RECOLLECTIONS

My tour at Det 2 began in 1970. I was a three striper at the time and will never forget the first time I drove though the gate. It was late in the afternoon and I quickly noticed 2 older gentlemen in grubby sweats mowing the grass (11 acres all being mowed with push mowers), and thought, this won't be all bad - looks like they have contracted some of the more menial jobs to the locals. The fellow closest to the gate stopped his mower and came over to sign me into the site. I was really shocked when he introduced himself as Chief Young. I had a fair idea then that things were not as rosy as I had first thought.

After he signed me in and I parked inside the compound he offered to introduce me to the commander. When we walked over to the other gentleman who had been mowing and Lew introduced me to Lt.Col Addy, terrible thoughts overcame me as I imagined the tasks a three striper would be asked to perform. Little did I know that lawn mowing would become an event to look forward to. I remember Col Addy going into the beer locker and placing a 6 pack at least an acre away and announcing "When we get there, we're going to drink that." There was never a shortage of volunteers for lawn mowing detail.

I also recall three scoundrels who just happened to have Civil Engineer squadron hats in the site pickup. Seems they found an unattended riding lawn mower at the base school, changed hats and loaded it into the truck. It was soon on site and well used. If my memory serves me, we had that mower for many years - Earl kept it going with bubble gum and bailing wire - until one of the uninformed took it to the base for some kind of preventive maintenance. That was the last we ever saw of it. If I'm not mistaken, the site snow blower arrived in much the same manner. Finally we made the big time and got a real farm tractor to mow the lawn, and, believe it or not, an honest to God Oshkosh snowplow. And we got them legally!! Who'da thunk it? Somehow I wonder if we weren't better off when we were surviving by our wits and things weren't quite so easy. I'm sure McConnell, Wells and Zambos will say the things had already gotten easy by the time I got there. Hell, they were mowing all 11 acres with sickles and scythes until they invented gasoline engines.

I arrived at Liza in 1970 after accepting cross training from radio maint (of course I thought space systems meant going to Florida, Calif., or Houston, TX.). But, in spite of the cold and snow, I ended up to be a die-hard Maine lover. I stayed until 1979 and then was sent on a short tour to Korea. Then, back to Liza for another year until retirement in 1981.

As most of you will remember, we had bunk rooms and very good chairs to use for comfort on 12 hour night shifts!! Of course, if you were in training you could not use the conveniences. I remember such a night training on Capt. Sykes’ crew. A standby pass was upcoming, and I took the briefing until Belt wanted to discuss it with the "OD". As many may remember, he piled the chair pillows under the air conditioner vent in the ops room. Well, needless to say, I had to wake him. He came up like a bullet when he realized what was going on and ended up with one hell of a headache after hitting his head on the vent.

Another early episode that became funny later was the time I went to Presque Isle to Sears Roebuck to transfer my account there and was asked what I did and where I worked. Of course I said I couldn’t tell them (as I was directed to do), and their response was, "Oh, you must work at the Blotner Site."

How about the time the Dining-In committee called me in with an offer to go to Bangor to pick-up a certain blow-up doll, all expenses paid (Ted and Chief Plumb). They were pretty desperate to get one for a Group award. I found one in Caribou the next day. And then the time I was selected for Mr. Vice on a Dining-In, and we had the monkey that would make all sorts of noises and gyrations every time we found Capt. Edsell in a lie. That was funny, especially since we asked him questions that he really didn’t want to have to answer - let alone tell the truth.

One of the best things to remember about Lt Col. Addy’s dog was how many "slim-jim’s" we could get him to eat. Col Addy had numerous ‘cool’ rides home with the windows down.

I think the scheduled 7-day changing of the inflatable radome to a rigid one is worth remembering. Especially since it took 30 days. Earl and I spent a lot of time ‘hanging’ out of the basket of the Hi-Reach.

Early in my time there I got called into Lt Col Addy’s office about my weight (which Ted knows was a continuous subject). After he finished, I told him if he thought I was bad, just wait until Jim Doepp got there (we were in Germany together). I made a believer out of him. Wasn’t so good for Jim at the time.

Lunch time was always a good time with the pool table, ping pong table and shuffleboard. They all got lots of use. Never did figure who was best , though Chief Plumb will always stand out (nothing against the rest of you). At least the beer refer was always stocked. When it was time to run down the hill to get in ‘shape’ on Fridays, we took a six pack or so and parked it at the bottom of the hill. When we returned from the run we headed to the beaver pond. Good thing we didn’t have to count that time on our running clock. Speaking of beer, who kept the roadsides between the site and base cluttered with ‘black label’ cans????? Last but far from least, the ‘Birch Haven’ crowd. We had a lot of good times up there. Even when some certain group bent a canoe in half. Glad it sprang back out Chuck! Don’t forget the going away party for Capt "easy" Travitz. I will have that scar forever. Though Chuck’s car wasn’t in any better shape.

