Laramie Radio 1973-1974

I worked Laramie Radio at the Pioneer Kaserne. The operations site was not in Regensburg but across the river on a hill overlooking the town. This was an old radar site. (Webmaster note: The US Air Force - 604th AC&WS - used to have a manual Reporting Post, codename "Mercury," on the Winzer Höhe hill on the north side of the Danube River. This site was vacacted in the early 1960s (I believe) when the US/German radar unit was moved to Burglengenfeld. The Army probably used the vacated site for its Laramie Radio FCC. Webmaster would like to hear from anyone who has more details on the operations and location of Laramie Radio - webmaster email is at top of page.)

The operations site had one garage on it and concrete foundations of buildings (that were probable torn down after the Air Force moved). We had a duece and half with a box on it with radars and radios. We never used the radar units, only the radios - FM and VHF and UHF radios. We had 30kw generators that we kept running, night and day. Shift was 12 hours on, 24 hours off. Food was what you brought with you. "Water" was in bottles of wheat beer. The water was not fit to drink. We had a hand-dug outhouse that the local Germans liked to use. You might talk to one aircraft per shift. I had a helicopter with a colonel land on site one day. He had no idea this site was occupied. He drank my beer and used our outhouse. This was Laramie Radio, Third FCC.

I had my own room across from Dan Query (spider man). I still remember Dan rappelling into my room from the roof wearing his Spider-Man outfit. Dan was way ahead of his time.

I spent a lot of time volksmarching and rock climbing in the area. I remember when they put in a new sewer line through the Kaserne and they dug up a German machine gun in front of the old pill box at the main entrance to the Kaserne. We spent a lot of time at the whorehouse down the street from Pioneer. We took our commanding officer there. He never gave us a problem after that.

We had a motor pool and everyone had his own vehicle. Mine was the fuel truck. I would drive this to our site overlooking Regensburg. I became pretty good at keeping our generators running. Not bad for a 93K (MOS - ATC GROUND CNTL APPRENTICEOACH/ SPECIALIST). I had a "brass monkey" on a shift. Got to call in the jets to chase Ivan away from the border.

I was transferred to Grafenwohr, 1974-76. I worked air traffic control and range control. I got to see the introduction of the "Warthog" (USAF A-10 fighter used primarily for close air support). They would blow up Korean War tanks on the range. We had flights of fixed wing, and rotary from all nations. We had C130 land. Not bad for a short runway.

The Pershing missiles were still being fired into the range at this time. I would always get a call from some tank commander in the boonies requested me to turn on the beacon on top of Graf tower cause he was list. I worked the officers club, which got real rowdy -- those boonie officers sure got crazy when they drank.

In 1988 I was offered the Tower Chief/Approach Control Chief job at Grafenwoehr, since I was just married (My wife is from Mannheim) I accepted and took an Inter-Theater Transfer and Consecutive Overseas tour, which equates to a brand new assignment instead of just an extension. After getting certified at Graf and taking over, like I said before, they closed Feucht, HOWEVER they only PC’sd the people the equipment came back to the Platoon HQ’s. Which meant that both the Tower and GCA had to maintain two sets of tactical equipment but no increase in manning.

Also, the Flight Following Facility didn’t start up until 1988 or 89 before that it was handled by Range Control. The first Flight Following facility was located SW of the airfield in an old ADA site and operated out of an old Temporary Tower (not what we used in the field but ones that they would bring in for when fixed base towers got new equipment). Later in 1991 when the tower was going thru a console upgrade it was decided to move the FF facility to the second floor of the tower.

2nd Platoon, E Co deployed for Desert Shield/Desert Storm in support of JTF Bravo, attached to 3rd Brigade 3rd infantry Division out of Wiesbaden and where later joined by 1st Platoon and then relieved by their respective platoons for Operation Provide Comfort. Further deployments included REFORGER in Antwerp, Brussels, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Bremerhaven not the actual exercise but the deployment and redeployment of stateside assets. Remember we were COMMZ so we handled the before and after requirements, 187th and 189th got to play the war.

