In the process of writing this I remembered another first is that I got to fly in an H52 before they were delivered to the CG, when one was brought to Washington for people to see and fly in..
Not to worry!!!!The department heads work with me.I have a damn good engineering officer and things move so smoothly that I look good in spite of myself.
You don't need much quality control when you work with quality men!!!
Well I got to be an aircrewman on the HH3F and its a great tool also.
Longer range and able to land in the water Igor really builds neat machines.
About half way through my tour at Salem we get a new engineereing officer and he puts me in charge of H52 Maintenance.(Now I get to go on all the test flights)Its fun when you can wring them out legally.
some things of intrest when I was at Salem this time
are,when I was asked to fly around with Joe(The Baron)Barbosa.A
mafia hit man who had turned against the mob and was testifying
against them.In the morning we would fly him to Logan in boston
and in the evening we took him to various locations(never the
same place twice) due to the fact the mob had a contract out on
him.
It was quite exciting to land at logan and watch big black cars comming towards me and wondering if it was the federal marshalls or some hit squad ,since I was standing in the doorway and the escort on the helo was behind me.(two marshalls with BIG GUNS!!) I made a swell target standing in the open hatch while we played friend or foe.
I saw a book once that someone had shown me which Barbosa had written telling about us.Us coasties do some strange things.
The following is some Salem hstory that I got from the Pterodactyl news letter put out by Capt.BobWatterson USCG Ret.
CGAS Salem Massachusetts
(1935 to 1970)
Salem was commissioned in February 1935, with a compliment of 35 men and two airplanes. Actually the station was indirectly an outgrowth of the original air base that developed in Gloucester some 10 years earlier. In 1926 C C Von Paulson had organized the aviation unit at Ten Pound Island in Gloucester Harbor. The 2 Loening aircraft acquired at Gloucester were the first Coast Guard planes to be used in the First District. After a chequered but colorful history at Gloucester station was closed for lack of operating funds, after about a year's operation. When, in 1935, plans for an air station in the New England area were authorized, the site on Winter Island in Salem Harbor was selected as the most favorable location. The new station was commissioned in February with LT William Foley commanding. By the spring of 1935 the unit had four Douglas Dolphins RD-4's.
Phases of Development
Since it's commissioning, Salem underwent three distinct phases of development, each with its accompanying changes in function. Until November 1941, when the station assumed its wartime role, it had operated as an agency for rescue patrol, law enforcement and assistance duties. During that period it was under the First District in Boston, MA, but in November came a change in operational command. The station was transferred to the Inshore Patrol Force, First Naval District, remaining under the supervision of the First CG District for the administration of personnel and logistics only. With the outbreak of World War II, there came a gradual change in significant functions: anti-submarine warfare with its corresponding patrol and escort duties became the order of the day. In June, the operational chain of command changed with CGAS Salem being placed under the control of the Northern Air Patrol of the Eastern Sea Frontier. From that point on, in order to cover the coast adequately, the Air Station established small temporary detachments at Brunswick, Quonset Point, RI, and Me in cooperation with the naval air establishments at these points. The Air-Sea Rescue Task Unit at Salem then covered the entire New England coast from the Canadian border to Long Island Sound.
After WW II the unit operational control reverted to the First Coast Guard District, where it remained until its decommissioning at which time its functions were shifted to the new air station at Otis AFB on Cape Cod.
The closure of Salem was at an impasse for several years. CGAD Quonset was closed in June 1970 and their HU 16 transferred to the temporary hanger at building 128 at Otis. The HU16's and HH 52's from Salem followed shortly thereafter. The HU 16's going to 128 and the HH 52s going to the new hanger at the AIRSTA. The H3's moved shortly thereafter. CGAS Salem stayed in service as a maintenance base until late August or early September. Ptero Al Tatman was relieved by Ptero Charlie Mayes who became the first CO of CGAS Cape Cod.
The last CO of CGAS Salem was Ptero Al Tatman, his XO was Ptero Walt Goldhammer and the EO was Bob Davis. Walt and Bob continued in their respective positions at CGAS OTIS when it was commissioned in October of 1970. Kirk Kellogg, the former OinC at Quonset, became the Ops officer.
Ptero Ray Hevey was one of the few men left and helped lock the gate at Salem on the last night on their way back to the Cape.
Here is a
shot of salem air with the powerplant in the upper left hand
corner it was well lighted at night thank goodness.
An aerial view of salem air (winter island)
As you may of noticed I had the nickname of ""Heavenly" up to this point and within a matter of weeks my name changed to "Old Sarge".
It was a busy duty night and I was the Watch Captain.which meant I was in charge of getting things done.A new officer who had recently come in from the army was on the desk that night and because I was around he was giving me errands to do.
For a while I did what he asked but I was taking care of my duties at the same time and he was tying me up.
I finally politely said" You are from the Army aren't you sir?" and he replied in the affirmitive.I asked him if he knew what my rank would be in the army and he told me what an E6 would be and I explained to him I was the sargent of the duty section and perhaps if he remembered I was the enlisted boss, and call me sarge, and let me know what he needed to get done, I would do my best to get someone else to run the errands while I handled more important things.
He laughed and after a short while everyone at Salem had changed my name to "Sarge"
Needless to say "Old Sarge followed shortly thereafter.(for obvious reasons)
Closing salem was a sad chore.
The place was full of history and all those good things.
Fort Pickering,The lighthouse,our little private beach rampent with sea glass.
I have been back a few times on trips to Maine.Its an RV Park now.Its all fading away just like old soldiers.It served its purpose and soon no one will remember.