Detachment 2, 4000th Support Group, Loring AFB Maine. What kind of an assignment are we getting is what TSgt John Rogers and I wondered. when we received the orders. It stated that we were to draw $100.00 clothing allowance for civilian clothes to wear while attending a factory school near McGuire AFB, N.J, reporting first to Grenier AFS. in Manchester New Hampshire for indoctrination about the assignment. We reported to the Commander and he informed us that we were chosen for a Top Secret Organization with the mission of Commanding and Controlling Satellites. After being there for three weeks we were sent to McGuire where we met others that had been assigned to the 4000th. Col Urban held a briefing for the men that were to make up the operators of the AGE Van at both Sites, explaining the mission as the first Air Force Units to be used in the Command and Control of a Satellite system in Polar Orbit. After completion of schooling at the RCA Factory the ones going to Loring were sent back to Grenier AFS. for some hands on operations of the equipment that we were to use in the AGE Van. I have written about most of this in the book that I started writing in 1969 just before retirement. I have been updating it since I started making contact with former members of the Detachment, with the latest update being made in time for the first reunion. Contact me if you would like a copy.

The McConnell family arrived at Caribou Maine on 1 June 1963. We checked into a Motel with the nick name of "The Tilting Hilton". If you can imagine, a family of six in one room and having to try to keep the peace and everyone's sanity for the approximate six weeks we stayed while waiting for Base Housing. The influx of 34 families needing a place to call home taxed the nerves of a lot of us. Most chose the available housing at the old Presque Isle AFB.

On the 4th of July the Base put on a Fireworks display which we attended. That night it snowed !!! Since we had come in from Kansas all our winter clothes were packed, so a trip to the local Sears Store was made to buy things that would be of use until summer (??) came. Finally a place became available and we moved from the motel. We settled for a 2 Bed Room place until a 3 BR became available. It was right across from an old tennis court. Margaret did not know how to ride a bicycle so this was an ideal place for her to learn. I ran behind her just as many fathers have done for years and will continue to do. It seemed like a long time before she learned to keep her balance on the bike that we had bought just before leaving Salina.

Things went along pretty smooth at home and summer soon passed. Jean was kept busy with our four girls and it soon became time to enroll the oldest two in school. It was their first time to ride the busses. One day Janet needed something from the kitchen cabinet so she proceeded to climb up using the inside shelves to step on. Some how she lost her balance and came down straddling the door. A fast trip was made by Jean to the Emergency room at Loring. Fortunately nothing was seriously damaged. I didn't find out until I got home that evening.

I know a lot of you will recall the race horse that Doc and Montie Newell bought and raced at the local track. If I remember correctly Mr. J lost out a couple of times betting on the horse. They were also into raising Beagles and would show them at the dog shows in the area. Doc had bought a boat and one time we were fishing on Squapan Lake we ran out of gas. The wind was blowing us across the lake and all that Doc had was one small paddle. Needless to say our progress was not in the right direction. He had two five gallon tanks when I picked up one of them and shook it. Gas could be heard splashing inside so Doc tried starting the engine. We got back to the side of the lake where the cars were and paralleled the shore until we definitely ran out of gas. It was still about five miles back to them. Doc walked back with a gas can to get more gas, and another fisherman he met brought him back. On another trip to Fish River, we were sitting at a place where a small stream came into the lake. All of a sudden here comes a boat at what seemed like full throttle and pulled alongside. It was a game warden, and he wanted to see all our licenses. Just before he left one of the guys asked why he came up so fast, because it scared the fish away. He told us that it didn't matter we could find another spot.

Quite a few of us would go camping at the various lakes around. One memorable time was at Lake Baskegin. There was an Island that we camped on which was about 3/4 of a mile from the shore. You had to go about 1 and 1/2 miles by boat to reach it so was quite isolated. On one trip, our group consisted of the Lewis's, Tucker's, my family, and we had brought along Sgt Herrings two boys Mike and Bobby. A roped swimming hole for the kids to use was made and all knew that they had to have some one with them whenever they went into the water. We asked them where Bobby was and no one had seen him for quite awhile. This set up a search for it was about 400 yards wide and 850 yards long. There was a lot of trees and brush there which hindered the search, but we formed a line and began calling his name going from one end to the other. We finally found him at the far end, out on a limb watching fish in the water. When we got back to camp I told him that I did not care if he had to go to the bath room he was to ask one of us and not to leave the camp area. It still gives me an eerie feeling thinking of how I would be the one to tell the Herrings something had happened to their son.

