BMEWS

The Old Radar was made up of nine Buildings connected by an enclosed roadway, which was called "the tunnel", stretching for over a mile.

There were four stationary detection radar antennae, each about the size of a football field arranged in an arc, facing generally north.
In front of each antenna was a scanner building which housed the "organ pipe scanner" which provided the radar energy and scanning motion to the stationary antenna.

Since the detection radar antennae were too large to move, the organ pipe scanner moved the beam in relation to the antenna.

It got its name from the arrangement of several dozen waveguides or pipes, which were fed from a rotating waveguide switch.

The pipes, each connected to a feed horn, formed two horizontal rows, one above the other.

The beam from each antenna provided radar coverage of 40 degrees, yielding a total of 160 degrees of radar detection over the pole.

The four fan-shaped beams of radar energy would provide a warning of every missile firing that took place in the Soviet Union.

The job of BMEWS was to remove any surprise, assuring Soviet destruction if they launched an attack.

Between each of the four scanner buildings, about an eighth of a mile down the tunnel were a transmitter building.

Running through the tunnel were literally miles of waveguide, connecting the scanners to the transmitters, with several sources of energy each.

Hundreds of miles of inch-thick, multi-conductor cable also ran down the tunnel in cable trays stretching between the buildings carrying control, communication and radar receiver information.

A five-billion-dollar project (in 1960 dollars), the Air Force demanded, and got, perfection.

At the end of the tunnel were the site mess hall, a machine shop and the J-Site Power Plant which is still in operation and furthermore serves as back-up for the base.

Providing transportation between the buildings was a passenger trolley made up of a warehouse tug and several warehouse trailers which had a bench seat built down the middle and enclosed against the cold.

It made scheduled trips from one end of the tunnel to the other, stopping at each building to pick up and discharge passengers and small cargo.

Here are a personal story mailed to me on may 25, 2007 from John Bryer

I went up in September of 1960 as a driver in the RCA motor pool. Anyone who rode the tunnel train in those years, probably rode behind me at some time. But the memory I have is of the dreaded “Phase Patrol”

As a motor pool driver, It was my job to drive the big Cat tractor down the road from the radar site with a guard to check out weather conditions on the road. The tractor had a 5 speed transmission with a split axle and air brakes designed to stop a huge and heavy construction trailer. We climbed in the cab up at the lot in front of the BMEWS tunnel and headed over the lip onto the road down the hill. If you’ve ever seen it, you will appreciate how steep and long the descent was. As we went over the edge from the upper lot to the downhill, I decided (foolishly) to shift. I didn’t make it into gear, so we were rolling uncontrolled down the hill, with an abrupt right hand turn at the bottom, or else off into the rocks and ice cap. As we used to say: “ only me and the laundry man knew how scared I was.” Lacking any other options, I caressed the air brakes all the way down, hoping I could keep the speed down to a rate that would make the turn. Fortunately, that was the way it turned out. I never did find out if the guard knew our peril, but I’ve never forgotten it, and that was 45 years ago.

Here are a personal story mailed to me on June 12, 2007 from Michael Boyce

My father worked for RCA at Griffis Air Force Base in Rome, NY for many years. During that time I used to go into work with him on weekends and became very familiar with the Air Force Supply System and RCA stock control and accounting procedures. I went to Thule, right out of high school, after a stint in New Jersey, in August 1966. I stayed the full 18 months and worked in both the RCA warehouse on base (next to Base Supply) and on J-Site. Some of the more memorable moments were the bus crash on the way to work one night and of course the B-53 crash. During that time I handled all of the spares for the implementation of the J-Site power plant, consisting of 2 Enterprise Diesel engines, and about 12 Fairbanks- Morse engines. When those came on-line the power ship was pulled out by a seagoing tugboat. I also handled all of the parts requisition for the microwave installation at J-Site. When I left Greenland worked on a project at Clear Air Station, Alaska where we actually identified all of the spares (more than 100, 000) so the could be automated into the RCA Stock Control and Accounting System. My father, Jack F. Boyce, was the team leader on that project.

