Human Space Flight Support
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2019 Human Space Flight Support 60 YEARS AND COUNTING SULLIVAN, DEENA L CTR USAF AFSPC 45 OG DET 3/MANTECH Table of Contents Forward ........................................................................................ 1 Missile Harmony His Job .............................................................. 3 Bosses Cape Missile Center Yates Baby ....................................... 4 To Head Support Yates Gets Top Mercury Post ........................... 7 Amazing Maze Clutters Space ...................................................... 8 Missile-Quick Cape Tour Frays Ike ............................................. 16 And Along Came General Yates ................................................. 19 110 Major Events In Cape Canaveral History ............................. 22 Gen. Davis Gets New Assignment .............................................. 30 Interlude 1: Stories from the 304th ............................................ 31 It’s Surprise For General ............................................................ 34 Interlude 2: Stories from the Jump Team .................................. 35 John C. Ratliff’s narrative ........................................................... 35 Gen. Davis Gets Medal At Pentagon .......................................... 39 Where NASA Stops In Space Flights, DDMS Starts ..................... 40 Gen. Huston To Lead Apollo 9 Conference ................................ 42 Gen. Huston Heads DDMS meeting here ................................... 43 Meeting Set on Support of Moon Shot ...................................... 44 Gen. Jones to Head DOD Force .................................................. 45 Support Forces Confer For July Moon Launch ........................... 46 For Apollo 11 DOD Forces Stand Ready ..................................... 48 Space Exec Will Speak ................................................................ 49 Air Force Gears Up For Shot ....................................................... 50 Units Support Apollo 12, Workload Increased Here .................. 51 DOD Personnel Stand Ready To Support Second Moon Landing ....... 52 i General Watches From Cape, Goes to AOCC, Houston Later .... 54 Launch Site Rescue Crew Stands By ........................................... 55 Medical Needs of Men Taken Care Of ....................................... 57 Apollo 12 Ends Officer Careers .................................................. 59 Patrick Air Base Colonels Honored ............................................ 60 Col. VanArsdall Selected as New DoD Beach Boss ..................... 61 Department of Defense in Apollo 13 ......................................... 63 Beach Boss Preaches Readiness ................................................. 65 New AF Uniforms Due Here Soon .............................................. 68 Interlude 3: “Apollo Shark Jump” .............................................. 69 ‘Beach Boss’ Recovery Adds Apollo Protection ......................... 72 For Apollo 15: Eglin Discovers Flotation Collars Slashed by Knife ....... 74 Col. Vette Named DDMS Director .............................................. 76 Department of Defense Prepares to Support Apollo 16 with Men, Ships, Aircraft.................................................................... 77 Admiral Visits Establishments .................................................... 81 Rendezvous in Space: Splashdown Crew Ready ........................ 81 Shuttle Rescue Plan Tested ........................................................ 84 NASA scurries to ready desert for shuttle ................................. 86 NASA Prepared For Emergencies ............................................... 88 Search for debris continues ....................................................... 90 Investigation begun before smoke cleared ............................... 93 Shuttle’s tragic flight: Nation mourns as NASA seeks clues ....... 96 Facing the challenge .................................................................. 99 Life Lines................................................................................... 102 Duffer pulls out miracle hole-in-one for charity ...................... 104 ii Donor Award ............................................................................ 105 Saving The Crew ....................................................................... 106 Thanks to firefighters ............................................................... 108 Shuttle mock-up for fire and rescue training ready for action ......... 109 Military Practices Shuttle rescue drills ..................................... 110 Bailout exercise is ‘complete success’ ..................................... 112 Crews stand by to support orbiter landing overseas ............... 115 Landing site team flees armed bandits in Africa ...................... 118 Local teams support shuttle program ...................................... 119 Shuttle rescuers drill for disaster ............................................. 124 Air Force exercise to rescue astronauts tonight ....................... 129 Shuttle 911: DOD Unit Develops Launch, Recovery Contingencies .. 130 DoD practices astronaut rescue over ocean ............................ 135 Shuttle Down! DoD-NASA Team Tests Contingency Response 137 DDMS units train for disaster ................................................... 141 Department of Defense Manned Flight Support Office: Getting them home safely .................................................................... 145 DDMS nominated for AF award ............................................... 147 DDMS responds to Columbia tragedy ...................................... 149 Morón drills for shuttle emergency landing ............................ 151 Mock disaster tests KSC rescue crews ..................................... 153 NASA recognizes DDMS shuttle recovery efforts .................... 155 Patrick AFB: It’s just a rescue and recovery drill. ..................... 156 Forces practice shuttle sea rescue ........................................... 157 Morón Air Base prepares for space shuttle emergency .......... 158 Memories Linger Where NASA Lights Shone in Gambia .......... 161 iii Speaking the Language of SPACE ............................................. 164 NASA turns to past for ideas .................................................... 166 DDMS inactivates ..................................................................... 168 DOD Support to manned space operations for STS-118 .......... 170 Detachment 3 marks 50 years of supporting NASA ................. 175 End of an Era: Detachment 3 Provides Human Space Flight Support177 After 63 years, she still finds it ‘hard to leave’......................... 180 Detachment 3 Outlines Orion EFT-1 Recovery Training and Preparations for Return of US Human Spaceflight .................. 183 45th Space Wing supports NASA's Orion EFT-1 ....................... 191 Astronauts review Fairchild’s water survival training .............. 193 2015 DON T&E awards ceremony............................................ 196 NASA Astronauts Take Water Survival Training With U.S. Air Force . 196 Det. 3 supports NY ANG pararescuemen test of Orion spacecraft rescue support equipment ...................................................... 199 Navy and NASA Complete Underway Recovery Test ............... 204 920th RQW Airmen prepare for human spaceflight ................ 207 Navy and NASA complete Underway Recovery Test 7 ............ 210 45 OG Det 3 prepares for human spaceflight return ............... 212 DoD practices Starliner at sea recovery for first time.............. 215 Boeing Starliner takes a dip near Port Canaveral for emergency team training ............................................................................ 220 How to rescue Dragon, Starliner, and Orion crews at sea ....... 222 45 OG Det 3 and Apollo 11: 50 years later .............................. 229 60 Years of Command .............................................................. 233 iv Forward The creation of this compilation book was a series of accumulative events, starting with the simple task of organizing a storage room behind the Commander’s office. Little did I know that this would lead to a 3-year project. Files upon files of information, documentation, maps and leave forms were piled up in the black hole of overflowing shelves and filing cabinets. On the second week of slowly combing through the filing cabinets I struck gold! I had found the carbon copy of the original Assignment of Responsibility for DoD Support of Project Mercury. This was the document in which Major General Donald N. Yates was named by the Secretary of Defense as the manager, and the support duties were first identified. This sparked a question, “What else requires preservation?” Among the cacophony of detailed missions and reams of paper, I came across memorabilia ranging from Project Mercury to Soyuz. Forgotten and neglected glimpses of our history left behind due to simply being overlooked from lack of space. My new mission became salvaging these souvenirs. Each new discovery led me down a different rabbit hole of DoD Mercury Support (DDMS) history. Who were the original commanders? What was our lineage? How has our mission changed? What roles did we play throughout the various phases of American Spaceflight? Were there untold stories to share? As the holes went deeper I found myself completing a 60-year timeline of DDMS/HSFS, refurbishing and housing space memorabilia, acquiring models,