway, and therefore did not require Coast Guard ce rtification as an ocean-going vessel. RCA Alaska Communications Inc., who was purchasing the ship, felt this limitation lessened the ship's worth far below the previously agreed upon price, and the debate and reconsiderations took a few years t o resolve . Although the sale of the Alaskan Communications System technically removed the Air Force and AFCS from commercial business, AFCS still owned and operated the White Alice Communications System, a military network which also transmitted commmercial long-distance traffic. The Air Force organized a project to withdraw completely from the com mercial business by disposing of this system. However, problems among them, difficulties assigning values to the system -delayed completion of the project into the eighties. A White Alice communications site at Cape Lisburne. Alaska. 144 The only ship in the Air Force Communications Service ' s nav y, t he Colonel Basil 0. l enoir, w as used to maintain t he Alaska Communication System's submarine cable from Seattle, Washington, to A laska. SAC COMMUNICATIONS: A BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR AFCS When the Air Force first proposed the single management concept for Air Force communications, prior to the formation of AFCS in 1 961 , the Strategic Air Command (SAC) was allowed to maintain its own communications systems. This action was justified because of SAC' s specialized, mission-oriented communications requirements. Between 1961 and 1975, a series of Air Force committees evaluated SAC/AFCS consolidation possibilities. A 1968 SAC proposal resulted in the 1970 consolidation of selected SAC/AFCS overseas communications maintenance work centers. When SAC acquired control of Griffiss AFB, New York, on 1 July 1970, the 2019th AFCS Communications Squadron remained manager for ground communications-electronics. Thus, the squadron commander became the first AFCS unit commander to serve in the conventional dual -hat role for SAC. Between June 1970 and January 1975, both SAC and AFCS made comprehensive studies of the feasibility of AFCS assuming responsibilities for SAC's communications. By September 1975, both commands approved the formal plan to form the Strategic Communications Area. On 30 January 1976, the Air Staff gave its final approval. Similar to the Tactical Communications Area organizations, with only slight va riations to be expected with complicated reorganizations , this new area organization would have a dualhatted AFCS area commander serving as the communications deputy to the SAC Commander in Chief with the responsibility for managing SAC communications matters. On 1 July 1976, a realignment ceremony was held at Offutt AFB, Nebraska. Gen Russell E. Dougherty, SAC Commander in Chief, told the au dience that AFCS could not have a better present for its 15th anniversary than the 5,000 SAC communi cators. Maj Gen Ru pert H . Burris , AFCS Commander, said that he was proud to welcome t he dedicated SAC commun icators into t he A FCS org an ization. Finishing t ouches are completed on a new communications tower. 145 ADDITIONAL CONSOLIDATIONS BROADENED AFCS RESPONSIBILITIES In mid-decade, the same kind of impetus provided by the Air Staff to evoke communications consolidations of SAC and AFCS produced consolidation plans for additional major commands' communications functions . Between July and November 1974, AFCS formed joint working groups with the Air Training Command, the Air Weather Service, the Air Force Security Service, and the Aerospace Defense Command. These commands struggled to retain responsibilities long considered their own, but technical necessity overrode traditions and AFCS assumed new responsibilities when the debates ended. By April 1976, AFCS was providing telecommunications center maintenance for seven centers of the United States Air Force Security Service. Redefinition of that command's mission delayed further consolidations for two years. Early in 1979, as part of an overall reorganization of the United States Air Forc e Security Service, redesignated the Electronics Security Command, AFCS assumed operating and maintenance functions at 13 telecommunications centers as well as secure voice service within these centers. As the operating command, the Electronics Security Members of the 1923d Communications Installation Group,Command maintained operational management Kelly AFB , Texas , install conduit on the glide slope antenna responsibilities through the AFCS Communications tower. The tower is part of a new electronic system (the Electronics Support Office. GPN-29 solid state instrument landing system) that guides aircraft to the primary landing runway at Holloman AFB. New Mexico . In June 1976, AFCS acquired the ground communications-electronics maintenance functions from four Air Training Command bases, and in Oc tober 1977, acquired similar responsibilities from the Air Weather Service. Also in 1976, AFCS assumed the maintenance responsibilities for the Aerospace Defense Command 's ground-to-air transmitter and receiver antennas at 50 worldwide locations. Although this was not a large portion of the communications-electronics responsibilities of the Aerospace Defense Command, it served as a prelude to the larger assumption of that command's communications in October 1979, when AFCS gained 1 ,800 new people and new responsibilities as a result of the Air Force decision to inactivate the Aerospace Defense Command. These new responsibilities fell into two basic areas . The first, to provide communications support and electronics and sensor maintenance of specialized equipment for missile and space surveillance. The second, to provide the same support for the operation of the nation' s air defenseforce command and control network, AFCS assumed control of squadrons working on the ballistic missile radar sites, including the new PAVE PAWS, phased array, radar located at Eglin AFB, Florida; squadrons A maintenance technician with the 1974th Communications Group uses a handset to monitor a telephone line . 1 46 Radio receiver sites, such as this one at Laughlin AFB, Texas , are often located in desolate areas . l ' l I Members of the 1926th Communications and Installation Group from Robins AFB . Georgia , complete the installation of an antenna tower during an exercise at Eglin AFB , Florida. working on communications monitoring functions for the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at Clear , Alaska, and Thule AFB, Greenland; and squadrons providing communications support for the NORAD Communications Operation Center in Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado. AFCS also took over the unique 1954th Radar Evaluation Squadron at Hill AFB, Utah. AFCS received other major increases in its mission responsibilities in the late seventies, raising the AFCS manpower percentage in relationship to the Air Force to almost 6 percent. The additional responsibilities came not so much from a continuing implementation of the single manager concept, but from congressional and Department of Defense desires to decrease management overhead. The Air Staff reasoned that by realigning certain headquarters functions they could enhance management control of various programs as well as lower costs and overhead expenses . The transfer of responsibilities tacitly expressed Air Force confidence that it could handle broadened communications responsibilities. The first mission increase came in April 1978, when the Air Staff announced the elimination of the office of Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications and Computer Resources, and the assumption of 54 of that office's functions by AFCS . Many of the new responsibilities simply augmented or expanded previous command functions, including programs for telecommunications center consolidations, Automated Digital Network (AUTODIN), the Automatic Voice Switching Network (AUTOVON), the Automatic Se cure Voice Communications, and the Digital European Backbone system. The most important responsibilities came with the AFCS assumption of the Air Force Data Automation Agency mission in June 1978. On 30 June 1978, as a part of a general realignment of USAF Headquarters and selected separate operating agencies, the Air Force Data Automation Agency was disestablished. The following day, the Office of Deputy Commander for Data Automation was established within AFCS headquarters. The newly created organization assumed the responsibility of providing data processing support to the Air Force and other fed eral agencies as directed by Headquarters USAF. The consolidation of data automation resources under the Deputy Commander was intended to provide centralized management of data automation services within the Air Force . The Deputy Commander for Data Automation accomplished his mission through nine data automation centers described. 147 Three centers-the AF Data Systems Design Center, the AF Data Systems Evaluation Center, and the Phase IV Program Management Office-were located at Gunter AFS, Alabama. The Air Force Data Systems Design Center, the largest of the AFCC data automation centers, was charged with the design, development, programming, testing, implementation and maintenance of standard automated data processing systems. The center was also responsible for automatic data processing system management of three Air Force standard computer systems used at all bases and major command headquarters. A second center, the Air Force Data Systems Evaluation Center, conducted independent assessments of automated data processing systems during their life cycle . Evaluations were performed during the conceptual, definition, development, test, and operation phases of new systems, as well as during major modifications of existing systems, as presented and used, were effective and satisfied user requirements. In additon , the center also provided expert consultant support to program managers. A third center, the Phase IV Program Management Office, was charged with providing the management and technical direction necessary to replace current base-level computer systems with a new state-of-the-art system in order to adequately support the Air Force's mission. The Phase IV Program Management Office was also responsible for the acquisition of the lnterservice/Agency Automated Message Processing Exchange. Automated data processing activities for the Air Force and other agencies of the government are managed by AFCC . This includes testing, program management evaluation, simulation. hardware and software acquisition. and computer performance evaluation. / Technicians enter data into a video display terminal in the computer operations center of the Air Force Communications Computer Programming Center, Tinker AFB. Oklahoma. Three other centers were located on the east coast. The Air Force Computer Acquisition Center, located at Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts, was responsible for providing assistance in the preparation of specifications and the technical guidance necessary for the selection and acquisiton of automated data processing systems, or elements thereof, f or the Air Force. The Air Force Data Services Center, located in the Pentagon, processed and produced management data, consulting and program analysis, modeling and information systems design, and related progamming services for all elements of Headquarters USAF, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other assigned federal agencies . The Federal Computer Performance Evaluation and Simulation Center, located in the Washington , D.C . area, was established in 1972 by the General Services Adminstration to provide computer performance evaluation services to all agencies of the federal government. The Air Force, 1n recognition of its expertise in the field of data automation, was designated as the operating agency by the General Services Administration . The Ce nter, funded by the General Services Administration, provided , on a fully reimbursable basis, technical assistance, support and services for the federal government of simulat1on, analysis, and performance evaluation of automatic data processing systems. 148 In addition, AFCC had centers located at Scott AFB. Illinois, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, and San Antonio, Texas. The 2199th Computer Services Squadron, provided automatic data processing services to Headquarters AFCC and the area headquarters. The AF Communications Computer Programming Center developed, implemented, maintained, and enhanced the operational software for designated communicationselectronics-meteorological computer systems. The San Antonio Data Service Center provided data processing support to area Air Force bases and designated federal agencies . It was the first of several regional centers to be established by the Air Force. The efforts of the approximately 2 , 600 military and civilian personnel at the various centers ensured that the ever increasing demands of commanders for more information, provided ever more rapidly, were met. At the same time, the work done by AFCC maintained the Air Force ' s position at the forefront of the highly technical and rapidly expanding field of automated data processing . , ......_ The ma!Jnetic tape library at the sign Center. Gunter AFS. Alabama . BACK TO SCOTT AND FURTHER REORGANIZATION AFCS had managed its own base at Richards -Gebaur AFB , Missouri, for only four years when the Air Force, on 21 November 1974, announced the decision toterminate AFCS as a major command and to place it as a technical service under the Military Airlift Command at Scott AFB , Illinois . The Air Force, following congressional guidance, wanted to reduce management headquarters and other support function management, with an avowed purpose of maintaining the na tion's combat capability with fewer resources . AFCS civilians, the civilian populace around Richards-Gebaur AFB. and Missouri politicians hotly contested the move before the federal district court. Environmental impact studies and further court-ordered delays prevented the move until late 1977. By that time, an Air Force alternative to the plan , one which maintained AFCS as a major command , with Headquarters Military Airlift Command assuming some common, nontechnical, support functions in a shared -staff arrangement, was accepted as the final plan . By November, over 1,000 personnel made the move to their new home at Scott AFB. In the herculean moving task, AFCS relocated over 2 . 3 million pounds of government property . including office furniture , communications-electronics equipment, aircraft supplies, and computer assets . With an increase of over 2,000 total authorizations to Scott AFB, and a projected payroll of $35 million, the total economic impact of the relocation was worth over $1 00 million to th e local economy. Further evidence of AFCS's increasing role in the Air Force came on 1 5 November 1979, when the Air Staff exchanged the word "command" for " service " in the command's title, making it the Air Force Communications Command. The date was singularly appropriate since 1 5 November marked the 41st anniversary of the establishment of the original system , that was to evolve into AFCS, the Army Airways Communications System in 1938. In June 1981, shortly before its twentieth anniversary as a major command, AFCC underwent another reorganization . The paramount objective w as to improve the readiness of combat forces by providing more responsive support to the Military Airlift Command. Prior to this reorganization, the Military Airlift Command was the only unified/specified command with operational forces which were not supported by a dedicated communications area. Recent international crises to which the Military Airlift Command had responded , along with the worldwide scope of its mission, dictated the need for improved communications support. The establishment of an Airlift Communications Division w ith its headquarters at Scott AFB, Illinois, satisfied this need. Its formation, moreover, logically led to other AFCC reorganization initiatives. The Northern and Southern Communications Areas were inactivated and their units were divided according to mission between the Airlift Communications Division, a new 149 Continental Commu!lications Division headquartered at Griffiss AFB, New York, and a new Engineering Installation Center with its headquarters at Oklahoma City AFS, Oklahoma. At the same time, the ground communications-electronics installation equipment, or scheme warehouse, and the scheme management functions were consolidated at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, while the 1815th Test Squadron moved form Scott AFB, Illinois, to Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio . The 1931 st Communications Group in Alaska was realigned from Headquarters AFCC to the Continental Communications Division. As part of the reorganization, the Strategic Communications Area, the Tactical Communications Area, the European Communications Area, and the Pacific Communications Area were all redesignated divisions to conform to the new structure better suited to meet the envisioned needs, advanced technology, and complexity of the eighties. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL The operation and management of air traffic control services for the Air Force and other government agencies continued to be a primary function for AFCC throughout the seventies. With the exception of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), AFCC operated the largest air traffic control system in the world. Even with the decline in military forces through the seventies, AFCC managed over 150 control towers and radar facilities. Proud of its past record and sen sitive about maintaining 1ts reputation, AFCC worked constantly to ensure accurate and safe air traffic control services. Both explicit emphasis from the FAA on developing better equipment, facilities and procedures to handle the larger, more complex. and increasingly more expensive aircraft, and the experience learned in Vietnam prompted zealous effort by AFCC to update air traffic control services. The modernization program affected all of the standard facilities such as control towers, mobile equipment, radios , radar and landing aids, and navigational aids . AFCC also worked on flight information service systems and procedures to further safe air traffic control . By 1980, air traffic controllers could boast of an outstanding record of service, especially as illustrated by the AFCC "save" program. Aircraft saves, defined as the safe recovery of an imperiled aircraft by air traffic controllers when there was reasonable doubt that the aircraft could have landed w ithout assistance, totaled over 1, 700 military and civilian aircraft carrying nearly 7 ,000 personnel between July 1961 and December 1980. The total value of the saved aircraft reached nearly $2 billion . Members of the 239th Combat Communications Flight, St. Louis. erect a flyswatter antenna during their unit training activity near St. Louis. CONTROL TOWERS AND EQUIPMENT One of the most obvious air traffic control facilities, and certainly the most symbolic of air traft.ic control services. was the control tower, which came in varied sizes and shapes. In the mid-seven t ies AFCS monitored construction of over a dozen new towers. Many such as those completed at Hill AFB , Utah, and Pope AFB , North Carolina , had extra space in the control tower cab and supporting rooms to hold additional equipment required for modern operations. Towers at McGuire AFB , New Jersey, and Rich ards -Gebaur AFB , Missouri. combined control cabs with radar approach facilities. Keesler AFB , Mississippi, received the last An AFCC airman works in the air /ground station of the 1974th Communications Squadron. Scott AFB . Illinois . 