CHAPTER Twelve - 1976 to 1978
Assignment Montana; Assignment Alaska
After a 30 - day leave, I headed out for Montana, the Big Sky country as it is called for what turned out to be, a one year and two - week assignment in total. In this career field, military radio and television military men and women are assigned to Public Affairs operations when in the United States before going overseas for another tour of duty at a radio and television station.
This stateside tour of duty length is pretty much for 12 to 15 months only except at a major command assignment which can be up to three years. Basically, most of us know and accept that fact when we are in this career field. Once again I thought this would be a relaxing tour certainly. I mean it was in the northwest USA, and generally a part of the country where not much news is made on the national scene. By now, I guess I should have stopped thinking that. Malmstrom AFB is located just east of the city of Great Falls, Montana. Within walking distance of the main gate is the start of 10th Avenue south, the longest and commercial miles of great restaurants, mobile home sales, and a few major stores in between.
In 1976 it was about three miles long and almost take you right downtown Great Falls.
It's cold in the winter, but subject to sudden, almost instant warming trends called chinooks. It's nice and warm, but never hot in the summer with almost no humidity. Just learning about that told me I was going to enjoy this tour immensely.
I became the senior NCO as a staff sergeant. There were two officers, one first lieutenant and one captain and four other enlisted personnel in the office.
I got a part time job nights at KARR, an easy listening / middle of the road music radio station as it was called back then.
At the local state fair, which happened annually, I got to meet and interview a few recording artists who were performing for the population at the shows. Among them, The Captain, (Daryl Dragon, the son of classical master, Carmen Dragon) and his wife, Toni Tennille (The Captain and Tennille), (Love Will Keep Us Together) on a Saturday Afternoon show. At night a group of interesting young men recording songs as, the Bay City Rollers (Saturday Night). The boys spoke no conversational English, so I needed a translator. Their English then was limited to the lyrics of their songs and recordings, nothing more.
The best of these interview had to be "the bandit" Jerry Reed, (Smoky and the Bandit) and many extremely entertaining country songs like "When Your Hot, Your Hot" He was a riot, constantly making you laugh.
One thing led to another, the station was sold to a religious organization, the staff was dismissed, except for me. Because of my experience, and military career with American Forces Radio and Television, I was supposed to be the mentor of the other young students just out of a religious academy and now in their first job.
All the music was on like on 12 - inch audio tape reels and basically all we had to do was give titles, artists, time, temperature and weather forecast updates and the station ID when required. In the process I actually got a raise for my efforts.
So life was good, laid back and relaxed, Then the USAF Thunderbirds came to town for a weekend show for the people. You just never get tired of seeing them perform their precision flying routines. It's anything but routine for sure and all who see the shows, love them.
Our day to day mission if you will, was as a Minuteman base, a part of the Strategic Air Command.
Away from the base in country were silos containing the active missiles, complete with launch sites and crew quarters, always manned should they ever be needed. All the training of the young officers was done at a mock-up location on the base before they went out in the country to do their shifts.
Every so often, a missile is removed and brought from the silo for anything from a complete inspection to recalibration of equipment.
Well, one afternoon, Murphy's Law managed to get to us there as well. I guess things were too good and nice and quiet for "Murphy" to take where I was concerned. One part of a missile was being brought in on a trailer for maintenance, something that was a fairly regular occurrence and never got any attention or news coverage. That was until the trailer it was riding on back to the base on the main two-lane highway. was hit by a pretty severe gust of wind that came out of nowhere.
The trailer jackknifed, tipped over and closed the main road to Great Falls. At the Public Affairs office and the command center, life we went from laid back to a 24(7 operation in a matter of minutes after we got the first words of the
accident.
When the news spread, and it happened quickly, we had the local TV stations from Great Falls, Helena and Bozeman, other Montana cities basically camped out on the base or the accident sit0 for days. We got calls from places as far away as Japan and Germany and for several days we were in constant information and press release mode answering phones, quashing rumors and updating those press releases as we were able. While the incident was the real thing, not an exercise as sometimes took place. We all survived.
