HISTORY OF THE 934TH AIRCRAFT CONTROL AND WARNING SQUADRON

1 JULY 1957 - 31 DECEMBER 1957

Prepared for the Historical Office

934th AC&W Squadron

by 2nd Lt Michael Finci (Historical Officer)

22 January 1958

(1400th Operations Group, Iceland Air Defense Force)

I GENERAL ANALYSIS

The 934th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was located at Site H-4 Straumnes, a narrow mountain peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean at the extreme North West corner of Iceland. The site proper was 1,500 feet above sea level. However, an adjunct of it, the Base Camp, was located at the foot of the mountain, 6.7 miles by road from the site. This camp has been closed in order to conserve personnel during the winter months.

During the period 1 July to 31 December 1957 the 934th had two commanders. Captain Robert Burdick, USAF assummed command in July and was succeeded in command by Major Thomas B. Place, USAF, in November 1957. The mission of the organization was this: "To provide Aircraft Control and Warning requisite for the gathering of information on all friendly and enemy air activity, and the accurate and timely presentation of this information in a manner which will offer ready use by operations personnel in effective employment of assigned defensive or offensive measures." (1) However, this unit's mission had continued during the period covered by this history, to be essentially survival and the endeavor to keep the site open. This was true because the site was not completed and it was therefore not operational; because not all necessary supplies were on hand and transportation of supplies to the site was difficult, and because the weather presented numerous difficulties. The site was manned during July, August and September by about 83 men, about two-thirds of authorized strength. During the months of October, November and December we had assigned to us an average of 104 men, which was 77% of authorized strength.

The weather must always be taken into consideration when reporting on any history of the 954th. High winds buffeted the site, sometimes for several days in succession, and deep snow, which had begun falling on the 7th of September,. covered the entire peninsula throughout the rest of the winter and made transportation between the site and base camp extremely difficult. The worst spell of bad weather occurred around the 14th and 15th of December when a wind storm with winds estimated at 100 knots velocity, struck Straumnes. The constant winds lasted during most of that week-end. By Monday noon they had practically completely subsided.

The entire damage from this stern was not computed as of the writing of this history, for all of it was sustained at the base camp. Due to the heavy snow it was impossible to estimate the loss. Oil barrels were scattered all over the beach, and it was assumed that some had drifted out to sea. The most serious damage was done to the barge, which was. blown onto the beach, broken in two, lying in an upside down position.

The engine attached to the barge was blown off it.

Learning from last years sad experience, this year the 934th was ready for the winter season. The oil and food supply was stocked to last the entire winter, until approximately May 1958. Of course, there are always needy materials that are overlooked, and they were quite difficult to transport from Keflavik.

There was still no dock facilities existing at Latrar, in Adalvik Bay, the offloading Point for cargo destined for the site. A landing strip was constructed, so that the L-20, and Cessna could land, weather permitting. The Cessna has made numerous landings at Latrar, but the L-20 has to date accomplished the mission only twice since its purchase in October.

3 Small quantities of cargo and personnel could be and were carried by Flugfelag Islands h/f (Icelandic Airways), which landed a seaplane daily in the bay at Isafjordur, a small town 50 miles to the south of Straumnes along the west coast of Iceland. From there it was carried to Latrar by the Gyllir, an Icelandic fishing boat hired by the Air Force for this purpose.

4 II MONTHLY ANALYSIS

In the month of July the Cessna made the first trip to Latrar. Also, in July the squadron had a party celebrating the Fourth. Baseball games were played, for the first time in Straumnes, Iceland.

In August Captain Burdick made a trip back from Keflavik by truck. He brought back many needy supplies, and it was deemed a very successful enterprise. The truck was driven as far as Melgraseyri, and then the goods were placed on the Gyllir, for the 5 hour journey to Latrar.