We deployed once a year to Turkey to support the Air Force and Marines, can’t remember the name of the exercise. We supported a British aviation unit out of Soest, Germany once a year. We would go there and instrument the airfield for two weeks so they could get there instrument requirements’ completed. By instrumenting the airfield I mean we would set up the GCA and tower and have it flight checked to instrument standards. This was of course paid for by the Brits and they took very good care of us. We would also deploy for ARTEP’s (Army Readiness and Training Evaluation Program), USAREUR Alerts and Common task Training.

Also remember that during the 240th era BOTH platoon’s where manned as present day Company’s. There where Motor Pool sections, HQ’s sections and Maintenance sections. We had additional duties along with tactical equipment and military training that had to be accomplished. Normal day while I was assigned to Germany was 0600 – 2200, 5 days a week. Even with that I would never give up the time I spent in Germany. I loved it.

I arrived in the FRG in January of 1988 and was assigned to 1st Plt, A Co., 3/58th Avn, Regt. at Wiesbaden AB. From there, I was detached to Maurice Rose AHP (MRAHP), Bonames/Frankfurt am Main, FRG. When I arrived in Jan 88, the only unit besides mine was the 62 Avn Co. "Royal Coachman". A little bit later, we ended up with most of 5/158th Avn.

We wore the USAREUR patch, and if you were "lucky" to have been sent to Desert Storm, you wore the USAREUR patch as your combat patch too! (Our BN at that time fell under direct USAREUR Aviation; after the drawdown, 3/58th was assigned to 12th AVN BDE - So after the drawdown 1993? 3/58th Avn wore the "Griffin" patch.)

There was a V.F.R. Tower there. The mission for that airfield was to provide aviation support to the V Corps V.I.P. over at the nearby Abrams Complex/Casino Helipad (aka the I.G. Farben Building), and to the 5/158th Avn (old 60th Avn Co. "Royal Coachman"). Their tactical callsign was "BOSS".

Maurice Rose Tower had control of the following:
Drake Barracks Helipad
97th General Hospital Helipad
Casino Pad (Abrams Building, V CORPS HQ)
Camp King Helipad
Camp Eschborn Helipad

and, though not part of our traffic pattern/positive control area, pilots would often report arrival/departures at the Giessen and Friedberg Helipads.

MRAHP had NO Control Zone, just a "Positive VFR Control Area".

The rule for Casino pad was that only TWO people were authorized to use that helipad: The V Corps Commander, and the USAREUR Commander. Anyone else had to land at Maurice Rose, and then transport by VIP sedan/V.W. Bus.

In addition to the VFR Tower services, we also provided Flight Following Services for the "Northern Training Area" north of Frankfurt in the Taunus Mountains. I don't have the EXACT location of this Flight Training Area...but, I do know that occasionally, other AVN Units in V Corps would use it. Regardless of who used it, we provided Flight Following Services. Down in the Operations Office, they had a wire-strike hazards map, along with a "crash grid" map that we also had in the tower.

I worked there as a SGT(E-5) ATC Tower Supervisor from Jan 1988 until February of 1993. (I was held over an additional year because of Desert Storm).

I am not sure of the exact date the airfield was closed, sometime in 1995/1996. The airfield reverted back to the German Government. It is now a park/greenspace...with a restaurant (The Blue Tower) in the old Airfield Operations/Tower building, and the Frankfurt Fire Department Museum in the former 5/158 Avn Battalion Headquarters building. Most of the runway is plowed up. A good look of the place can been seen on Google Earth.

(Webmaster note: Eric has provided some information on the buildings and hangars at Bonames during the time he was stationed there. To view the information click here.)

Wow, great pics. Whatever ATC Tower facility this was (webmaster note: this is the tower at Schwäbisch Hall), they were lucky - they had an Air Force Weather Observer in their cab!

Find attached, a copy of Army Aviation Digest from August, 1972. Although the article on page 2 is interesting, you'll find information on the equipment.

