NAF Lajes Field Azores CTE

[John Smale]

Dave asked me to provide info on the operation of station CTE, it was NAF Lajes Field, Azores, Naval Air Facility, I was stationed there from May 1966 to November 1967, a total of 18 months, I was sent there after I finished Radioman A School April 15 1966, I was an RMSN when I got there and left as a RM3, Radioman 3rd class.

     The reason we had the call CTE was because the Portuguese made us change it from NAY, their stance was we were on their property so we had to use their call sign, one time this caused an identification problem, we had a Navy ship calling NAY on one of the Navy's frequencies and I replied as CTE, after several back and forths they finally accepted that NAY was now CTE, of course we had several security challenges and replies, after it was over our Chief Radioman sent them a message to update their pubs!

     We guarded quite a few circuits, CW and Voice, we also had a TTY link, microwave bounced off the atmosphere, our busiest circuit was 500, merchants would call us and we'd relay their OBS (WX) and AMVERS (Coast Guard), we had a direct TTY link to Coast Guard Governors Island in NYC.

     We were Zulu -2, around 1800 local time we'd start getting ships calling us to pass their traffic at the end of their watch, as I understood it their radio was only manned for one watch, the rest of the time they had the auto alarm on the circuit.

     I heard one auto alarm, SS Essberger Chemist had an explosion and broke in half, we were able to relay the message ASAP to Coast Guard and within minutes they sent us a Surfic Picture of the ships in the area with a Doctor onboard, we also had a direct TTY link to the Air Force 57 Air Rescue Squadron on the other side of the runway, they were the PJ's, Parachute Jumpers, the same ones that rescued the downed pilots in Viet Nam, they ended dropping two of them to the ship until a ship with a doctor arrived, those guys were very highly trained, they could do most medical procedures up to opening a cranium.

     On a normal night we'd sometimes get as many as 18 ships calling us, we always kept a long sheet of TTY paper for the QRY list, it kept us busy for quite a while, copying the messages, updating the radio log when we were done, yes the Navy was strict about proper log keeping, then we'd cut a tape for Coast Guard and gave the OBS to the CYN's (Communications Yeoman) to route and cut tapes to send to Fleet Weather in Suitland MD.

     One thing about operating with merchants, most of them were hams and used Amateur procedure, in the Navy a question was preceded by the prosign INT, in ham radio a question is followed by IMI, on a Navy circuit we were monitored by Naval Security Group, if they heard a violation of proper Navy procedures they send out a notice to the offending station, total pain in the butt.

     We'd also get the Tango messages and once we got a medical emergency, the sending was terrible but we got the message and we broke up laughing when we read it, apparently the Radio Operator was the one with the medical emergency and the Captain was sending, he reported that the RO was in extreme pain, his penis was swollen and dripping fluid, we sent a copy over to the Rescue Group, they apparently also had a good laugh and then contacted one of the Doctors at the base hospital, he sent instructions as to what do and we relayed it to the ship.

     I mentioned to Dave that a couple of us wanted to take the test to advance from RM3 to RM2, part of the test involved sending and receiving, the RMC administered the code test, the first part was sending, we had to do 20wpm, straight key, what we didn't know was he taped us sending, the receiving part was copying our sending, he told us if we couldn't copy our own fist how could we expect anyone else to, I'll tell you what, you never saw a bunch of 19 year olds that thought they were hot shot operators get taken down to reality.

     In the Navy in order to use a speed key you had to pass a qualifying test, if I remember it was 30 wpm sending and receiving, if you passed the Navy gave you your own personal bug, we had a bug but one of the guys came in drunk and was trying to use it, got mad and threw it against the wall in the comm center and that was the end of that.

     We also sat voice circuits, mainly P-3's on ASW patrols but we got the occasional Hurricane Hunter, sometimes the static was so bad we had to switch to CW, I felt sorry for the operators in the EC-121's, bouncing all over the sky and trying to send code groups.

     One of the side benefits was we could talk to the incoming supply ships, they were the only way we got a lot of things, during the winter the weather around the Azores was terrible, we once went over two weeks without mail because they couldn't get aircraft in, it was worse in the clubs, we knew the popularity of the different beers, Bud was the first to run out, followed by Millers, than Pabst, when they were gone all we had left was Carling Black Label, with the preservatives it was horrible, the only thing after that was either Portuguese San Miguel, which was really bad, or wine, a bottle of Mateus Rose went for a dollar a bottle.  I was talking to the operator of the first supply ship of the spring of 67, he told me how many cases of Bud they had onboard and he invited us to meet the ship at the pier, he had iced Buds waiting for us.

      The tour was 18 months for singles, 24 months for married, just about all of us in the lower ranks were single, we were short handed and before I left we worked two mids, two eves, two days, 32 hours off and then back on the watch cycle, basically all we did was stand watch, go off watch and eat, sleep and drink and do what sailors do.