150 1 This BRITE II radar facility was added to many AFCC control towers to improve air traffic control services. Two AFCS airmen check the AN/GSH-34 recorder installed as part of the control tower modernization program. new tower of t he decade when the construction and fitting out was completed in December 1979. AFCC installed several new control tower equipment systems and programmed others for inclusion in the towers during the decade, both to replace worn out equipment and provide additional help to the operators . For example, beginning in 1979, AFCS worked toward installation of the BRITE system, a television type display which showed radar information in the control tower. Installers completed over a hundred Modernized control tower and support offices at RichardsGebaur AFB. Missouri. systems by 1980. Another control tower modernization program, started in the late sixties, called for in stallation of new control consoles . However, with so many programs competing for limited funds, progress was slow and the program was not completed until 1979, when close to 100 units had been installed. Other aspects of the tower modernization program called for future installation of more adaptable and reliable voice recording equipment, for installation of a landline keying system, and communications control systems. 151 MOBILE AIR TRAFFIC SERVICE EQUIPMENT CHANGES Mobile communications activities in Vietnam pointed to a need for a variety of new equipment and procedures. The need for increased radar coverage control and ruggedness, along with decreased weight for ease of transportation prompted development of a new mobile tower and new radar approach equipment. By the late seventies, AFCC had 22 transportable towers ready for emergencies. A new transportable radar approach control system required over 10 years of engineering and testing. By the late seventies, AFCC had nearly a dozen units that could be airlifted easily to provide tactical landing and control services. The equipment could be broken down into three component units-airport surveillance radar, precision approach radar, and an operational center-to provide the type of service required in a given situation. The equipment was very lightweight, had good capacity, and could operate in foul weather. Air traffic controllers from the 2015th Communications Squadron, Randolph AFB. Texas, work from a mobile tower during the remodeling of the permanent control tower. An air traffic controller from the 2187th Communications Group checks a light gun in a mobile control tower at Aviano AB. Italy. Mobile air traffic control and navigation equipment such as this AN/TPN -19 allowed AFCS to direct aircraft traffic in a Three AFCS airmen install a ground rod for a mobile control variety of contingency and emergency situations. tower. 152 In 1978, AFCS began a readiness program to identify equipment and procedures for employing air traffic control facilities for wartime restoral of damaged air traffic control and landing systems. AFCS promoted a program to provide chemical defense training for AFCS air traffic controllers and communicators, and it worked on developing chemical warfare masks and equipment which would facilitate communications be tween controllers and aircraft. Air traffic control plan ners also worked on a new procedure that would facilitate heavy volume aircraft landings and departures in reasonable safety during wartime situations. And finally, wit h recognition that air traffic control facilities were, by their very nature, quite vulnerable to attack and destruction, AFCC engineers began to give more emphasis to survivability when they constructed air traffic control facilities in potential war areas . Air traffic controllers remove screens from a mobile control tower at Howard AFB , Panama . SOLID-STATE RADIOS Dedicated to the replacement of outdated air-toground radios , especially the radios used for air traffic control, the Rivet Switch program of the seventies epitomized, more than other AFCC modernization programs, the steady progress in meeting urgent Air Force requirements . The replacement of hundreds of tube-type radios with solid -state equipment required a multi-million dollar project. The first important milestone occurred in 1 969 with an appropriation of $14 million and organization of a master implementation plan . AFCS was assigned as the program manager in 1970. Completion of the effort took until 1978. The advantages of the modernization in terms of a much better " mean time between failure" rate , better use of frequency, better frequency stability, and a lower power requirement verified the superb rationale for the program. But, because the civilian sector had already adopted solid-state technology years before, the Rivet Switch program seemed less than timely. As the ini tial Rivet Switch program neared completion, AFCS planners organized a follow-on program, with a m ideighties completion date to modernize associated components such as antennas, multicouplers, radio control units, and audio lockout and override devices. RADAR AND LANDING AIDS In 1971, AFCS obtained its first solid-state instrument landing system at Travis AFB , California. Several dozen additional systems were programmed throughout the decade . Although the new landing aids offered improvements in siting, accuracy, and redu ced maintenance, solid -state instrument landing systems still would not meet longstanding Air Force requirements for highly accurate instrument landing systems. In 1973, the Air Force organized a master program to correct problems with the precision approach equipment and by 1977 AFCS became the program manager. Besides working on the current solid -state instrument landing system and planning a future microwave landing system, a new program was started to replace the outdated airport search radars and precision approach radars with solid-state, relocatable facilities. Installation of these facilities, beginning in 1979, would fill the gaps between radar systems that were highly mobile , but had limited capability, and heavy fixed-base radars that provided full capability, but could not be moved easily. Ultimately, the Air Force hoped to eliminate most of these precision approach radars and radar operators and depend upon instrument landing systems. Long -term plans projected microwave landing systems, which would provide the desired precision guidance necessary to eliminate operator assistance to pilots in landing procedures. As a result of numerous aircraft accidents in recent years, the Air Force recognized the need to alert controllers to potentially dangerous situations. In 1979, AFCS began to install a low altitude alerting system that notified the controller whenever a selected air craft descended below a preprogrammed altitude. Eventuall y , 80 systems would be installed in AFCC facilities . 153 AFCC operates the unique Air Route Traffic Control Center in Berlin. West Germany. The requirements of the air traffic control profession demand that controllers be thoroughly trained and updated on new procedures. Here , a controller in a radar ap proach control unit undergoes his annual recertification. AFCC maintained a variety of air traffic control and navigational aids to support the Air Force flying mission. Solid-state precision approach radar at McClellan A radar approach control unit. AFB . California. 154 This air surveillance radar is used to take aircraft from one airport to another under radar control. Its range varies from Inside a mobile ground control approach van, two AFCC con seven to 240 miles. trollers scan radar scopes. A SR-71 aircraft flies over the ground control approach facility at Beale AFB . California . 155 A B-52 flies over an instrument landing system which gives glide slope and azimuth for aircraft on their final approach . TACANS, OTHER NAVIGATIONAL AIDS, The last of the vintage directional finding navigational aids was removed from AFCS service in 1971 . Other navigational aids like beacons, VORS, and T A CANS, along with FAA navigational facilities continued to provide navigational assistance to pilots between air bases . One of the biggest navigational aid projects in the early seventies was the development and acquisition of mobile TACAN units, and a subse quent program to provide shelters for these T A CANS. Also, late in the decade, the Air Force began to up date fixed-base T A CANS with solid -state components to reduce maintenance costs. AFCS continued to work with a variety of pilot information systems, including the Notice-to-Airman System (NOTAMs), Flight Information Publications products, Terminal Instrument Procedures, and several weather collecting and dissemination systems to AND FLIGHT INFORMATION SERVICES provide pertinent operational information for aircraft movements. As with other elements of AFCS communications, automation of these flight information systems became major programs. AFCS took the first step towards automation of the system that exchanged flight plans and movements with FAA. Beginning in 1972, AFCS employed a computer to automate the computation and transmission of the exchange data between FAA's Air Route Traffic Control Centers and the various Air Force controllers. In 1977, AFCS received new automated equipment to acquire flight information from the National Aerospace System, and in 1978, the command considered expanding and upgrading the Air Force Flight Data Entry Printout to make it comparable to the FAA system. 156 In 1973, the Air Force assigned responsibility for Terminal Instrument Procedures to AFCS . The command provided this navigational aid to pilots in a manual form, but they also planned to automate the compilation of required data. A planner would take from 60 to 70 hours to develop an approach, whereas the proposed automated system would be capable of computing this information in less than 30 minutes. The problem of processing vast amounts of data would make this a diffcult task . An AFCC technician inspects equipment at a Tactical Air Navigation site to ensure it is getting the proper amount of power. When AFCS engineered and installed an automated weather collection and dissemination system for the Air Weather Service in the continentia! United States, and helped plan the development of modern automated system in Europe and the Pacific, it worked towards programming these systems for automated NOTAM information as well as providing pilots with weather information. In 1977, when AFCS assumed res ponsibility for maintenance of the base weather gathering equipment, this included developing plans to replace equipment that was increasingly difficult to repair and maintain. AFCC expected to replace the cloud height set indicators, temperature dew-point measuring sets, and wind measuring systems at hundreds of locations during the mid-eighties. With assumption of the European Central NOT AM Facility in 1969, AFCS became the overall manager for the Air Force NOTAMs. The NOTAM service provided pilots with current information concerning the condition of or changes in any aeronautical facility, service, or procedure that might be a potential flight hazard. Along with the European Central NOTAM Facility, AFCS began the decade with responsibility for central NOT AM facilities in Washington, D.C.; Howard AFB, Canal Zone; Fuchu AS, Japan; and Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam. AFCS also started the decade with a program to modernize the system w ith data processing plans and to consolidate the NOTAM processing centers. Tactical Air Navigation equipment and generator support buildings. This equipment provides aircraft omnidirectional azimuth, identification, and distance information. 157 In 1970, when the Air Force and the FAA cancelled plans to consolidate their NOTAM systems, the Air Force relocated the main Washington, D.C. facility to Carswell AFB, Texas, where computer and automated communications would be available .Between 1971 and 1977, NOTAM facilities in the Canal Zone, Japan , Vietnam, Hawaii , and Europe were closed down. With new data processing equipment at Carswell AFB, AFCS began management of the single, centralized NOTAM facility. AFCS began to improve the NOTAM service with hourly updating of the NOTAM product using a computer data base and by using the high-speed terminals of the weather network to provide the data directly to the flight planning environment. By 1980, AFCC had made plans and tested an automated system that would respond directly to the request for a particular flight planner. The automatic response to query would eliminate current NOTAM summary boards , and decrease flight planning errors. Future plans called for automation of the central facility at Carswell AFB, Texas, and development of a system that would automate the information exchange with FAA NOTAM facilities. AFCS/AFCC AIRCRAFT MISSION Although AFCC owned only a few aircraft, it had a unique mission that required specially equipped planes to inspect and verify the proper functioning of various Air Force electronic navigational aids , and evalu ate operational procedures of tower and ground approach controllers. Under the terms of agreement between AFCC and FAA reached in the late sixties, AFCC assumed worldwide responsibility for checking permanent facilities, thus becoming responsible for emergency missions, contingency, and combat area facilities. At the same time, FAA delegated back to AFCC some of the permanent facility checking mission so that AFCC could maintain flight checking proficiency. AFCS began the decade with 21 flight checking aircraft assigned to two flight checking squadrons in the United States, one squadron in Germany, and one squadron in the Pacific. The inventory included five T-29s, four C-140s, six T-33s, three EC-4 7s , two C-54s, and one new T -39. The acquisi tion of the T -39 aircraft initiated the AFCS aircraft modernization program of the early seventies. By the end of 1970, and concurrent with the move to Richards -Gebaur AFB, Missouri, AFCS acquired three T -29s, one T -39, and one VC -118 as support aircraft. Throughout the early seventies, AFCS replaced several of the old reciprocating engine aircraft with new aircraft, gaining four C-130As, two T-39s, and one NKC-135, and losing three T-29s, one EC-47, and two Banks of air traffic control radio transmitters at laughlin AFB. Texas. An AFCC airman adjusts Tactical Air Navigation equipment. During flight, pilots rely on this navigational aid to give them bearing and range information. C-54s. In 1975, Air Force budget reductions called for the elimination of all reciprocating engine support aircraft, and AFCS lost all of its outdated support aircraft. Shortly thereafter, the Air Force dictated the consolidation of all support aircraft under the Military Airlift Command and AFCS lost its only T -29 support plane. 158 Along with this aircraft reduction in 1975, AFCS re· organized its fl ight checking squadrons, forming them into the present configuration . They deployed one T -39 with the 1867th Flight Checking Squadron and moved that squadron from Clark AB, Philippines, to Yokota AB, Japan; another T-39 aircraft to the 1868th Faci lity Checking Squadron, relocated from Wiesbaden AB, to Rhein Main AB, Germany; and four C-140As to the 1866the Flight Checking Squadron at Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri. Besides updating the electronic equipment in mid-decade, AFCS also repainted the six remaining aircraft with conspicuous high visibility markings . In 1979, shortly after four C-140s were relocated to Scott AFB, Illinois, in conjunction with the command transfer, AFCS repainted all its aircraft in camouflage to ready them for their prime combat mission. AFCS acquired a highly polished VC -118 for administrative support in 1970. AFCS operated several types of aircraft, including this C-130A. 159 Flight checking equipment on board AFCC's C-140A aircraft . An AFCC C-140A freshly painted in camouflage, 1979. LONG-DISTANCE COMMUNICATIONS INTRODUCTION AFCC antecedents for providing long-distance communications service to the Air Force , as with air traffic control, go back to the pre-World War II period . By comparison, the responsibilities were much simpler in those years before communications technology blos somed. Because the United States public utilities, Bell Telephone and Western Union in particular, had such good systems, the Air Force could lease much of their long-distance communications from commercial concerns. Throughout the seventies, AFCC continued to manage some of the leased long distance telephone and message networks as well as the switching stations that sorted out the senders and recipients of comm unications. Overseas, AFCC operated and maintained most military-owned switches and communications networks. To carry out these overseas Air Force communications requirements, AFCC operated and maintained microwave, troposcatter, satellite , ca ble, and fiber optic systems. AFCC also provided much of the engineering and installation expertise for new and updated systems beginning in 1 970 when the Ground Electronics Engineering Installation Agency responsibilities were re-absorbed . By the seventies , many of the long distance communications systems operated by AFCS were wearing out, and required excessive effort to maintain at the desired level of efficiency. Of course, throughout the seventies AFCS continued the maintenance efforts to keep the systems running, and they made constant updates and modifications to the equipment. The importance of technological progress led the command to put special effort into the common-user, long-distance systems, including AUTODIN, the record communications network; AUTOVON , the military telephone system; and AUTOSEVOCOM, the encrypted telephone system . AFCC continued updating long-distance transmission facilities and worked on disposing of the Alaskan Communications System to commercial corporations. The command also gave special effort to several dedicated or specialized communications systems. COMMON-USER COMMUNICATIONS By 1970 the Defense Communications Agency' s, common-user, worldwide record communications syst em , the Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN) was largely completed when the last of the old electromechanical switches was closed down. However, pressure for greater speed and error-free service, along with the increased quantity of traffic imposed by the growth of technological innovations in data processing, and a steady expansion of geographically dispersed, computer-based information systems meant that AFCC and other Department of Defense AUTODIN operators would continually modify and improve the system. In 1970, AFCS operated 10 of the 20 worldwide AUTODIN switching centers. Various improvements during the decade and decreased military activity in Southeast Asia allowed a reduction of the swit ching centers to 15, seven operated by AFCC, even though message traffic volume was increasing. By 1980, the traffic at each switch averaged one message per second, or over 35 million a year. Through all this, AFCC usually maintained an operational rate above the 99.5 % required by the Defense Communications Agency. Several ded icated record communications networks continued in operation throughout the decade. Attempts to consolidate them into the AUTODIN system proved difficult because special requirements prevented the modifications necessary for interconnection. In 1970, the Deputy Secretary of Defense Three AFCC personnel work on the AUTODIN operation systems console . ..... ,.. _..