I came to Washington in the summer of 1963 and was assigned to the Office
of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (OCSO). My first year was spent as
a trouble shooter for two substandard Troposcatter systems in South East
Asia. This involved an extensive trip to the South East Asia and developing
plans for their improvement.
On
1 March 1964 the US Army Strategic Communications Command (STRACOM) was
designated a major command and the Office of the Chief Signal Officer was
redesigned as the Office of the Chief of Communications - Electronics
(OCC-E). Within three or four weeks I was transferred to STRATCOM as the
Radio Officer. During the next two years I was responsible for the
reconfiguration of the two sub standard Troposcatter systems, Philippines -
Taiwan and Saigon - Bangkok. This effort required an additional trip to
South East Asia in the summer of 1964. These systems were reconfigured an
placed under contract, the Philippines - Taiwan system to Page
Communications Engineers and the Saigon - Bangkok system (Saigon - Vung Tau
- Green Hill - Bangkok) was awarded to Philco - Ford Corporation.
During my third trip to South East Asia in 1964 I became aware of the
plan to create the IWCS. For the next year I was totally dedicated to the
planning, engineering and obtaining final approval and funding. In September
1995 I was reassigned to Vietnam to be a part of a three man team to creat
STRATCON, Southeast Asia in Saigon. Upon my
departure from STRATCOM I was awarded the Legion of Merit.
A more detailed account of my three years in Washington is contained in
an article,
Troposcatter in South East Asia.