Comments (42)

|2010-07-12 08:15:31 ron singer

i was on first bus that night w/phase 3

and max leading us!

grumpy
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|2010-07-07 06:38:40 John Miller - My uncle Robert Marsh was a Firefighter in 62-65

My uncle Robert (Bob) Marsh was a firefighter in 62-65, was a Philadelphia
Firefighter before his Greenland tour. After his return to the states in 65 he
worked for Ford in Safety/Fire protection in CA and NJ. He passed away in 75.

I followed a similar career with BP from 77-99 a Prudhoe Bay, Alaska as fire
Chief and a Safety Engineer.

John Miller

Boise, Idaho
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|2010-06-03 00:56:34 James Dow - retired

It is amazing how many people look back to the time they were working at Thule
AFB with longing and nostalgia. I was there in 1960. I was a young mathematician
working for Sylvania Electric on the reliability of the IBM data analysis
computers. I would like to remind all the folks thinking of the good old days
that it was at the height of the cold war with nuclear obliteration hanging over
everyone's head. I am glad it is over.

I was there when the moon bounce incident occurred. I was sleeping when it
happened. My colleagues blamed the antenna designs and the RCA computers. My
computers just passed on the data, but the way that NORAD dealt with our frantic
communications to back off was far from reassuring. I am glad that we all got
out of that alive.
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|2010-04-27 19:40:52 gene starks

I worked at J-site as a utilitieman and the J-site telephone operator.from
1Nov78,(last day of daylight),till 1May81.Recall vividly the radome fire it was
on April fools day,1980.I was woken up to beating on my dorm room door,by Frank
Neville,my neighbor and a member of the J-site fire dept.Yelling "THE SITE
IS BURNING DOWN,WAKE UP GODDAMN IT THE SITE IS BURNING DOWN!" Shift change
was in about 3 hours,but in the confusion no one passsed the word that night
shift was to Not tranport to J-site,and alot of civilian personnel either got
onto the first buses back to Thule,or personnel who where not assigned to J-site
grabbed trucks and headed out to the fire.It was a odd to see black smoke rising
high in the sky as the buses came to the Y in the road.All buses were sent to
the maintenance shop or into the tunnel next to the fire dept,for some reason
that I dont recall I ended up driving the "tunnel tug" to take personnel
down to bldg 2.Maybe had somewthing to do with I had a E on my security badge,
to escort others who didnt have clearances.this was the biggest reason I ended
up working on clean up and resoration crews.the majority of the clean up was
done by over a dozen summer employees who came from Wisconsin and Concrete North
Dakota. they also did clean up on the scanner sreens to repair damage from the
previous winter.The restopration crew were ITT/FSI employees from K-town Germany
and Goodyear reps who manufactured the new radome.I could keep on about this but
dont want to bore anyone.I dont see many pitures.Somewhere I have 30 or so
pictures if I can find them I will post them.That was a crazy busy time.
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|2010-04-12 20:23:39 Phil Skaggs - re:

mel Goldman wrote:
Was in Thule with RCA from 1960 to 1962. My pictures got destroyed and if you
can send me any pictures taken at Thule would like fto show my grandkids

thanks

mel

Mel,

I have many pictures of the Fjord, etc.

Their still in 35mm slides but i intend to take

E-Photos of them to convert them to .jpgs.

It's busy season for me now but in a couple of months I'll have time to play
with that.

Pls give me your email address and I'll send a batch to you.

Thanx, Phil Skaggs Shuntdodat@comcast.net
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|2010-07-28 18:38:47 Vinnie Ravo - Request for BMEWS Photo's

Hi Phil,

Was A DR1 Tech at the age of 19, stayed for 510. Finished up in November of 64,
lost all photo's. If you can help, thanks ahead of time.

PS: I designed the FM transmitter for the FM station on base, KFMT at the time.
Also looking for Ron White a fellow frien and tech at the time.