____ A constant check is maintained on all AFCC equipment, as illustrated in ths status monitor board. 160 AFCC operated AUTODIN switching centers for the Air Force, like this one at Gentile AFS , Ohio . This completely automatic system is capable of handling any type of digital input teletype, data cards, or computer-to-computer information. directed an exception to the standard when l _J Q~ ~ u::- d .:<. ~ -:.. ... ' i <.. l ,; .., ..... j ~ ;I ,, ,I; it J -..!. J / -!1!.. I i· I I l I' I ~ 232 In early 1985. the new AN/GPN -22 precision approach radar . part of the AN/GPN -24 program. stands ready for flight checks on the primary runway at Andersen AFB. Guam . The new radar gave more reliable service because it was simpler to operate and provided more accuracy, greater precision , and more detailed display. An AN/GPN -20 radar surveillance antenna with the fixed site/false target antenna mounted on top of the radar antenna. This is an OD-130G radar surveillance indicator associated with the AN/GPN-20 surveillance radar . The indicator is housed in an AN/GSN -12 operations van . 233 Members of the 1835th Electronics Installation Squadron from Norton AFB , California, lower the antenna dish into position on the base of the new AN/GPN-20 surveillance radar stand. The radar installation at Zweibrucken AB, .West Germany , part of the AN/GPN-24 upgrade program, brought state-of-the-art air traffic control equipment to the 2143d Information Systems Squadron. microwave landing systems, which would provide pi~ lots precision guidance without relying on operator assistance. In January 1983, the Secretary of Defense designated the Air Force as the lead service for all Department of Defense microwave landing system ac t ivities. AFCC would have a leading role in this development and would assume responsibility from the Army for developing joint tactical, transportable ground equipment. The transition to microwave land ing systems was to be accomplished in concert with t he civilian sector's microwave program . Planners en visioned fielding a mobile system in the 1987-89 peri od and equipping all Air Force aircraft with microwave landing systems by 1998. A contractor-related program not connected to the general microwave landing system development effort was the system at Shemya AFB, Alaska. This system was originally authorized because it was less This 2 -degree azimuth facility on its 30-foot tower was part costly to install and more capable than current instru of the microwave landing approach system at Shemya AFB, ment landing systems. After reviewing several fund Alaska. ing alternatives, the Air Staff accepted AFCC' s recommendation to award the installation contract to advocating control tower replacement. Consequentprivate industry. The Bendix microwave landing sysly , by the late 1970s, several towers were in need of tem at Shemya was commissioned on 3 March 1984, extensive remodeling or replacement altogether. In less than a year from the signing of the contract . June 1981, to rectify this situation, Headquarters USAF made AFCC responsible for validating and The 120 AFCC-operated control towers were the programming Air Force control tower requirements. most visible and most easily recognizable features of By 1986, AFCC engineers had evaluated existing towthe command's TRACALS system. Most of these ers at 28 bases and had completed t he construction towers had been built in the 1960s or before. After of new facilities at Fairchild AFB, Washington, and 1975, construction had been sporadic, largely be Langley AFB , Virginia. Six others were under conca use there had been no single agency responsible for struction and several were under design review . 234 The microwave landing system at Shemya AFB . Alaska, would provide more accurate information than other landing systems. A 1 C Randy McKinley tracks an aircraft on one of the new radar consoles installed in the 1931 st Information Systems Wing radar final control facility at Elmendorf AFB , Alaska. It w as the last air traffic control facility in Alaska to receive the 00-129 data equipment group and standardized air traffic control radar equipment. 235 Part of AFCC's control tower modernization program included remodeling the tower cab . Members of the 1883d Information Systems Squadron at Beale AFB , California, gained more floor space with the new wraparound-type console. To insure that AFCC's navigation aids were calibrated correctly, the command had three facility checking squadrons to inspect procedures, equipment, and ground-air communications. While the FAA had flight check responsibilities, its obligation to support the Department of Defense requirements in wartime was limited. Under existing agreements, the FAA could determine its own level of flight check support by considering the need , risk , timing , and its ability to accomplish the mission. Moreover, FAA flight crews would serve on a voluntary basis , and the military would provide support including air cover and rescue. Since these caveats severely limited the Air Force' s ability to plan for contingencies, the operating commands believed that an Air Force flight inspection function was critical. For example, this flight checking mission had been especially critical during the Southeast Asia conflict when the command's aircraft had received battle damage on 25 different occasions. It was imperative, therefore, that the Air Force have the capacity to restore failed or damaged navigational aids immediately if it was to operate during times of political tension and war. To develop the necessary crew proficiency in peactime, AFCC performed official flight inspections for the FAA of selected navigational aid facilities . On 20 September 1985, the Army Corps of Engineers transferred the new control tower at Mather AFB, California, shown here under construction, to the base civil engineers . In 1981 , AFCC's fleet totalled four C-140A JetStar and two Rockwell T-39A Saberliner aircraft. These 25 year old aircraft were becoming increasingly inefficient, logistically unsupportable, and were limited in their ability to respond to an increasing number of world-wide missions. Since the C-140As had long been out of production, new parts were costly and difficult to obtain. When the M ilitary Airlift Command inactivated its T-39 fleet in 1985, AFCC's T-39s faced the same logistical problems since they were among the last ones remaining in the Air Force's inventory. Planners at Headquarters AFCC identified the characteristics for a replacement aircraft, reviewed the suitability of several commercial planes, and sought throughout the early 1980s to acquire aircraft that would satisfy this vital mission. Although the Air Staff validated the need for seven replacement aircraft in 1982, austere funding prevented acquiring them. During 1985, the Air Staff reconsidered AFCC's proposal and approved a request for six smaller aircraft with less capability than originally requested . Funding for one aircraft was available for fiscal year 1987, and AFCC hoped to award a contract by 1 October 1986. 236 u An AFCC C-140A aircraft makes a flight check of a final approach control radar . While logging more than 145,000 flying hours, AFCC's six specially equipped planes have had no major mishaps. In 1985 alone they flew 4 .000 hours in support of their mission and played a major role in the Air Force flight safety record set in that year . By 1986, AFCC ' s C-140A aircraft were 25 years old and needed to be replaced . 237 COMBAT COMMUNICATIONS AND DEPLOYMENTS A key theme of AFCC in the early 1980s was combat readiness, the ability to meet Air Force requirements for wartime communications, air traffic control, weather communications, engineering and installa tion , and data automation . Each of the AFCC commanders in the late 1970s and early 1980s initiated efforts to improve the readiness posture of the command. In 1978, for example, Maj Gen Robert E. Sadler initiated a readiness program that established procedures for identifying, analyzing , monitoring, and completing readiness projects. Combat communications received special attention in February 1981 when General Herres created a Deputy Commander for Combat Communications and Reserve Force Mat ters on his staff. On 1 October 1983, General McCarthy went further by creating the Deputy Chief of Staff for Combat Communications. All readiness efforts were then consolidated under this new deputate until new equipment could be integrated into the command and policies established for transferring authority for employing combat communications as sets to using commands during contingencies. On 1 December 1985, AFCC having achieved these goals, General Prather abolished the deputate during a general headquarters restructuring and transferred its functions to other deputates. Increasingly, the emphases in combat communications were survivability, connectivity, and interoperabililty. The command also continued to emphasize protective measures, as w ell as countermeasures, against electronic jamming and chemical warfare which threatened the Air Force ' s ability to communi- Sgt Mark Derryberry, left. and Sgt David Bevis of the 1978th Information Systems Group, handle message traffic for the humanitarian portion of Kindle Uberty 85. the latest in a con tinuing series of regularly scheduled Panama Canal defense exercises held since the treaty went into effect in 1979. cate. Communications realism was stressed in exercises and damage to equipment was simulated so that both communicators and using command personnel could train under realistic wartime conditions. At AFCC's request, the Air Training Command also established courses in Morse Code for radio operators. Morse Code ' s narrow bandwidth and single amplitude Members of the 1849th Engineering Installation Squadron installed the AN/GSC-49 jam-resistant secure communications terminal at the 2162d Information Systems Squadron. Buckley ANGB, Colorado , in May 1984. The AN/GSC-49 greatly improved the unit's communications capability in the post-attack environment. 238 Maintaining equipment Operating switchboards Operating RAPCONS AFCC sought to protect its personnel during chemical warfare attacks by equipping them with special gloves , garments, and masks which also allowed them the ma11ual dexterity to operate sophisticated equipment. Splicing cable Defending sites 239 made it difficult to jam, and thus a reliable, but slower, alternative to voice communications. AFCC also obtained special encryption devices to improve secure voice communications systems. Although many of the secure voice problems caused by old equipment and limited numbers of terminals still existed in 1986, General Prather had made their solution a top priority for the command . One of AFCC's major efforts was to improve the ability of Air Force commands to communicate among themselves as well as with the other services. For example, the Joint Tactical Communications Program, popularly called TRI-TAC, sought to reduce Air Force, Army, and Navy development efforts as well as improve secure, tactical systems which could communicate among themselves. During 1983, the first TRI-TAC equipment, automatic telephone switches, was delivered to three AFCC combat communications groups. This equipment became operational in early The pile of dirt in the foreground is really a demonstration of camouflage netting that would be used in a desert environment. 1984. Automatic message switches were delivered in 1984 and became operational in 1985. In addition, contractors delivered two types of TRI-TAC transportable radios to the command in late 1985. Other TRITAC systems were still under development and would be brought into the Air Force inventory in the future . AFCC also took measures to protect bases and communications sites. The Base and Installation Security System Program, for instance, aimed at providing perimeter and area protection against unauthorized entry at more than 1,000 sites around the world . Another program designed to decrease the vulnerability of AFCC's assets aimed at repainting equipment from stark white or bright reds to colors that reduced the object 's visibility . Throughout Europe and the Pacific, AFCC examined its communications systems and sought ways not only to protect them , but to maintain connectivity by AFCC used camouflage nets to help its units avoid detection and make its equipment less visible targets. This photo illustrates the camouflage netting used in areas with snow. --· - Inside the camouflage netting, AFCC personnel continue to Camouflage netting helps conceal this mobile satellite ter provide communications using an AN/TSC-107 quick reac minal and helixical antenna. tion package. 240 SrA Duane Smith, a member of the 5th Combat Information Systems Group , Robins AFB. Georgia, makes line checks on the new TRI-TAC TTC-39 automatic switchboard. Two shelters make one complete AN/TTC-39 system. On the left is the switching shelter . The control shelter, where the operator works, is on the right. The AN/TTC-39 is a 600-line TRI-T AC automatic telephone switching central. Features nev er before seen in tactical communications included call forwarding, speed calling, conferencing, and precedence and preemption capabilities, all without operator assistance. The AN/TRC -170 TRI-TAC radio tested by Detachment 1, 1815th Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron, could be set up and taken down quickly. This totally digital mobile radio was designed to provide cheaper and more accurate com munications than the AN/TRC -97 radios . Since the AN/TRC -170 transmitter operated in the super high frequen cy range , the radio could be used in a line-of-sight mode or a tropospheric scatter mode. Revetments have been added to protect this airport surveil lance radar . Revetments, such as these at Aviano AB, Italy, were designed to give AFCC sites added protection from attack. AN/TSC -1 02 communications van 241 either bypassing damaged sections or quickly restoring them . For example, AFCC developed quick reaction packages that enabled the combat communica tions units to deploy special equipment quickly to areas damaged by nature, warfare, or terrorists and provide minimum essential communications services to tactical users. In a related effort, AFCC undertook a series of initiatives to assure continuing air traffic control services during wartime. Planners agreed that navigational aids would probably sustain damage or loss of power be cause of their proximity to runways. Among other initiatives under development in the mid-1980s were measures to protect surveillance radars against jamming and to acquire portable towers and radars which would replace battle-damaged equipment. Another important AFCC readiness project involved the rapid launch and recovery of aircraft. Despite recent advances in aircraft avionics and air traffic con trol equipment, many of the same problems existing 30 years ago in the terminal area airspace continued to confront flight crews and air traffic controllers. Employing FAA procedures designed for commercial aircraft during peacetime, military controllers became saturated with recovery rates above 3 5 aircraft per AFCC had a tone-down program to repaint some of its equipment, such as this AN /FPS-77 weather radar. to make it less visible. hour when using radar, and 1 5 aircraft per hour without radar support. Requirements for wartime or contingencies, however, could be as high as 75-90 aircraft per hour. In response, in 1978, Headqua rters USAF initiated the Aircraft Surge, Launch, and Recovery program and made AFCC chairman of the task force that studied the problem . Between 1979 and 1982, AFCC developed new procedures for rapidly launching and recovering aircraft. The command used computer models to evaluate new procedures and in 26 actual tests in the Pacific and Europe achieved rates as high as 85 aircraft per hour using radar and 27 aircraft without radar. In early 1983, following Air Staff approval , the Tactical Air Command, the Pacific Air Forces, and the United States Air Forces in Europe began implementing the new procedures. In April 1983, the FAA agreed to support AFCC in its efforts to establish the program throughout the United St ates. By mid-1985, the Aircraft Surge, Launch, and Recovery program was operational through much of the Air Force. Since the program was primarily a Tactical Air Forces requirement and not an air traffic control requirement, AFCC transferred executive management of the pro gram to the Tactical Air Command on 1 October 1985. In the fall of 1985, a 1st Combat Information Systems Group AN/MPN -14 mobile air traffic control radar unit and crew supported Canadian forces at Baden Soellingen, West Germany. The radar set is a complete ground control approach facility used as an air traffic control center. 