Misc. Photos from 633 AC&W, Det 3

Contributed by Larry D. Whitten


C47 mail plane - this was a C-47 that came to the detachment three times a week. It brought the mail, supplies, food stuffs and personnel be assigned and took the same things out. It was usually a high spot of the day when it came in. I guess the only thing that was missing was the little guy screaming, "De plane, de plane".


C47 mail plane & Libyan VIP`s - This particular day, the plane also brought in these Libyan dignataries. At the time I was there, 1957 - 1958, Ben Ghazi was the co-capital of Libya. The site of the capital rotated betwee Ben Ghazi and Tripoli, four years at each place. Also, the country was then ruled by a king, King Idris. The AF would shuttle these diplomats between the capitals quite often. Who knows, maybe Kahdahfi may have been in this group.


GPS-4 antenna base - This shot of the antenna base after it was moved and put up on the pilings. All of the cabinets had been removed from the antenna. Only the outriggers, frame and sail were used from the old MPS-7. You can see the makeshift stairs and ladders we used to get onto the antenna platform.


Radar Maint Classroom - The room we used for training was a little 10` x 10` room on top of the roof of the Ops Building. These guys were being given an OJT on the GPS-4 by Mr. Miles T. Shatto who was the site tech rep.


German pill box on the road from the detachment to Ben Ghazi - There were a few of these reminders of WW II on the road to Ben Ghazi. There was quite a fierce battle between the British and the Germans for the place. A number of the buildings in town still had bullet holes in them that hadn`t been repaired yet. We were warned of the still active mine fields that hadn`t yet been completely cleared.