Not long after that, Hollywood came calling. They were shooting a movie they called, TELEFON and Great Falls, in fact our main gate became the chosen location for many of those scenes. So much yet again for laid back and an easy going tour where not much ever happened.
The two main stars of the movie were Charles Bronson and
Lee Remick. This as you might imagine was right up my alley of interest. I was on set both days as a coordinator for whatever assistance might be needed to the producers or film crew, while they filmed at our main gat. It was temporarily made over to look like a US Border entry point from Canada.
The very first morning armed with my cassette recorder,
I approached Charles Bronson headed for a scene call, and asked him if he would do a brief interview with me when he would be free after the filming.
Seeing all I had with me was a recorder and no camera, he said, "I don't do radio" and that was pretty much that.
Not giving up easily, I asked one of the security people if I could get a brief interview with the other star of the movie, Lee Remick.
In a total turn around she readily agreed, invited me into her trailer on the set and we talked and I recorded for at least half an hour. She was as genuine and friendly as she was beautiful, truly a lovely person. Not too long after the release of the film in theatres and it's still on television to this day, she passed away. But it was a memory that will stay with me forever.
Keeping up our public affairs image as a part of the community, we had a two to three - minute segment at the end of the Friday newscast on Channel 5, KFBB TV in Great Falls- That evolved into a once a month, 30 minute Saturday afternoon show at 5:00 PM called "Air Force on 5". I was the host. It was a more intimate look at the movers and shakers of various base agencies. From all indications it was fairly well received by viewers, a surprise to me to be honest given the time it was broadcast.
There was one final interesting evening on this tour in Great Falls. As it turned out I managed to get a turn as Public Affairs duty officer one night. I could be at home as I wished but if the Command Post needed a Public Affairs person to answer a question, make an official press release or statement, it was my night in the barrel as they say. Now, understand, it was an extra duty but we were almost never needed.
Of course, on my one night, I got one. Lucky me right?
The Command Post called my house about 11:00 PM and briefed me that they had a gentleman from Helena, Montana, the capital, that called. Chuckling, the officer told me this fellow he had seen and was seeing a flying saucer.
He demanded and they wanted the person designated at Public Affairs to talk to him. You can imagine my first thought, other than, oh God, why me.
The officer in the command post said he would patch the call through to me because he could not convince this guy otherwise. We have a briefing book of course for most events and seeing UFO's was one of them. I don't think there had been a call like this in twenty or more years.
Our briefing was to first see as to the caller's condition. Was the person according to our listening to them genuinely scared all the way down to did we believe they were perhaps inebriated to one degree or another.
But as I said, even at that, these calls were rare to non-existent, since the 50's. But as they say "stuff happens and on this night it was happening to me. As I mentioned the initial idea is to judge the man or woman's condition on the phone. Were the genuinely scared, alarmed, rambling, confused or even inebriated. If that were the case, we would handle the caller differently. If it was not the case, the pre-prepared response was right there in the book to quote to the caller.
The statement was that if they felt in danger it was a matter for the local police or sheriff. If they thought it had educational value, then we would tell them to brief the local college or university, that we had been out of the "flying saucer" business since the late 1950's when Project Bluebook was terminated.
Was I about to have just a routine call and question?
In a word,
NOPE !!
But we also had to take all calls whenever they came in so they patched it through for me. Taking the call, I quickly determined the gentleman was a bit rattled, a little scared perhaps and fascinated all at the same time. He was not inebriated at all. So, I told him to contact the local sheriff and report it. He then told me that the police and the Sheriff were there on scene with him and they had seen it as well.
I spoke to the sheriff on the phone and he confirmed it to me. So much for the briefing book, I knew it was going to be a case of "wing it" from here
Taking it a step further I told them to give me a phone number, I would check with the local control towers in the area as well as approach radars and let them know. It was going above and beyond and by this time, I had to admit. I was curious myself. Could it be?
I checked three stations within a 120 - mile radius of Helena. Nothing on the radar then or now. So I called them back and told them exactly that.
We never heard any more but as you might imagine it was an interesting briefing I gave to the base commander the next morning.
So this was the easy, laid back tour of duty, one year and two weeks in Great Falls where absolutely nothing would disturb the tranquility, peace and quiet. RIGHT !!