242 The Aircraft Surge, Launch , and Recovery program was only one of AFCC's measures to make the command more responsive to Air Force needs . Several in cidents, especially the nuclear weapons accident exercise conducted in April 1979 and an ex plosion at an Arkansas Titan missile site in September 1980, revealed that one of the deficiencies in Department of Defense plans for dealing with nuclear weapon accidents was the lack of timely and secure communications. To correct the communications shortcomings, General Herres began organizing a small, elite, and highly flexible unit called Hammer Ace to provide se cure voice communications between response teams and command posts during emergencies, contingencies, and special operations. Hammer Ace consisted of 19 of the command' s highly skilled officers, noncommissioned officers, and airmen. A team could deploy within three hours of notification and provide long-range communications from virtually any place on earth . Although primarily organized for rapid response , Hammer Ace also evaluated new ultra high frequency satellite and associated equipment for pos sible use throughout the Air Force. A Hammer Ace team deployed for the first time during a SAC exercise on 16 July 1982. Since then the team's value has been proven on numerous occasions. Between July 1982 and July 1986, Hammer Ace teams deployed to numerous aircraft acciaent sites, provided secure communications for high leve l Air Force conferences, and participated in several ac tual contingencies. For example, Hammer Ace deployed twice in 1983, once to Grenada during the rescue operation and again to Sudan as part of the United States' reaction to Libyan aggression in Chad . Hammer Ace teams, usually consisting of three to five people, were equipped with lightweight, battery-powered communications systems carried in aluminum suitcases . HAMMER ACE W ithin one hour of arriving, the Hammer Ace team could supply the on-site commander a private, encrypted network for local communications and a secure satellite system for voice communications through government or commercial tele phone lines. Hammer Ace teams often used a phased array antenna to provide secure satellite communications. By 1985, the Hammer Ace concept had come to ex emplify AFCC's determination to provide responsive , resourceful support to the emergency needs of the Air Force . The Air Force needed AFCC's responsiveness and resou rce fulness several times between 1981 and 1986. During this period , the command deployed its peop le and equipment into Central America , the Caribbean , the Mid-East, and Africa to support national object ives. In December 1982, for example, the 1st Combat Communications Group deployed a tour-man team to Beirut , Lebanon, to supply secure voice communications for the European Command Liaison Team, part of the peacekeeping forces in civil wartorn Lebanon. Following the 18 April 1983 bombing of the America n Embassy in Beirut when 17 Americans lost their lives, the team members were recognized for their heroism . Ambassador Robert Dillon said the men were " the real heroes of the bombing. Never leaving their equipment, they supplied communications for a myriad of organizations, sleeping in chairs 243 next to their radios." One of the team members, A 1 C Rodney Hamman, received a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during the bombing and the Joint Services Commendation Medal for rescuing the ambassador's secretary. Following the suicide terrorist bombing at the Beirut Airport on 23 October that killed 240 United States Marines, AFCC's communicators were moved aboard Navy ships off the coast of Lebanon where they continued to provide vital communications. When the Marxist government of Grenada, with the assistance of Cubans and Russians, began to build an international airport at Point Salines, the United States became concerned that the airport would be used as a stepping stone to spread Soviet and Cuban inspired unrest throughout Central America and the Caribbean . The situation deteriorated further after 18 October 1983 when the more radical General Hudson Austin overthrew and killed Maurice Bishop and his supporters in a bloody coup. On 25 October, at the direction of President Reagan , US Marines, Army forces, and military personnel from some other Caribbean nations invaded Grenada to protect over 1,000 Americans whose safety on the island was jeopardized by the coup. The code name for the invasion was Urgent Fury . The troops met strong Cuban and Grenadian resistance, but eventually rescued the Americans as sembled at St. George 's Medical College and captured some 600 Cubans along with large quantities of Soviet-made weapons and ammunition. Two members of Hammer Ace were among the first of AFCC ' s communicators to deploy in support of Urgent Fury . One stayed in Barbados to support the American Defense Attache Office while the other deployed to Grenada. Between 25 October and 6 November, the team provided limited, but important service. For example, it supplied the first Department of Defense long haul communications from the embattled island to the Pentagon. Moreover, Grenada ' s Governor-General Sir Paul Scoon placed calls to mili tary and political authorities in London through the Hammer Ace satellite system via Scott AFB, Illinois. The Point Salines airport on the island of Grenada might have become a Soviet "stepping stone" to the Caribbean and Central America. After securing the runway at Point Salines airport, C-141 aircraft unloaded more supplies and equipment. The 2d Combat Communications Group deployed an AN/TSW-7 mobile control tower for air traffic control support. The 3d Combat Communications Group provided satellite communications to the Airlift Control Center during the Grenada rescue operation. Hammer Ace had the only equipment that could interface small tactical terminals with telephone systems. In addition to Hammer Ace, the command deployed 52 members of the 2d, 3d, and 5th Combat Communications Groups to support rescue operations. The 2d deployed to the Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station, Puerto Rico , to provide communications support for the Air Force task force elements. Later they redeployed to Barbados in support of the A -1 0 aircraft which flew close air support for American forces in Grenada. At the direction of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the 3d provided satellite communications to the Airlift Control Center and intrabase radios at Point Salines Airport. Later the 2d deployed a T ACAN and a mobile control tower to Point Salines for additional air traffic control support. The contingency communications elements of the 1998th Communications Group, McGuire AFB, New Jersey, and the 1901 st Communications Group, Travis AFB, California , also deployed in support of the Military Airlift Command which transported troops and materiel to Grenada. Both units set up secure communications networks within hours after the first American forces landed on the island. AFCC personnel provided communications support in Grenada for the remainder of 1983. 244 Here. a news correspondent from NBC' s Milwaukee affiliate uses Hammer Ace equipment to contact colleagues in Milwaukee. A three-person Hammer Ace team had deployed to Trujillo, Honduras, in January 1985 to support investigation operations following the crash of a Milwaukee-based Air Force Reserve C-130 aircraft off the Honduran coast. Turmoil in troubled Central America also drew the United States' attention during the 1980s. To meet military commitments, including Army, Navy, and Marine exercises and deployments in this unstable and potentially dangerous arena , AFCC deployed teams from the 2d , 3d , and 5th Combat Communications Groups. The first teams went into the area in November 1 981 and over the next five years provided a va riety of radar , navigational aids , and weather support at various locations in Honduras and El Salvador. Aircraft from the 1866th Facility Checking Squadron periodically insured that the deployed navigational aids were operating correctly. One of the biggest potential dangers to AFCC personnel and asset s stemmed from acts of terrorism. During t he 1980s terrorist attacks became an ever increasing threat to the security of Air Force person nel , sites, and equipment. AFCC , with its world-wide commitment, was especially vulnerable to this shadow enemy and took measures to protect its peo ple and assets . These included security training for personnel and improvements in site security such as tonedown painting, better lighting, fencing, sensors, alarms, and the burial of fuel and water tanks. Per sonnel at some remote sites were given weapons and combat training . The security of each site , especially those in Europe , was carefully evaluated based on in telligence assessments. These efforts paid substantial dividends. Few attacks were directed specifically against AFCC , and what little damage the command did suffer was more in the category of vandalism than terrorism. Although AFCC was rarely targeted by terrorists, the command' s personnel were sometimes victims of cir cumstances. For example, the 18 April 1983 bombing of t he American Embassy in Beirut. Lebanon , injured one of the four AFCC communicators stationed at the embassy. In 1985, another AFCC airman was on a commercial aircraft hijacked by terrorists and was held hostage for several weeks along with fellow passengers in Beirut. Fortunately, these were the only serious incidents involving AFCC personnel. In addition to participating in military contingencies, AFCC also assisted the civilian community during emergencies. To cite but a few examples, during 1982, AFCC's people helped recovery and cleanup operations following Tropical Storm Faye on the Philip pine island of Luzon and a tornado that devastated New Baden , Illinois, a town near Scott AFB. Members of AFCC units also assisted in cleanup activities in Hawaii following Hurri ca ne lwa and participated as part of the US State Department disaster relief team sent to the Fiji island of Viti Leve following Cyclone Oscar. In 1985, AFCC communicators were very ac tive when a severe earthquake struck Mexico City and other Mexican towns. The Kelly AFB, Texas, Military 245 Upon the release of the American hostages from the hijacked TWA flight 847, the 1st Combat Information Systems Group provided communications support at the USAF Regional Medical Center at Wiesbaden AB , West Germany. where the former hostages underwent medical examinations. The 2063d Information Systems Squadron at lindsey AS and the 1964th Information Systems Support Group at Ramstein AB supplied communications support for the news media and Vice President Bush . Controllers from the 2021 st Information Systems Squadron, Tyndall AFB . Florida . approach control stayed on t he air during the entire Hurricane Elena threat in September 1985. When the hurricane took a course that threatened the entire Gulf Coast. the air traffic situation became complex as many residents took to the air to go to safer areas . 246 SSgt Kevin Green, a member of the 1923d Communications Group, relays information between the US Embassy in Mexico City and officials in the United States. He was the person on duty who was notified that there had been a disastrous quake in Mexico City. Affiliate Radio System station went into around-theclock operations to relay information between the US Embassy in Mexico City and the State Department Task Force in Washington, D.C. Within hours of the first shock waves, people from AFCC' s 5th Combat Information Systems Group, Robins AFB, Georgia , deployed to the Benito Juarez Airport to provide communications between the airport and the US Embassy. The 1998th Inf ormation Systems Group,·McGuire, AFB , New Jersey, sent several contingency communications elem ents to provide tactical communications. The emergency that drew the greatest public recognition for AFCC stemmed from the strike by members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO). The early summer of 1981 proved to be a tense time for the air traffic community, both civilian and military. Negotiations between the FAA and PATCO reached an impasse, and danger of a strike that would cripple the nation's air transportation system became im mi nent. On 2 June, expect ing PATCO to strike on 22 June, the FAA asked the Department of Defense about the possibility of deploying 520 mil itary controllers to augment 20 FAA facilities. The Air Force and the FAA had been plan ning for such a contingency since August 1980, but the 2 June request was the first time that an actual deployment had been considered . W ith the A ir Force General Counsel's assurances that it was legal for military controllers to operate in FAA facilities during a strike, AFCC reacted quickly and incorporated a pos sible deployment into its planning efforts. Although the strike on 22 June did not materialize, the crisis was avoided only briefly. On 27 July, PATCO' s members overwhelmingly rejected the negotiated contract and threatened to strike on 3 August if their demands were not met. On 1 August Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger ordered the immediate deployment of 100 military controllers to FAA facilities as a show of force to convince PATCO not to strike. Responding quickly, General McCarthy deployed 90 controllers to New York City, Atlanta, and Chicago during the night of 2 August and the early morning hours of 3 August. The Army supplied another t en controllers to Atlanta. Undaunted, nearly 13,000 of the nation's 17,000 civilian controllers walked off the job at 0700 on 3 August 1981. The ensuing deployment proved to be one of the most im portant events in military air traffic control history. Until 5 A ugust, when President Ronald Reagan fired 11 ,438 striking controllers who continued the walkout, everyone assumed the deployment of mil itary controllers would be of short duration. Initially AFCC issued orders for only a ten-day deployment, but it soon became apparent that the deployment would be far longer. Amidst an international controversy over the qualification of military controllers and the safety of the nation's airways, the Department of Defense continued to deploy additional controllers. From 3 August to 1 November 1981, AFCC deployed 612 controllers to 107 FAA facilities. The Army and the Navy assisted by deploying 248 and 164 controllers respectively. Although the military controllers began returning to their home bases as early as October 1981, it was not until 30 June 1983 that the FAA released the last of AFCC's controllers. 247 Col Derrel L. Dempsey. Headquarters AFCC Deputy Chief of Staff for Air Traffic Services. briefs Maj Gen Robert F. McCarthy in the AFCC Strike Task Force Operations Center on the deployment of AFCC air traffic controllers following the PATCO strike. TSgt Frederick Crum works closely with an FAA controller at the BRITE IV radar display in the San Francisco control tower. MSgt Charlie Byrd assists an FAA controller at one of the control positions in the San Francisco control tower. An AFCC controller operates the flight data clearance delivery position at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. 248 The prolonged support to FAA required AFCC to make numerous administrative and procedural changes to sustain its A ir Force mission. Many un its adopted a 48-hour work week, cancelled or postponed annual leaves, delayed attendance at professional military education schools, and used management personnel in facility operating positions. Many flying commands voluntarily reduced flying schedules without losing flying hours and AFCC developed new routes, schedules and procedures to accommodate other commands' operations. The effectiveness of these changes allowed the Air Force to operate at 90-95 percent of its prestrike sortie rate by 11 August 1981 . AFCC acted very aggressively at the strike' s outset to initiate programs to ease some of the hardships encountered by deployed controllers and their families. Attesting to the professionalism of the Air Force' s air traffic con t roller force , retention rates remained high even though employment possibilities with the FA A w ere very attractive. Throughout the long deployment, and despite minor harassment , the deployed controllers exhibited a high degree of resiliency and expertise that allowed the FA A to maintain a high safety record. This efficiency and dedication to duty brought recognition and high praise from several quarters, both military and civilian . More importantly, the close and unpr~cedented military /civilian collaboration demonstrated to the FAA and the flying public the skill and the professionalism of military controllers. Above all, the contingency showed Americans that the command was ready and able to perform its air traffic control mission and contribute to the nation' s well-being during peacetime. Undoubtedly this recognition helped to defuse some of the public' s post-Vietnam antimilitarism that still lingered in the early 1980s. All military personnel who deployed t o FAA facilities because of t he PATCO strike were awarded t he Humanitarian Service Medal. Maj Gen Gerald L. Prather toasts members of the 1866th Facilit y Checking Squadron following his last ride as AFCC Commander . Left to right Lt Col Ball . 1866th FCS Commander, General Prather. M rs. Prat her. 249 250 EPILOGUE: "A PROUD PAST -AN EXCITING FUTURE" Air Force Communications Command can take pride in a long history of achievement and dedicated service . Over the years, AFCC has evolved from a simple system operating 33 stations in the continental United States to a major organization whose many responsibilities span the globe. In the early days, the command' s workforce was largely composed of amateur radio operators and older professional men who were considered too old for combat duties, but too well educated not to be used in some capacity. Today, highly trained technicians and engineers install, operate, and maintain this command's many systems. In J an uary 1945, Gen " Hap" Arnold accurately predicted the future importance of communications to the Air Force: "The Air Force in the future must not be built solely around pilots .... The United States must be so far ahead of the other nations in the future that they will not dare attack us. I refer particularly to those devices which are being developed. Radar and similar devices have enormous possibilities and their development is still in its infancy. I maintain that any Air Force which does not include the most technically able personnel to form the nucleus, around which to build the Air Force of the future, such an Air Force is doomed to failure ." In the last 40 years, communications have more than lived up to General Arnold's expectations and AFCC has played a prominent role . From a simple system providing airways communications and weather information dissemination, AFCC has grown into a complex organization responsible for central management of nearly all of the Air Force's communications systems. The command's growth has been slow and evolutionary, responding to the needs of the Air Force and the nation. Between 1948 and 1958, a number of studies recommended that the Secretary of Defense make a concerted attempt to eliminate duplication within the Department of Defense in an effort to reduce costs and improve efficiency. One significant result of these studies was the enunciation of the single manager concept as a management technique for the Department of Defense. In 1958 an amendment to the National Security Act directed the Secretary of Defense to take steps that would provide the Department of Defense with more effective, efficient, and economic operations. Responding to Congressional direction, the Air Force conducted its own studies. In 1959, two different groups concluded that immediate steps should be taken to establish a strong centralized communications organization to operate all elements of Air Force communications. Acting on these recommendations, Headquarters USAF established Air Force Communications Service as a major air command in 1961. After 1961 , a number of further consolidations under the AFCS/AFCC umbrella followed international crises in which the United States had been unable to provide adequate communications. These problems usually involved connectivity, interoperability, or duplication of services. In most cases, the lack of an appropriate response by the United States was attributed, in part, to the lack of a single manager for that particular system or service. For example, after the Cuban missile crisis a special Air Staff committee verified the conclusions of the two studies conducted in 1959. In addition, the committee recommended central management of high-cost services, a complete consolidation of switched systems, and the central management of all mobile communications assets by AFCS . In 1970, following the attack on the USS Liberty (1967) and the capture of the USS Pueblo (1968). a Blue Ribbon Defense Panel recommended that two large groups not yet brought under the single manager concept, the communicators of the Strategic Air Command and the Ground Electronics Engineering Installation Agency, be merged into AFCS. Consolidations continued throughout the 1970s and early 1980s and by 1986, the Air Force had centralized the management of most of its communications technology under AFCC making the command a leader in the rapidly expanding field of communications. As AFCC reached its 25th anniversary as a major air command and 48 years of existence, it can look back on a proud record of service to the nat1on. Its people partiCipated m most ot the major battles of World War II, often being the first Air Force personnel in and the last out of an area , a tradition still carried on today. It was the men of AACS that preceded the occupation forces of MacArthur into Japan. AACS units were some of the first units sent into Korea in 1950 and AFCS units were among the first into and the last out of Southeast Asia. AFCC has also participated in numerous other contingencies such as the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, the Zaire airlift in 1979, and the rescue effort in Grenada in 1983. Not all of the contingencies have been military in nature. AFCC has long provided communication support to the space program and has assisted during many rescue and relief operations following natural disasters such as the Alaskan earthquake in 1 964, and the Mexican earthquake in 1985. A FCC's support to the Federal Aviation Administration following the PATCO strike won praise from all quarters. In its 48-year history, AFCC has been a vibrant, constantly changing command whose people have established a tradition of dedicated support and a high degree of readiness. 