The Non Commissioned Officer' s Open Mess was officially opened on 1 August 1957. Mr. Richard G. Jones and his telephone crew arrived from Air Material Command, to install a base telephone system in August. General H. G. Throne Jr. visited the site, after only being in Iceland three days.

The Tropo "antenna" crew arrived in September. The first snow of the coming winter fell on 7 September 1957. A great morale booster, our own Base radio Station was also born in September.

Critical shortages of personnel existed during the months of August, September and October, in all AFSC's.

Another morale booster was created when part of the supply building was converted into a gymnasium in the early part of October. Also in the early part of October the radar antenna team arrived. One of the two antennas to be raised, was put up on 12 November 1957.

The equipment for our base theater arrived in the latter part of November. This was immediately placed into operation.

On 11 December 1957 the L-20 made its first, and historic flight to 11-4. The base telephone system was completed in December.

III SECTIONAL ANALYSIS

Since 1 July 1957, the supply section of site H-4 has worked earnestly to fulfill the mission of its section confronted with numerous difficulties.

This section was authorized five (5) supply personnel; one (1) Technical Sergeant, AFSC 64173, two (2) Airmen First Class and two (2) Airmen Second Class.

The personnel assigned to supply were; one (1) Staff Sergeant, AFSC 64173, one (1) Airman Second Class AFSC 64131 and two airmen borrowed from radar operations.

With the help of the maintenance personnel, a tech supply was recently established and also a stock level for each portion of supply has been set up.

This section has received most of the winter requirements for this site, but was having difficulties in receiving maintenance material in which stock levels could not be forecasted. This section was also confronted with very poor co-ordination with the Director of Material and the Base Supply in regards to supply problems. Due to lack of proper information and obsolete stock lists, stock levels were difficult to establish until October 1957, when this section received approximately 500 lbs. of stock lists and publications. Now, with the new publications, an adequate research section has been established.

The supply section at this site covered many phases such as; tech supply, publications, and a unit supply.

With the help of other sections, the supply mission was accomplished. (2)

The food service section was a prominent morale building factor at H-4. During the summer months food was received and stored for a six (6) month winter supply. Menu planning was followed as much as possible so that our food supply level was run according to pre-planning. Fresh eggs and vegetables were a very rare commodity, and the only serious defects preventing a perfect operation.

The mission of the Installation section is to maintain the building structure, electrical systems, plumbing and refrigeration. During the winter months this section also has the job of snow removal. For this job we had the use of one TD-18 (International) Caterpillar which was not in the best operating condition. The reason for this was that we had no heavy equipment mechanic on the site. The D-7 (Caterpillar) had been deadlined for three (3) months with pony engine repairs.

The trash and garbage was removed by this section with the help of detailed men from other sections. This operation could be accomplished only when the roads were open to the sanitary fill. There were times when the trash and garbage could not be taken out of the building for a week at a time.

The heating systems in the RX and TX buildings have given most of the trouble in the heating line. There was a small amount of water in the fuel and the lines and the tank would freeze which stopped the operation of the heating system. The supply tank at both buildings should be placed inside the building since we do use the inferior fuel.

During this period of time the section was undermanned. There were four (4) men assigned; one (1) 55270, one (1) 55250, one (1) 56450 and one (1) 56650A. This section was authorized ten (10) slots of which four (4) were filled. We were short one (1) 55250, two (2) 560l0 civilian

utility helpers, one (1) 56130, one 56150 and one (1) 70250. (3)

The Communications section was located temporarily in the BOQ. The permanent location for this section was to have been the RX building which was incomplete during that period.

Our equipment was the old Signal Corps SCR-499, of which we have two sets. One was kept in its original case and used for standby, while the other was mounted in a console of our construction. We had two SP-600 receivers which were used with this equipment. Most of this equipment was considered obsolete during that period of operation. However, we did not have too much trouble keeping it on the air 24 hours a day. With the exception of tubes most repairs were made with salvaged parts from wherever available. We have never received an order of replacement parts for this equipment. Our antennae were a long wire for receiving and a long wire and doublet cut to frequency for transmitting. The only problems encountered with our antennae were due to iceing and terrific whipping from the wind.