Best regards,
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|2010-07-28 20:13:57 Ron Altman

Vinnie,

Glad you posted. I'd been wanting to contact you for years. I was a TR tech
with RCA from Feb., 66 to Sept. 67. Much of that time, I was involved with KFMT.
Had heard that it was designed and built by one of the previous techs, using all
off-the-shelf parts from RCA Supply I always wanted to have the
opportunity to thank the designer for his great work! It may be of interest to
know what happened to the station: In 1966, another Tracker tech (James Lee
Guilbeaux) and I took it upon ourselves to convert the station to stereo, since
a lot of stereo receivers were being purchased by the Thule-ites. We used a
Sencore stereo signal generator for the source. Rewired the RCA control console
to stereo and fed the line out (R & L) into the stereo generator, using it as an
exciter stage for inputting the transmitter. We also applied to the Danish
government for a license. They replied that since radio stations in Denmark
were government owned, they couldn't give us a regular call sign but, rather an
amateur call sign. Thus it was that KFMT became 50Z20. When I left in fall
'67, it was still club-owned and still in that room on the top floor of bldg.
100. When I returned in 1980, it had been taken over by the Danes and had it's
own building somewhere close to the AFRTS building. Still had the same call
sign, though!

Hope you find this interesting, and thanks again for all your work!

-Ron Altman-

Niceville, FL
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|2010-02-11 07:31:12 Ray Brylski - Re; Tracker Fire

With reference to the tracker fire - I was the commander of the 1983rd CS and
together with Capt Al Barris the chief QAE for BMEWs maintaince was heading to J
Site for our weekly maintenance meeting when Al spotted a plume of smoke from
the tracker. The fire department responded immediately. They initially dosed
the visible flames quickly but did not realize that the fire was traveling panel
to panel in the waxed cardboard infrastructure of the radome. By the time we
delveloped a plan of action to cut out a section of the dome to contain the fire
and preserve the integrity of the structure it was too late and the dome
collapsed in on the tracker. The SAC safety team ruled that the fire indeed
started from arcing on a loose rivet; however, my favorite story was that which
attributed the fire to a lasar attack from a Russian satellite the tracker was
said to have been honed in on.
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|2010-01-23 20:07:27 Paul Gori Christiansen - Max Gullette

the article about my former boss in RCA Motor pool, Max Gullette can be found
here:

http://books.google.com/books?id=jdQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=P
A134&lpg=PA134&dq=Max+Gullette&source=bl&ots=1Q5wN
Og9dw&sig=se2tuh2F7_XzInTcxltQr7oKCz4&hl=da&ei=wAV
bS9W6OsLt-AaHnN0B&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&re
snum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Max%20Gullette& f=true

I was at TAB from Dec 1960 to June 1962, Driving bus from base to J site
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|2010-01-15 21:52:13 bill baxter

The thought occurred to me that the people trying to help out down there in
Haiti ought to locate the YFP10 (nomenclature right?) power plant that provided
all the power for quite a spell.

Occasionally I see Steve Heller, who lives up on the Eastern Shore, and Joe
Wasneski, (Griffiss at Rome)who now lives in Satellite Beach. Fond memories over
those ten years - names like LoBue, Falkenstein, Ed Terrian, Max
Gullette(?)"the old goat", was it Dr. Jarecki who ran the poker games?,
Rasmus Rasmussen, Akodak the chief eskimo hunter, Jim O'Connor, VBK Nicolaison
from the Royal Greenland Trade Department, Ed Shagen, Bill
Fetterman............................. Guess we're all closing in on 90 so the
memories will dim as well as the eyesight!
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|2010-01-09 21:31:16 Paul Viverito - Riverton

I was at Thule off and on as well as all of the other BMEWS sites from 1960 to
about 1965. I worked as a Field Engineer out of the home office in Riverton New
Jersey as well as Griffiss AFB in Rome N.Y.I was surprised to find the temp in
Clear Alaska to be much colder than Thule, 70 below in clear vs 50 below in
Thule. It's been a long time but I think about the great experience I had
working the Bmews Sites. I regret that I don't remember the names of the many
friends I had in Bmews back then. I now live in South Daytona Florida
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|2009-12-07 07:04:01 Jorgen Nielsen - Regarding Max Guillette at Thule

Dear Ron Altman.

Have just read you story about Old Max G.