It was just under a year and I received my orders to a radio and TV Station at Galena, AFB in Alaska. This was going to be a remote with a capital "R". Well, so I thought. Galena, is a town in almost dead center, Alaska and from the first map I saw, miles and miles from anything and everything
ALASKA - Somewhere Out There
I was at the Seattle Airport waiting to go through the then "metal detector" there was no TSA then. That was when the very first, odd event occurred. There was, I would guess, a middle age gentleman from Japan who was having an awful time passing through this metal detector. To keep it short, the security people had him stripped down to his underwear and wearing a terrycloth robe they had provided him after several failed attempts to pass through the machine.
Finally, the clearly frustrated agents heard him say that he had a metal plate in his head from a long ago operation. The show was over, problem solved, next !
Flying in from Seattle, I arrived in Anchorage, was met by my sponsor at the airport and taken to Elmendorf AFB. All the processing in is done there and there is an added layer and a few special briefings for those NOT staying at this main base, but going to a remote location. So, I had two weeks to do all of that.
The day came when I was to take a flight to Galena, Alaska,
I believe there were only one or two flights here a week so timing was everything. I was waiting for the bus that was to come and take me and others going to other places as well, to the airport when I got a call from the squadron saying, don't get on the bus. Come back to the headquarters, we need to temporarily change your assignment and go later in the week.
That's what I did. I put the suitcase back in the room and across the base to the squadron I went, not knowing where I was going, for how long, or when. Turns out that there was a two man, radio only station at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska , This was basically an early warning and satellite tracking operation site, Due to a shortage of personnel, often experienced in the field, this two man operation currently had only one man assigned, and he was due to leave there in about two weeks. I would be sent there temporarily to fill the gap, then move to my permanent assigned station in about 60 days.
Problem was everything I brought, save one suitcase was already in Galena. That meant all my other uniforms and personal items (civilian clothes and the like) save the two sets I had with me were already there and I was not going to be. So the first item of business was to get my things reshipped from there to the temporary base. Clear Air Force Station is located about 80 miles due west of Fairbanks, Alaska and about 40 miles east of McKinley National Park, now known as Denali National Park. There is one train that operates from Fairbanks daily and makes the ten - hour trek to Anchorage.
I was actually met at the Fairbanks airport by the first sergeant and we drove to Clear from there. It's a beautiful drive actually with white and silver birch, tress everywhere. Arriving at the station I learned it was one large building for most of the assigned personnel.
I would soon understand why. The dining hall, theatre, Exchange, a bowling alley, the NCO club, a library and my new radio station was all included along with the living quarters for all of us. There were a total of 120 military and about 200 civilians that worked there managing the early warning sites, maintenance control centers and all the services like cooks and activity managers. I wasn't there 4 hours and I knew I wanted to stay right there.
Long story short, I managed to pull it off in about five weeks of everything from groveling to a letter from the station commander, a full colonel and the first sergeant saying pretty much this is what they wanted. The fellow that was to assigned to Clear Air Forc station was now going to go to my slot in the real middle of nowhere. I never knew who he was, probably a good thing. Another reason was that since there were more civilians working there than military, we were on what they called "pipeline rations" rather than military rations. It was in the civilian's contract and we then got it as well as there was only one dining facility. Pipeline rations were at the time like $14.50 a day where military rations were like $2.80 a day. The difference was that rather than a lot of 365 ways to prepare hamburger meals, we had Prime Rib, Alaskan King Crab and a LOT of steak from Prime Rib to New York strip. Now I could not give that up, could I ?
l became fast friends with the idea and a lot of the civilian staff and went to the NCO club together and out to the local steakhouse about 7 miles away often and to another bar called Roscoe's. That became interesting in the winters.
Things were good and although I was supposed to have an assistant, I didn't for the first two months. He arrived finally and I soon learned that one should be careful what they wish for.
The day came when Fred was to arrive and the NCO Club manager and I took his van the ½ mile to the railway tracks where the train was to arrive at noon.
