Story from Jim Musser's trip to Thule air base in 1961 - 1962

Let me try to add to the story for you, my friend. I have reflected on this some since you inquired. Please understand that this is largely just some recollections and supposition possibly. It's 40 yrs ago so I am not sure I remember accurately in some cases. I'm cc'ing Wayne Rasco who was there at the same time as me, and maybe he can add some input from the Electric power or any perspective he cares to. My hats off to him and his power boys... Without them we could not broadcast...much less stay warm! I am also cc'ing a grandson Jason who's away at college. Hi Jay!

I remember an 18 hr flight from Maguire AFB, NJ to Thule AFB via a C-118 with layover @ Goose bay, and seeing the base lights. It was Nov.61, day after Thanksgiving holiday I believe.... so it was well into the 24 hr darkness period. Then I noticed what appeared to be a solitary light off from the main base. Chuckling I said I wander what that solitary light is and someone said "son that's where you're going". (They're being the North Mountain Transmitter site, which were part of the 1983rd Communications Squadron, USAF).

One of the high spots of the tour was the Bob Hope Christmas show with Connie Stevens, Jayne Mansfield, Jerry Colona, etc. "phases" (see "Safety Tips on Winter Hazards", enclosed), an associate "rolling" a new International Truck off the side of N-mountain. The rugged beauties of the place, and of course the many people you meet. We had another group of guys on South Mountain, at the Receiver site their. While I was there a B-52 lost a pilot and another member of the crew I believe, by accidental ejection, a little thing called the Cuban Missile Crisis. Hats off to all you guys and gals who also served there.

I was fresh out of Heavy Ground Radio school, and Thule was my first assignment, and I was only an A2c at the time. We did not get much of an orientation to the "mission" as it were. But I seem to recall being told or hearing that N-mountain Transmitter site may have had some primary alert or perhaps secondary alert responsibility to the US originally. This was of course in the height of the "Cold War". In fact the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred while I was in Thule and that caused some excitement for a day or two.... (That's another story). When BMEWS became operational the radios were relegated to a back up role.

Thule was part of the DEW line Troposphere Scatter system. We had a Tropo link with Sonderstrom as I recall. The tandem Frt-6's were that link. They ran at 40kw I believe. There was a long quasi coax line that ran from the transmitter out some distance to the antenna. I believe Collins built those rigs.

I remember we had a couple of civilians come in to do contract work on them. One man was a remarkable old gent from UK, last name was Austin, I believe. I think most of us thought he invented the radio.... he probably forgot more than we knew. He basically just seemed to know everything. So in addition to the FRT 4, the FRT 6's, we also had 2 or 3 banks of Westinghouse transmitters but I cannot remember the nomenclature. I think they may have operated on the 5-10 kw scale at HF range.

I remember links to Cape Dyer, Point Barrow, and perhaps Goose Bay. I believe we also had a link to Elmendorf, AL. The rest I cannot recall. The FRT 4 had the power to reach US. The Frt-4 drew 63 amps of filament current in the PA, the PA's weighed 250# ea, and the unit had a crane to make installation easier. I do recall that Base op's also broadcast thru some of our rigs to aircraft. We also had a MW link, but other personnel maintained that. I think that ran between our site and the S-mountain Rx site.

One night (cannot be sure anymore if it was the Cuban Missile Crisis or an aircraft incident), but I remember that we got "orders" to keep all the Xmtrs on the air "no matter what". Yours truly almost got fried that night trying to tweak one of the Westinghouse Xmtrs "hot". I thank God for getting me thru that virtually unscathed.

We had movies at night because KOLD TV did not come over the mountain well. There was a Ham rig on the mountain too, but I only really remember that seeing limited use when the site commander was a SMS Elmer C Barnett and he was an avid "Ham".

We experienced a number of "Phases" during the time I was there. I remember that we strung pretty hefty ropes between the buildings so that we could traverse the short distance between buildings by going hand-over-hand on the ropes. As you know this was necessary in those circumstances because you could not see with the snow blowing badly, and of course the winds could be so strong that without the rope you would be in danger of being knocked over and possibly blown around and disoriented in the storm. At those temps if that happened it could be life or death.

One of my most vivid memories was that during a strong phase, if you were sitting in the "day room", you could see the space between the wall and the vertical posts that supported the ceiling change. It would collapse under the winds pressure than return to normal position when the wind subsided. "Spooky" in a word. One day one of the guys rolled a truck off the side of the road and down the mountain. He survived without any harm, but the truck was crashed into a wreck. I don't remember if the weather caused it, but may have contributed.

I was fortunate to get to Thule in time to see the '61 Bob Hope USO show, and was reminded by Art Weir the other day that I was also lucky enough to get into the show before a Phase pretty much socked us in. Art and others were right on base but were prevented from seeing the show by the weather... early bird gets the worm you know. Our good luck and they're bad unfortunately.

I was lucky enough to get a leave at the end of July'62 and got home in time to be with my wife for the birth of our daughter Jayne (Jason's mom). After that all to brief leave I went back to Thule for the balance of my year on the N-mountain.

On occasion we could take trips to fjords and see mini icebergs in the bay or fjords, and just sightsee and explore the local roads, etc. We had 2 Huskies on the mountain. "Knute" and "Barney". I remember driving one day at probably 25-30 miles per hour and seeing Barney just loping along behind the truck. Huskies have tremendous stamina.

So reflecting back on that initial flight into Thule in November of 1961, and seeing the lone light... when I thought that "Insult was being added to injury" when I was not only stationed at Thule AFB one of the most remote bases of the USAF, but that I was also going to be remote off the main base on something called "north mountain", I realize I was blessed to be there for a Mountain top experience, where we had the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful views of fjords and glaciers in that remote part of the world.

An incredible experience it was, and yes I agree that it truly is a rare spot on Planet Earth. My only regret at this time is that besides Wayne none of the guys have found your incredible site. When I left Thule AB, I was reassigned to Westover AFB, MA (SAC), and assigned to The Project Short Order Receiver Site. I hope this helps some. Thanks for your time, effort and ability to put it together. God Bless....