The ASSIGNMENT
|
Harold Cox and I were stationed at Okinawa at the time a call came down for a Rawinsonde Technician and Rawinsonde Operator to report for duty at Hickam A.F.B., Honolulu, Hawaii. Since Cox and I were excess troops over and above the authorized level in our career field, we were selected. Cox was beside himself with dreams of beaches and grass skirts. He calmed down quickly when I asked him what had he and I done to deserve such an assignment as this. I told him Hickam was just going to be a staging area and we were likely to be sent from there to some isolated island duty. When we arrived at Hickam we found out that they were setting up a Field Maintenance Shop, and Cox was to go on to Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. | 
|
The Commander of the FMS was Captain Maurice F. Williams, and after finding out our qualifications, he singled out Hugh McGroty, Rod Willaims, Purfy Melebeck, William Hawley, and myself because we had maintenance training on the Rawinsonde equipment. Out of the 5 of us, McGroty, Williams, and myself had been weather observers. Rawinsonde operators, and Rawinsonde technicians with the most experience at operation/maintenance.
Captain Williams offered us two choices. Number one, we could draw straws, with the short straw going to Eniwetok far a full one year hitch, thereby rotating stateside earlier.
Number two, we could rotate the Eniwetok assignment, (three month temporary duty) between ourselves, allowing us to have Hickam as our official base of assignment. This meant we could place our names on the list for base housing. By rank and seniority, and because I was the last to compliment the Staff, I was selected to handle the first duty on the island. If memory serves me correctly, Hugh, Rod, and myself were at Wetok the most of the time. Rating the technical ability of our FMS crew as it applies to Rawinsonde, I'd have to Say Rod was the best, then Hugh, myself, Melebeck and HawIey.
There were times prior to a nuclear test that there were two technicians on Wetok to cover the equipment operation for 24 hour periods, also when we were hopping in and out of Rongerik Atoll. That's why you see Rod Williams and myself in the photo. I wish Rod didn't have his sun glasses on. Without them he was a perfect double for the movie actor, Victor Mature. Rod was living in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1995 when he passed away.
Our FMS had "upper echelon'' maintenance responsibility for the Air Force weather equipment at Hawaii, the equipment on Majuro, Kusaie (KU-SY), Ponape (Pawn-a-Pay), Eniwetok, and Johnston Island.
Johnston Island was an interesting base, it looked like an aircraft carrier from the air. The runway went from the eastern tip to the western tip, Iying on the north side of the island, with the base facilities grouped centrally south of the runway.
During World War 11, the Japanese bombed the hell out of that island, broadcasting they had damaged another American Aircratt Carrier at the exact same latitude/longitude. You'd think they'd have caught on that something was amiss. The scary thing about going in there was the fact that the runway was short (B-29's couldn't land there), and you always landed west-to-east, and the mess hall dumped all their garbage off a pier on the west end of the island. Obviously, that end of the island was always patrolled by shark and barracuda, waiting to fight each other tor the scraps. You also were apprehensive about the Gooney birds, on both takeoffs and landings. These birds were so graceful in flight, and so clumsy on the ground. I've seen them come in for a landing, folding up their wings three feet over the beach, crash, tumble ass-over-teakettle, get up, shake themselves, and calmly look around as if to say, " I meant to do that!"Chapters
|| The Assignment || Eniwetok ||
The B-29 Drone Modification ||
|| The Hydrogen Bomb Test] ||
|| Rongerik part 1 || Rongerik part 2 ||
Rongerik part 3 ||
|| Mystery and Reflections ||