And now...the Equipment:
The consoles these controllers are directing traffic from are of the AN/FSW-8(v) group. There are 3 different consoles for this group; the OA-2055/FSW-8 was used at the Local and Ground Controller positions. The OA-3014/FSW-8 was typically installed in the Air Operations Office (Flight Planning and Filing) along with the BIG field status indicator. The OA-2054/FSW-8 is where the Flight Data Controller sat at, he/she was responsible for all written communications and this is where the flight data/progress strips sat on.

NOTES: 1) On the OA-2055, that giant microphone was removed and replaced with a nice lightweight hand microphone. A further improvement, was plug jacks to allow use of the "Plantronics" lightweight headsets (very nice). A further improvement on that, was a cord with plug, to allow use of the microphone in the M-24 protective mask (that's what we controllers were issued, better visibility)

2) On the OA-2054 Console, that damn electronic barometer NEVER worked - anywhere! You obtained the field barometer from your local, friendly, Air Force Weather guy...

3) Ditto on the clock, in Germany, you could never get that "50hZ" motor for it, ergo, if you did turn it on it would be very inaccurate! (210/50hZ AC is the standard in Germany).

4) In the lower activity facilities (as opposed to the high activity, like Wiesbaden) such as Maurice Rose AHP, you would have only ONE OA-2055 console; Local and Ground Control were combined into one operating position.

In your picture, next to the AF WX dude, is a square box, with a paper roll on it. That device (if your facility was lucky enough to have one) was a telo-autowriter. The way it worked was, from a transmitter station, the operator would write... whatever, in our case, it was the hourly weather (WX) observation... and, at the same time the data was written, it would be received on the receiving stations (Air Ops, GCA, and Tower if WX was in another location).

Often referred to as the "ADAC of the airways" AFOD assists aviators in much the same way as automobile clubs support motorists on the road. AFOD serves pilots by advising them which flight paths to follow, alerting them to special problems they might encounter during a flight and getting them help when something goes wrong.

AFOD's services begin when a pilot is planning his flight. Since flight regulations and procedures differ widely depending on what country you're flying in, AFOD's library of flight regulations for all countries in the world is the place pilots can call to get answers to almost any question they might have.

Once the flight is planned, AFOD's teletype section goes to work. Technicians dispatch information about the flight on a teletype that's hooked into a worldwide network of civilian air traffic control facilities. These "air safety messages" give needed information to other pilots planning flights. It works the other way around, too. The more than 2,000 messages daily that pass through AFOD's teletype terminal assist Army pilots in planning their flights.

Carl Lutz, teletype supervisor, explains, "Anything the aviator wants to know, we can find out for him. If he needs to fly to Spain, we can coordinate with the French Air Force for permission to stop in France for refueling. And when a pilot flies to England from Germany, he passes over three different countries. We provide the national radar unit of each of those countries with flight data so they can guide the pilot safely over their territory.

"Once we had a case where an airman broke her leg on a ski trip to Davos, Switzerland, high up in the Alps. We contacted Swiss officials and arranged for a SwissAir pilot to accompany the MedEvac flight and guide the pilot through the narrow valleys to Davos so they could pick her up to fly her back to Heidelberg," Lutz remembers.

AFOD also provides an important aid to aviators embarking on routine flights. When a pilot files a flight plan, he receives a NOTAM (Notice to Airman) briefing. This briefing is based on information in AFOD's constantly-updated NOTAM file, from teletype messages received from other locations and from U.S. Air Force weather forecasters who are also stationed with AFOD.

The briefing tells pilots what flying conditions to expect and alerts them to potential problems they'll encounter, things like: closed runways at their destinations, availability of fuel enroute, recently built towers and buildings along the way, tall construction cranes that might block the flight path and hundreds of other details that pilots need to know before taking off.

At the same time, AFOD personnel clear the pilot's flight plan with civil aviation authorities who in turn assign the pilot an airspace for the mission.

AFOD's assistance continues while the pilot "earns his pay." The flight-following section keeps flight plans on file during the mission (Webmaster Note: see article on beginning of Flight Following Service in USAREUR). When a pilot arrives safely at his destination, the air traffic controllers there inform AFOD. If no word is received 30 minutes after a flight is due at its destination, AFOD begins a search.

