The members
of the radar station were formed into relay teams to pull the radar screen as
they walked on the walkway about the screen to create a rotating beam because
the gearing mechanism that drove the screen froze in the sub zero-weather.
The early
part of 1950 brought new personnel to the unit as well as to the base support
functions. New Amn arriving at various times included Amn: Aldrich, Castimore, Cormier,
Duhm, Emerson, Kitts, Fish, Nuckols, and Woods. As spring came upon the area,
the job of gathering-up the fuel drums required a complete survey of every
usable container to determine its value to be used as a "safe"
container and returned to the barge that came in from our supply base, Kodiak
NAB. Spring weather also brought with it the opportunity to go fishing around
the area. King Salmon creek was an ideal location and every one tried out this
favorite Alaskan sport of fishing for salmon/trout/herring/cod/crab. Visiting
inspectors and survey groups appeared from Headquarters and began to access
locations for relocation of the unit. An Officer Enslin was assigned to replace
Officer Morris which took place in June 1950.
BROOKS Air Force Base, San
Antonio, Texas 1950:
In July
1950 upon Officers' Morris return to Texas the temperature change was difficult
to adjust to. A Major Carl J. Krula was the Commander and Captain Thomas G.
Hayes was the Operations Officer. Expansion was the activity for the 136th Rad
Com Scty Sqdrn. Officers Paxton, Njust, Rickert, Ridler and others were being
trained and assigned units for deployment.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE? WHAT HAPPENED?
A deeper look into personnel
willing to recall the diversity created in manning a Radio security function in
the Air force as it got its commitment orders to go into it and devise a system
that could insure the security of our own radio waves as utilized and to then
under a separate system devise a group of unites associated with knowing what
else was going in the world of electronics associated with units of other
countries.
In a rapid review Officer
Morris returned to the Headquarters 136th Rad Sec Sqdrn in July 1950 and acclimatized for a
period. The next development in Headquarters was the expansion of Detachments
into functioning units and getting equipments allocated and prepared for
shipment; coupled with the training of operators to carry out the radio
monitoring mission to which the units may be assigned upon deployment. Initially,
the units were set-up on "rattle-snake hill" which is the space that
once housed the Aerospace Medical Forces Headquarters prior to its becoming
Brooks-City Base. A great part of the area is now a very lovely golf course.
Changes were rather rapid and Officer Morris was sent to take charge of the Det
"J", McClellan AFB, Sacramento, California, in the early fall of
1950.
A summary of items
associated with the 136th Radio Security Detachment "J" located at
McClellan Air Force Base, California 1950 to 51 and with units of other
countries.
136th RSS – Det.
“J”., McClellan AFB, California
Arriving in California was
indeed a pleasure and a privilege. However, numerous problems with the
detachment location and discipline was presented and had to be dealt with. A
great number of airmen returning from Alaska were being reassigned to Det. J,
the unit reflected sort of a family reunion and things began settle down. The
relocation of the unit away from an entry-way to the Base for semi-trailer
trucks was not a good radio reception area. Numerous alternatives were tested
and to no avail, difficulties with property availability and priorities
associated with the then build-up-for-the-Koreanpolice-action was difficult
and produced nothing satisfactory for relocation. The Base Commander was M/Gen
Junius W. Jones, West Point Class of 1913, and as an interest in our mission
took on the privilege of advising Officer Morris of his responsibilities and
requirements as an Officer to his unit, himself and the military community in
general. I was advised of my position and summarily dismissed. OUCH! C'est la
vie!
An Exercise/Special
Operations took place in the late fall and winter of 1950 at an auxiliary Air Base, Indian Spring, Nevada. Members of
Det. "J" were dispatched TDY over "Donner-Pass" and with a
stop in Truckee before driving on down thru Nevada to the location.
Unfortunately, snow hit the Pass as the first part of the convoy arrived and a
rough time was spent as the storm delayed movement and the team enjoyed the rest
stop in the "Fabled location." The mission was interesting and the
testing at "YUCCA FLATS" gave everyone a serious look at weaponry
being tested for the arsenal. The site location on the AFB was approximately
25+ miles from ground-zero with a mountain range between the unit and target;
the shock wave required the Jamesway Hut used as a monitoring station to be
evacuated due to structural implosion and explosive air currents. The plywood
antenna mast all did a real Hula-Hula dance and not in synchronization, all
survived. The Base control tower lost a few obstruction lights and two of our
Airmen Bob Roehrs and Don Foresman climbed the framework and replace them,
visitor courtesy.
Airman Don Vandegraft and I
returned with the entire team via the southern route back to McClellan AFB when
the mission was complete. A Capt Sandstrom came on board and Officer Morris was
returned to Headquarters Brooks AFB, then recognized as the 136th
Communications Security Squadron. Detachments were still being formed and
locations were being selected. Back in December 1951 Officer Morris had been
promoted to Captain and was now the Commander of Detachment 15, preparing for
deployment. In June 1952 Officer Morris was transferred to the Projects Branch,
Implementation Div under the DCS/Operations as the OIC.
