VC-12 VAW-12 VOICE
JULY 2004
Chairman: Seykowski, Edward CWO4 607 N 70 E Valparaiso, IN 46383
219-462-3636 edseykow@juno.com 1959-1962 Karen
Treasurer (And Scribe): Smith, MD Roger G. LT 34464 SW Firdale Rd Cornelius, OR 97113-6218 503-628-2229 FAX 503-648-9179 LT(jg)1955-8 rogersmith@coho.net
Office: 256 SE 2nd Av. Hillsboro, OR 97123 503-648-7126 Joan
Steering Committee: Eckberg, John D. 8312 Chase Ave Los Angeles, CA 90045 310-645-7495 john.eckberg@americawest.com home is jdeplane@aol.com AMS3 1959-1962
Martin, Larry LT 6418 Bardu Ave Springfield, VA 22152-2403
703-451-8764 5th VAAD5W@aol.com LT(jg)1955-1959 Milbrey
Marvin, Robert 7244 Lincoln Ave. Lockport, NY 14094 716-434-1207 mar1207@adelphia.net AT2 1952-1955 Rose
Moynihan, Frank 158 Winthrop St Winthrop, MA 02152 617-846-3979 Supply AK3 1953-1955 frankm02152_99@yahoo.com Barbara (Note that address contains a zero, not an oh)
(Planning Committee)
Ritzmann, William Jr (Speed) CDR RR21, Box 1014, SW Emily Glen,
Lake City, FL 32024-8262 904-272-1542 ritzwh@bellsouth.net LCDR 1956-1960 Lawana (Planning Committee)
Sequeira, Frank CAPT 53 Windward Rd. Wakefield, RI 02879-5409
401-789-8568 abledawg@cox.net 1953-1956 Eileen
2004 VC-12/VAW-12 Reunion Nov 8-10 Pensacola. FL. DO TWO THINGS:
Send in your reservations to the hotel and your reunion reservation to Treasurer. Also Send a non refundable deposit (most have sent $46. a sum we previously established) and dues ($10.) or money for patches/book to VC-12/VAW-12 c/o Roger Smith at 256 SE 2nd Av. Hillsboro, OR 97123.
Send me your e-mail address. rgs@vc12vaw12.org
CANCELLED MOVED TO GETTYSBURG
Crowne Plaza Hotel Crowne Plaza reservations (800-348-3336.) A credit card will hold your room for our November Reunion for $95 a night. They need to use our VC-12/VAW-12 name for that price. We have secured 40 rooms. There may be a lot more of us than that. You may be able to room at the Crowne Plaza at that rate or you may not if you call after the first 40.
Monday Nov 8 Reception at the Crown Plaza in our Hospitality Room. Heavy hors d’oeuvres and cash bar. $20.per person.
What about Tuesday evening dinner?
Tuesday's Dinner at McGuires. We have 50 in a special dining area and will likely spill out into the main dining room too.
What about admission to the Museum and IMAX?
Tuesday's Museum tour is free, lunch is ordered & billed to each person. We will gather in the WESPAC Room after lunch to determine who wants to go to the IMAX and each pay then (we will double check with the Air Museum about these arrangements). Some may choose to visit the flight line or more of the Museum instead of IMAX.
What are we doing the day we don’t do the Museum?
We are giving folks a choice on Wednesday of the historical Pensacola trolley tour, gambling in Alabama, NAS base tour, fishing, golf, or sit around in the Hospitality Room to visit and watch some Navy videos.
Wednesday banquet seafood buffet at Mustin Beach Officers Club NAS Pensacola. $34. per person. Or $49 per person for those who combine with Monday reception. Lighthouse Point Bar there is ours for the evening. We have guaranteed $2000. gross. Note: only the Wednesday Reception and the Wednesday Banquet meals are provided in the Registration packages. The rest of the Reunion meals are order and paid for individually which allows for special diets.