I had the pleasure to work with/under him as mechanic at the BMEWS workshop on
base from aug.59-aug.60

What a sad way to go for a real oldtimer.

Allow me to refer you to WWW@thuleforum.com

Jorgen Nielsen story, where you can read about my first contact with Max.

Was back at Thule in 2005. many changes and the spirit of the place lost.

Ron Altman wrote:
The man's name was Max Gulette (or maybe Gulotte - don't remember the spelling)
He was a legend in his own mind. Popular Science magazine did a feature on him
once. I was there in 1966 & 67. If I remember correctly, it was in the spring
of 67 or the winter preceding, that Max (drunker than a skunk) insisted on
jumping out of the taxi one cold night and walking back to his dorm. He tripped
and passed out and lay there for several hours without any parka, boots or
gloves. Got severe frost-bite and was shipped back to the U.S. End of his
Thule career. But the story of him leading buses up to J-Site in a Phase II or
III is still a legend up there.
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|2009-08-21 20:27:01 Phil Skaggs

After 4 years in the Air Force I worked for RCA

and pulled 18 Months at Thule's J Site 1962 - 1963.

I have pictures of the Fjord and the three glaciers.

I'd like to Email-swap copies of them for newer or current pictures; taken from
a similar location.

Know anyone who might have more current pictures???

Also noticed a reference to a phase III storm that

trapped a convoy of workers between Thule base

and J Site. I was in such a convoy ... Bravo shift;

1963. First one was seven and a half hours.

Second one was thirteen and a half hours.

Wouldn't mind being in touch with guys from that experience.

Any help?

Thanx,

Phil Skaggs - York - Pa.

shuntdodat@comcast.net
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|2009-09-17 08:25:17 ron singer

i was on the lone ride, max some thing ,forgot last name was the leader of that
convor
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|2009-12-01 16:06:30 Ron Altman

The man's name was Max Gulette (or maybe Gulotte - don't remember the spelling)
He was a legend in his own mind. Popular Science magazine did a feature on him
once. I was there in 1966 & 67. If I remember correctly, it was in the spring
of 67 or the winter preceding, that Max (drunker than a skunk) insisted on
jumping out of the taxi one cold night and walking back to his dorm. He tripped
and passed out and lay there for several hours without any parka, boots or
gloves. Got severe frost-bite and was shipped back to the U.S. End of his
Thule career. But the story of him leading buses up to J-Site in a Phase II or
III is still a legend up there.
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|2009-12-01 16:06:41 LLOYD K. LACY - TEAM LEADER DRDTO 1965-1968

I WAS THERE WHEN MAX 'DID HIS THING'
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|2010-06-05 18:53:54 Edward M. Kennedy - The Old Goat

I still have my BMEWS 1965 Handbook and my driver licence signed by Max.

I knew that he had had some frost bitten areas above his eyes. That night he
fell while walking across cable conduits to his barrack I believe was about 20
degrees F. I seem to remember 5 plus hours of him laying there.

I saw the photos of his fingers. They were all twisted and brown like twigs. I
forget how many he lost. It was said he was departing to visit his wife???!!!

It was said Max had been a marine back in 1929???!!! I shall check my licence
when I find it again. It will tell me exactly how he spelled his name .
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|2010-06-06 08:55:51 Jorgen Nielsen

Dear Mr. Kennedy.

Just read your note about Max Guilette which is his correct name as it is
written on my BMEWS Drivers licence issued by Max back in august 1959 where I
was the first Danish Mechanic working for RCA. When I turned 70 in august 2005 I
was back at Thule after 46 years for approx.10 days. I could still use my
original licence and was allowed to drive around the base with no problem.

Believe me, Thule is no longer as you remember it. The magic spell is gone, but
the BMEWS mess Hall and the weather is still fine.

sinc Jorgen.
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|2010-06-06 20:12:17 Mogens Andersen

Hello Edward Kennedy and Jorgen Nielsen
I am a bit confused as to the rigth way of spelling Max's name.
As you can see on my drivers licens, he spelled it "Gulletto" in 1960.

best regards
Mogens
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|2010-07-02 06:04:33 Ed Kenedy

Thanks Jorgen and Mogen for Your spellings of Max's last name. I still have an
extensive list of transparencies of The Ultima Thule. I still have my Petri7S
35mm camera ($35.00) Bx and my 7x35mm Nikon binoculars ($35.00) from the BX. .
In Summerdale, N.J. , I ran into Ed Senior, base photo,RCA. .