This concludes the
association of Officer Morris with the functions of the 136th CSS. Subsequent
assignments were with the DCS/Operations and the development of the Radio
Squadron Mobile units throughout the world.
To further expand on the
many things happening to units and people a contact with
Officer Njust was made and here is what he had to say---"
Hello Bob Morris & Dick
Bergman:
Glad to hear from you, Bob.
Dick Bergman was an intercept operator who trained at Brooks at some point
during the time span in the subject line 1950-52. And Dick, Bob was an officer
who was the Opns Chief and Commander of the 136th Detachment at Daly City, Ca.
(just south of San Francisco, Ca., certainly a "hardship tour").
[noted in error should read Det "J", McClellan AFB, Sacramento,
California] He can fill you in on some of the details as yours address should
print-out on the E-mail. Bob and I were both stationed at Mather AFB &
Randolph AFB at times in our careers. Bob is also a retired Colonel and lives
in San Antonio. And Bob, Dick went to and graduated from at least one
University (G.I.Bill) and became a
Registered Psychologist employed in that Profession until he
"Retired". He lives in Wisconsin. Dick and I finished our USAFSS
assignment at the 136th/36thCSS Detachment in Weisbaden (which was like Daly
City, only colder and the Natives were mostly not "Gay").
I came to Brooks AFB to the
136th Comm. Scty. Sqdrn. in the middle of the summer 1950. I had returned ftom
Tokyo, Japan early that year to an assignment as an NCOIC of a Flight Line
Aircraft Maintenance Shop at Westover AFB, Chicopee Falls, Mass. I had
volunteered to the newly established USAF Security Service and was (frankly) a
bit dismayed when the Orders came thru four months later! I had been an E-5
(S/Sgt.) before starting Pilot training in 1943 and had accumulated another
four years in Grade after (Reenlisting in July) 1946 with no likely prospects
for advancement in sight (our Wing in Tokyo at Haneda Air Field had promoted
only one Staff to Tech in the 37 months I was there). I had a "hip
Pocket" Reserve Commission as a 2nd Lt. that I'd obtained when I was
separated from the Army Air Corps in 1945.
Some people in the Pentagon
decided in 1948, in the first of the year that followed the Sept 1947
establishment of the United States Air Force That the USAF would develop its
own "Army style" Security Service. Some of the cadre of the new Air
Force Command were transferred as volunteers from Ft. George Meade, Md., the
Hqs. Of the Army Security Agency. USAFSS then had the same manning tables
(T.O.&E.) as its Army "Parent." There was an identical Army unit
to the 136th. The USAF was allowed to pick-up some of the Army's Overseas
Company sized T.O.& E. Organizations and locations (minus the people). The
136th Detachment at Camp Peri (Freudenburg
Kaseme), Dotzheim, Germany(
on top a ridge above the Rhine River, near Wiesbaden), is a prime example. It
was Det. 3, of the 136th.
The 136th CSS, at Brooks
Field, was commanded by Major Barnhart. when we arrived on that very hot day in
early August 1950. He was soon replaced by a more Senior Major; Carl Krula.
Barnhart became the Squadron Exec. Capt Thomas Hayes was the Operations Officer
and soon a newly arrived l/Lt. Thomas Townley became the Assistant OIC. I don't
know for sure, if we had Operation Control of any of the transferable Army
Security Detachments at that time. In any event, we soon established our own
Training Detachment "Det 2", and a newly recalled Reserve Officer,
Capt. Pershing was its Commander. His NCOIC was a T/Sgt Virgil Josleyn, who
was, in turn, ably assisted by T/Sgt. Raymond Little. Other Officers and NCO's were
detached from the Hdqtrs. of the 136th to Det 2, as they arrived. We were
receiving Radio Operators and Mechanics from Kessler AFB, too.
I already had a
Cryptographic Clearance(obtained during my Tokyo assignment). For some reason
never explained, Security Service ran another Clearance investigation which
kept me unassigned for the first two months at Brooks. I was just one of
several enlisted man detailed to the Base MARS Station at that time. Then, one
day I was ordered to report to M/Sgt. Little at Bldg 300. After two more months
I was recalled to active duty as a 2/Lt. and assigned as the Operations Officer
of Det 2. I expected to be re-assigned to some other unit because the NCO's I
worked for were now working for me! But, that did not happen and it worked out
ok. Bob Fenstermaker, who out-ranked me as a 2/1t. by a few days, and I, traded
back and forth as the Detachment Commander whenever Bob was away at school. And, a
couple of times newly arrived Captains were sent to the Detachment to gain a little
experience before going abroad to one of the other(newer), Detachments.
Military
life as a tenant Detachment on a 12th Air Force Base (that's right, USAFSS did
not own the Base) was sometimes difficult for a very junior Commanding Officer.
We found it necessary to do much of the
Building maintenance normally done by the Host Command Base Civil Engineer. Our
people were some of the very best in the Air Force and they did a lot of work
besides our Mission.