Phone-patching was the primary function of this section. A phone-patch is a long distance type of phone call which is run over radio equipment. There were approximately one hundred phone-patches handled per month.

The newest radio equipment at the site was a Hallicrafters HT-32 transmitter and a Collins 75-A4 receiver, furnished to us for the purpose of setting up a MARS Station. (4)

On 28 September 1957 the Radar Installation Team (4C) from the 1st Communication Maintenance Squadron, Griffiss Air Force Base, New York

arrived at H-4. Work started that morning with an inventory. At this time it was noted that many of the crates had been broken open and the contents exposed to rain and snow. The first time the team struck lag time was when they could not raise the Radome because the clamping rings were missing and there was no three phase power running to the tower. The Radome was raised on the 23rd of October 1957. By this time three-fourths of the installation work had been completed. Lag time was struck again on the 28th of October when it came time to raise the reflector and feed horn. Missing antenna hardware was the cause of this lag. About the 22nd of November Major Breedlove, IADF C&E Staff Officer left for the States to obtain the necessary hardware. For some unknown reason, the boxcontaining this hardware was opened while enroute to the site and some vital bolts were found missing. Finally, the necessary bolts were produced in December, at a machine shop in Keflavik. By the 18th of December five men of the seven man installation team were able to leave. Staff Sergeant Richmond and one other man were left behind to complete the installation, requiring about twelve hours work and seventy-two (72) hour hot check. (5) This has not been completed as yet.

Since 1 July 1957 the maintenance personnel have been waiting for equipment to install the radar. The required parts had not arrived and therefore we could not start operations.

The OJT program for the AFSC 's 27330 and 27350 has been at a stand still due to no qualified personnel assigned to conduct the training, and non-operational equipment.

Since October personnel within the 5 and 7 level have been assigned duty in the section and OJT is now getting underway in class room training.

The operations section was ready to go into operation upon the completion of the FPS-3 antenna. The plotting board (vertical) and status boards had not arrived, but a plotting board was being drawn up to substitute for this until the regular plotting board arrives. (6)

The primary mission of the Transportation Section and its 29 pieces of equipment, was the hauling of supplies and equipment from the base camp to the radar site.

July thru October were busy months for this section as many boats came into the Bay at the Base Camp with supplies to sustain the Squadron through the winter months. A good portion of these supplies was fuel oil which arrived in 55 gallon drums. This oil was hauled from the Base Camp to a storage tank on the site in 1200 gallon tankers. The main storage tank was filled by the latter part of October, and no more oil was hauled from Base Camp due to weather and road conditions. The hauling of oil was not to be resumed until next spring.

Snow and high winds have kept the road up the mountain closed a majority of the time during the months of November and December. Icelandic personnel have been contracted to keep the road open as much as possible and transportation has furnished the necessary trucks to haul and pick up mail and other emergency equipment brought in by plane.

Shortages in this section amounted to one (1) 60370, Transportation Supervisor, one (1) 47150, Heavy Equipment Mechanic, and one (1) 47131, Apprentice Automotive Mechanic.

In December there were eight (8) vehicles on deadline status awaiting parts. The necessary parts were requisitioned, but due to isolation of this site, were not expected until next spring. Some of these vehicles were later rigged into operation, by usage of miscellaneous spareparts. (7)

During this period the dispensary has administered treatment to 294 cases, consisting of airman and officers for various illness and injurys. Of this total 11 personnel were on an in-patient status.

The dispensary has received an X-ray machine but has been unable to use it due to the fact that no film for it has been received. A doctor, Captain George H. Cameron has been assigned to the 934th AC&W Squadron for the winter months.

The most difficult problem of this section was dental. The last dental team to visit this site arrived here in June l957. (8)