Red Cliff – Revisited
Orders were cut on December 5, 1955 from Vance AFB which sent me to Tyndall AFB in Florida for interceptor controller school. I graduated from Tyndall AFB as an interceptor controller on March 9, 1956 and was scheduled to proceed to the 642nd AC&W Squadron at Red Cliff AFS which was located close to St. John’s, Newfoundland on February 29, 1956. What a way to start a "leap year".
I flew out of McGuire AFB on April 19, 1956 in a C-54 for Torbay. Unfortunately, Torbay was fogged in so we landed at Argentia and proceeded to Fort Pepperrell by bus.
The 642nd at Red Cliff had approximately 235 military personnel. We worked in shifts: 3 days from 08:00 to 16:00; 3 swing shifts from 16:00 to 24:00 and 3 grave yards between 00:00 and 08:00. This was then followed by 3 days off. This shift schedule required 4 controllers and 4 crews. At times we only had 3 controllers so we would find ourselves working 12 hour shifts.
On days off we would fish for Atlantic Salmon or Brook Trout. For those who enjoyed weapons, we would shoot skeet, or even the occasional seagull from Red Cliff. I suspect that this was an illegal activity and I am not sure about the statute of limitations. <grin> Camping and moose hunting were popular activities. As can be expected, there was also considerable interest in dating the local girls or the teachers from Fort Pepperrell.
I recall that it was always foggy and windy at Red Cliff. There were many occasions when the winds exceeded 80 mph, but, even so - the Newfies would be out in their boats fishing right off the outer banks with waves coming over their heads. I remember one day that the wind had been clocked at about 100 miles per hour and we had to hold onto the cables and crawl on our bellies to get to the block house. It never snowed much in this part of Newfoundland, but it could get cold.
Staff Sgt. Dow was an NCO on my crew along with Tech Sgt. Tornello and Airman John Snyder. They worked with me on the elevated portion of the operations room. Our radar equipment had a range of 150 miles with most of the aircraft we worked on flying under 10,000 feet.
I left the 642nd in early September 1957 and was released from the Air Force on September 18, 1957.
This detail was provided by Bill Gary for use on the Pinetree Line web site in October 1998.