Operational Control Elements
1 Air Division Headquarters
Period from 1 Jun 58 to 30 Nov 58
Narrative Report
Improvement of the Operational Control
Elements of 1 Air Division
One of the findings of the AFHQ Nuclear Defence Team, and included in the "Young Report", was that 61 AC&W and 6 TACC, if they remain in their present location, cannot continue to operate even under moderate fallout conditions. The team considered, and 1 Air Division HQ agreed, that there was a necessary and urgent need to establish 6 TACC and 61 AC&W Squadron in underground shelters.
Upon request of AFHQ, 1 Air Division HW provided an estimate of the cost to build an R-3 building to combine 6 TACC and the GCI, and to house additional consoles. 1 Air Division HQ also provided an estimate of the cost of establishing 6 TACC and 61 AC&W Squadron in Ouvrage Jury and of removing the antennae a safe distance away. 1 Air Division HQ recommended that the Ouvrage Jury proposal be abandoned as it is not considered possible to accommodate the facilities in Jury, and urged that a conference be held with all interested agencies to establish firm plans for dispersing the entire 1 Air Division HQ, 6 TACC, 61 AC&W Squadron , and Telecommunications operational complex now centered in Metz.
AFHQ advised 1 Air Division HQ in Aug 58 that the dispersal and protection for 61 AC&W Squadron was going before Air Council and that 1 Air Division’s recommendation that a conference be held was covered in the submission. However, in Sep 58 AFHQ advised that information was being awaited from CJS (L) on the role 61 AC&W Squadron is to play in SHAPE’s proposed integrated air defense system, and that further consideration of the improvement of the capability of 1 Air Division’s operational control elements and the protection against blast and fallout would depend on this information. No further information has been received at this HQ.
Deployment
The deployment airfields are not ready for occupancy. However, they have been assigned to IDF squadrons as follows:
|
Rocroi |
441 Squadron Marville |
|
St. Hubert |
421 Squadron Grostenquin |
|
Bertrix |
444 Squadron Soellingen |
|
Sandweiller |
434 Squadron Zweibrucken |
The runways at each of the deployment airfields are in usable condition but critical items such as POL storage, ammunition storage, and communications are not completed and preclude the airfields being used operationally. In addition, until such time as the warehouses or hangars are completed, pre-stocking cannot be undertaken. Completion and acceptance of the airfields cannot be foreseen before the end of 1959 at the earliest, although limited use may be possible during the summer of 1959.
The balance of this report is missing.