251 252 APPENDIX 1 LINEAGE Action The Army Airways Communications System established in the Communications Section of the Division of Training and Operations , Office of the Chief of the Air Corps, effective 1 5 November 1938. The Army Airways Communications System placed under the OperationsDivision, the Directorate of Communications, HQ Army Air Forces, effective 23 April 1942. Field Branch of the Directorate of Communications proposed to be known as the Office of the Army Airways Communications System. It was to be located in Philadelphia , Pa . In preparation for the move, a headquarters was established at Boiling Field, D.C., effective 27 March 1943. This was the first separate HQ of the Army Airways Communications System. However, General H. H. Arnold decided on 26 March 1943, to place the Army Airways Communications System under the new Flight Control Command rather than establish a field branch . The Army Airways Communications System Wing was constituted and assigned to the Flight Control Command on 13 April 1943, and was activated effective 26 April 1943. The history of AFCS as a unit begins with this action. Before this, it was merely a function/staf f office, not a unit. The Army Airways Communications System closed its office at Boiling Field , Washington, D.C., at 0814, 3 May 1943, and reopened in Asheville , N.C., under the name of HQ Army Airways Communications System Wing, Flight Control Command, effective 0815, 3 May 1943 . The Army Airways Communications System Wing reassigned from the Flight Control Command to HQ, Army Air Forces "under the immediate supervision and jurisdiction" of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Operations, Commitments and Requi rements, effective 14 July 1943. Authority Ltr, Adju tant General' s Office, War Dept, to Commanding Generals of all Corps Areas, et al , subj : " Es tablishment of the Army Airways Communications System and Constitution of 1st, 2d , and 3d Communications Squadrons," 3 Nov 38; Army Regulation 95-200 "Organization, Operations, Control and Maintenance of AACS," 1938. Army Air Force Regulation 100-3 . Memo, Maj Gen George E. Stratemeyer, Chief of Air Force, to Director of Technical Services, subj: "Office of the Army Airways Communications System ," 17 Feb 43; Memo, Maj Gen George E. Stratemeyer, Chief of Air Force, to Gen H. H. Arnold , subj: " Creation of the Army Air Forces Flight Control Command," 26 Mar 43; Hist of AACS, 1938-1945, pp. 932-33; Memo, Director of Technical Services, Army Air Forces, subj: " Office of the Army Airways Communications System," 6 Mar 43. Ltr, Adjutant General's Office, War Dept, to Commanding Generals of the Army Air Forces, subj: "Activation of the AACS Wing, Flight Control Command," 13 Apr 43. Ltr, Adjutant General, HQ Army Air Forces, to Commanding Generals of all Air Forces, et al, subj : "Address of Army Airways Communications System Wing, AAF," 30 Apr 43. Ltr, Adjutant General, HQ Army Air Forces, to Commanding Generals of all Air Forces, et al, subj: "Reassignment of Certain Army Air Forces Units," 14 Jul 43. 253 Appendix 1 con't. Action Authority The Army Airways Communications System Wing reassignment to HO Army Air Forces was amended by eliminating the phrase "under the immediate supervision" of the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, effective 1 3 October 1943. It was now running its own organization. The Army Airways Communications System Wing dropped the "Wing" designation and was given separate command status, effective 26 April 1 944. The command underwent a complete reorganization, effective 1 5 May 1944. The Army Airways Communications System was redesignated Air Communications Service and reas signed as a subcommand to Air Transport Command, effective 13 March 1946. Air Communications Service was redesignated Airways and Air Communications Service, effective 11 September 1946. Change made to retain the AACS symbol. The Airways and Air Communications Service reas signed to Military Air Transport Service, effective 1 June 1948. The Airways and Air Communications Service was relieved from assignment to Military Air Transport Service, redesignated Air Force Communications Service , and designated a major command, effective 1 July 1961 . The Air Force Communications Service was redesignated Air Force Communications Command effective 1 5 November 1979. Ltr, Adjutant General, HQ Army Air Forces, to Commanding Generals of all Air Forces, et al, subj : " Reassignment of Certain Army Air Forces Units," 13 Oct 43. Ltr, Adjutant General, HO Army Air Forces, to Commanding Generals of all Air Forces, et al, subj : " Redesignation and Disbandment of Certain Units, and, Allotment of Personnel to Army Airways Communications System, Army Air Forces," 25 Apr 44. Ltr, Adjutant General's Office, War Dept, to Commanding Generals, et al, subj : " Redesignation and As signment of the Army Air Forces Weather Service and the Army Airways Communications System, Establishment of Certain Army Air Forces Activities," 13 Mar 46. Hist of AACS, 3 Sep 1945-Jun 1946, Foreword. Air Transport Command Special Order #26, 14 May 43; Military Air Transport Service General Order #2, 1 Jun 48. Ltr, HO USAF Directorate of Manpower and Organization to Joint Chiefs of Staff, et al, subj : "Designation of the Air Force Communications Service as a Major Air Command," 10 May 61. AFCC SO G-252, 1 5 November 1979; DAF/MPM Ltr 283g, 1 5 Nov 1979. 254 APPENDIX 2 AACS/AFCS/AFCC HEADQUARTERS LOCATIONS DATE LOCATION 27 March 1943* Balling Field , Wash ington, D.C . 3 May 1943 Municipal Building, Asheville, Nort h Carolina 1 7 December 1945 Langley AFB, Virginia 1 2 December 1946 Gravelly Point, Virginia (Adjacent to Washington National Airport) 19 November 1948 Andrews AFB, Maryland 15 January 1958 Scott AFB , Illinois 16 July 1970 Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri 1 November 1977 Scott AFB , Illinois * Original HQ AACS established on 27 March 1943. Sine~ its activation on 15 November 1938, AACS had been operated as a field command by the Directorate of Communications, HQ USAAF. 255 APPENDIX 3 AACS COMMANDERS Colonel Lloyd H. Watnee Brigadier General Ivan L. Farman 27 Mar 1943 -11 Nov 1943 1 2 Nov 1943 -12 Mar 1946 Major General Harold M . McClelland Brigadier General Wallace G. Smith 1 3 Mar 1946 -9 Sep 1948 10 Sep 1948 -31 Aug 1951 256 Appendix 3 con't. Major General E. Blair Garland Major General Francis L. Ankenbrandt 1 Sep 1951 -31 Aug 1954 1 Sep 1954 -28 Jul 1955 Major General Dudley D. Hale Major General Daniel C. Doubleday 29 Jul 1955 -14 Jan 1958 15 Jan 1958 -30 Jun 1961 257 APPENDIX 4 AFCS/AFCC COMMANDERS Major General Harold W . Grant Major General Kenneth P. Bergquist 1 Jul 1961 -15 Feb 1962 16 Feb 1962 -30 Jun 1965 Major General J . Francis Taylor, Jr. Major General Richard P. Klocko 1 Jul 1965 -18 Oct 1965 19 Oct 1965 -2 Jul 1967 258 Appendix 4 con't. Major General Robert W . Paulson Major General Paul R. Stoney 1 5 Jul 1967 -31 Jul 1969 31 Jul 1969 -31 Oct 1973 Major General Donald L. Werbeck M ajor General Rupert H. Burris 1 Nov 1973 -22 Aug 1975 22 Aug 1975 -31 Oct 1977 259 Appendix 4 can 't . Major General Robert E. Sadler Major General Robert T . Herres 1 Nov 1977 -21 Jun 1979 22 Jun 1979 -27 Jul 1981 Major General Robert F. McCarthy Major General Gerald L. Prather 27 Jul 1981 -31 May 1984 1 Jun 1984 -28 Aug 86 260 Appendix 4 con't . Major General John T . Stihl 28 Aug 86 261 APPENDIX 5 AFCC PERSONNEL TOTALS 1938-1986 As Of Authorized Assigned As Of Authorized Assigned Dec 1938 303* 199* Dec 1954 29,554 29,015 Apr 1939 533 * 278* Jun 1955 28,935 28,692 Jan 1940 N/A ** 428 * Dec 1955 30,587 27,473 Dec 1941 N/A 2,049 * Jun 1956 32,486 29,225 Dec 1942 N/A 8,803* Dec 1956 32,865 33,279 May 1943 N/A 11 ,087* Jun 1957 33,214 36,158 Oct 1943 N/A 15,676* Dec 1957 32,100 35,505 Dec 1943 N/A 19,176* Jun 1958 31,220 36,975 Jul 1944 40,817 * 27,681 * Dec 1958 29,723 33,792 Dec 1944 48,801 * 37,197 Jun 1959 27,330 30,365 Aug 1945 52,550* 49,400* Dec 1959 30,015 30,790 Jun 1946 13,691 * 8,635 * Jun 1960 30,270 28,734 Dec 1946 17,290* 12,426* Dec 1960 30,761 28,990 Jun 1947 15,320 13,263 Jun 1961 30,432 30,058 Dec 1947 15,361 14,618 Dec 1961 32,903 32,013 Jun 1948 16,403 17,110 Jun 1962 41,370 36,480 Dec 1948 16,075 14,661 Dec 1962 47,075 45,267 Dec 1949 15,023 14,556 Jun 1963 46,674 47,336 Jun 1950 14,983 14,681 Dec 1963 45,399 50,149 Dec 1950 16,667 19,148 Jun 1964 46,430 48,328 Jun 1951 20,331 20,382 Dec 1964 48,687 46,807 Dec 1951 23,225 22,831 Jun 1965 49,594 47,377 Jun 1952 25,692 25,102 Dec 1965 50,664 49,368 Dec 1952 25,490 24,548 Jun 1966 52,403 52, 171 Jun 1953 25,728 27,741 Dec 1966 53,969 53,705 Dec 1953 26,089 29,191 Jun 1967 54,359 53 ,996 Jun 1954 27,975 28,820 Dec 1967 52,873 54,422 262 Appendix 5 con't. As Of Authorized Assigned Jun 1968 53, 151 51 ,675 Dec 1968 N/A N/A Jun 1969 52 ,010 52 ,327 Dec 1969 50,264 51 ,522 Jun 1970 57 ,385 58,825 Dec 1970 N/A N/A Jun 1971 54,524 55 ,870 Dec 1971 53,086 54,855 Jun 1972 50, 129 52,248 Dec 1972 48,913 50,501 Jun ·1973 47,028 49,549 Dec 1973 47,174 49,519 Jun 1974 45,898 47,576 Dec 1974 44,825 47,201 Jun .1975 44,243 45,960 Dec 1975 43,385 45,061 Jun 1976 41,480 44,748 Dec 1976 47,471 51' 154 Jun 1977 47,501 50,053 * Does not include civilians. **Not available . SOURCE : AFCC Annual Histories . As Of Dec 1977 Jun 1978 Dec 1978 Jun 1979 Dec 1979 Jun 1980 Dec 1980 Jun 1981 Dec 1981 Jun 1982 Dec 1982 Jun 1983 Dec 1983 Jun 1984 Dec 1984 Jun 1985 Dec 1985 Jun 1986 Dec 1986 Authorized Assigned 45,365 47,722 39,840 42,689 46,981 48,034 47,438 48,338 49,090 47,580 49,025 48,731 49,363 48,066 48,713 48,488 49,420 48,825 50,112 50,500 50,643 50,917 51,185 52,321 51,456 52,902 51 ,391 53,173 55,532 56,967 57,211 58,457 57,724 57,695 60,500 58,771 58,781 263 264 A~GG t'tRSUNNE 70,000 65,000 60,000 55,000 50,000 45,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 -1 / V-J Day ................ DDay i.. , ..., Demobilization Korean Conflict Buildup I Assumes . USAF Tape Relay Network Demobilization USAF Policy of Massive Strategic Deterrence Ct ,. Assumes Communications from Majority of MAJCOMS f ...................... .....,,,, ,,,,,, . ''~, .... -,,, ...... ' # CY 19 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 AUTHORIZED 111 1111111111111111111111 LTOTALS MAJCOM ADPs MERGED WithPeak of SEA AFCC COMM Involvement ,,,., Assumes Data ....•' Assumes SAC Automation .... .... Communications Centers ,,'-nat •''~ ~' Assumes AD COM Communications 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 265 111111 ASSIGNED APPENDIX 6 AFCC PERSONNEL (PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL AIR FORCE MANNING) Year Air Force Strength 1938* 21 ,089** 1939 23,455 * * 1940 51 ,1 65 ** 1941 152,125* * 1942 764,415** 1943 2,197,114** 1944 2,372,292 * * 1945 2,282,259* * 1946 455,515** 1947 305,827* * 1948 387, 730* * 1949 588,305 1950 565,730 1951 1,049, 109 1952 1,283,137 1953 1,279,900 1954 1,243,515 1955 1,272,022 1956 1,258,188 1957 1,260,161 1958 1' 186,962 1959 1, 153, 901 1960 1, 122,201 1961 1, 124,527 1962 1' 190,206 1963 1,166,413 AACS/AFCS/AFCC Assigned Strength Percentage 199** .9% *** 278 ** 1.2%*** 428 ** .8% * * * 2,049 * * 1.3%* ** 8,803 ** 1.2%* ** 11,087** .5%* ** 27,681 ** 1.2% *** 49,400** 2.2% *** 8,635* * 1.9% *** 13,263 4.3% 17,110 4 .4% 14,556 2.5% 14,681 2.6% 20,382 1.9% 25,102 1.9% 27,741 2.2% 28,820 2.3% 28,692 2.3% 29,225 2.3% 36,158 2.9% 36,975 3 . 1% 30,365 2.6% 28,734 2.6% 30,058 2.7% 36,480 3.1 % 47,336 4.1 % 266 Appendix 6 con't. AACS/AFCS/AFCC Year Air Force Strength Assigned Strength Percentage 1964 1 ' 145,624 48,328 4.2 % 1965 1, 112,965 47,377 4.3 % 1966 886,350* * 46,245* * 5.2 %*** 1, 226,205 53,996 4.4% 1968 1, 227,511 51 ,675 4 .2 % 1969 862,352 * * 46,723 ** 5.4%*** 1970 791 ,349 * * 49,629 * * 6.3 %*** 1971 753,896* * 48,402 * * 6.4%*** 1972 724,333* * 45,137** 6 .2 %*** 1973 691 ' 194* * 42,911 ** 6.2 %*** 1974 643,792 * * 40,774 * * 6.3%*** 1975 895,277 45,960 5.1 % 1976 847,007 44,748 5.3 % 1977 828,791 50,053 6 .0 % 1978 823,740 42,689 5.2% 1979 806,713 48,338 5.9 % 1980 804,505 48,731 6 . 1% 1981 816,505 **** 48,488 5.9 % 1982 830, 145**** 50,500 6.1 % 1983 835,100**** 52,321 6 .3 % 1984 849,900* * * * 53,173 6 .3 % 1985 858, 500* * * * 58,457 6 .8 % 1967 1977-Present Data for Air Force Assigned Strength A /0 30 September; AFCC Assigned Strength A /0 30 June. * * Does Not Include Civilians. * * * Percentage Based on Air Force Military Strength; Does Not Include Civililans. ****Rounded . SOURCE: Air Force Statistical Digest, 1938-1985. * 267 APPENDIX 7 AFCC AIRCRAFT INVENTORY (As Of 30 June) 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 AC-47A 2 2 AC-470 21 21 AC-540 6 6 AT-29C 10 10 8-478 C-47A 3 2 C-470 9 + 4 3 * VC -47A C-54G C-135A C-140A 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 EC-470 17 3 3 3 3 3 3 EC-540 5 ET-29C 6 2 3 RC-130A T-33A 9 9 9 9 9 10 11 10 10 T-39A * VC -118A * VT-298 * VT-39A 59 58 47 16 16 17 19 20 21 268 Appendix 7 con't. 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975-1985 AC-47A AC -470 AC-540 AT-29C 8-478 C-47A C-470 * VC -47A C-54G C-135A C-140A 4 4 4 4 4 4 EC-470 3 3 EC-540 ET-29C 5 5 3 3 RC-130A 4 4 4 4 T-33A 4 T-39A 2 2 2 2 2 *VC-118A *VT-298 3 2 2 2 *VT-39A 17 23 18 17 15 6 *Support Aircraft. + Combined Total of C-47A, C-470, VC-47A. SOURCE : AFCC Histories 1961 -1984. 269 APPENDIX 8 INFORMATION SYSTEMS ORGANIZATIONS OVERVIEW AS OF: 19 February 1986 DATE MANPOWER* (M) AFCC ORGANIZATION MAJCOM MERGED TRANSFERRED(S) PROVIDING SUPPORTSOA (D)DRU (M) 1 931 Information Systems 1 Jul 84 104 Alaskan Air Command (AAC) Wing (S) (None)Air Force Audit Agency (AFAAl 1 Nov 85 Air Force Accounting (Sl Operating Location K Headquarters AFCC and Finance Center (AFAFCl 1 Oct 85 30 Air Force Commissary (Sl 1858 Information Systems Support Squadron Service (AFCOMSl 1 Apr 86 3 Air Force Engineering (S) Information Systems Support Office-AFESC and Services Center (On 2021 Information Systems (AFESC) Squadron Unit Manning Document) Air Force (S) 1885 Information Systems 1 Aug 85 19 Intelligence Service Support Squadron (AFIS) Air Force Inspection (S) 1860 Information Systems 1 Nov 85 36 and Safety Center Support Squadron (A FISC) Air Force Logistics (M) Logistics Information 1 Jan 86 28** Command (AFLC) Systems Division 1 Jul 86 222 Air Force Legal (Sl To Be Decided Services Center (AFLSC) Air Force Management (S) To Be Decided Engineering Agency (AFMEA) (S) 1845 Information Systems To Be 168 Air Force Manpower and Personnel Center Support Squadron Decided (AFMPC) (S) To Be Decided Air Force Office of Medical Support (AFOMS) Air Force Office of (S) To Be Decided Special Investigations (AFOSI) 270 Appendix 8 con't. MAJCOM SOA DRU (M) (S) (D) AFCC ORGANIZATION PROVIDING SUPPORT DATE MERGED MANPOWER* TRANSFERRED Air Force Office of Security Police (AFOSP) (S) Information Systems Support Office-AFOSP (On 1960 Information Systems Squadron Unit Manning Document) Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center (AFOTEC) (S) 1859 Information Systems Support Squadron 1 Aug 85 29 Air Force Reserve (AFRES) (S) 2185 Information Systems Support Group 1 Apr 85 84 A ir Force Systems Command (AFSC) (M) Research and Acquisition Information Systems Division 1 Jan 86 235 Air Force Service Information and News Center (AFSINC) (S) Information Systems Support Office-AFSINC (On 1923 Communications Group Unit Manning Document) 1 Dec 85 Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) (D) To Be Decided 1 Apr 86 Air Reserve Personnel Center (ARPC) (S) Information Systems Support Office-ARPC (On 1987 Communications Squadron Unit Manning Document) 1 Jan 86 Air Training Command (ATC) (M) Air Training Information Systems Division 1 Jan 86 496 Air University (AU) (M) 1973 Information Systems Group 1 Apr 85 107 Electronic Security Command (ESC) (M) 21 00 Information Systems Support Group 1 May 85 4 Military Airlift Command (MAC) (M) Airlift Information Systems Division 1 Dec 84 993 Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) (M) Pacific Information Systems Division 1 Jul 84 452 Strategic Air Command (SAC) (M) Strategic Information Systems Division 1 Jul 84 1708 Air Force Space Command (AFSPACECOM) (M) Space Information Systems Division 1 Jul 85 92 271 Appendix 8 con't. (M) AFCC ORGANIZATION DATE MANPOWER * MAJCOM MERGED TRANSFERRED(S) PROVIDING SUPPORTSOA (D)DRU 1 Jul 84 1190(M) Tactical Information Tactical Air Command Systems Division (TAC) 64 (D) 1876 Information Syste s 1 Jul 85 United States Air Support Group Force Academy (USAFA) (Ml European Information 1 Oct 84 908 United States Air Systems Division Forces in Europe (USAFE) * These figures based on Programming Plans . **Disestablishment of Continental Communications Division and establishment of Logistics Information Sys tems Division. The 28 transferred is Logistic Command's contribution to Logistics Information Systems Divi sion in the first phase of merger. The effective date for the general merger is 1 July 1986. 