Another story that could have had dire results concerned our youngest daughter Donna. We used to go to one of the schools and slide down the hill behind it. The cars were all parked below in the parking lot but there was a drop of around five feet from the hill to the pavement. Donna was on one of the small round sleds headed down the hill. Jean was at the bottom and was going to catch her before she went over the side. She didn't and Donna went sailing off the hill landing on the pavement below. She had turned a flip and landed on her face. When I reached the bottom she had a nose bleed so I took her to the car and tried to settle her down. After it stopped she went right back to sliding down the hill. I know that she has never forgotten that. Also, you might ask her about getting stuck. One of the girls told her to put her tongue on the ice cold steel rail that was on the front porch. We had to use warm water, but she still lost a little skin off of it.

I know that there are a lot of stories that do not concern our job at the site. This is one reason that I have written more about the things that also are memories of Detachment 2. I read that the road was littered with Black Label cans from the site to PI. This was due to a game we played. As we were going home we would try and hit the Telephone poles as we were driving by. If one was hit they got another Beer. If you ever get the chance to talk to Sgt Lamar Reigal or Sgt Bobby Tucker, ask them about going swimming in the Aroostook River in November and of Reigal losing his watch at that time, then going back a couple of months later and finding it. There were some great stories from some of the Parties that were held at a Hunters Club each New Years Eve, plus Parties that were held at the Holts. Those were the days forever etched in my memories. I am sure that if others would put forth a little effort that more of these would be told and posted for all to enjoy.

In case some of the new comers did not know my nick-name of B.O.B., Belligerent Old Bastard, was given to me by Doc Newell and I wear it proudly.

Thanks to Ted for making this space available.

I, Charles D. Scheerschmidt, aka Chuck, aka Fat Charley, do solemnly swear that the following account is as factual as a person in my condition (forever addled by the long Maine winters and Black Fly" filled summers) can give. Furthermore, an even more detailed copy (naming names, dates and places-strong incriminating evidence) has been placed in a secure place, and will be released in the event retaliation or retributions toward my person or family should occur!

I'm sure all would agree our Site Mascot, Liza, deserves a special place in the collective recollections of our time at Det-2.   I excerpted the following from the Det-2 25th Anniversary Dining-Out Booklet kindly made available by K. Doig.     (Ted Zambos)

THIS SILVER ANNIVERSARY

DINING-OUT BROCHURE IS

DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY

OF

LIZA

1970 – 1987

Liza, the official mascot of Detachment 2, 1000th SOG died from an inoperable tumor and old age.   She left a legacy of friendship and companionship with everyone in space operations.

The dog was discovered by the midnight shift in January 1970, lost and near frozen, outside the operations building on our site.   The on-duty crew took her inside and warmed her, fed her and calmed her.   The next day they put her outside the site fence, but she wouldn't leave.   Instead, she quickly established her domain and was given free run of the site and surrounding area.   She was given the name Liza, the call sign within the DMSP system.

In 1973, the unit nearly lost her when she was shot by a hunter in the nearby woods; apparently mistaken for a bear.   Severely wounded, she managed to return to the site and was found lying in a pool of blood in front of a building.   But the bullet missed her vital organs and she survived, but with a terrible fear of loud noises and rifles.

Naturally, she was petrified of the security police with their guns, but she eventually learned they meant her no harm.   In time, a real affection developed between Liza and everyone at the site.   She even ran the annual aerobics test with unit members; never content to finish anywhere but first.

Very few people could resist her big brown eyes or her chin-on-your-thigh routine.   Liza thought of herself as queen of the detachment, and everyone was happy to let her rule.   Her coronation was official when she walked in with the commander when he was announced at commander's call.

She loved to attend various military social functions.   Always the picture of military bearing and discipline, she would obediently lay in a corner during the festivities.   There was one exception, however.   During a visit by the 2nd Space Wing vice commander, Liza relieved the Colonel of his lunch during a question-and-answer session.

Liza was at the detachment longer than any current member.   She was an important part of space operations and the detachment, and she always made it a little nicer to come to work each day.

On Nov 5, 1987, however, sadness fell upon the 1000th SOG, Air Force Space Command and the entire space operations community.   She is sadly missed.

T.R. PALMER

Footnote:     Liza was laid to rest at the base of the Flagpole.