First thing I heard when he had his suitcases was "Hi boss." Fred was I would guess about 19 and full of life, overloaded with ego, looking for a great new adventure.
He found one but then again so did I and they were not at all the same. I had to remind Fred numerous times that when we were on duty, he had to refer to me as Sargent, off duty Bob was OK, but NEVER "boss" although I was.
That took about three weeks and I would say two dozen reminders for him to learn. The second morning at the station, Fred told me that I was so lucky to have him at the station.
I just had to ask why that was other than his outgoing personality. He said to me that he was the youngest and highest paid disc jockey at a big station in Minneapolis, where he was from. I couldn't help it, but I thought I'd have a little fun so I said "gee Fred that is really something." I had him on the hook and almost couldn't wait for what I might hear next. It was everything from the number one show there to all the ladies loved him, you name it.
Then I dropped the other shoe.
I said Fred, I hope you turned in your AFTRA Card when you left for military service, it's required. You are listed as an honorary withdrawal as a service member and you don't have to have the monthly dues taken out of your paycheck. You simply pick it all back up when you return to the USA stateside.
He got this very puzzled look on his face and said "What's an AFTRA." I said Fred that's the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a broadcast union that you HAD to be a member of if you were working on air at this particular station. There was more puzzlement and sputtering and he said well I was like an assistant to the "on air" DJ.
I said, "Oh, I get it, a basic groupie." He was then basically speechless, which in hindsight was a first and I think a last as well.
I remember thinking, I just know this year is not going to go well. As it turned out over the next few weeks, I was right. Be that as it may, you have to make due sometimes with what you are given.
However, I let it slide having driven home my point telling him that I was 33 years old, had been in the radio and television business almost as long as he'd been alive and to please remember that.
The morning show was our longest (3 hour) live show there of the day and he needed the experience, so I gave Fred the morning show which he liked. Two reasons to be sure. I could monitor him from my room and I liked the idea of sleeping in. Just being honest!!
I think other than at the information school it was his first real job. Fred's duties were to also receive the record shipments every week and file about 80 title and artist's cards in our look-up system. It was about 5 or 6 weeks later when I was looking for a card in the files for a specific song. The card wasn't there where it should have been. So I started looking in the room to see what was going on.
I found unfiled cards, weeks of them in drawers, other storage spaces you generally didn't look for much of anything. When I had basically all 450 plus of them I packaged them up, and put them in a box like a gift, gave it to Fred the next morning and told him that he was not to go anywhere except to lunch and dinner until they were all properly filed. He wasn't thrilled but he got the message.
He had made a few young friends in the security police at the site and they hung out together. In the summer, temperatures often reach ninety degrees plus on the Fahrenheit scale.
In the winter, a high for the day might be minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit. The contrast itself was pretty unbelievable. Imagine being in a place where in the winter, more often than not, it was too cold to snow.
The lowest in the winter we recorded that year was MINUS 78°. But that afternoon it warmed up to MINUS 56°F.
In these temperatures you can take a glass of warm water, just open the door to the outside and toss the water up into the air. It evaporates instantly. Northing hits the ground.
All the cars of the civilians and our military vehicles are tied like horses were in the old west with a heated battery pack around the batteries. But the tires also freeze solid so when one gets in to go somewhere the first two or three miles are one bumpy ride until the tires heat up from use. In the spring and summer those problems of course don't exist but the bears come out sometimes in force and there they roam free everywhere. That, plus the other big nemesis, mosquitos in clusters, some of them so big you think you could saddle them up and ride them off into the sunset. Mosquitos were a big problem outdoors all summer.
At any rate, we all survived. Things were relatively quiet for a lot of weeks as I recall until one day as the station manager,
I was called to a meeting for supervisors concerning military and civilian activities there.
We were told that the civilians, particularly the culinary (food service workers), were actively considering a strike for higher pay and that bus drivers, basically all the services people were probably going to strike in sympathy actions as well.
Their wages and contracts were already top dollar, but that wasn't the issue now. They just wanted more from the base contractor a civilian placement firm that was located in Denver, Colorado.
We were told that if it happened however, replacements would be available, but until or even if it happened it was to be kept quiet to everyone but our group assembled there.
