I was on another one of my aimless Google search binges yesterday and managed to find some virtual mementos of my early military career (the late seventies and early eighties).  Specifically, the photos of toys and gadgets I’m going to post here are reminders of my days at Skivvy Nine.  It’s up to you to figure out what they’re for.  I’m not telling.

First, here’s an old black and white photograph of something called the GS388 Data Reduction Console.  This photo was posted on a German language Web site that has something to do with the German Navy’s anti-submarine airborne reconnaissance program (U-Boot Aufklärungsflugzeug der Marine).  The console pictured isn’t identical to the one I used back in the day, but it’s close enough.  Here’s the picture:

Here’s a close-up of the tape transport used in the data reduction console.  It’s the virtually indestructible G176J!

Go to Daveman’s Tape Deck Photo Gallery for some interesting photos of vintage tape recorders.  Here’s what Dave Hutton has to say about the G176J:

The next recorder is the G176J transport by E-Systems of Greenville, TX, and this is likely retired from the United States military equivalent of a Boeing 707 [Effluent sez: He must be referring to the RC-135 RIVET JOINT aircraft]. The design has been around for years. Mine is dated 1982 but the man who sold it to me said he had another that dated from 1969. It accepts 7″ and 10.5″ reels. It’s got a custom multi-pin socket on its back that perhaps I’ll one day get around to mapping.

Here’s the RC-135 Dave was apparently talking about:

 

Next, here’s a classic mainstay of the military communications biz, the Model 28 (Mod 28) teletypewriter built by the Teletype Corporation (also virtually indestructible).  Here’s a frontal view:

And here’s a black and white photo of a couple of Mod 28s rigged for use with 5-level paper tape (you can see the paper tape spilling out onto the floor in the photo:

And here’s a close-up shot of a roll of paper tape:

 

Next is the outstanding R390A HF radio receiver.  Here’s a quote from the author of RadioEra.com (a Web site maintained by a radio enthusiast):

Much has been written about the R390A radio. It happens to be what I consider to be the greatest boat-anchor radio ever built. Surely with 26 tubes it happens to be one of the largest tube model receivers around. It is considered by many to be the finest HF radio receiver ever built. This is no lightweight panty-waste for sure as it weighs some 85 pounds and is built like a brick chicken-house [Effluent sez: No, it was built like a brick SHITHOUSE!  And it’s PANTY-WAIST, not panty-waste!!!]. It receives AM and CW signals from .5mhz to 31,999mhz. The R390 was initially designed by Collins Radio and then re-designed under military mandate as the R390A/URR to reduce the number of tubes and to use the improved filtering enabled by using mechanical filters. Some would like to think that this receiver is an electrical-mechanical nightmare, but to me it is a thing of sheer beauty. Historically, this receiver was used by the military and government in most services and was classified as secret until the 1960’s. In fact some of the technical books produced by the military have still not been released [because of] of their classified nature. This receiver also has the distinction of having served in 3 wars and oh, yes, the R390A has now served in 4 wars with the latest Iraq war seeing the R390A used in SIGINT use [sic].

I’m pretty enthusiastic about the R390, too (but not to the level of orgasm, as this guy seems to be).  Without further ado, here’s a picture of the “Sherman tank of HF radio receivers”:

 

Last, but not least, here’s a picture of the best headsets I ever used.  They’re David Clarks.  They were extremely comfortable and had a nice, tight fit around your ears which limited the amount of noise you heard from your surroundings.

 

For some reason, the contractor that built our mission equipment eventually phased out the David Clarks and opted instead for pieces of shit like this poor AWACS dude is wearing:

These nasty things didn’t fit around your ears properly, were very uncomfortable, and the plastic around the ear pads grew hard and brittle with age.  I couldn’t stand the damned things.  (Rant, rant, rant, complain, whine ad nauseum.) 

In my Web-searching adventures yesterday, I also found a surprising amount of information about the history of U.S. Air Force U-2R reconnaissance operations (to include fascinating images):

• Go to U-2 Locations for a list of U-2R serial numbers and the eventual fate of the aircraft involved.
• Here’s an interesting account of the crash of serial number 68-10338.  According to U-2 Locations: [68-10338 was] lost on 29 August 1995 at RAF Fairford, UK. USAF Pilot: Capt. David Hawkens was killed. Capt. Hawkens aircraft, suffered a hung pogo while taking off on a Bosnian overflight mission. Capt. Hawkens managed to get his aircraft turned around and upon touching down, the U-2 veered left and exploded into flames. Capt. Hawkens ejected horizontally from the aircraft and sustained fatal injuries and died later in a local hospital. Aircraft was in C-Span configuration.  [I was supposed to be the Ground Mission Supervisor for that mission but, as you can see, Captain Hawkens never really got the bird off the ground.]
• Here’s yet another account of a U-2R crash from U-2 Locations:  [Serial number 68-10332 was] l Lost on 15 January 1992 in Sea of Japan. U-2R went down in Sea of Japan off coast of Korea. USAF Pilot: Capt. Marty McGregor was killed, his body was found by Korean Fisherman. No other details.  [My supervisee, Mike Mack was the Ground Mission Supervisor during that mission.  It was a really bad deal; Mike was probably the last person Captain McGregor ever spoke to.  I had the honor of working with both Captain Hawkens and Captain McGregor on numerous occasions.  They were courageous men whose lives and sacrifices will forever remain unknown to the vast majority of Americans.]
• You can go here for a vivid account of a typical U-2R reconnaissance mission penned by Lt. Col. Charles Wilson.

Here’s a picture of a U-2R configured for SENIOR SPEAR:

 

And here’s a picture of a U-2R (serial number 68-10338) configured for SENIOR SPAN:

Here’s a U-2 at Osan AB, Korea (the picture was taken during mission recovery, and the serial number looks like 68-10329):

This is a U-2 jockey “getting ready to climb into the cockpit of his bird” (the photo is quite obviously posed):

The graphic superimposed at the bottom left of the picture is the unit patch of the Det 2 (9 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 5 Reconnaissance Squadron) “Black Cats”.  The patch at the bottom right was designed by the Black Cats in honor of a kitten (the Det 2 mascot) who was “chased into the transformer behind the old OPS building at Det 2 in Osan. He was electrocuted when he jumped up on it.  His name was Soju.”  [Account written in 1994 by TSgt. Curtis Fluke of Det 2.  Besides being the name of a kitten, “Soju” is the name of a potent type of Korean liquor.  It’s strange, but I actually remember when that kitten thing happened.]

Finally, here’s a (bad) picture of USAF Captain David Hawkens before he was killed in the U-2 crash at RAF Fairford in 1995:

 

Godspeed, Captains Hawkens and McGregor.

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