Comments from Roger T. Goss, Assigned Walker AFB: Sep 1962 - Jun 64

Comments


Air Police Training School at Lackland AFB, TX was full because so many Security Guards were needed for ICBM sites being brought online in 1962; during this time there were no electronic surveillance systems available beyond TV technology. My entire Basic Training Flight #962, except for 3, were assigned to Air Police/Combat Defense Squadrons.

I was assigned to the 6th Combat Defense Squadron at Walker AFB, Roswell, NM from 9/1962 to 6/1964. Walker was home of the 6th Strategic Aerospace Wing with about 50 B-52E's. The 6th SAW included the 6th Air Refueling Squadron (now located at McDill AFB, FL, just a few miles from me) with about 30 KC-135's and 579th Strategic Missile Squadron with 12 Atlas F ICBM sites. Walker was the largest SAC base.

I was a rookie Air Policemen taking "Tough Tiger" OJT classes to prepare for security duty; one morning in late October the klaxons sounded and all hell broke loose! It was the day President John F. Kennedy blockaded Cuba. You could see the faces of “old” veterans who were scared to death that nuclear war was at hand; from the third floor of our barracks you could see alert B-52 bombers exiting Quickstrike and sitting at the end of the runway with engines idling! I was 18 and didn’t really understand the seriousness of DEFCON 2, that very long day in October 1962!

Within 24 hours I'd filled out a DD Form 398 to get an interim Secret Security Clearance, been examined by a psychiatrist and given a SAC Security Badge with the number "13" punched out. After lunch, we were put on a 1 1/2 ton truck and hauled out to the rifle range to qualify with Cal .30 M2 Carbine (with full automatic selector lever), Cal .38 S&W Police Special Revolver, Cal .45 Pistol, M1911A1 and
Cal .30 Browning Automatic Rifle; including night fire with tracers!

We were returned to the barracks after midnight and told to report to the Mess hall for lunch; we would be picked up at 1 p.m. for transport to the Armory for briefing on weapons issue and clearing process. A Flight Sergeant explained how Guardmount was conducted, posting done and important SAC/DoD Two-Man Policies involving Nuclear Weapons we needed to understand completely. We were released in time for supper meal and told to report to the Armory for midnight Guardmount.

After Guardmount, I was posted as a Boundary/Tail Guard walking behind several B-52’s in the B-52 parking area with the curved engine exhaust blast shields; the bombers had been uploaded and on full alert "cocked" status; I was not relieved for over 18 hours! Finally a sharp Staff Sergeant realized I’d been on duty too long and relieved me. The duty officer felt bad and told me take 12 hours off and report for 0700 Guardmount.

Next day, I was assigned to guard the transit barracks turned into “Alert” barracks for Tanker Air Crews. All the KC-135 tankers were on alert in their parking area. Wives of tanker crew members came and sweet talked us and tried to bribe us with food to let them see their spouses.

After a few days, older troops realized how good we had it and we were moved "up" to flight line duty. Since I was a big guy, I was assigned to south end of the main jet runway guarding Ground Control Approach equipment, carrying a Browning Automatic Rifle w/bipod (27 pounds). I learned to drink my coffee black there, as the unpaved, bumpy perimeter road made everything fall off the back of the 1-1/2 ton coffee/chow truck, except the coffee jug and a tube of paper cups strapped to the stake sides.

We were at DEFCON2 and all the Mk-36/39? Hydrogen Bombs were being pulled from MMS and uploaded, so within days ALL the B-52's in the B-52 parking area were on alert status, not just those in "QuickStrike". AGM-28 Hound Dog Missiles were attached to many B-52’s and uploaded with their W-28 nuclear warheads. The 37th MMS and our SAT Teams were very busy 24/7 with weapons convoys for many days and eventually MMS was virtually empty!

After some time, I worked "up" to guarding KC-135 tankers on Alert. Eventually, I was assigned as an Access Controller or "Point" Guard for alert B-52's in “QuickStrike”.

We were on duty,12 on, 12 off for 16 days, then 8 on, 16 off for a total of 62 days.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US Strategic Air Command was placed on DEFCON 2 for the first time in history, while the rest of US military commands (with the exception of the US Air Forces in Europe) went on DEFCON 3. On 22 October 1962 SAC responded by establishing Defense Condition Three (DEFCON III), and ordered B-52s on airborne alert. Tension grew and the next day SAC declared DEFCON II, a heightened state of alert, ready to strike targets within the Soviet Union. On 15 November 1965 the day Strategic Air Command (SAC) postured down to defense condition DEFCON III. ( from: http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/defcon.htm )
 

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My first memory happened early in the Cuban Crisis. An old 2 1/2 ton truck pulling a Nuclear Weapons trailer broke down and I was posted to guard it while 37th MMS folks went to get another truck. I started reading my guard orders about the "Two-Man" concept and suddenly realized I'm just ONE, standing next to a live Mk-36/9 Hydrogen Bomb and I have a real gun with real bullets!

So when the NCO on patrol stops by I asked about this; he says: "son during the time it takes us to have this conversation we could go to war and in wartime rules may be bypassed to accomplish the mission. I had to take a risk and trust you to do the right thing; we have no other guards, so I am the other guard and I have been watching as i drive about my post." So, I ate my “sack” lunch alone leaning up against the weapons trailer. (I thought is was “SAC” till I learned in the south the word sack, like poke, is commonly used instead of paper bag, a term I normally used)

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I saw the large fireball from Atlas ICBM missile site #1 blowing up, while on duty as an Access Control Guard in Quickstrike; it looked like a sunrise! Walker’s 579th SMS lost 3 sites that way. Official AF investigations said it was accidental during a PLX; but anyone who worked on missile site duty knew the root cause was common knowledge; head gaskets from diesel power engine generators leaking oil down onto LOX tank connections; a site I worked had rags stuffed up against engines to absorb oil, but all the levels were like fire escape grate type flooring.

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One morning I was assigned to a 4-man Sabotage Alert Team inside “QuickStrike” when SAC initiated an Operation Readiness Inspection at about 3 a.m. by landing a KC-135 without flight plans and taxing right up the security cable across the QuickStrike taxi way.

Our Central Security Control Desk Sergeant initiated a “7High” situation alert over our radio network and notified the Wing Command Post, the Wing Command Post transmitted this to a SAC Command Post duty officer in Omaha, NE before the plane touched down! My Sabotage Alert Team (“Strike Team” to us) blocked the QuickStrike taxi way. The two Boundary Guards joined us along with 2 Sentry Dogs and their Handlers; we spread out and stood our ground across the cable, weapons loaded and at the ready to shoot out the tires and pilots.