When
I left Japan in 1960 I was assigned to the Signal Research and Development
Laboratories (USASRDL) at Fort Monmouth, NJ as their Liaison Officer to the
Air Force Rome Air Development Center (RADC), Griffins AFB located at Rome,
NY. This was a lot different from the constant pressures in Vietnam. In the
R&D community urgency is not measured in minutes or hours but in weeks or
months.
RADC was created in 1951 after the Air Force was created. At this point
the Army no longer had the responsibility to develop avionics .The Army then
transferred many civilians from the Avionics Lab at Fort Monmouth to RADC.
Many of these former Army civilians held key positions at RADC.
My job was to obtain and exchange information on major Army and Air
Force research programs. In this regard I had unlimited access and complete
cooperation from both laboratories. Most of the actives were routine but I
was involved in one very interesting program.
There were two German Ph.D.'s at Fort Monmouth that developed a program
to determine the exact transmission time of VLF radio transmission by the
use of two synchronized atomic clocks. You ask, so what? By determining the
exact transmission time you can draw some conclusions on the actual route of
the radio wave. The importance of this will be apparent later.
We arranged for support of an aircraft from RADC. We traveled to White
Sands Proving Grounds with an Atomic clock that was synchronized with one at
Fort Monmouth. The rack was so tall that it could not sit upright in the
C-47 aircraft. RADC had to create a special frame to support the clock
cabinet at about 30 degrees off of the vertical. The test proved the concept
of measuring transmission time using synchronized atomic clocks.
Now for the big test, between the west coast and Australia. We arranged
for a RADC KC-135 (Air Force version of the DC-707). A RADC KC-135 pilot and
I were the advanced team. We flew commercially to Sidney to make
arrangements. The plan was to establish two stations in Australia, on board
the aircraft at the Sidney airport and a transportable station to be
positioned in Darwin at the Australian Royal Air Force Base.
We made the arrangements for the positioning of the aircraft in Sidney
and then flew to Darwin. In Darwin we were royally received by the base
commander, Group Captain Dixie Chapman (same as US Colonel), Royal
Australian Air Force. We made arrangements for the placement of the
transportable equipment at Darwin.
A few days later the KC-135 arrived. We off loaded the transportable
terminal and then continued to Sidney.
We were not prepared for the press reports in Sidney. The KC-135 had
antennas all over it since it was a communications research aircraft. The
same aircraft had been in Sidney the year before and the press reported it
as an American spy plane. This type of press reporting was repeated by many
local newspapers.
We were awaiting a specific date to run the test. Now it can be told that
the test was to determine the effects on VLF transmission through an atomic
explosion. This was one of the last atmospheric tests scheduled and this was
the last chance for this type of experiment. Naturally the test was
repeatedly delayed and we had to leave Sidney and return the aircraft to
Griffiss AFB. We were able to leave the transportable terminal at Darwin to
run the test whenever the explosion took place.
We left Sidney, made a stop in Darwin and continued our return. As we
were airborne we were informed that the test had been rescheduled for that
day. As the exact minute arrived we were all looking out of the windows to
see if we could see anything even though we were thousands of miles away. At
the exact second we saw a flash. We were convinced that we had witnesses an
atomic explosion. It was not until we arrived at Hickam AB that we learned
that the test had again been postponed. Yes we did see a flash at the exact
second, a flash of lighting.
I later learned that the test was successful and they had collected a lot
of data that could predict the effects of an atmospheric atomic explosion
would have on VLF communications.
During this period the Air Force was completing the development of the
AN/FCC-18, military voice multiplex equipment. This is the multiplex that
was used in the AN/MRC-85 tropo terminals that were used on the Backporch
system in Vietnam. The Backporch system became the backbone of the IWCS. I
had the opportunity to see this equipment and get briefings on some of its
unique chrematistics.
USASRDL had a project in the Greenland where they needed to measure the
thickness of the ice. The old method was to use explosives and measure the
sound delays. This was a very slow process. The USASRDL personnel had an old
airborne UHF radar from World War II that they thought could do a better job
of determining the ice thickness. They had the equipment but they did not
have a manual with all of the technical data. Since the Air Force was now
responsible for this type of equipment, I was asked to see if I could locate
one. I did an extensive investigation in several Air Force facilities, but I
struck out. One day, during some casual conversations, I mentioned this
problem. The next day one of the Air Force intelligence officers delivered
the desired document to me. Where did it come from? It had been obtained
from the USSR military. We didn't have it but the Russians did. Problem
solved.
I enjoyed my three years at RADC but the lack of pressure of any kind
began to get to me. I needed a more active job. In my next assignment, in
Washington, I got what I wanted.