272 GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AAC AACS AB ACAN ACIC ACD ACR ACS ADC ADWS AFAFC AFAMPE AFB AFCC AFCS AFDAA AF DATACOM AFGWC AFLC AFS AFSC AFSATCOM AIRCOM AIRCOMNET AIROPNET ALMEDS AMPE ANG ATC ATCP ATP ATRC AT&T AUTODIN AWDS AUTOSEVOCOM AUTOVON AWN AWS BADGE BISS BMEWS CAA CAC CAC CAMS CESO co COMEDS COMLOGNET DCA DCO DEB DECCO Alaskan Air Command Army Airways Communications System Air Base Army Command and Administrative Network Aeronautical Chart and Information Center Airlift Communications Division Alaska Communications Region Alaskan Communications System Aerospace Defense Command Air Defense Command Automatic Digital Weather Switch Air Force Accounting and Finance Center Air Force Automated Message Processing Exchange Air Force Base Air Force Communications Command Air Force Communications Service Air Force Data Automation Agency Air Force Data Communications Air Force Global Weather Central Air Force Logistics Command Air Force Station Air Force Systems Command Air Force Satellite Communications Air Force Communications Complex Air Force Communications Network Air Force Operations Network Alaska Meteorological Data Systems Automated Message Processing Exchange Air National Guard Air Training Command Air Traffic Control Air Transport Command Automated Technical Control Program Automated Telecommunications Program Air Traffic Regulation Center American Telephone and Telegraph Automatic Digital Network Automated Weather Distribution System Automatic Secure Voice Communication Network Automatic Voice Network Automatic Weather Network Air Weather Service Base Air Defense Ground Environment System Base and Installation Security System Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Civil Aeronautics Administ ration Caribbean Air Command Continental Air Command Core Automated Maintenance System Communication-Electronics Support Office Commanding Officer Continental United States Meteorological Data System Combat Logistics Network Defense Communications Agency Dial Central Office Digital European Backbone Defense Commercial Communications Organization 273 DEW Line DMATS DMSP DOD DPI DSCS DSTE EAME Area ECA ESC ESD ETS EURMEDS FAA FDEP GCA GCCS GEEIA Gl GLOBECOM HF IDCSP ILS 1-S/A AMPE JACSPAC JCS LAN LORAN MAC MARS MATCon MATS MEDS MTCIP NABS NATO NCA NEXRAD NORAD NOTAM OCCM OIS PACAF PACMEDS PATCO PCA RAF RCA ROAMA SAC SACCA SAGE SAMSO SCA SEACR SEAMARF SESS Distant Early Warning Line Defense Metropolitan Area Tel ephone System Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Department of Defense Data Processing Installation Defense Satellite Communications System Digital Subscriber Terminal Equipment European, Africa, and Mid East Area European Communications Area Electronics Security Command Electronics System Division European Telephone System Europe Meteorological Data Systems Federal Aviation Agency/Administration Flight Data Entry Printout Ground Control Approach Global Command Control System Ground Electronics Engineering and Installation Agency Government Issue Global Communications System High Frequency Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program Instrument Landing System Inter-Service/Agency Automated Message Processing Exchange Joint Airways Communications System Pacific Ocean Areas Joint Chiefs of St aff Local Area Network Long -Range Navigation Military Airlift Com mand Military Affiliate Radio System/Amateur Radio System Military Air Trans port Command Communications Center Military Air Trans port Service Meteorological Data Systems Manual Technical Control Improvement Program NATO Air Base Satellite North Atlantic Treaty Organization Northern Communications Area Next Generation Weather Radar North American Air Defense Command Notice to Airmen Office of Commercial Communications Management Office Information System Pacific Air Forces Pacific Meteorological Data Systems Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization Pacific Communications Area Royal Air Force Radio Corporation of America Rome A ir Material Area Strategic Air Command Strategic Communications Area Semi-Automatic Ground Environment Space and Missile System Orga nization Southern Communications Area Southeast Asia Communications Region Southeast Asia M ilitary Altitude Reservation Facility Space Environme nt Support System 274 SHORAN SRT STRATCOM TAC TACAN TACCA TCC TERPS TRACALS TRI-TAC UHF us USAF USAFE USAFSS VHF VOR VORTAC WACS WATS WICU WISP Short Range Aid to Navigation Standard Remote Terminal Strategic Communications System Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Navigation Tactical Communications Area Telecommunications Center Terminal Instrument Procedures Traffic Control and Landing Systems Joint Tactical Communications Program Ultra High Frequency United States United States Air Force United States Air Forces in Europe United States Air Force Security Service Very High Frequency VHF Omnidirectional Range VHF Omnidirectional Range/Tactical Air Navigation White Alice Communications System Wide Area Telephone Service Weather Intercept Control Unit Weather Intercept Search Position 275 INDEX A A -1 0 aircraft, 244 AACS Alumni Association, 195 AC-47D, 70 Acquisition, 191, 200, 201, 209 Adak Island, Alaska , 14, 61 , 168 Adcock Radio Range, 69 Aden , 16 Aeronautical Chart and Information Center, 81 Aeronautical stations, 224 Aerospace Defense Command, 72, 85, 141 , 146, 177, 197 AFDATACOM, See Air Force Data Communications Africa, 15, 16, 17, 22, 42, 45 Afrika Korps, 16, 17 Air Alert Net, 1 Air Communications Service, 44 Air Corps Communications, Caribbean, 1 0 Air Defense Command, 72, 85, 141 , 146, 177 A ir Defense Tactical Weather Communications Network, 177 Air Force Academy, 85, 195, 211 Air Force Accounting and Finan ce Center, 80-81 Air Force Automated Message Processing Exchange Program, 211 -13 Air Force Automated Systems Project Office, 193 Air Force Communications Command, red,esignated as, 149; units of AACS/AFCS /AFCC : Detachment G. 18 Detachment H, 18 Detachment 1 0 , 34 Detachment 305, 20 1st AACS Region , 4, 5, 7 1st AACS Tactical Group, 27 1st Combat Communications Information Systems Group, 193, 208, 242, 243-44, 246 1st Mobile Communications Group, 110-11, 1 16, 118-19, 121 , 124-132, 134, 138, 182-83, 185 1st Mobile Communication s Squadron, 182 2d AACS Region , 4, 5, 7 2d AACS Wing, 17 2d Combat Communications Group, 180 2d Combat Information Systems Group , 194, 204, 208, 244, 245 2d Mobile Communications Group, 11 0 -11, 114, 116, 181, 184, 186 2d Mobile Communications Squadron, 11 0 3d AACS Region , 4 , 5, 7 3d Combat Communications Group, 205, 208, 244, 245 3d Mobile Communications Group, 99, 11 0, 112 3d Mobile Communications Squadron, 81 , 11 0 4th AACS Wing, 23, 25, 27 4th Mobile Communications Group, 11 0 -11 5th AACS Region , 22 5th AACS Squadorn, 22 5th AACS Wing, 21 , 66 5th Combat Communications Group, 143 5th Combat Information Systems Group, 241, 244, 245, 247 5th Mobile Communications Group, 11 0 , 132 7th AACS Region , 22 7th AACS Squadron, 22 7th AACS Wing, 22, 39, 40, 47 9th Tactical Communications Region, 143 1Oth AACS Squadron, 22 11th AACS Region, 13 12th Tactical Communications Region, 143 276 13th AACS Region, 16-17 13th AACS Squadron, 16 14th AACS Region , 16-17 14th AACS Squadron, 16 18th AACS Squadorn, 17-18 19th AACS Squadron, 17-18 20th AACS Region, 24 20th AACS Squadron, 22 24th AACS Region , 20 24th AACS Squadorn, 18 25th AACS Squadron, 22 58th AACS Group , 18 64th AACS Group, 18 65th AACS Group, 18 66th AACS Group, 4 7 68th AACS Group, 22, 39 69th AACS Group, 27 70th AACS Group, 22, 35 71 st AACS Group, 22 130th AACS Squadorn, 25, 27 133d AACS Squadron, 18-19 218th Engineering Installation Squadron, 228 239th Combat Communications Flight (ANG). 150 254th Combat Communications Squadron, 194 299th Communications Flight (ANG), 164 485th Engineering Installation Group, 225 1804th AACS Group, 61 1808th AACS Wing , 4 7, 59, 60, 62, 64 1809th AACS Group, 47, 59 181 Oth AACS Group, 59 1811 th AACS Group, 59 1812th AACS Group, 50, 59 1815th Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron, 218, 241 1815th Test Squadron, 150 1818th AACS Group, 64, 66 1823d AACS Group, 12 1835th Electronics Installation Squadron, 175, 219, 233 1837th Engineering Installation Squadron , 224 1839th Engineering Installation Group, 196 1840th Air Base Wing , 143 1840th USAF Hospital, 143 1842d Electronics Engineering Group, 226, 228 1849th Engineering Installation Squadron, 238 1859th AACS Mobile Communications Squadron, 60 1865th Facility Checking Flight, 81 1866th Facility Checking Squadron, 108, 159, 208, 245 1867th Facility Checking Flight, 122, 124, 159 1868th Facility Checking Flight, 124, 159 1877th Communications Squadron, 126, 127, 133, 138, 208 1880th Communications Squadron, 128, 134, 138 1881 st Communications Squadron, 128 1882d Communications Squadron, 137 1883d Information Systems Squadron, 236 1901 st Communications Group, 244 1905th Information Systems Squadron, 214 1923d Communications Installation Group, 146 1923d Information Systems Group, 216, 247 1925th AACS Group, 70 1925th Communications Squadron, 208 1926th Communications and Installation Group, 147 1929th Communications Group, 144 1931 st Communications Group, 143, 150, 170 1931 st Information Systems Wing, 204, 224, 228, 235 277 1935th Communications Squ adron , 1 70 1946th AACS Squadron, 50, 51 , 53 1946th Information Systems Squadron, 231 1954th Radar Evaluation Squadron, 147 1955th AACS Squadron, 60 1956th Communications Group, 39 1956th Information Systems Group, 213 1957th Information Systems Group, 206 1958th Communications Squadron, 129 1962d Communications Group, 208 1964th Communications Group, 119, 121 , 124, 136 1964th Communications Squadron, 119 1964th Information Systems Squadron, 246 1972d Communications Squadron, 119, 132, 207 1973d AACS Squadron, 61, 64 1974th Communications Group, 124, 134, 141 , 146, 193 1974th Communications Squadron, 150 1974th Teleprocessing Group , 193 1974th Information Systems Group, 193 1978th Information Systems Group, 238 1980th Communications Squadron, 135 1982d Information Systems Squadron, 213 1986th Communications Squadron, 176 1993d AACS Squadron, 64 1998th Communications Group, 244, 247 2006th Information Systems Group, 211 , 212 2015th Communications Squadron, 1 52 2019th Communications Squadron, 145 2021 st Information Systems Squadron, 246 2036th Information Systems Squadron, 214 2044th Communications Group, 193, 221 , 227 2045th Communications Group, 161 2045th Information Systems Group, 226 2063d Communications Squadron, 186-187 2063d Information Systems Squadron, 246 2064th Information Systems Squadron, 202 2069th Information Systems Squadron, 229 2080th Communications Squadron, 208 2134th Information Systems Squadron, 217 2143d Information Systems Squadron, 233 2146th Communications Group, 116 2162d Information Systems Squadron, 238 2167th Communications Squadron, 175 2179th Communications Group, 208 2181 st Communications Squadron, 165 2186th Information Systems Squadron, 21 7 2187th Communications Group, 95, 152 2192d Information Systems Squadron, 210 2199th Computer Services Squadron , 149, 193 Air Force Communications Complex, 74, 75, 76, 77, 93 Air Force Communications Computer Programming Center, 148, 149, 175, 193 Air Force Communications Network, 7 5 Air Force Communications Service (AFCS) , 79-193; units, see Air Force Communications Command and individual unit designations Air Force Computer Acquisition Center, 148 Air Force Data Automation Agency, 141 , 147, 193, 197 Air Force Data Communications (AFDATACOM), 94 Air Force Data Services Center , Pentagon , 148, 193 Air Force Data Systems Design Center, Gunter AFS , Alabama, 148, 149, 193 Air Force Data Systems Evaluation Center , Gunter AFS , Alabama, 148, 193 Air Force Flight Data Entry Printout, 1 56 Air Force Frequency Management Office, 208 278 Air Force Global Air-to-Ground Communications Systems, 75 Air Force Global Weather Broadcasts and Intercept System , 75 Air Force Global Weather Central, 91 , 173, 179, 221 Air Force Logistics Command, 79, 85, 143, 166, 191 , 196, 201 Air Force Operations Network, 75 Air Force Reserve , 188 Air Force Satellite Communications (AFSATCOM), 203 Air Force Security Service, 146, 169 Air Force Systems Command, 79, 85, 91 , 143, 176, 196, 201 Air Force Teleprocessing Center , 193 Air Force Weather Facsimile Network, 75 Air Force Weather Teletype Network, 75 Air Materiel Command, 70, 72 Air National Guard, 111 , 116, 177, 186, 188, 194, 228 Air Rescue Service , 116 Air Route Traffic Control Centers, 154, 156 Air Service , 1 Air Staff, 72, 79, 85, 91 , 92, 99, 103, 142,146, 147, 149, 162, 171 , 175, 179,181 , 192,193, 195,197, 199, 201 , 203, 207, 210, '218, 219-20, 221, 224, 227, 234, 242, 251 AirTrafficControl, 8 , 51 , 52, 53, 54, 57, 58, 59-60, 63, 64, 65, 67-70, 71 , 79, 80, 89, 104-109, 111 , 112, 114,118, 119,121,123,124,126,129, 130, 131 , 132, 133,134,138,139, 142, 150-158, 168,181, 183, 185, 207-08, 229-37, 242, 244, 247-49 Air Traffic Control Committee, 66 Air Traffic Regulation Centers, 134-135 Air Training Command, 85, 143, 146, 173, 196, 238 Air Transport Command, 16, 23, 34, 42, 44, 4 7 Air University, 85, 143 Air Weather Network, 173 Air Weather Service , 72, 146, 157, 171, 177, 179, 221, 222, 223 Airborne Mobile Units, 18 AIRCOM, see Air Force Communications Complex Aircraft, see individual types; saves, 150, 229; inventory since 1961 , 268-269 Aircraft Surge, Launch and Recovery Program , 242 Airlift Communications Division , 149 Airlift Information Systems Division, 206 Airways and Air Communications Service, 44, 4 7-79; units, see Air Force Communications Command and individual unit designations Akim, Maj Gen, Spencer B., 77 Alabama, 148, 149, 193 Alaska, 2, 3, 10, 13, 14, 43, 45, 61 , 88, 96, 97, 100-103,114,143,144,145, 147,150,164,165,168, 170, 171 , 177, 196, 200, 202, 207, 221 , 222, 224, 226, 234, 235 Alaska Communications Region, 81, 88, 101, 143 Alaskan Air Command, 79, 85, 227-28 Alaskan Air Defense System, 71 Alaskan Communications System, 100, 102, 144, 145 Alaskan Telephone Switching System, 162 Albrook AFB, Canal Zone, 168 Aleutian Islands, 13, 14, 61 , 168 Algeria, 17 All-weather instrument landing systems, 104 Altus AFB , Oklahoma, 111 Alvarez, Luis W ., Dr, 48 Amateur radio operators, 6 , 43, 88 Amberley Field, Brisbane , Australia, 22 American Radio Relay League, 76 American Telephone and Telegraph, 74, 219-20 AN/CRD-6 direction finder, 69 AN/FPN-4 7 radar, 190 AN/FPN-62 radar , 190, 230 AN/FPS-77, 90, 177 AN/FPS-85 radar , 193 AN/FPS-89, 182 279 AN /FRN-12A omnidirectional range, 69 AN /FSC-78 satellite antenna , 205 AN /GM0-1 0 weather system , 178 AN /GM0-20, 178 AN /GPN-20 radar, 230, 232, 233 AN /GPN-22 radar , 230, 232, 234 AN /GPN-24 radar, 230, 232, 233, 234 AN /GPS-10 radar, 203 AN /GRA-121 TACAN antenna, 200 AN /GRC-189 ground satellite communications term inal , 172 AN /GSC -49 terminal, 238 AN /GSH -34 recorder, 151 AN /GSN -12 operations center, 230, 233 AN /MPN -14 radar , 198, 242 AN /MRC-1 07, 186 AN /MSC -46, 99, 171 AN /TM0-11, 178 AN /TPN -19 radar , 230, 231 AN /TSC -62, 184 AN /TPN -19, 1 52 AN /TRC -97 radio , 241 AN /TRC -103, 122 AN /TRC -170 radio, 241 AN /TRN -26TACAN, 197,198 AN /TSC -54, 99 AN /TSC -100 satellite antenna, 204 AN /TSC -1 02 satellite terminal, 205, 241 AN /TSC -107 quick reaction package, 240 AN /TSW-7 control tower, 231, 244 AN /TTC -39 switchboard, 241 AN /USC -39 satellite terminal, 205 Anchorage, Alaska 2, 61 Andersen AFB, Guam , 129, 234 Andrews AFB, Maryland , 47, 72, 93, 95, 161, 173, 226, 255 Ankenbrandt, Maj Gen, Francis L., 77, 257 Antarctica, 77 Antenna system, 14, 19, 97 Antigua, British West Indies, 10, 116 Apollo Aircraft Control Center, 116 Arabia, 16 Arctic, 71 Arctic Circle, 8 Arizona , 137, 173 Army, see United States Army Army Air Corps , 3 , 4 Army Air Forces , 14, 16, 42, 4 7 Army Airways Communications System (AACS), 1-4 7 , 88, 108, 1 09; units, see Air Force Communications Command and individual unit designations Army Amateur Radio System, 76 Army Command and Administrative Network (ACAN) , 73 Army Signal Corps, 1, 3, 6, 72, 100 Arnold, Gen, Henry H. (Hap), 1, 2, 3, 43, 251 Ascension Island , 1 5, 221 Asheville, North Carolina, 42, 44, 255 Ashiya Air Field, Japan , 66 Assistant Chief of Staff for Communications and Computer Resources, 147 Athens, Greece, 21 Atkinson Field, British Guiana, 10, 1 5 Atomic bomb, 49, 71 Atsugi Airfield, Tokyo, 38, 39, 40, 43, 118 Attu Island, Alaska, 13, 14 Austin, Gen , Hudson, 244 Australia, 12 , 22, 24, 27, 32, 206 280 AUTODIN, see Automatic Digital Network Automated Message Processing Exchange , 148, 1 7 5 Automated Systems Program Office, 193 Automated Technical Control Program, 166 Automated Telecommunication Program , 175 Automated Voice Network, 216, 219 Automated Weather Distribution System, 221 Automated Weather Network, 92, 177, 179, 222 Automatic Digital Network (AUTODIN), 93-95, 123, 128, 147, 160, 161 , 162, 169, 173, 175, 184, 210 Automatic Digital Weather Switch, 90, 91 Automatic Secure Voice Communications, 147 , 60, 162 Automatic Switching Center, 76, 160 Automatic Voice Network (AUTOVON), 96, 147, 160, 162, 163 Automatic Weather Network, 90, 91 AUTOSEVOCOM, see Automatic Secure Voice Communications AUTOVON, see Automatic Voice Network Aviano, Italy, 95, 152, 177, 241 Azores, 163, 186; earthquake, 186 B B-1 0 aircraft, 2, 3 B-1 7 aircraft, 1 2, 1 3 B-24 aircraft, 49 B-26 aircraft, 13 B-29 aircraft, 30, 35, 49 B-50 aircraft, 49 B-52 aircraft, 129, 156 Baden Soellingen, West Germany, 242 BADGE, see Base and Air Defense Ground Environment System Bahrein, Muharrag Island, Persian Gulf, 17 Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS), 71, 92, 97, 100, 102, 147 Bangkok Air Traffic Control Center, 80 Barbados, 244 Base Air Defense Ground Environment System, 71 Base Information Digital Distribution System, 211 , 218-19 Base and Installation Security Program, 240 Base and Installation Security System, 176 Base Security System, 173, 176 Base telephone exchange, 90 Battle of Britain, 71 Baxter, Capt, Thurston, H., 5 Beale AFB, California, 155, 236 Beirut, Lebanon, 243-44, 245 Belgian Congo, 16, 109 Belgium, 19 Bell Operating Companies, 220 Bell Telephone System, 74, 159 Belleville, Illinois, 99 Bendix Corporation, 234 Berg, Lt Col, Walter B., 3, 22, 23, 45 Bergquist, Maj Gen, Kenneth P. , 258 Berlin, Germany, 22, 43, 49-58, 59, 154, 230, 231 Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center, 231 Berlin Air Traffic Safety Center, 51 Berlin Airlift, 49-58, 66, 185 Bermuda, 43 Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, 119, 123, 124, 126, 127, 130, 131, 133, 138 Binh Lac , South Vietnam, 138 Binh Thuy AB, South Vietnam, 85, 123, 128, 130, 134, 138 Bishop, Maurice, 244 Blair Packing Company, 13 Blake, Lt Gen, Gordon A ., 12, 22, 39, 40, 45 281 Bluie West 1, Greenland , 48 Bluie West 3, Greenland, 8 BMEWS, see Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Bolero Project , 8 , 16 Boiling Field, Washington D.C., 2, 3 , 255 Bombers : B-1 B, 211 B-10, 2 , 3 B-17, 12, 13 B-24, 49 B-26, 13 B-29, 30, 35, 49 B-50, 49 B-52, 129, 156 Bonn , Germany, 20 Bougainville, Solomon Islands, 32, 34 Bowman, Maj Gen, Wendell W. , 5, 16, 17, 45 Bradley Plan, 18 Brady Air Field, 66 Brandywine, Maryland, 99 Brave Shield Exercise, 186 Brazil , 1 5 Brim Frost Exercise , 204 Brisbane, Australia, 22 Britain , s·ee United Kingdom BRITE System, 151, 248 British Guiana, 1 0, 1 5 British Overseas Airways, 16 British West Indies , 1 0 , 116 Bradley, Lt , Follett , 1 Broad Pass , Alaska , 2 Brock, Maj, Glover B. , 16 Brussells, Belgium , 21 Buckley ANGB , Colorado, 238 Buraun , Philippines , 32 Buri, Philippines, 32, 38 Burma , 22, 24, 27, 28, 45 Burris, Maj Gen, Rupert H., 145, 191 , 259 Burroughs Corporation, 21 5 Busy Prairie Exercise, 186 Byrd , Adm, Richard E., 2 c C-4 7 aircraft, 38, 39, 50 C-54 aircraft, 39, 40, 50, 54, 55, 57 , 107, 158 C-11 9 aircraft, 63 C-123 aircraft, 131 C-1 24 aircraft, 114 C-130 aircraft, 105, 112, 115, 158, 159, 185 C-140 aircraft, 107, 124, 131, 158, 159, 236-37 C-141 aircraft, 116, 119, 185, 244 Cairo, Egypt, 16 California, 94, 95, 153,154,155, 162, 171 , 174, 175, 186, 207-08,216,233,236,244 Cam Ranh Bay AB, South Vietnam, 105, 123, 128, 130, 131 Canada, 18, 100, 163, 221 , 242 Canal zone , 15, 157, 158, 168 Canton Island , Fiji, 22 Cape Canaveral , Florida , 207 Cape Kennedy , Florida , 85, 116 Cape Lisborne AFS, Alaska, 100, 144 Cape Newenham, Alaska, 88 Capodichino Airfield, Naples, Italy, 18, 19, 20 282 Carentan, France, 19 Caribbean, 10, 1 5, 42, 45, 243-44 Caribbean Air Command, 81 Carney Field , Guadalcanal, 28, 33 Carswell AFB, Texas, 90, 91 , 158, 173, 177, 229 Carter, President, Jimmy, 186 Casu alties , 38, 57 , 58, 129, 182 Catania, Italy, 18 Celie, West Germany, 50 Central America, 108, 168, 243-45 Central Communications Reg ion, 86, 87 CESOs, see Communications-Electronics Support Offices Chad , 243 Challenger, 207 Chemical defense, 153 Chemical warfare, 238,239 Chengtu, China, 26 Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, 147 Cheyenne Mountain Space Surveillance Center, 203 Chicago, Illinois , 133 Chicksands (RAF). England, 175 Chief of Staff of the Air Force, 80, 141 Chief of the Air Corps, 5 China , 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 33, 45 China -Burma-India Theater, 22, 23, 24, 45, 50 China Sea , 23 Chinese Communist Army, 63, 64, 66 Chinook helicopters, 136 Christmas Island, 22, 27 Chu Lai Marine Air Station, South Vietnam, 122 Cima Gallina , Italy, 164 Civil Aeronautics Administration, 6, 43, 49, 53, 69 Civilians, 47, 74, 76, 77, 125, 142,149, 153, 168, 171 , 174, 188 Clark AB, Philippines , 12, 39, 99, 110, 119, 122, 123, 124, 129, 131 , 159 , 173, 185, 221 , 224 Clay , Lt Gen. Lucius D. , 50 Clear, Alaska, 147 Cold Bay, Alaska, 13, 61 Cold War, 109 Colleville, France, 19 Collier Trophy, 48 Collins " Log Periodic" Antenna, 172 Colonel Basil 0 . Lenoir, 144, 145 Colorado, 91 , 147, 193, 197, 203, 213 Colorado Springs, Colorado, 91 Combat cargo , 23 Combat Logistics Network, 75, 93, 94 Combined Airl ift Task Force , 50, 58 Comet Project, 49 COMEDS, see Continental United States Meteorological Data System COMLOGNET, see Combat Logistics Network Command and Control Development Division , 79 Communications-Electronics Support Offices (CESOs), 143, 146 Computer system, 72, 77, 147, 148, 149, 158, 161 , 175, 176, 177 Command and Control Development Division , 79 Command and Control Systems Office, 193, 195 Communications-Electronics Support Offices (CESOs). 