I have some shots of Dundas,and the YFP-10 in the Harbor. In 1966, I traveled
to Roskilde.. I stayed with friends around town with a few Danish Friends and
then to Copenhagen. . A" Wonderbar" City. Good to hear Max's old
licenses are still good for operations. I was a Utility man at J-site and
WFP-10. I also worked in Document Control ,Bldg.2 . I've met many ex Thuleites
in the last 43 years. In 1969 , I was attempting to get into a select Group 34A
at Fort Devens, Ma. . I did. In it was an ex-Coast Guard man named Carl
Christiansen. He had reuped in the U.S. Army, and went to Augsburg, Germany. He
had been stationed at Cap Atholl, Greenland 1966-67. He was also on my Braniff
Airlines Flight (Yello Bird) to McGuire Air Base, N.J., June 1, 1967.

Best Wishes

Ed Kenedy edsie69@crosslink.net
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|2010-04-11 18:28:50 mel Goldman

Was in Thule with RCA from 1960 to 1962. My pictures got destroyed and if you
can send me any pictures taken at Thule would like fto show my grandkids

thanks

mel
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|2009-08-21 20:30:12 Jorgen

Dear John Bryer.

I had the pleasure of working in the RCA Motor Pool back on the base, from
august 59 to august 60 as one of the 2-3 danish mechanicks working under the
notorious Max G.

When I came in 59 we litterally speaking started from scratch in that old lousy
garage near the admin.bld.

To make a long story short, when I turned 70 I returned to TAB, was there for a
week and held a pictureshow for approx 70-80 people and told them about working
conditions 46 years ago.

The old garage is gone, replaced by 2 new big bldgs.

What happened to Max G ???

If anyone cares to hear from a real oldtimer, please contact me.

Is there anyone from the old BMEWS staff on this site..Danish or American. Georg
Crolius ?? or others from that time, then please contact me.It was a wonderfull
experience to be back. A lot has changed but the sensation of being there was
still the same.

Looking forward to hear from you.

jorgen
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|2009-09-03 08:41:30 Gene McManus - 46 years ago at Thule...

Hello Jorgen,

I was at TAB, working for RCA at about the same time you were. I arrived in
March 1961, and left in September 1962. I remember the old garage, I bought a
Puch motorcycle from somebody, a Dane, I think, and spent some time in the old
garage with some mechanics trying to get it to run.

How did you arrange to get back to TAB? I and a number of other old-timers would
like to revisit there.

Gene
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|2010-01-21 14:09:12 Man

Hej Jørgen

Jeg ankom til Thule i juni 1959 og skulle arbejde som Steward i Base Dining
hall, men ragede uklar med bossen og endte med at stå i opvasken i 1-2 måneder,
indtil jeg fik et job som maskinarbejder oppe på J-Site. Arbejdede med
almindeligt reparations- og veligeholdelses arbejde indtil december 1960.

Cool at træffe en fra den tid.

mvh

Mogens
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|2010-01-22 07:09:41 Jørgen Nielsen

Hej Mogens.

Ja absolut cool at møde en fra den tid.

Der er vist ikke mange tilbage?

Jeg var på en uges besøg på Thule og Sdr. Strømfjord i sommeren 2005, en
oplevelse at se det igen efter så mange år.

Hvis du vil have detaljer om det så hører jeg gerne fra dig på:
CAVU@dlgtele.dk

mvh.

