Choosing the Air Force on Branch Night would take me to places different than my classmates, doing different things. I joined twenty-five of our classmates who went into the Air Force at graduation. When the Air Force assignment officer visited West Point, I asked him what does the Air Force do? This was because I was not aviation-qualified, and the engineering intern program was no longer. He said I could go to graduate school and get a master’s in electrical engineering (MSEE). My first duty assignment was to the University of Illinois, living on John Street in Champaign, Illinois. After graduation with my MSEE degree, I was assigned to Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Massachusetts as a test engineer for Tactical Weather Systems. It was not an AF requirement that I knew Spanish before going to Spain, so I learned it on the job with the Spanish Officers especially at their Officer’s Club. My next assignment was to Torrejon Air Base in Madrid, Spain.
My last assignment before resigning, and entering civilian life, was in Air Force Security Service at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
As part of my Air Force career, I was assigned to a joint Spanish Air Force project at Torrejon Air Base in Madrid, Spain. The U.S. had an agreement with Spain for use of Air Force and Navy bases in Spain. At the time, Spain was not a part of NATO. As a part of this U.S. agreement with Spain, we were upgrading Spain’s Air Control & Warning System (AC&W). This project included upgrading radars to the seven radar sites in Spain to more modern systems.
As part of the upgrade, we were installing a new Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) system to identify friendly military aircraft. This IFF system included new modes to accurately identify a friendly aircraft. A snag came up as to how to evaluate the new IFF system, as Spain did not have any aircraft equipped with the advanced IFF system. Fortunately, there was a U.S. Strategic Air Command (SAC) tanker wing based at Torrejon that was equipped with the modern IFF system. I went with a Spanish Air Force Major to request a mission off the south coast of Spain with one of the US SAC KC135 tankers. SAC agreed and we scheduled a mission for an evening two weeks later for the KC135 to fly away from the radar site and then return on a reciprocal course using the advanced IFF system. The mission went off without a hitch and the Spanish accepted the new IFF equipment. However, the next morning the Spanish officers burst into my office to tell me that Libya had launched fighters to intercept the KC135 and see what was going on. The Libyan fighters just flew around the KC135 while it was in international airspace. SAC was concerned about this report. [JAC1] It was an actual launch by Libya to see what an Air Force plane was doing near their borders, albeit still in international space.
Another interesting thing was the testing of the new Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) Anti-Chaff receiver. Chaff is small pieces of aluminum that confuse radar systems. Military aircraft carry the chaff in pods on their wings that are internal to the aircraft. When a threat is identified, the chaff is dispensed to confuse the radar on incoming missiles. Again, neither the Spanish nor United States Air Force had the proper chaff in Europe. Their chaff was designed for Russian radars. Belgium had the chaff, but would not fly in Spain, as Spain was not part of NATO at the time. I did locate an ECM testing aircraft at Griffiss Air Force Base in New York. I arranged for them to come over and test the Spanish system. When we did tests at Griffiss AFB, we did it in the late-night hours in order not to disrupt civilian air traffic. The Spanish wanted to test in the daytime. The test was planned for the radar site near Madrid in the afternoon. Spain put out a notice their radar coverage would be out for the Madrid region for the afternoon of the test. Again, the test went well, and the Spanish accepted the system. We never heard of any disruption.
I really enjoyed working with the Spanish Air Force on this international project. The Spanish Air Force awarded me and the Program Manager, Colonel. Rufus D. Hutcheson (USMA 1954) the Spanish Cross for Aeronautical Merit. This is the highest Spanish military award given to a non-Spanish citizen.
Even seven years after graduation, I was still the youngest graduate on Founders Day at Torrejon AB, Spain. As we all know, the youngest graduate must give a speech on the state of the Academy. There were few West Pointers at my assignments. I gave the youngest graduate speeches at the University of Illinois, a couple of times at Hanscom Air Force Base (commanded by Major General Albert R. Shiely Jr, class of 1943), and a couple of times at Torrejon AB. Finally, I attended Founders Day at Fort Sam Houston where there were plenty of younger graduates.
[JAC1]It was an actual launch by Libya to see what a AF plane was doing near there borders, albeit still in international air space.
A very interesting perspective of a different service. John. I suspect a lot of the military training at West Point did not apply to your later career. Thanks for sharing your story
Enjoyed your story, John! You had some interesting assignments. You provided a good insight into one of the many important non-pilot roles in the Air Force. Oh, and by now, I think you might be close to qualifying to be the “Oldest Grad” at a Founder’s Day!
Thanks Pat
At Hanscom AFB in MA, I had several gin and tonics when Gen Shiely told I was the youngest grad present and to give the speech in 1972.
John, a fun read. I went to Torrejon with a few classmates after the first Beast Detail in Aug ’67. Had a great few days there and in Madrid before several of us went to Mallorca for a week.
Dave, this is one of the reasons why I sometimes wish we could go back in time. There were so many things that the rest of you guys did while we were at school that I never even imagined doing. I truly wish sometimes I could have a “do-over”.
Dear John:
¡Gracias! Excelente artículo.
Your final paragraph on Founders Days reminded me of my one and only Youngest Grad speech. At age 38, I gave it on 11 March 85 to the West Point Society gathered at now Patrick Space Force Base, located between Cape Canaveral and Melbourne/Palm Bay, Florida. Having mustered all the humor I could, they (surely part of the retirement community) applauded with shouts of “Best Youngest Grad Speech ever heard!” Just pulled it out of my files, reread it, and smiled/smirked(?) broadly. Thanks for your excellent article and the brightened-my-day prompt! : )
Un cordial saludo y BOTL,
Bill
John, thanks for your article on your Torrejon, Spain, exploits. West Point may not have explicitly prepared you for your Air Force tasks, but it prepared you for the possibilities. One of the unseen things we learned was that even though we didn’t know how to do something specific, we left with the belief that we could do anything if we simply put our minds to it with full abandon. Probably we had more confidence than we should have had but that only made it more interesting. Thanks again.