636thAC&WS
� Excerpts
from command histories
8 Dec 49 � The 636th AC&WS
transferred from Kirtland AFB, NM to McChord AFB Without Personnel or Equipment
(WOPE) and formally transferred from Twelfth Air Force to Fourth Air
Force.� The squadron was initially
assigned the 500 area of McChord with headquarters in Bldg 512.[1]
1 Jan 50 � The squadron historian noted the
636th started the New Year without a commander, personnel or
equipment.[2]
3 Feb 50 � AN/CPS-4 shipped from Hoquiam to
McChord AFB for use by the 636th AC&WS.[3]
8 Mar 50 � The squadron received its first
equipment, the CPS-4 height-finder.� No
power units were available so the squadron couldn�t test the unit or place it
into operation; in the interim, 636th personnel put up a Jamesway
shelter at one end of operations building 1308 to house the equipment when it
arrived.[4]
Jun 50 � Lashup site L-32 operational at McChord AFB under the 636th
AC&WS, equipped with the CPS-4 and an AN/CPS-5.[5]
Dec 50 � In
its end of the year summary, the 25th Air Division stated the 636th
AC&WS:
-
Moved
its orderly room to Bldg 421 �near the barracks area� late in the year.� The squadron also occupied Bldgs 306, 317,
1302 and 1304 through much of the year.
-
The
Operations Building, No. 1308, was designated the �Division Training
Center.�� The mission originally
belonged to the 638th AC&WS but because of that unit�s prior
commitments the responsibility passed to the 636th:
�� It then became their responsibility to
receive and train the accelerated basics and recallees, most of whom were
unfamiliar with the AC&W work, to a semi-skilled state.� In addition, a limited number of airmen who
had already been assigned to the Division were sent to the 636th
AC&W Squadron for the purpose of helping them find new skills.
�� McChord AFB proved to be a very fortunate
location for this training program.� In
addition to the erection of the AN/CPS-6B at that station, the base conducts a
training program for Air Police, Transportation personnel, Food Service
specialties, coupled with a strong information and education program...
�� The program was implemented by sending all
incoming basics, plus a number of personnel permanently assigned to units of
the division.�� This plan of assigning
airmen already assigned to Division units is to uncover talent that might be
present in these individuals overlooked by the hurried assignments of the
influx period.
�� This training center not only gives
elementary military training and orientation of AC&W work, but trains
airmen in specific AFSC�s such as communications technicians, radar operators,
radar mechanics, and equipment maintenance.[6]
Jun 51 � Lashup site L-32 inactivated, local operations passed to site P-1
at McChord AFB under the 635th AC&WS.[7]
27 Jun 51 � The 636th AC&WS departed McChord AFB for Condon, OR (P-32).[8]
[1] HQ Fourth AF GO-104 dtd 7 December 1949, cited in 505th Aircraft Control and Warning Group Historical Data December,1949; Robert Mueller, Air Force Bases, Volume I � Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1989), pg. 394.
[2] History (S/DECL-per DOD DIR 5200.30, by
USAFHR, n.d.) 505th ACWGP. Monthly Historical Data, January �
1950.
[3] History (S/DECL-Deputy Secretary of Defense Memo dtd
12 Apr 74, by AFSHRC, 7 Mar 80), 25th Air Division (Defense)
Historical Data (Monthly Edition), 1 February 1950-28 February 1950 .
[4]
History (S/DECL- Deputy Secretary of Defense
Memo dtd 12 Apr 74, by AFSHRC, 7 Mar 80), 25th Air Division
(Defense) Historical Data (Monthly Edition), 1 March 1950-31 March 1950.
[5] Historical Data of the Aerospace Defense Command (U), 1946-1973 (Ent AFB, CO: Aerospace Defense Command, n.d.), pg. 39.
[6] History (S/DECL-AF/IGSPB ltr dtd 13 Dec 73, by AFSHRC 7 Mar 80), 25th Air Division (Defense), Everett, Washington, Quarterly Historical Data, 1 October 1950-31 December 1950, Chapter 4, �Training,� pp 52-53.
[7] Historical Data, pg. 39.
[8] Mueller, Air Force Bases, pg. 394; Historical Data, pg. 125.