Well, you know Murphy's Law as well as I do and sure enough, it was getting closer and closer to happening and the rumors that it was coming were everywhere.
We had two songs on our playlist that I told all of them I would remove. We were all in agreement as the songs had lyrics that were a bit overbearing when they were trying to avoid a strike and simply should be temporarily removed. One song was actually entitled "Union Man, so you get the idea.
I had to brief Fred but I couldn't tell him why, at least not right then. I knew he would ask and I then knew he would probably argue. That's exactly what happened. I told him as the manager, I was temporarily suspending play of BOTH songs. He told me that he didn't believe I had a right or the authority to "censor" any song.
I also told him that I did have that authority, I'd had done it, he would comply and that was that. He again said, I don't believe….and I interrupted him and said "no more discussion, period." I had also informed my commander in Anchorage about this because I knew I would get an argument. T
They agreed wholeheartedly that this was the right thing to do for however long I thought it was necessary and keep them informed.
Naturally, he checked with and told all his young friends what I had done and how he disagreed for days on end. I know that because a couple of them came to me and actually asked why I had done this to Fred. He was such a really cool guy.
But everything went well for about two weeks. In that time Fred told me that when I left for my next assignment, he would take over as station manager and remove the songs from the playlist ban if they were still on it.
Once again I had to bust his inflated ego and told him my replacement was in the school, would be here in about 8 or 9 weeks and he would be the new station manager as a staff sargent.
Well, it took six days, and then it happened. I was in my room listening to (air checking as they call it) his show, when I heard him refer to an organization on the station as the Mickey Mouse club. Then the first of the temporarily banned songs played followed by the second one.
My first thought and instinct was "kill Fred." But I calmed down, went to the orderly room and said I needed a train ticket for Fred, as he was about to be sent back to headquarters at Anchorage. I explained to the first sergeant and the commander. The commander said he would take Fred out back and "counsel him." I had to laugh and said, Yeah, that's what he needs alright but obviously not the answer. I got the ticket, and changed into my blue uniform as this was to be officially on the record business. At the end of his show,
I went up to the station.
When I walked in Fred said immediately, WOW boss you're all dress up, lookin' good. What's the occasion?"
Murder came to mind or maybe the commander's idea yet again. Fred then said, " I just have to tell you I had the very best show ever this morning"
I said "well, Airman __________, I actually did this all for you."
I said, " I was listening to your show this morning and you referred to an organization as the Mickey Mouse club, do you care to explain?". Oh yeah he said 0,me and my buddies think that of (and he mentioned who) have rules that are like that.
I said "so do we:" He then said, "well, I was going to tell you but maybe you heard that I've been thinking a lot about these songs you restricted and I have decided that you had no authority to do that, so I played them." I said, "Yes Fred I heard them, which means you have disobeyed the direct order of a person appointed over you and I did that under my authority which you've questioned often. So now we must do what probably needed to be done for some time now."
I want you to go to your room right now, pack up all your belongings. When you have that done, I have this ticket on the noon train to Anchorage.
You will be taken there just before and the Major, (squadron commander in Anchorage) will meet you when you arrive there at 9:00 PM this evening.
Since you are interrupting his evening, my guess is he will not be happy." "Are you firing me?", he said.
I said from here, YES. Keep it up son and you might get discharged from the Air Force, now go."
Fred left, I think I finally had gotten his attention. I heard later that after about a month of duties around the squadron, cutting grass and the like, he was sent on to another assignment. But the major did call me and said he thought Fred had learned his lesson and would I take him back.
I said "Sir only with a direct order signed by you while you have a shotgun trained on me." He laughed and that was the last I saw of Fred. I did hear that he ended up at another TV and Radio station with 30 plus people assigned, many around his age so he would have more of his peers to watch and keep him and his ego in line. How Fred managed after that I don't know.
Well that was my Alaska adventure. Gene, my new assistant arrived and we were together for about 7 weeks before I left for home and then to my next assignment. I had asked time and again for Keflavik, that NATO Base in Iceland. I got, Incirlik, an interesting place in south central Turkey and that is next, a fairly short chapter actually.