ac&w

Ned .......Wonderful site about 636th. I too was stationed their (62-64) and ran the mars station. we still used the hammerlund and the old bc-610. The station was later moved to a free standing block building at the west end of the base. Equipment was upgraded to a Collins S-line. I was airman in charge for a couple of years. It made my stay at Condon more enjoyable. The call letters then were K7FCR. Thanks for the memories. John Franz, Nashville, Indiana

636th AC&W Squadron From The Air

636thACWSqdbuildingpinpoint
636th AC&W Squadron With Buildings Pin-Pointed

Looking Toward Radar Dome From Down The Street

Looking Toward Mess hall From Barracks # 2

Photos Below Provided By
Basil Stephanoff
email - basil1@uakron.edu
636th AC&W Squadron
Condon, Oregon

636th Operations Building Entrance

C-82 over Condon

Basil Standing In Front Of BAQ 3

Fairchild PT- 26 Flown By One
Of The Guys At The Site

Email from James Huddleston

August 9, 2007

Thanks Ned... It's great to from another Condonite after all of these years...Condon, the town was a real culture shock for me. I was born and raised in the Los Angeles area...you know...hustle-bustle and fast paced, but warmer than the Big Apple, in many ways. Anyway a quick story about my arrival at Condon...the town. When it was time to report to the 636th, I flew from LAX to PDX, commercial.

Upon arrival, I got downtown to the Greyhound Depot where I went in to purchase a ticket to "Condon, OR". The agent looked into a book about 12" think looking for the place...with some help from another agent, the two finally found Condon. But the story gets better; on the ride from Portland to "ARLINGTON, OR", which in those days was on US Highway 30, approx 150 Mi out of Portland...today it's been moved up the hill because of a Dam installation on the Columbia River...so it's now on I-84.

<>Upon arrival in Arlington, which was about 10:PM in very early July. There was a young girl on the bus that I talked to across the Isle...she asked if I was reporting to Condon..."Yes", she asked I her family could give me a ride to Condon. Well, of course I took them up on the offer. Stayed the night in the Condon Hotel. The next morning, I looked outside...I said to my-self that this had to be a movie set, surely real people do not live in a place like this...do they? Well from July of 1957 to Aug 1960 I was stationed at Condon. I worked in Base Supply...as a clerk typist...out of my AFSC/MOS. In August of 1960 I was transferred to Portland Int'l Airport...there until discharge in Dec 1961. More later...will dig out some 'OLD' photos for your consideration. Ned, have some comfort in knowing that all of our memories are fading...know what I mean. I'll write to you soon.

Best regards, Jim Huddleston, 08.09.2007, 4:02PM,PDT

----- Original Message -----

From: Ned Scholz

To: James HUDDLESTON

Sent: Wednesday, August 08, 2007 7:46 PM

Subject: 636th AC&W Station

<>Hi James

I received your email about being stationed at Condon, Oregon...I was there from July 1952 until November 1954 when discharged. I was a radio operator in Korea and when arrived in Condon there was not much use for operators anymore so went into radio maintenance, had fun at that job. Ran the MARS station in spare time. Also, worked part time off base in Condon for a retired AF person (I think but not sure his name was Tom Kagia) helping to put up TV towers for customers in the area wanting to receive channel 6 out of Portland. Tom had a radio/repair service in Condon. I remember driving to Portland attempting to gain a dates with girls at a nurse’s school.

<>It's becoming harder to remember those years as it’s so long ago.

Did you check my web site and look at the 636th page? If you put a few words together about your time at Condon along with any pictures and with your permission I would like to add it to the site.

Anyway, have a nice day and let me hear from you

Ned Scholz

Email from Tom Whiteley

August 12, 2007

Ned;

Glad to have found your site. I ran the MARS station at Condon from July 1964 to October 1965, while working at the GATAR Site (Ground to Air Radio). I have a First Class FCC Radio Telephone License with Radar Endorsement and my call sign is WA6FCO.

<> If this gets to you I have a few more things to mention….