One of our own technical
problems was the High Frequency Antenna "sets" furnished to the
136th"s Detachments. I was a licensed (Class A) Radio Amateur and, it
occurred to me that what our Detachment needed to monitor the Frequency
Spectrum between 3000 and 20,000 Kilocycles was a single omni-directional
antenna to feed the 20, or so, Radio Receivers we used to listen to the
Strategic Air Command and other Aircraft on our "training circuits."
USAF used compact "Discone" antennas on top our Air Force aircraft
control towers to talk with airplanes in the VHF spectrum (100 to 156 Mhz) why
wouldn't it work to up-scale the VHF (l8"high and about 14" in
diameter) discone design to work with a lower cut-off frequency of 3000Khz? I
did the math and decided to make
use of an abandon light pole
as the center support for an HF discone. We used a flat tinned metal garbage
can lid screwed-down to the top of the wooden light pole. But first, we screwed
a dozen, or so, appropriate lengths of discarded aluminum tubing across the top
of the garbage can lid and soldered concentric circles of #20 copper
"hook-up" wire to convert the assembly electrically, to a disc. Then,
we used the same gauge (still surplus) hook-up wire to simulate a cone with its
apex bonded with soldered sheet copper located one tenth of a "wave"
below the horizontal disc. The cones numerous wires were spaced equally, in a
descending circle at a sixty degree-angle to insulators connected to anchor
pegs in the ground. We connected an RG8-U co-ax feed-line (center conductor
soldered to the disc, braid soldered to the copper apex of the cone), ran the
co-ax in to the Electronic Signal Distribution unit, measured the impedance in
and out of the splitter to the "Radio Receivers" and found a perfect
52 ohms. We turned on the Receivers and found the signal to be 40 decibels
higher than those from the Double-doublet Antenna Farm! We were in business.
The Headquarters USAFSS
Engineers heard the news about our invention, made some measurements of
performance and went away muttering that it shouldn't work. Twelve years after,
I happened by a USAFSS Antenna Site at Clark AFB in the Philippines and there,
in plain sight was "MY" H.
F. Discone, obviously constructed at no small expense by a Commercial Firm. I
stopped by the organization for an address and later sent them a picture of our
"first-in-the-Air-Force (1951) antenna”.
Life for our
"troops" was better, financially, in San Antonio than anywhere else
I've been stationed. That is, if you didn't mind sharing your home (on or off
base) with a remarkable variety of insects! We did mind, so we bought a brand
new "Spartan Royal Mansion" Trailer Home (33 '9" long). The
Spartan was an all aluminum mobile home and we lived in and enjoyed it for 10
years (minus a tour in Europe). I'll look for my 201 file and if I find it,
I'll send more info on the 136th,s early years --- Carroll Njust.
A
note from Fred Wagner:
04/04/06
One
item of interest. Did you know that the Alaskan
Det. had a still setup in their dayroom. I thought it
was for self-use but I learned from a veteran who made
one of the reunions and then passed away that the person
who set up the still was using it as a money-making
enterprise. But his buddies found out where he was
storing the finished product and drank it up so I
don't think he ever made anything from the enterprise.
It is interesting to note that it became so
commonplace that when Gen Lynn visited the Det. no one
thought to take it down. Gen Lynn sniffed the odor
and suggest something to improve the brew but did not
make a big deal about it.
EPILOGUE:
A reunion
in 1998, Reno, Nevada was attended by several of those still with us and had
also served as members of Detachment" J", McClellan Air Force Base,
Sacramento, California. A second gathering occurred in 1999, St Louis, Missouri. Officer Morris had served as Commander of
Det. "J" in 1952 prior to Officer Sandstrom, Robert G., assuming
Command.
Pictures are attached showing the area of Detachment “A”, the
landscape and some of its facilities.
Operations Building and
Headquarters
Det. “A” 136th
Radio Security Squadron
1949
1/Lt Robert E. Morris
August 1949
Naknek Air Base, Alaska
Sgt. Vincent Roduit performing battery maintainance on jeep
1949
Coastal tugboat on Naknek
river used to bring the fuel barge to
Naknek each spring. 1949
Lake Naknek and the Katmai
National Park and Reserve 1949
Cottongim and Sabolsky
1949-1950
Scheelk, Cottongim,
Tollefson, Fagala, Brown, Roduit and Garland
1949-1950
View of the Naknek AB
“Tundra” and abandoned Quonset huts
In it’s area. 1949-1950
Howdy Bob,
Here
is a photo sent to me by Gene O. Fagala's Mom, she read the history I gave you
for the USAFSS Web Site and dug out this photo that Gene had taken. The names
follow: Left to Right --- Proprietress and Proprietor of the
establishment, Chet Cottingim, Clem Howard(D),
Rob't
Roehrs(D), Glenn Tollefson(D), Morris, Don Scheelk, Baldwin(D), Rob't Brown.
The
establishment was the one and only Bar available in the Village of
Naknek and we had a nice lunch and a great visit with every one. Naknek is the
village location on Bristol Bay about seven(7) miles down river from the
base over the Tundra.. ... No road. MOE
Donald Scheelk and wife,Lois.
Bob Morris and wife, Barbara.
At the Los Patios
restaurant in San Antonio, Texas.
March, 2005.