Jørgen
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|2009-09-03 08:52:44 Lloyd Hill

WOW - It is hard to believe that it was only 40 years ago that I set foot on the
ramp at Thule...what a shock it was too, I arrived on my 25th birthday, immagine
what a nice birthday present from RCA that was...an all expense paid trip to an
exotic island. As you might have guessed, I stayedfor the full duration + a bit
since RCA was turning over the contract to Federal Electric and requested us to
extend a while so they didn't have toreplace us as we rotated out. All in all it
was a good time for me, and quite a learning experience working in DTO/Central
and realy having fun doing it too...yea, I guess I am sort of a Nerd at heart,
as I came to RCA from NORAD CMC where I worked for AT&T on the BMEWS RCS (not
fun, as AT&T was worse than the military) prior to that I was in the USAF as an
AWT on the EC121-H ALRI aircraft based at Otis AFB, so it is fair to say that
the Cold War took care of feeding me for several years before I became an
official civilian and even that entailed about a year of working on classified
space flight hardware, see that security clearance is a handy thing to have on
your resume. Now I am semi retired and working part time at Home Depot in
Sebring, FL and remenising about all these thngs including a gig or two of
photos from Thule. OBTW, the SCO computer was designed and built by RCA and as I
recall it was a 4 bit machine that took up several racks of floor space, and a
lot of attention to keep it running...Lloyd aka Viking
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|2009-09-03 09:01:00 Ed Bardet

More of a question. In your research have you run across anything about the
System(s)Checkout Computer? It was a hand wired machine with huge 3-4' cores.

I was at Clear in the 62 and vaguely remember it.

Ed
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|2010-07-02 18:03:24 Ron Altman

Ed,

I think I know what you're referring to. In 1967, when I was an RCA Tracker
techie, I remember spending several days re-wiring a couple cores. Very
tedious, painstaking work. It's the only time in my long electronics career
that I've ever seen a hard-wired core. Amazing, now, looking back from the
perspective of tiny, multi-gigabyte memories, but the machines up there were
considered rather fast and powerful!
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|2010-07-04 07:40:12 ron singer

ed

i was also in thule w/max. when rca left i was to take the photo lab but itt got
a guy by the name of lee.

later on i got the job.

i was also on the first bus in that 12 hour ride to j-site,with max walking the
road in frount,what a trip that was

ron singer

grumpypepsi@juno.com
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|2010-07-05 06:42:40 Gene Starks

Ron Singer what years were you at J-site? Myself 78-81 with ITT.I ask because
your name is familiar
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|2010-07-08 06:59:18 ron singer

it was nov. 76

and i'm sorry i left but my folks war dieing i wanted to stay

ron singer

grumpypepsi@juno.com
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|2009-09-16 14:02:34 Alan Schwartz

I was with RCA Service Co. on the DRDTO system. I was at Thule between 1960 and
1962. I can remember much about BMEWS and its place (J-Site). At one point as we
were heading up the 13 mile run to J-Site a surprise PHASE hit us on the busses.
We were stuck someplace on the 13 mile run for a whole day and more. The bus
became cold and the horizontal snow went through any small crevice. After many
hours of waiting we began to worry that the buses would run out of fuel. While
at J-Site we listened to radio broadcasts from the USSR. The star of that radio
show was a woman we all called Moscow Molly. Now that I'm an old man I realize
how much I miss the place. I sure wish I could see it once more. Lastly, the
steaks were very good at the airbase mess hall.
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|2009-09-03 09:07:05 LLOYD K. LACY

I was there the last 2 months of 1956 with the 340th ARS flying on KC-97's
(Airborne Radio Operator)out of Whiteman AFB, Mo.

Went back with RCA in June 1965-Jan 1967. I was a Team Leader in DRDTO.

I don't miss Thule, but the pay was better then.

Email LLOYDKLACY@YAHOO.COM
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|2009-09-16 14:03:58 tom maxwell

at j site from sept 62 to july 64. ec of bravo crew with young, simpson, sewing,
piccard etc.
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|2009-09-03 09:20:51 Gene McManus

I worked at Thule/J-Site from spring 1961 until fall 1962. I was an electronic
tech, and helped to do the installation of the old AN/FPS-49 tracking radar.
What a great 18 months. Would love to go back for a week or so, just to see the
new stuff. I write about my experiences there in '510 Full Days' -
www.bwcinet.com/thule.
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|2009-09-03 09:29:00 Joeph M. Polyak

I worked at Thule from September 1966 to September 1969. I was employed by RCA
Service Company as a Communications Technician. My assigned work area was RCS
(rearward communications system) located in Bldg. #2 at J-site. My department
was responsible for the transmission of data from the MIP (missle impact
predictor) computer to NORAD located in Cheynne Mountain in Colorado Springs,
Col.