<> Tom

Tom Whiteley's 53 Olds

Email from Tom Whiteley

August 14, 2007

Well, a few days ago I found Ned's web site and contacted Ned and John Franz. Ned gave me a copy of James email, so I thought I would start a Condon Group in my email Address Book.

I was at the 636th from July 1964 to October 1965. I am fourth generation San Franciscan, and like James, there was a "bit of a culture shock" upon arriving at the 636^th and then discovering the big city – Condon! From people in Biloxi (where I went to GATR school) to San Francisco, I heard the same story. "Why at the 636th, there is a girl behind every tree"! They forgot to mention that there were no trees! J

When I left San Francisco by Greyhound, bound for Condon, little did I realize that the bus stopped at Arlington and did not go straight through. The bus station was on the north end of town and today is under water along with the rest of the old downtown area.

When I arrived in Arlington I called the site and they had a red headed sergeant pick me up. He was very cheerful and just a good person. As I entered the orderly room, I was greeted by a first lieutenant who was wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. He came up to me before I took three steps and said, "I was an enlisted man like you. I went to operation bootstrap and became an officer"! I think that is the only time we spoke. He was a bit strange.

As I mentioned to John I had lots of adventures at Condon. I enjoyed myself as much as possible. I play flamenco guitar and formed groups to entertain people in Fossil, and the surrounding communities. We also played folk and country and western music. The people were starved for entertainment.

After about a year at the 636^th, people would get flaky. Many would get drunk very often. Several guys got drunk and drove off cliffs. I din drink so I decided to drive my 1953 Oldsmobile to San Francisco and visit my family. I did this almost every weekend. At 6 PM I would be on the road and stop for gasoline at a truck stop at Klamath Falls. The guys at the gas station knew me after a short time and would give me coffee.

At about 6 AM Saturday I would arrive home, mom would fix breakfast and then I would visit my friends. At 6 PM Sunday mom would serve dinner and then I would be off. At about 6 AM the next morning I would arrive at the 636^th, shower, etc. and go to work at 0700. Amazing what you can do when you are in your early 20’s J Sleep, what sleep? Who needs sleep?

Every two years there is reunion at Condon for the 636^th. I went three years ago and due to my job I was not able to go last year. It was fun meeting guys I had been stationed with, as well as meet the residents of Condon whom I remember well.

I found the people of Condon to be very friendly and willing to help an Airman, but they hated anyone from California who was not a member of the 636^th. Case in point:

There was no mayor at Condon, but the owner of the Coast to Coast Hardware store sort of ran the town. The Texaco gas station was sold to a civilian from California. The owner of the hardware store called a meeting. I was a customer in the front of the store when I heard what was going on. The owner said, "A Californian bought the Texaco station. Put the word out – do not buy anything from him"! In thirty days the Texaco station was out of business, and bought by one of the Airman at the 636^th, who was from California. The Airman did well with his newly acquired business.

There was a very bad winter storm December 1964 that wiped out the Condon water supply. The 636thtrucked in water until things were repaired. During that storm a radar site on the West Coast of Oregon blew off its hill. We gave them our FPS 20. I had escaped the storm (barely) and spent Christmas at home in San Francisco and went to North Hollywood to attend a friends wedding. I married my friend’s sister and we celebrated our 41^st Wedding Anniversary last December.

To express how the people of Oregon felt about Californians, the following is offered. The later part of 1964 the governor of Oregon was on television. He stated, "We have completed I-5 so Californians do not have to stop in Oregon"!

When I was at Condon there were about 1200 people. At last count there were about 600. If you grew up in Condon chances are that you had to leave to have a job. When the Air Force left the population reflected it.

Here is a link to a PDF file about the last 636^th reunion:

http://www.oregon.gov/ODVA/docs/PDFs/VETS-NEWS/2006/VETS-NEWS-May-June-PDF.pdf Page ten = left side towards the bottom.

Tom

Click Here For Online Air Defense Radar Museum
From the Air Defense Radar Museum you will be able to find very good
information about the 636th. On the main page left side, click "Radar
Sites". Enter in the Unit/Squadron block 636. Location enter Condon,
State enter OR. Select North American/Hawaii.
Click Serarch for the site.