     All good things come to an end, I left the states inMay of 66, when I got back the start of December 67 it was like I had been on a different planet, never saw a mini skirt until I walked through Penn Station.....WTF????.....my next duty station was USS Norris DD-859, homeported in Newport RI, it was just coming out of the yard in Boston so we had to go through refresher training, boot camp for the ship, lovely GTMO Cuba, I mentioned by battle station was emergency radio, it turned out that only the leading Radioman (RM1) and I (RM3) were the only ones that had experience on CW circuits, the thinking was if either radio central or emergency were knocked out there was someone that could sit a code circuit, when we had the final exam we got a message from GTMO imposing radio silence on us, a little while later we get notified over the sound powered phones that Radio Central had been knocked out, right after that we lost lights, followed by GTMO sending us a FLASH message, I'm sitting at the operators position while the other RM is holding a battle lantern over my shoulder so I could see and as the message is coming in he's relaying the message to the messenger of the watch who is relaying the message to the bridge via sound powered phones, as soon as I had a smooth copy typed up he ran it to the bridge, I'm proud to say emergency radio received an Outstanding on the final evaluation.

     April of 67 we left for the Med, a few days out we hit a bad storm, yes I was sick for a couple of days but I got my sea legs,I was on the 4-12 when we went through the Straits of Gibraltar and we lost our TTY gear, 0300 I get waken up and told the Commo wanted me in Radio ASAP, it turned out they had tried sending traffic via CW to NAVCOMSTA Rota Spain (AOK), the guy trying to send was so bad they sent a ZBM-2, put a qualified operator on the circuit, I spent the better part of the day clearing traffic via CW, straight key, on a tin can that was pitching and rolling like a bucking bronco, a few months later we had another incident, 6th Fleet 25th Anniversary, the day of the dress rehearsal we were steaming in two columns, at a certain point we had to break off to starboard and the ship opposite us broke to port, well we broke to starboard and fell into a trough between two large waves, the Quartermaster of the watch reported we went over 49 degrees to starboard and came back 50 degrees to port, friend of mine was on another ship and he later told me he thought we were going over, I was at the operators position, facing to port, I had the chair tied to the desk, when we went over I was sending, one hand stayed on the Navy know of the key and the other hand grabbed the handle of the R-390 in front of me, the roll back to port I just hung on for dear life.

     On the trip back to the states there was a bad storm in the Arctic, we had constand 15 degree rolls, as we were walking through Providence Airport I heard a little girl ask her mommy "why are those sailors walking funny?"

That'll do it for now, 73 John K2IZ  

[schal...@juno.com]

 Great memoir John!  Thanks for sharing.

 

I spent two years on a Navy comm ship (USS POCONO -AGC-16) In the Marine Comm Detachment while I was in the Marine Corps.   We were ship's company and integrated into the radio watch bill. Several of us got our speed key licenses, which tweaked some of the Navy RMs who had to use straight keys.  

 

We were on a Med cruise anchored off of Corsica when the Cuban missile crisis broke out. Pulled up the anchor and headed for Cuba and history. 

 

Joined the ARA after college and spent 30 years at sea as MREO aboard freighters, tankers and container ships.  

Those were the days, and I miss them. All except the bad weather times!

 

73s

 

John Schalestock

WB4-ZRG

--
OUR FACEBOOK PAGE:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/707451009311335/
 
THIS IS THE "RADIO OFFICERS, &C" MAIL LIST - SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE AND OTHER SETTINGS ARE BELOW.
 
--
Have your R/O friends join the group by visiting https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/radio-officers and requesting membership. We'd love to have them.
 
--
 
To contact list owner or managers:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!contactowner/radio-officers
 
--
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Radio Officers" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to radio-officer...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radio-officers/CAP7pbD%3D7ZjZWqavvXQaqZ6sdsushAhMfjqrtkG3fU%3DzQLWVf%2Bw%40mail.gmail.com.

[w1...@cs.com]

John & John,

Tnx much for the reminiscing, most enjoyable reading. 

73 AR

BB - W1NZR 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radio-officers/20251112.094649.11487.0%40webmail10.vgs.untd.com.

[Rob Chamblee]

Love it, the old Navy sounds like the old Coast Guard. BZ OM

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radio-officers/691554076.5639247.1762966683652%40mail.yahoo.com.

[Dominic]

Thanks John,
My life story vy similar to yours except I was that Navy RM with only a straight key. Then also a bit of college and then ROU, eventually as REO serving again on military sealift ships, tankers and container vessels. I share your sentiments, I do miss those days. When I departed my last ship in Elizabeth NJ in 98, the captains words were, "sparks, when you leave we will no longer have an RO onboard." The newer GMDSS system was taking over and the RO was no longer required. Very sad for those of us who always looked forward to the next ship.
73's NDP

Dominic - Chat @ Spike

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/radio-officers/CAPoTMR3OiDsJzE3jkXp8Zs%3DE0iS6sdFmsJzTUir3JaJD8b%2Br3A%40mail.gmail.com.