The first phase of the search is always a communications hunt, and a telephone call usually clears up the problem. Since AFOD has no direct radio contact with the pilots, the unit relies on others to relay information, and sometimes they aren't notified immediately when a flight lands at its destination. Occasionally, the problem stems from a pilot having to make an emergency landing somewhere else, or an enroute flight plan change that requires the pilot to make an unscheduled stop.

Every once in a while, an aircraft is truly missing and in trouble. That's when AFOD goes into action as the Army's search and rescue representative. AFOD personnel call the Joint Rescue Coordination Center at Ramstein Air Base and pass the flight plan on to them.

Peter Freese, a 26-year veteran with AFOD, says it's AFOD's job to inform the rescue authorities that the aircraft is missing, but the JRCC's responsibility to locate it.

AFOD also serves as a liaison agent between German civil authorities and U.S. medical evacuation units. If there's a serious accident on the autobahn, for instance, or a transplant organ that needs quick transport, AFOD can dispatch Army Medevac choppers to assist the German authorities.

When injured Marines were airlifted for medical treatment from Beirut to Frankfurt after last year's bombing, AFOD staffers were responsible for the coordination involved in obtaining 20 Medevac choppers from all over Germany to fly the injured from Rhein-Main Air Base to military hospitals.

During the past year, AFOD assisted in more than 100 search and rescue operations, provided assistance and flight service to 1,438 Medevac flights and engineered 36 medical evacuations. The switchboards at AFOD's dilapidated Heidelberg airfield headquarters logged 393,975 incoming and outgoing calls during the same period. Needless to say, things rarely get boring at AFOD.

Because speed and accuracy are of the utmost importance in most of what AFOD does the various sections must be able to work quickly and efficiently with each other.

Tony Brunner, a flight follower with AFOD for more than 20 years, says precise timing and exacting calculations are the keys to keeping the unit's operations running smoothly.

Keeping things flowing smoothly in an operation like AFOD's is far from an easy task. Most detachment staffers attribute their continued success to the fact that they've been doing it for so long. The majority of civilians working at AFOD have been there for a number of years - many have already passed the 20-year mark. Says Freese, "All of the local nationals here have made a career of aviation services and everyone, all the way down to School (who sweeps the floors), is dedicated to Army aviation."

The military personnel at AFOD run the entire operation at night and on weekends, when things are usually quieter. During day shifts, they mostly handle search and rescue operations and flight-following responsibilities.

PFC William Jensen, a flight operations coordinator with AFOD for the past two years, says, "The military people generally aren't here long enough to master every aspect of the operation, so we draw a wealth of knowledge from the civilians who've been here for a while. I can always turn to one of them if I need help with something."

Besides their long-term experience with AFOD, the civilian staffers also provide the detachment with another invaluable resource. Perhaps one of the greatest support functions AFOD provides in its coordination capability with other air traffic services, both military and civilian, is the ability to communicate across language barriers. More than a dozen languages, from Dutch to Turkish, are spoken by the civilian workers at AFOD. Every local national working in the detachment speaks at least two languages, and the majority feel comfortable with three or more.

The detachment has long been recognized as an outstanding asset to the aviation field by the pilots who constantly utilize its services. Recently, AFOD's continually superior performance was also recognized by the entire military aviation field when the detachment was chosen as the winner of the Army Aviation Association of America's "Support Unit Of The Year" award.

According to CWO 4 Robert Rector, Flight Operations Officer at AFOD for the past 18 months, "The main reason we won the award is because we not only provide an important service to the aviation community in Europe -- we do it well. We're a real communications asset, and winning the 'Quad-A' is just a reflection of the high degree of expertise everyone at AFOD has, especially the civilian workers."

Flight operations coordinator Jensen says, "AFOD is unique: we're the only unit of our kind in the entire world and the mission we do here is very important to the aviation field. If it weren't for AFOD, 1 think Army aviation in Europe would come to a standstill."

50 Years of Army Aviation in Heidelberg

Aug 31, 2007
BY Dave Melancon

Heidelberg, Germany - The Army's only aviation detachment here does not own any aircraft or man any flight control towers, but the 50-year-old organization is responsible for almost every Army aircraft taking to the air over Europe.