02
Apr
Tom Harmon, a young man, was working as Crew Chief on the F-104A Starfighter with 319 FiS at Homestead AFB during the Cuban Crisis, from 1963 till 1966. Some years ago Tom wrote a story about the typical Alert duties at Homestead during the tension period, which we were able to share on our website here.
Over the last 10 years, I have tried to reach out and find fellow USAF Airmen who were stationed with us at Homestead AFB, Florida between 1963-66, during the Cuban Crisis. We all went to boot at Lackland AFB, in Texas, then most up to Amarillo AFB, for Jet Fighter Mechanic Tech School. While home on leave, most all received telegrams, on or about February 15th ,1963, to report to Homestead AFB (HAFB), no later than March, 6th, 1963. Most of us went to school on F-102s or F-106s, then when we got to Homestead, had to go back to school on F-104 Lockheed Starfighters. Along with the daily school was OJT on the flightline with Sr Airmen & NCOs training us to be fully qualified jet Fighter flightline mechanics, and eventually the goal of Crew chiefs, of our own bird. So over the next three years, that is what we did on a daily basis, work on that hot blacktop flightline. This was a SAC base, with B-52 Bombers, and KC 135 Jet refuelers, also a TAC Sq of F100s, and our Squadron, the ADC 319th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. Our "Air Defense Command" Squadron was in charge of the defense and protection of the US Southern border. This was done thru the Alert Crew, of which I was part of, along with several of my fellow Squadron airmen. The 319th FIS, had 90% of all the scrambles in the USA, due to constant testing of our defenses by Cuban pilots in Russian Migs, flying over the Gulf of Mexico, from Cuba.
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Tom Harmon on his Starfighter. |
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The Alert area was basically two large carports with four hot F-104s in each port, on each side of the alert trailers. In between them were two large house trailers, parked back to back, one with pilots, the other with airmen. The duty was 24 hours on & 48 hours off, like a fireman. Next to the hangers was the Special Ops building, where the alert crew ate with the pilots, also the pilots dressed and all special equipment was stored and passed out to the pilots, as needed. Also there were two blue Ford Fairlane sedans, used to transport pilots to the flightline in a hurry if needed, or around the base, and also a Ford Econoline van for transporting airmen. There were at least 8 airman & 8 pilots living in those trailers 24/7, 365 days a year. We slept there, watched tv, played cards, and wrote letters. But as we scrambled jets, from the time of the klaxon horn going off, we prepared to turn them around, or move another hot jet into an empty spot. When I say hot, I mean loaded with 20 mm Vulcan cannon, and two heat seeker Sidewinder missiles, one on each wingtip. It takes 3 airman to scramble a fighter, plus pilot, just 3 minutes from horn to takeoff, in day or night! Now along with the Alert Crew, there was a day & night shift, so we would rotate those different jobs during the next 3 years were stationed there. So that was our jobs back then to work on F-104 Fighters, either on the flightline or on the Alert crew. My son recently asked me if I could still crew a fighter, I said, sure , if I could get up the ladder!
This is how a "scramble" happened!
I always had a top bunk, the klaxon horn would go off in the middle of the night, and we would just hit the floor, put our boots on, and hit the door, with tidy whiteys on. We ran down a ramp to the blacktop, and each three man crew would race to one of the two "hot birds", we would always scramble two at a time. One airman would follow the pilot up the ladder, get him strapped in, and back down & remove the ladder, at the same time one airman started the plush unit, or air compressor, and the other started the MD-3 power unit, which were already hooked up to all of the hot birds. The pilot was getting all the switch's turned on, and going thru his checklist, then firing up the igniters to start the J79 jet engine, and then reaching up, and pulling down and locking the canopy. The ladder man was then removing the safety pins in the sidewinder missiles, by then the pilot was firing up the jet, the power was disconnected, then the air plush unit disconnected, the ladder man kicked the chocks out, ran out front of the bird, raised his arms, and motioned to the pilot, that he was ready to roll out, saluted him, and the pilot put the power to the jet, and it rolled out of the carport, and headed for the runway, less the 100 yards away, lined up, and kicked that jet in gear, and it raced down the runway, and was airborne, all this in about 3 minutes! So saying all that, I still think there was 6 airmen, and six pilots, because there were showers & sleeping beds for pilots in the Special Ops building, and I think that a number of pilots were always in that building also, if needed. Also the Alert kitchen was in that building, where the pilots & airman ate together, it was run by a NCO cook, who would make your eggs as you wanted, which was pretty cool to us, use to eating in the chowhall. And if really needed, the flightline was always full of airmen, if needed to launch more alert birds. But to my knowledge that never happened. This is my memory, of how a Lockheed F-104A Starfighter, went from zero to Mach 2, in less than 3 minutes!
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319FiS Altert!!! |
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| Major Donald E. "Don" Kelley at the Alert Area (1965) | Major Donald J. Parsons at the Alert Area (1965) |
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As just a young man at 18 when I arrived, it was amazing at how much trust was given to us young airmen on the flight line. Also it was very exciting to be on the Alert Crew and help scramble those "hot birds"!
Tom Harmon 1-989-389-0102 St. Helen. Mich USAF 1962-1966
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