Although we worked long hard hours and days and endured long dark periods, in
retrospect, it was a very important and interresting time in my life. I was
saddened to see the 'old' BMEWS Radar reflector screens gone. I guess the
'mission' has changed and so must the equipment. It would be interresting to
return to THULE A/B for a look see some day! Many friends were made there, as
many fond memories of times gone by. I to miss the old place!
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|2009-09-03 19:53:12 Don Bower

I worked at the BMEWS site 1965-1966 . I have seen some pictures of the
BMEWS site dated 1981 which looked like the site was burning or was being tore
down. When was the new site built? Just curious.
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|2010-02-04 21:37:57 Capt. Ken Cozier BMEWS 1983-8 - 1981 Fire..

Don...

The tracker dome caught fire and was destroyed.. the tracker itself suffered
major damage and was down for about 9 months. The new radome was in place and
the tracker operational when I got there in Aug 1983....During the summer of
1984, the superstucture of the Phased Array was going up.. They manned both
systems while the phased Array was being tested..The mechanical system was on
'hot standby". I think it went operational in 1985 or so and the mechanical
system was then torn down. Not sure what they did with all the other bldgs
supporting the old system..
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|2010-01-19 05:23:42 Ron Altman - Tracker Fire

Capt. Cozier & Don;

Actually, my beloved tracker burned around the first of May, 1980. I know
because I arrived there for the second time in the middle of May and was told it
had just burned a couple weeks before. (I had put in my 510 days there in
1966-67 as a Tracker Tech for RCA) I only stayed there until Oct '80, (couldn't
stomach any more of FELEC Service's management (?) policies), and the new radome
was nearly up by then. However, it wasn't nearly as beautiful as the original,
Buckminster Fuller designed, model.
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|2010-01-23 10:44:39 Capt Ken Cozier - Re: Tracker Fire

Ron...

Thanks for the clarifications...Misinformation arises when bits and pieces of
stories and hearsay are gathered together and you try to fill in the blanks with
logic.... sometimes you're off by a bunch and a myth is created !!! lol It's
always preferable to get it from the experts and/or eyewitnesses! I must tell
you, I am intrigued by your last comment...."However, it wasn't nearly as
beautiful as the original, Buckminster Fuller designed, model." I don't
believe I've ever seen a picture of the old tracker dome close up.. You wouldn't
have one to post, would you ?

Staying with the same topic...here are 2 of the "Thule Legends"
concerning the tracker fire. The first one is that the fire started when the
tracker was 'RF active' in a tight, circular "raster scan" for an
extended period. The story goes that insulation on one of the dome's structural
bolt heads had flaked off exposing the bare metal. The tracker's RF energy
heated the bolt head which set the fiberglass on fire... Can anyone confirm this
one???

The second "legend" which does seem a bit far fetched to me, is that the
fire rapidly grew out of control because the responding fire equipment (pumper)
didn't have the capability to reach the very top of the dome with enough water
pressure to douse the flames. The reason given was that the fire engine was a
scaled down model which was necessary for it to traverse thru the tunnel. Fact
or pure fiction??? I viewed the pictures provided by Hans, the first ones I had
ever seen of the fire. Not being a fire expert, I couldn't make a determination
one way or the other. I'd love to clear this myth up ! Great talkin' to
y'all..
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|1999-11-30 01:00:00 ron singer

i miss the old place. when can we go back to vist?
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|2009-09-03 20:07:04 Michael Ayres

Spent 11 Years working on the new radar and 6 months on the old BMEWS. The new
radar on building 2 has the chow hall and fire department located in building 2.
Returning to the US for time off was very simular to returning to Earth from
Space.

I do not miss Thule.
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