News of our members:
CAPT James F. Rigg, 20 Balsam Dr. East Greenwich, RI 02818-2610
401-884-2237 PAMRigg@aol.com CDR 12th ranking navy Ace of WWII. Skipper of the fighter squadron on the Essex under McCampbell. 4th CO VC-12 1953-55 (later Exec of Tarawa.) See McCampbell's Heroes by Edwin P. Hoyt. Navy Cross, DFC x 5, Air Medal x 10, PUC, Bronze Star. Priscilla
Died 7/11/04
Steve Pettigrew, son of CAPT Ray A. Pettigrew of Pensacola, has a fascinating occupation. He destroys old sports stadiums.
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/business/9014208.htm
LCDR Jim Wetz who was on our Wasp det in 1956 writes: “I retired from teaching at Central Florida Community College June 30, 2003. I thought I would have time to catch up on everything. Boy, was I wrong. Now, to add to the pie, Freda has squamous cell carcinoma and will have a right mandiblectomy on July 23rd. We have been going back and forth to the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and it’s a killer.”
Herbert K. Brende of Cambria, WI, recalls carrier AEW in the early 50s.
Herb has worked as an engineer and has become a pilot himself in the intervening years. He is active in his Quiet Birdmen hangar. He had enlisted in 1947 and was due for discharge in 1950 when the Korean War started and he was “extended.” (I recall a cartoon of that era showing two sailors on a rack being “extended.”-Ed)
He recalls climbing to 25,000 feet to get 250 miles of radar visibility.
(Hell of a lot of sea return I would imagine-Ed) Take it from him,
“It is true that we were commanding fighter planes by voice radio and directing them to attack or defense. This was only supposed to be done by commissioned officers, but they were not available, and it took months of training. (The first NFO AEW trainee was the remarkably named LT(jg) A.E.W. Fritz who reported aboard VC-12 in time to make the 1952 Bon Homme Richard cruise. His first name was Arlin. He is no longer living-Ed) I had close to a year of electronics school before even trying to operate the radar in flight operations.
We had this 5 inch scope that showed the ground as a round map looking down from the center It was called a PPI scope. There was a bright line that went from the center to the edge and swept around the whole area about every half minute. That was the line of the radar electromagnetic beam that was pulsing out 200 mi. or so. Radar impulses would be reflected back to the scope and show up as a brighter object on the scope at the distance out. These were electromagnetic impulses that were being received back at the receiver. Bare wood and trees etc made more uncertain targets.
Things floating in fairly calm water were usually quite visible if bigger than a garbage can and not merged in the sea return. The waves themselves reflected back what we called sea return for from 10 to 15 miles. This could be better or worse depending on sea conditions. But there was always wave action on the ocean. Targets beyond that were visible to our 250 mile range if they weren’t blocked out by mountains etc.
There were two groups of sailors involved. I was an Aviation electronics man (AL). We were operators and worked on some repairs. The other group was the Aviation electronics technicians (AT.)
They were primarily supposed to make repairs and keep everything tuned to the max. The fact that we were traveling in the AD4 at 135 kts complicated our defense intercepts. We were supposed to spot the incoming bandits and vector our wing aircraft to intercept. If a target remained stationary 10 miles ahead it meant it was traveling the same course and speed as us. Most targets on our scope were in movement so we had to time and measure the track and do a vector analysis. Incoming bogies usually were moving a lot faster than us. The targets were often more tan 40 miles away when picked up, but the whole intercept was run at a very fast pace. It went much faster than comparable working of the ship’s radar plots.
I became quite adept and gained confidence. One had to translate that confidence into inspiring confidence in our ability to the pilots doing the intercepts. If we stammered or were hesitant, one could tell at once the reaction that made on our pilots. While operating around Puerto Rico one of the planes was vectored into the side of a mountain with fatal results. We heard a deal about that even though it was not our squadron. Shortly after that a pilot I was controlled voiced doubt about one of my vectors to him. He was about 5 miles from us returning to the carrier at night. His signal had merged with the sea return. I did not have a positive fix on him. This had happened before so I knew what to do. I had him do a 180 and fly for a minute or two away from the ship until he appeared on my scope. Then I turned him back to the ship with a positive ID and he landed safely.