143, 146 Communications Front End Processor, 221 Computer Inquiry II decision, 219 Computer system, 72, 77, 147,148, 149, 158, 161 , 175, 176, 177, 194,209-15, 229, 230,235 Computer systems, merger w /communications, 192-230 Congo, 16, 109 Congress, 6, 73, 169, 176 Conrad, Dr . Thomas D. , 199 2 8 3 Continental Air Command, 85 Continental Communications Division , 1 50, 196, 220 Continental Region , 81 , 86 Continental United States Meteorological Data System (COMEDS I, 177, 178 Contracting, 91, 92, 129, 144, 1 59 Control tower, 11 , 12, 15, 19, 21 , 27, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 40, 43, 44, 52, 57, 60, 61, 63, 64, 66, 67, 68, 79, 81,105,1 06,110,111,128,130,133,134,1 50,151,232, 234, 236,242,244 Core Automated Maintenance System, 211 Costa Rica , 1 5 CPS -5 radar, 53, 54, 58 Croughton (RAF), England , 166, 221 Cryptographers, 23, 29, 43, 61 Cuba, 244, 251 Cuban Missile Crisis, 11 2, 251 Cuban sealift, 186 Cyclone Oscar, 245 Czechoslovakia, 49 D D-Day , 18, 19 Dakar-Yoff Airfield, Senegal, 208 Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, 118, 119, 122, 123, 128, 129, 130, 131 , 133, 136, 185 Darwin, Australia, 12 Data processing installations, 193, 199, 213 Data Systems Design Office, 193 Dayton, Ohio, 6 Dayton Defense Metropolitan Area Telephone System, 216-17 Dedicated and specialized communications, 167-173 Deep Freeze Project, 77 Defense Atomic Support Agency, 168 Defense Attache Office, 185 Defense Commercial Communications Organization (DECCO), 92 Defense Communications Agency, 92, 96, 160, 162, 166, 210, 228 Defense Communications System, 183 Defense Data Network, 210-11 Defense Meteorological Satellite Program , 171 , 173, 222 Defense Metropolitan Area Telephone System, 216-1 7 Defense Satellite Communications System, 205, 207 Defense Special Security communications system, 161 Defense Switched Network, 216, 219 Dempsey, Col, Derrel L., 248 Department of Commerce, 222 Department of Defense, 90, 92, 95, 96, 100, 116, 125, 147, 160, 168, 173, 182, 190, 203, 209, 210, 213, 216, 229, 234, 243, 244, 247, 251 Department of the Interior, 100 Deregulation, 201 , 219-20 Detachment G, 18 Detachment H, 18 Detachment 1 0 , 34 Detachment 305, 20 Dial Central Offices, 21 5-19 Dickerson Committee, 138 Dickerson, Col , Robert W., 138 Digital European Backbone System, 147 Digital subscriber terminal equipment, 95 Digital Weather Graphic Network, 179 Direction finder, 11 , 49, 61, 62, 69, 70, 104, 156 Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line), 71, 100 Divestiture, 201, 219-20 Dominican Republic , 11 5 Don Muang AB, Thailand , 119, 124, 125 Doubleday, Maj Gen , Daniel C., 257 284 Doughert y , Gen , Russell E., 145 Douglas, Maj Gen , Rob ert W ., 54 Dual-hat concept, 79-86, 196, 197, 199 Dutch Guiana, 1 5 Dutch Harbor , Alaska , 13 E Edwards AFB , California , 207-08 Eglin AFB , Florida , 193, 207 11th AACS Region, 13 18th AACS Squadron, 17, 18 1804th AACS Group, 61 1808th AACS Wing, 47, 59, 60, 62, 64 1809th AACS Group, 4 7, 59 181 Oth AACS Group, 59 1811th AACS Group, 59 1812th AACS Group, 50, 59 181 5th Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron, 218, 241 1815th Test Squadron, 150 1818th AACS Group, 64, 66 1823d AACS Group, 72 1835th Electronics Installation Squadron , 175, 219, 233 1837th Engineering Installation Squadron , 224 1839th Engineering Installation Group , 196 1842d Electronics Engineering Group , 226, 228 1843d Electronics Engineering Squadron , 142 1840th Air Base Wing, 143 1840th USAF Hospital, 143 1849th Engineering Insta llation Squadron , 238 1859th AACS Mobile Communications Squadron, 60 186 5th Facility Checking Flight, 81 1866th Facility Checking Squadron, 108, 159, 208, 245 1867th Facility Checking Flight, 122, 124, 159 1868th Facility Checking Flight, 124, 159 1877th Communications Squadron, 126, 127, 133, 138, 208 1880th Communications Squadron, 128, 134, 138 1881 st communications Squadorn, 128 1882d Communications Squadron, 137 1883d Information Systems Squadron, 236 Earthquakes, 11 2, 114, 186 Eastern Communications Region, 86, 87 EC-47, 131, 158 Eglin AFB , Florida, 146, 147 Egypt, 16, 186 Eielson AFB, Alaska , 143 Eiffel Tower, 19 Eighth Air Force , 18 Eisenhower, Gen, Dwight D., 17 El Alamein, 16, 22 Electronics Security Command, 146 Electronic Systems Division, 79, 91, 176 Eleusis Field, Athens, Greece , 21 Elizabethville, Belgian Congo, 16 Elmadag, Turkey, 88, 97 Elmendorf AFB, Alaska , 114, 143, 171, 196, 221 , 224, 226, 235 El Salvador, 245 Emergency communications, 80, 89, 109-111 , 124, 143 Engineering Installation Center , 150 Engineering Installation Division, 201 , 211, 224 Eng land , 9, 90, 166, 175 Equipment, 6 , 9, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36, 40, 43 2 8 5 Erding, Germany, 59 Eskimos, 8 Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, 23, 33 Europe , 9 , 21, 157, 158, 163, 164, 165, 171 , 177, 179, 180, 187 European, Africa, and Mid East Area, 81 , 82, 11 0 European Central NOTAM Facility , 157 European Communications Area, 96, 143, 1 50, 171 European Telephone System, 216, 217 Expanded Memory Storage System, 161 F 1st AACS Region , 4 , 5, 7 1st AACS Tactical Group, 27 1st Combat Communications/Information Systems Group, 193, 208, 242, 243-44, 246 1st Mobile Communications Group , 110, 111 , 116, 118, 119, 121 , 124, 132, 134, 138, 182, 183, 185 1st Mobile Communications Squadron, 182 4th AACS Wing, 23, 25, 27 4th Mobile Communications Group, 11 0 , 111 5th AACS Region, 22 5th AACS Squadron, 22 5th AACS Wing, 21, 66 5th Combat Communications Group, 143 5th Combat Information Systems Group, 241 , 244, 245, 247 5th Mobile Communications Group, 110, 132 14th AACS Region, 16, 17 14th AACS Squadron , 16 58th AACS Group , 18 485th Engineering Installation Group, 225 559th Tactical Fighter Squadron , 128 F-4 Aircraft, 182 Facsimile transmission, 19, 43 Fairbanks, Alaska, 3 Fairchild AFB , Washington, 234 Far East, 59 Far East Air Forces, 59, 63, 66 Far East Communications Region , 83 Farben Building, 54 Farman , Brig Gen. Ivan L., 2, 3, 6, 8, 42, 45, 256 Fasnacht, SSgt, David, 129 Fassberg, Germany, 50, 53 Federal Aviation Administration, 6, 69, 100,104,106, 108,133, 150,156,158,191,229,236,242,247-49, 251 Federal Aviation Agency, see Federal Aviation Administration Federal Civil Defense Agency, 76 Federal Communications Commission , 76 Federal Computer Performance Evaluation and Simulation Center, 148 Fiber optic systems, 159, 218 Fifth Air Force, 22, 62, 63, 134 Fiji , 22, 245 Fire Base Phouc Vinh, South Vietnam, 118 First Field Forces Command, 136 Flight checking evaluations, 236-37, 245 Flight Control Command, 42 Flight Information Publications, 1 56 Flight Service, 70 Flight Service Evaluations, 70, 80, 105, 106, 1 07, 108, 122, 131, 158, 159 Florida, 15, 70, 98, 112, 116, 146, 147, 171 , 193, 207,208 Flying Tigers , 23 Fort Glen , Alaska, 13 Fort Filey , Kansas, 1 Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 111 286 Forward Propagation Ionospheri c Scatter, 71 Forward Propagation Tropospheric Scatter Circu it s, 97 Fourteenth Air Force, 23, 51 France , 19, 21 , 49, 50, 110, 111 , 118 Francis Peak, Utah, 164 Frankfurt, W est Germany, 54, 186 French Equatorial Africa, 16 French Indo-China , 22 French North Africa , 17 French West Africa, 1 7 Fuchu AS, Japan, 90, 157 Furstenfeldbruck, Germany, 59 G Gabriel, Gen, Charles A ., 192 Galapagos Islands, 1 5 Gallant Eagle Exercise , 186 Gander Lake, Newfoundland, 8 Garland , Maj Gen , E. Blair, 257 Gatow, West Germany, 50, 57 GEEIA, see Ground Electronics Engineering and Installation Agency Gemini Program , 116 General Services Administration, 148 Gentile AFS , Ohio, 95, 161 Gentry, SSgt, Vernon 0., 132 Georgia, 105, 110,147, 241,247 Germany, 15, 17, 20, 22, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 66, 108, 111 , 124, 154, 158, 159, 163, 180, 181 , 184, 186, 187, 196, 230, 231, 232, 246 Gia Lam Airport, Hanoi , North Vietnam , 185 Giant Sapphire, 203 Giant Talk (SAC), 169, 205, 224, 225 Gilbert Islands, 32 Global Air Weather Service , 91 Global Command Control System, 224, 226 Global Communications System, 73, 74 Global Weather Intercept Program, 221 GLOBECOM, see Global Communications System Goldwater, Senator, Barry , 137 Goose Bay, Labrador , 8 , 9 GPN -29 solid -state instrument landing system, 146 Graciani-Benetti, MSgt, Iva, 166 Grant, Maj Gen, Harold W., 80, 191 , 258 Gravelly Point, Virginia, 44, 4 7, 255 Great Brita in, see United Kingdom Greece, 21, 43, 171 Green Island Group, Solomon Islands, 30 Greenland, 8, 18, 48, 71, 85, 97, 100, 147, 163, 225 Grenada , 243, 244 Griffiss AFB, New York, 72, 79, 142, 145, 150 Ground Control Approach Radar, 31, 36, 48, 49, 53, 54, 55, 57 -58, 61 , 63, 65, 66, 69, 105, 106, 107, 134, 155 Ground Electronics Engineering Installation Agency, 72, 79, 85, 99, 128, 141, 142, 160, 250 Guadalcanal , 28, 33 Guam, 22, 32, 61, 83, 129, 169, 234 Guatemala, 1 5 Gulf of Tonkin, 121 Gunter AFS , Alabama, 148, 149, 193 Gusap, New Guinea , 25 H Hale, Maj Gen , Dudley D., 4, 5, 257 Hamman, A 1 C, Rodney, 244 287 Hammer Ace, 243, 244, 245 Hampton, V irginia , 44 ' Ham " radio operators, 6, 43, 88 Hanoi , North Vietnam, 185 Hanscom AFB , Massachusetts, 79, 148 Hawaii, 12, 22, 24, 27, 59, 61, 83, 142, 158, 166, 177, 208 Hayes, CMSgt Jeremiah T. , 200 Headquarters Army Air Corps , 4, 5 Headquarters Army Air Corps Directorate of Communications, 5 Headquarters locations , AACS, 5, 42, 44, 47, 80, 253; AFCS , 80, 142-43, 149, 158, 255; AFCC , 255 Hebert, Normandy, 21 Hengyang, China , 23 Herres , Maj Gen , Robert T., 162, 188, 191 , 193, 201 , 238, 243, 260 HH43B Husky helicopter, 133 Hickam Field , Hawaii, 12, 22, 123 High Wycombe AS , England , 90 Hill AFB , Utah, 147, 219 Himalaya Mountains, 22, 51 Hirohito (Japanese Emperor), 43 Hoengsong AB, Korea , 61 Holloman AFB, New Mexico, 146 Homestead AFB , Florida , 112 Honduras, 245 Hostages, 186, 187 Howard AFB, Panama , 153, 157, 173, 178 Hsingching, China , 27 Humanitarian Service Medal , 249 Humosa, Spain , 96, 163 " Hump", 22, 23, 51 Hunter AFB, Georgia , 110 Hurricane Elena , 246 Hurrican lwa, 245 HYPO Project , 4 7 Iceland , 8 , 18, 72 Idaho, 111 Illinois, 80, 91 , 99,108, 109, 115, 141 , 142, 149, 150, 159, 168, 191 , 193,197, 206, 208,228,244, 245, 255 Imperial Japanese Navy, 12 lncirlik AB, Turkey, 196, 221 , 226 India , 16, 22, 24, 25, 29, 45 Information Systems Merger, 192-200, 270-272 Initial Defense Communications Satellite Program , 99 Instrument Landing System, 69, 153, 156 Integrated Communication System for Southeast Asia, 134 lnteroperability, 190 Inter-Service /Agency Automated Message Processing Exchange , 21 3 Iran , 17, 112, 113, 173 1-S/A AMPE, See Inter-Service /Agency Automated Message Processing Exchange, 213 Isley Field , Saipan , 35, 36 Israel , 186 Italy, 17, 18, 49, 95, 152, 164, 165, 167, 177, 241 lwo Jima, 31 , 32 lzmir, Turkey, 99 J JACSPAC, see Joint Airways Communications System Pacific Ocean Areas Jamaica, 10 Japan, 49, 59, 60, 61 , 62, 64, 66, 90, 157, 158, 159, 163, 166, 179, 208, 213, 221 , 225, 226, 251 288 Japanese, 12, 13, 14, 22, 23, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 39, 40, 43 Johnson, President, Lyndon B., 102, 11 5 Joint Airways Communications System Pacific Ocean Areas, 27 Joint Chiefs of Staff, 47, 114 Joint Services Commendation Medal, 244 Joint Tactical Communications Program (TRI-TAC), 187, 240-41 Jorhat, India , 23 K Kansas City, Missouri, 143 Karachi (India) Pakistan, 22, 24, 25, 29, 186 KC-135 aircraft, 99 Keesler AFB, Mississippi, 68, 108 Kelly AFB, Texas, 146, 172, 215, 216, 220, 245 Kennedy, President, John F., 11 2 Kenya, 16 Keyte, Lt Col , Kenneth, 119 Khartoum, Sudan, 16 Khe Sanh, South Vietnam, 132 Kimpo Airport, Korea , 59, 62, 63, 64, 66 K. I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan, 173 Kindle Liberty 85 Exercise, 238 Kiska, Alaska, 13, 14 Klise, Col , Kenneth W ., 18 Klocko, Maj Gen, Richard P., 258 Kodiak, Alaska, 61 Karat AB, Thailand, 124, 126 Korea, see also North and South Korea; 58-66, 163, 185, 186, 213, 216 Korean War, 58-66, 71 , 73, 77, 96 Kunming, China, 27, 29 Kunsan AB, South Korea, 213 Kwanghan, China, 25 Kweilin, China, 23 L Labrador, 8, 9, 43, 71 Labrador-Newfoundland Air Defense System, 71 Lajes Field, Azores , 163 Landing Ship Tank (LST), 63 Langley AFB, Virginia, 44, 47, 86, 215, 234, 255 Las Vegas, Nevada, 186 Latham, Donald C. , 217 Laughlin AFB, Texas, 147, 158 Learmonth, Australia, 206 Leased communications, 91 , 92, 129, 144, 159 Lebanon, 109, 243-44, 245 LeMay, Gen, Curtis E., 49, 50, 72, 80 Lend-lease , 8 , 13 Leopoldville, Belgian Congo, 16 Leyte, Philippines, 32 Liberia, 16 Libya, 17, 243 Lincoln Experimental Satellite, 99 Lindsey AS, Germany, 184, 186, 246 Lindbergh, Charles A. , 3 Lineage, 253-54 Little America, Antarctica, 2 Little MO, 66 Local area networks, 211 Local Digital Message Exchange, 175 289 Lockheed Jet Star C-140 aircraft, 105 Lod Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel, 186 London , England , 18, 20, 21 , 43 Long haul communications , 35, 71 , 72-77, 79, 89, 93-104, 109, 122, 134, 139, 1 59 -173 Long-Range Navigation, 69 LORAN, see Long Range Navigation Los Angeles AFS , California , 171 Luzon , Philippines, 32 M MacArthur, Gen, Douglas , 32, 38, 40, 43, 58, 6 2 MacDill AFB , Florida , 1 71 Maclaren, Maj Gen , William G., Jr., 205 McCarthy, Maj Gen, Robert F., 192, 195, 199, 201 , 209, 219, 238, 247, 248, 260 McChord AFB , Washington, 214 McClellan AFB, California, 94, 95, 154, 171 McClelland, Maj Gen, Harold M ., 2, 3, 43, 48, 256 McGuire AFB, New Jersey, 244, 247 McMahan, Lt Col, Charles R., 124 Malaya , 22 Malmstrom AFB , Montana, 193, 21 3 Mandelbaum, Col , Albert J ., 23 Manila, Philippines, 38, 39 " Man in Space", 116 Manu·al Technical Control Improvement Prog ram , 166 Marianas Islands , 29, 32, 35 Mark II Satellite Terminal, 171 Mark IV Satellite Terminal , 16, 171 MARS, see Military Affiliate Radio System Marseilles, France , 21 Marshall, Gen , George C., 2 Marshall Islands, 32 Martin B-1 0 Bomber, 2 Maryland , 47, 72, 93, 95, 99, 161 , 173, 226, 255 Massachusetts, 99, 148 MATCon, see M ilitary Air Traffic Control Mather AFB, Cal ifornia, 236 Medical Red Flag Exercise , 186 Mercury Project, 116 Meteor Burst Communications, 227-28 Mexico, 15 Mexico, earthquake, 245, 247, 251 MGM Grand Hotel fire , Las Vegas , Nevada , 186 Michigan, 173 Microcomputers, 192, 209-1 0 Microwave, 74, 75, 99, 139, 153, 159, 163, 164, 166, 180, 188, 226 Microwave landing system, 234-35 Middle East, 16, 22, 114, 186 Midway Island, 12 Midwestern Region, 81 , 86 Mildenhall RAF , United Kingdom , 196 Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS), 76-77, 103-104, 114, 135, 136, 137, 167, 171 , 172, 173, 185, 224, 244, 246 Military Airlift Command, 244 Military Air Traffic Control (MATCon), 59, 64 Military Air Transport Service , 4 7 , 70, 79, 80, 1 10 Military Airlift Command, 44, 141 , 149, 158, 168 Military Amateur Radio System , see Military Affiliate Radio System Military Flight Service Communications System, 49 Miller Freeman , 173 Milstar Satellite Communications Program, 203 Mission Effective Information Transfer System, 218 290 Mission Island, Green Island Group, 30 Mississippi, 68, 1 08 Missouri, 109, 143, 149, 150, 151 , 158, 159, 255 Mitchell Field, New York, 2 Mitchell, Gen, William (Billy), 1 MIX FIX Project, 125 Mobile Communications, 18, 39, 55, 56, 60, 80, 81, 99, 105, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 121' 123, 124, 132, 134, 138, 143, 1 50, 1 52-1 53, 1 54, 1 55, 1'56, 180, 181' 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 188 Mobile control tower, 21 , 25, 107, 111, 118, 119, 121 , 152, 153 Mobile Digital Subscriber Terminal Equipment, 184 Monkey Mountain, South Vietnam, 119, 121 Montana, 193, 213 Montgomery, Gen , Bernard , 16, 17 Moore, Brig Gen, Donald L., 218 Morocco, 17 Mosely "Beam" Antenna, 172 Mount Paganelia, Italy, 167 Mount St. Helens, Washington, 186 Mount Vergine, Italy, 165 Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, 111 Muharraq Island, Persian Gulf, 17 Munda, New Georgia, 32, 34 Munich, West Germany, 58, 59 Mutual Defense Assistance Program, 66 Mystic Star, 226, 227 N 9th Tactical Communications Region, 143 19th AACS Squadron, 17, 18 1901st Communications Group, 244 1905th Information Systems Squadron, 214 1923d Communications Installation Group, 146 1923d Information Systems Group, 216, 247 1925th AACS Group, 70 1925th Communications Squadron, 208 1926th Communications and Installation Group, 147 1929th Communications Group, 144 1931 st Communications Group, 143, 1 50, 170 1931 st Information Systems Wing, 204, 224, 228, 235 1935th Communications Squadron, 170 1946th AACS Squadron, 50, 51, 53 1946th Information Systems Squadron, 231 1 9 54th Radar Evaluation Squadron, 147 1955th AACS Squadron, 60 1956th Communications Group, 39 1956th Information Systems Group, 213 1957th Information Systems Group, 206 1958th Communications Squadron, 129 1962d Communications Group, 208 1964th Communications Squadron, 119 1964th Information Systems Squadron, 246 1972d Communications Squadron, 119, 132, 207 1973d AACS Squadron, 61, 64 1974th Communications Group, 124, 134, 141, 146, 193 1974th Communications Squadron, 150 1974th Teleprocessing Group, 193 1974th Information Systems Group, 193 1978th Information Systems Group, 238 1980th Communications Squadron, 135 1982d Information Systems Squadron, 213 1986th Communications Squadorn, 176 291 1993d AACS Squadron, 64 1998th Communications Group, 244, 247 Nagoya, Japan, 59 Nairobi, Kenya , 16 Nakhon Phanom AB , Thailand , 137 Nandi Island , Fiji , 22 Nansin , Burma , 30 Naples, Italy, 19, 20 NASA, see National Aeronautics and Space Association National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 207-08 National Aeronautics and Space Association, 116 National Aerospace System, 156 National Archives and Record Service, 210 National Command Authorities, 167, 169 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 173 National Security Act, 4 7 NATO, see North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO Air Base Satellite System, 207 Navigational aids, 3, 9, 10, 11 , 13, 14, 17, 21 , 25, 27, 36, 47, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 80, 104,105, 108, 112,115, 118, 119,121,122,124,132,150,153,154, 156, 157, 158, 171' 229-37, 244, 245 NAVSTAR Global Positioning System, 171 Navy, see United States Navy Neal , Brig Gen, Haskell E., 16 Nebraska, 9.1, 136, 145, 167, 173, 174, 196 Nellis AFB, Nevada, 220, 229 Neubiberg, Germany, 59 Nevada, 186, 220, 229 New Baden, Illinois, 245 New Caledonia, 22, 23, 24, 34, 35, 36 New Georgia, 34 New Guinea, 1 2, 32 New Hebrides, 28, 33 New Jersey, 244 New Mexico, 146 New York, 3, 72, 142, 145, 150, 218 New Zealand, 77 Newfoundland, 8, 71 Next Generation Weather Radar, 222-23 Nha Trang, South Vietnam, 118, 119, 122, 123, 128, 130, 136 Nicaragua, 1 5 Ninth Air Force, 20 Nimitz, Adm, Chester W ., 32 Nixon, President, Richard M ., 102 NKC-135 aircraft, 158 NORAD Communications Operations Center, 147 Normandy, 19, 20, 21 North Africa, 16 North American Aerospace Defense Command, 203 North Atlantic, 8, 9, 16, 18, 42 North Atlantic Region , 81, 86 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 69, 197, 207 North Bay, Ontario , Canada, 100 North Carolina, 42, 44, 115, 255 North Korea, 62-63, 65, 116 North Vietnam, 185 Northern Communications Area, 142, 143, 149 Northern Telecom, Inc., 215, 218 Northrup Strip, New Mexico, 208 Norton AFB, California , 94, 95, 174, 175, 233 NOTAM, see Notice to Airmen Notice to Airmen (NOTAM). 108, 131 , 156, 157, 158, 178, 229 292 Nova Scotia, 8 Nuclear accidents, 243 0 130th AACS Squadron, 25, 27 133d AACS Squadron, 18, 19 187th Regimental Combat Team, 66 Office of Commercial Communications, 91 Office of Deputy Commander for Data Automation. 147 Office information systems, 209-1 0 Offutt AFB , Nebraska, 91, 145, 167, 173, 174, 196 O'Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois, 133 Ohio , 95, 150, 161 Okinawa, 32, 39, 59, 61 , 123, 163 Oklahoma, 90, 95, 108, 110, 111,114, 131 , 142, 148,149, 150, 175,193, 220 Oklahoma City AFS, Oklahoma, 142, 1 50 Omaha, Nebraska, 136 Omaha Beach, 19 Omnidirectional range, 69, 70, 156 On-base communications, 80, 89, 90-92, 109, 173-179 Ontario, Canada , 100 Operation Vittles, 49-58 Operation Homecoming, 185 Optical character reader, 175 Organization, 4, 5, 18, 42, 44, 47, 79-88, 141 -150, 192-197, 200, 270-272 Orlando AFB, Florida , 70 Orly Field , France, 21 Osan AB, South Korea , 216 Owada, Japan, 221 p P-80 aircraft, 49 Pacer Bounce, 226 Pacific, 12, 22, 25, 42, 45, 47, 59, 60, 61 , 88,116, 124,141,157, 158, 171,177, 180,187 Pacific Air Forces, 79, 85, 118, 124, 138, 196, 242 Pacific Airways Communications Area , 22 Pacific Area, 81 Pacific Communications Area, 83, 124, 134, 142, 143, 150, 185 Pakistan, 24, 186 Palermo, Italy. 18 Panama, 10, 1 5, 153, 1 73, 178 Panama Canal, 238 Pan America Airways, 16 Paris , France , 2, 19, 21 Patrick AFB , Florida, 98, 116, 208 Patton, Gen . George S., 19, 20 Paulson, Maj Gen. Robert W ., 259 PAVE PAWS, 146 PAVE SAFE, 176 PE-1278 power units, 21 Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 12, 22, 76 Pentagon , 95, 148, 175 Pentagon Consolidation Program, 175 Persian Gulf, 17 Personnel, 5, 6, 12, 14, 19, 20, 22, 23, 25, 32, 38, 42, 43, 44, 4 7, 51 , 52, 53, 60, 62 67, 71 , 72, 88, 116, 125, 126, 129, 190, 196, 197-200, 229, 262-67 Peru , 15 Peterson AFB, Colorado , 193, 197. 213 Phan Rang AB, South Vietnam, 123, 130, 137 Phase IV Program, 214, 21 5 293 Phase IV Program Management Office, 148 Phased array radar , 193 Philippine s, 12, 22, 32, 61 , 83, 99, 110, 11 9 , 122, 123, 124, 129, 131 , 159, 163, 166, 173, 185, 203, 221 ' 224, 245 Phoenix , Arizona , 137 Phong Dien, South Vietnam, 128 Phu Cat , South Vietnam , 107, 130, 136 Pierce, Maj Gen, Russell K., 91 Plaines des Gaiacs, New Caledonia , 35, 36 Plan 55 automatic communication relay centers , 93 Plattsburg AFB , New York, 21 8 Pleiku AB, South Vietnam, 81 , 104, 117, 118, 119, 122, 123, 124, 130, 135 Pohang , Korea , 60, 61 , 63 Pointe Noire , French Equatorial Africa, 16 Point Salines , Grenada, 244 Pope AFB , North Carolina, 11 5 Prather, Maj Gen, Gerald L., 195, 199, 200, 202, 260 Presidential support, 226-27 Prestwick, Scotland, 18 Pre-wiring , 201, 202 Prisoners of war, 185 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization , 247 -49, 250 Project COMET, 49 Project DEEP FREEZE, 77 Project HYPO, 47 Project Mercury " Man in Space ", 116 Project MIX FIX, 125 Project SEED TREE, 128 Project SKY SPOT , 127 Port Morsey, New Guinea, 12 Puerto Rico, 10, 244 Purple Heart, 244 Pusan, Korea , 60, 61 , 62, 64, 66 Q Quick reaction package, 240 Qui Nhon , South Vietnam, 128, 136 R Radar, 31, 43, 48, 54, 59, 60, 61, 65, 67, 69, 71, 72, 89, 100, 123, 127, 130, 131, 135, 146, 150, 151, 153, 154, 155, 164, 177, 182, 190, 198, 203, 230-35, 242 Radar Approach Central, 53, 54, 80, 84, 108, 119, 127, 131 , 152, 153, 154 Radar Control Center, 54 Radar Come (Radome), 98, 99, 171 Radio , 1, 11, 21 , 22, 29, 30, 33, 35, 38, 40, 43, 47, 48, 49, 53, 56, 57, 61, 62, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71 , 73, 74, 75, 76, 80, 88, 90, 97,116, 134,135,1 47, 150, 153, 158,169,171,172,173, 188,224-28,240, 241 ' 244 Radio Corporation of America, 74, 92 Radio telegraph, 22, 43, 67 Radome , see radar dome Ramstein AB, Germany, 246 Randolph AFB, Texas, 152, 215 RAPCON, see Radar Approach Control RCA, see Radio Corporation of America RCA Alaska Communications, Inc., 144, 164 RCA Global Communications, Inc., 102 Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force , 201 , 202 Readiness Program , 153, 180-88 Reagan , President, Ronald , 227, 244, 247 Red Cross , 76 294 Red Flag Exercise, 186 Remote sites , 8, 13-14, 16, 22-38, 80, 88 Republic of Korea Air Force , 66 Republic of Korea Army, 58, 59, 62 Reserve Force s, 116 Rhein-Main AB, Germany, 50, 53, 55, 59, 108, 159, 186 Richards-Gebaur AFB , Missouri, 109, 143, 149, 150, 158, 159, 255 Ridgway, Gen. Matthew D., 66 Riverside County, California , 186 Rivet Switch, 153 Roberts Field, Liberia , 16 Robins AFB , Georgia , 105, 110, 147 , 241 , 247 Rocky Mountains, 5 Rome, Italy, 18 Rome Aerospace Development Center, 228 Rome Air Materiel Area , 79 Rommel, Gen. Erwin , 16, 17 Roosevelt Roads Naval Air Station, 244 s 2d Air Division , 118, 185 2d AACS Region, 4 , 5, 7 2d AACS Wing, 1 7 2d Combat Communications Group, 180 2d Comabt Information Systems Group , 194, 204, 208, 244, 245 2d Mobile Communications Group, 110, 111, 114, 116, 181 , 184, 186 2d Mobile Communications Squadorn, 11 0 7th AACS Region, 22 7th AACS Squadron, 22 7th AACS Wing, 22, 39, 40, 47 64th AACS Group, 18 65th AACS Group, 18 66th AACS Group, 4 7 68th AACS Group, 22, 39 69th AACS Group, 27 70th AACS Group, 22, 35 71 st AACS Group , 22 Sacramento Air Logistics Center, 215 Sadler, Maj Gen. Robert E., 187, 191, 238, 260 SAFE LOOK , 176 SAFE NEST, 176 SAFE RAMP, 176 SAGE, See Semi -Automatic Ground Environment Saigon, South Vietnam, 122, 123 St. Croix , Virgin Islands, 1 0 St. George' s Medical College , 244 St. Laurent, France, 18, 21 St. Lo, France , 19 St. Louis , Missouri, 150 St. Lucia, 1 0 Saipan, Mariana Islands, 29, 32, 35 Salary, 5 San Antonio, Texas , 149 San Antonio Data Services Center, 149 San Isidro AB, Dominican Republic, 11 5 San Miguel Naval Communications Station, 203 Satahip, Thailand , 128 Satellite communications, 93, 97-99, 159, 164, 167, 169, 170, 171 , 173, 201 -07, 240, 243, 244 Satellite Test Control Terminal , Belleville , Illinois , 99 Saudi Arabia , 114 Sawyer AFB , Michigan, 173 Saxton and Company, Canners, 13 295 Scientific Advisory Board, 48 Scoon, Sir , Paul , 244 Scope Cold , 220 Scope Command, 225 Scope Cre ek, 93, 184 Scope Dial , 174, 215-19 Scope Exchange, 217-18, 220 Scope Pattern , 168 Scope Premise, 220 Scope Response, 187 Scope Signal, 168-69, 224-26 Scotland, 18 Scott Aeronautical Station, Illinois, 168 Scott AFB, Illinois , 80, 91, 99, 108, 109, 115, 141 , 142, 149, 150, 159, 191, 193, 197, 206, 208, 228, 244, 245, 255 SCS-51 localizer glide path system radar, 25 Seabees, 31 Seamans, Robert L., 144 Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System , 206 SEATO, see Southeast Asia Treaty Organization Seattle, Washington, 144, 145 Secretary of the Air Force, 91 , 102, 144, 148 Secretary of Defense, 95, 148, 176 Secretary of the Navy, 47 Secretary of War, 4 7 Secure voice, 227, 240, 243 Seed Tree Project , 128 Sembach AB, Germany, 111, 180, 181 , 196 Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) , 71 , 100 Senegal, 208 Seoul, Korea, 59, 63, 64, 66 Seventh Air Force, 134 Shemya , Alaska , 61 , 200, 202, 234, 235 Sicily, 18 Signal Corps, 1, 3 , 6 Silver Star Award, 132 Simiutak, Greenland , 8 Single manager concept, 79-86, 190-91 , 195, 197, 201, 209, 219, 251 Sirmyer, Brig Gen, Edgar A ., 45 Skantze, Gen, Lawrence A ., 199 Sky Spot Project, 127 Smith, Brig Gen , Wallace G., 3, 4, 42, 256 Smyrna Army Air Field, Tennessee, 10, 49 Solar Observing Optical Network Facility, 206 Solomon Islands, 30, 32, 34 Sondrestrom, Greenland, 85, 97 South America, 10 , 1 5, 168 South Atlantic, 1 5, 45 South Korea, 213, 216 South V ietnam, 104, 105, 107, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121 , 122, 123,124, 125, 126, 127,128, 129,130, 131 , 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 157, 183, 185, 187, 188 Southeast Asia, 80, 81, 88, 96, 111 , 112, 117-138, 141 , 160, 182, 183, 185,251 Southeast Asia Communications Region, 83, 119, 120, 129 Southeast Asia Military Altitude Reservation Facility, 134 Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO). 97 Southeastern Region, 81, 86 Southern Communications Area, 142, 143, 149 Southwestern Region, 81 , 86 Soviet missiles, 112 Soviet Union, 13, 49, 50, 51 , 57, 71 Space and Missile System Organization, 171 Space Command, 201 Space Command/Information Systems Division, 201 296 Space Environment Support System, 179Space program, 116, 146Space program, communications in , 201 -07Space Shuttle, 207-08Spain, 21, 96, 163, 176, 196, 217, 221Spanish Communications Region, 96Specialized communications, 103-1 04Sperry 11 00/60 computer, 214Sperry-Univac, 21 5Sputnik, 1, 71SR-71 aircraft, 155Standard Information Systems Center, 193Standard Remote Terminal, 211, 212State Department, 186Stihl, Maj Gen John T., 200, 201 , 261Stoney, Maj Gen, Paul R., 91 , 143, 259Storm Detection Radar , 90Strasfeld, Germany, 20STRATCOM, see Strategic Communications SystemStrategic Air Command, 49, 72, 73, 85, 141 , 145, 146, 167, 169, 171, 173, 196, 197, 199, 203, 205, 224,225, 243, 251Strategic Air Command Automatic Total Information Network, 169Strategic Air Command Communications Network, 75Strategic Communications Area, 145, 150, 167Strategic Communications system, 75Submarine cable, 100, 128, 129, 144, 145, 163Sudan, 16, 243Suez Canal, 16Sunnyvale AFS , California, 207Survivability, 203, 240, 245Survivable Low Frequency Communications System, 203Sweden, 21Switched Circuit Automatic Network, 96Switzerland, 43 T T-29 aircraft, 158T-33 aircraft, 109, 158T-39 aircraft, 108, 158, 159, 236T-Carrier program, 2183d AACS Region , 4, 5, 73d Combat Communications Group, 205, 208, 244, 2453d Mobile Communications Group, 99, 110, 1123d Mobile Communications Squadorn, 81, 11 01Oth AACS Squadron, 2212th Tactical Communications Region , 14313th AACS Region , 16, 1713th AACS Squadorn, 1620th AACS Region , 2420th AACS Squadorn, 2220th Bomber Command, 3524th AACS Region, 2024th AACS Squadorn, 1825th AACS Squadron, 22217th Electronics Installation Squadron, Illinois Air National Guard, 116218th Engineering Installation Squadron, 228239th Combat Communications Flight (ANG). 150254th Combat Communications Squadron, 194299th Communications Flight (ANG). 1642006th Information Systems Group, 211 , 2122015th Communications Squadron, 1522019th Communications Squadron, 145 297 2021 st Information Systems Squadron, 246 2036th Information Systems Squadron, 214 2044th Communications Group, 193, 221 , 227 2045th Communications Group, 161 2045th Information Systems Group, 226 2146th Communications Group, 116 2063d Communications Squadron, 186, 187 2063d Information Systems Squadron, 246 2064th Information Systems Squadron, 202 2069th Information Systems Squadron, 229 2080th Communications Squadron, 208 2134th Information Systems Squadron, 217 2143d Information Systems Squadron, 233 2162d Information Systems Squadron, 238 2167th Communications Squadron, 175 2179th Communications Group, 208 2181 st Communications Squadron, 165 2186th Information Systems Squadron, 217 2187th Communications Group, 95, 152 2192d Information Systems Squadron, 210 2199th Computer Services Squadron, 149, 193 TACAN, see Tactical Air Navigation Tacloban, Philippirws, 32 Tactical Air Command, 86, 112, 129, 168, 196, 199, 224, 226, 242 Tactical Air Navigation, 70, 109, 122, 132, 134, 135, 156, 157, 158, 185, 197, 198, 200, 208 Tactical Communications Area, 143, 150 Tactical Communications Region, 86, 87 Tactical Satellite Communications System, 169 Tactical Shelter System, 213 Taegu, Korea, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65 Taiwan, 163 Takhli AB, Thailand, 135, 182 Talking Bird aircraft, 84, 112, 113, 114, 115 Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, 118, 119, 121, 122, 123, 127, 128, 130, 131 , 133, 137, 157, 185 Tariff Regulatory Law Office, 220 Taylor, Maj Gen, J . Francis, Jr., 191 , 258 Tegel, West Germany, 50, 54, 57 Teheran, Iran , 17 Teheran Conference, 43 Tel Aviv, Israel, 186 Telecommunications Centers, 193, 199, 211 -15 Teleprocessing Services Center, 193 Teletype equipment, 20, 22, 44, 49, 73, 74, 80, 93, 121, 175, 18 3, 188 Tempelhof AB, Berlin, Germany, 50, 52, 53, 54, 57, 66, 231 Tennessee, 10, 49 Tenth Air Force, 23 Terminal Instrument Procedures, 104, 156, 157, 229, 230 Terrorism, 242, 244, 245, 246 Tet Offensive, 132, 133, 138 Texas, 90, 91 , 146,147, 149, 152, 158, 159, 172, 173, 177, 194, 215, 216, 220, 229, 245 Thailand, 22, 108, 118, 119, 123, 124, 125, 126, 128, 129, 134, 135, 136, 137, 182 Thai Royal Air Force, 118, 125, 137, 182 Thirteenth Air Force, 134 Thule, Greenland, 85, 147, 163 Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, 90, 95, 108, 110, 114, 131, 148, 149, 150 , 175, 193, 220 Tokyo, Japan, 35, 38, 39, 49, 59, 60, 66 Tontouta, New Caledonia, 22, 23, 24, 34, 35, 36 Torrejon AB, Spain, 196,217, 221 Toui-Rosieres AB, France , 110 Traffic control and landing systems, 229-35 Training, 6, 18, 47, 66, 68, 88, 108, 138, 153, 154, 182, 186 Training and Operations Division, HO Army Air Corps Directorate of Communications, 5 Travis AFB, California, 153, 244 298 Trinidad, 10 TRI -TAC Program, see Joint Tactical Communications Program Tropical Storm Faye, 245 Troposcatter communications, 241 Tropospheric Scatter Communications, 71 , 75, 86, 93, 96-99, 117, 122, 123, 134, 139, 159, 163, 164, 165, 181' 188Truman, President, Harry, 48, 60, 61 Tunisia, 17 Tunner, Maj Gen. William H., 58 Turkey, 88, 97, 99, 196, 221, 226 Tuy Hoa, South Vietnam, 130 Twentieth Air Force, 51 Tyndall AFB, Florida , 246 Typhoon Pamela, 169 u Udorn AB, Thailand, 108, 182 United Arab Republic, 114 United Kingdom, 8 , 18, 20, 21 , 23, 30, 43, 49, 50, 57, 72, 90, 163, 166, 175, 196, 221 United Nations, 58, 60, 61 , 63, 64, 65 United States Air Force, communications center, 74, 95; regulation, 20-51 , 72, see also Air Staff, Air Service, Army Air Corps, Army Air Forces United States Air Forces in Europe, 50, 54, 85, 242 United States Air Force Security Service, 85 United States Army, 1, 15, 25, 27, 47, 72, 74, 76, 77, 100, 132, 134, 136, 213, 217, 221 , 240, 244, 245, 247 United States Army Plant Engineering Agency, 72 United States Central Command, 202 United States Coast Guard, 144 United States Defense Attache Office, 185 United States Marines, 62, 132, 177, 185, 244, 245 United States Navy, 12, 15, 25, 47, 70, 74, 133, 177, 213, 221 , 240, 244, 245, 247 UNIVAC computer, 91 , 92, 93 Unmak, Alaska, 13 Urgent Fury, 244 USS Liberty, 251 USS Pueblo, 116, 251 Utah, 147, 164, 219 v Vandenberg AFB, California, 162, 216 VC-118 aircraft, 158, 159 Video mappers, 104 Vietcong, 122, 127, 185 Vietnam, 111 , 117, 129, 150, 152, 158, see also South and North Vietnam Vietnamese Air Force, 118, 130, 138, 182, 183 Vietnamese Air Force Communications-Electronics Improvement and Modernization Program, 183 Vietnamese Women's Armed Forces, 85 Virgin Islands, 1 0 Virginia, 47, 86, 215, 234, 255 VORS, see Omnidirectional Range VORTAC, 70 Vung Chua, South Vietnam, 132 Vung Tau, South Vietnam, 128 w Wake Island, 12, 22 Washington, 144, 145, 214, 234 War Department, 5, 12, 15 , 38, 42 Washington, D.C ., 2, 3 , 47, 49, 95, 111,148,157, 158, 173, 175 299 Washington National Airport, 4 7 Watnee, Col , Lloyd H., 3, 4 , 5, 42, 256 WATS, see Wide Area Telephone Service Weather, 48, 62, 68, 72, 90, 91, 92, 108, 112, 122, 125, 142, 157, 158 167, 173, 177, 178, 179, 188, 221 -23 Weather Communications Center -Tinker AFB, Oklahoma, 90 Weather dissemination systems, 90, 104, 157, 167, 173, 177, 178, 179 Weather Intercept Control Unit, 221 Weather Intercept Search Position , 221 Weather Telecommunications Center, 178 Weather maps, 1 9 Weinberger, Caspar, 247 Welch, Gen Larry D., 200 Werbeck, Maj Gen , Donald L. , 259 Western Communications Region , 81 , 87 Western Union , 2, 74, 75, 76, 159 Wheeler Field, Hawaii, 12, 142 White Alice Communications System, 71, 103, 144, 164 White House, 168 White Sands Missile Range , New Mexico, 208 White Sands Space Harbor, 208 Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS), 96 Wideawake Field , Ascension Island, 1 5 Wiesbaden AB, Germany, 50, 53, 57, 59, 124, 159, 186, 187, 246 Wildwood AS, Alaska, 170, 207 Williams AFB, Arizona, 173 Williams Re;::>ort, 141 Williams, Lt, Roger, 12 Wilson, Brig Gen, Russell A ., 4 , 5 Wings (AFCC). 196 Women, 43, 44, 108, 181 Women's Army Corps , 43 World War II, 6-46, 4 7, 50, 59, 60, 61 , 68, 71 , 72, 73, 77, 88, 95, 1 00, 108, 1 09, 118, 143, 159, 16: 174, 181 , 185 Wright Field, 1, 6 Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, 6 , 1 50 y Yalta Conference, 43 Yalu River, Korea , 63 Yokota AB, Japan, 159, 179, 213, 225 z Zai re Airlift. 186, 251 Zaragoza AB, Spain , 176 Zweibrucken AB, West Germany, 233 300