The SAC ACCA Flyer Strategic Air Command

Airborne Command Control Association

Recording, Preserving and Celebrating the Legacy of PACCS

Volume XV Issue 3 October 2009

2010 REUNION

Seattle, Washington

Sept. 8-12, 2010

RED LION INN (425) 455-5240

Use group code: SAC-ACCA

SUMMARY OF AGENDA : PAGE 4

REUNION DETAILS : PAGE 5

REGISTRATION FORM: INSERT

MESSAGE FROM THE PLANNERS

It is not too early to plan your trip to the 2010

reunion in Seattle. When making your reservations

at the Red Lion Inn, be sure to identify your

group as SAC ACCA . The Red Lion is also pet

friendly. Note that a $50 refundable deposit is re-

quired, however.

Study the details we have provided in this edi-

tion of the Flyer. Then, make your plans, choose

your activities and join us in Seattle, September

8-12, 2010. We look forward to showing you our

beautiful Pacific Northwest.

Deb & Elaine Laughery

From the President

Jim Dart

Now is the time to plan ahead! Seattle will be here

in less than 12 months and we would like to see as

many of you as possible coming out and seeing old

friends and making some new ones.

Things have been busy for the Board and for a

couple of members who’ve stepped up to the plate

for some very important tasks. First, is our reunion

planner, Deb Laughery and his family, who have

jumped in with both feet and have come up with a

fantastic itinerary that will occupy your time and in-

terests be they aircraft, shopping or dining. We

should have a heck of a time. In this edition of the

newsletter they tell us what has been planned so

please look it over and start now to come join the

fun.

Our second person of note is Jim Bostick. Jim vol-

unteered to create a new web page that is now up and

running. You will find it at:

www.sac-acca.org

It is more user-friendly and catches the eye. Also,

thanks to his hard work, I want everyone to know

that nothing from the old web site was lost. That’s

right, nothing was lost; everything was saved from

See President on Page 3

2

This newsletter is published three times per year by the

Strategic Air Command Airborne Command Control

Association (SAC ACCA) and is free to Association

members.

Information, general correspondence, changes of

mailing address, newsletter articles or recommendations

to:

SAC ACCA

c/o Wilton Curtis, Secretary

2319 Pleasant Run Dr.

Richmond, VA 23238-3026

Renewals, new memberships, or merchandise orders to:

SAC ACCA

c/o Steve Leazer, Treasurer

6141 Bagley Avenue

Twentynine Palms, CA 92277-2502

2008-2010

Board of Directors

President Jim Dart abncp@earthlink.net Vice-President Fred Kemp fkemp8367@aol.com Treasurer Steve Leazer ec_135paccs@verizon.net

Secretary Wilton Curtis wcurtis135@aol.com

President Emeritus Jack Suggs

Appointed Officers

Chaplain Jim Simons

Historian Greg Ogletree

PACCS Memorial Fred Kemp Committee Norman Goetz

Jack Suggs Reunion Planners Deb & Elaine

Laughery

Web Master Jim Bostick

SAC ACCA Recognition at

Virginia War Memorial’s

Cold War Seminar

Wilton Curtis

On August 4, 2009, twenty-five history teachers from

central Virginia’s middle and high schools attended a full-

day workshop on some aspects of the Cold War spon-

sored by the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond. Three

of the four presenters were Francis Gary Powers, Jr.,

Founder of the Cold War Museum and son of Gary Pow-

ers, the famous U-2 pilot; Werner Juretzko, former G-2

Intelligence Operative who was caught in 1955 by the

East German Stasi and spent six years in their under-

ground torture chamber; and Lt. Commander Jim Smith,

USN (Ret.), USS Liberty survivor, discussing the June 8,

1967 attack on the USS Liberty by the country of Israel.

Using a power point program of my own design, SAC’s

Airborne Command and Control System and its key role

in the Cold War was the subject of the fourth presentation.

Beginning with a brief history of the Strategic Air Com-

mand’s mission, capabilities and underground command

facilities, the origins of the “Looking Glass” concept in

1960 were shown. The 3 Feb 1961 beginning of continu-

ous airborne flights followed by the April 1962 expansion,

to include the three numbered Air Force AUXCP’s was

discussed (PACCS). A special emphasis was placed on

the importance of the more than twenty-nine years of

continuous flights that didn’t end until 24 July 1990.

Among the forty-two slides shown was a variety of

photos copied from the internet. There were pictures of

the interior of an EC-135C, scanned diagrams from the

EC-135C’s Dash-2, portions of articles from a 1970 issue

of the Omaha World-Herald and a 1974 issue of Combat

Crew magazine, and personal pictures of aircraft snapped

at the “Bone Yard” in Tucson as well as photos of the

PACCS Memorial located at the National Museum of the

USAF at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

SAC ACCA’s mission of “Recording, Preserving and

Celebrating the Legacy of PACCS” was emphasized. A

bibliography containing twenty-two resources, both elec-

tronic and paper-based, was distributed and some copies

of the Association’s informational brochure and newslet-

ters were made available for those interested in learning

more.

the guestbook which has messages from members, some

of whom are no longer with us.

Jim is adding more and more to the site like links for

2010 Reunion information. Photos, history, a section ti-

tled “There I Was” and our newsletter, both current and

past editions, will also be posted. There will be a Feed-

back section to help him by posing questions and making

suggestions on how to make the site even better.

So, where are we now? Jim has done the heavy lifting

and we have a new web page. We need your help and

participation. We need your photo’s, stories, anything

you have on the Looking Glass, your squadron, etc., so

we can populate the web page with information that

made us what we are and tells the story of the important

mission to which we all contributed in helping to win the

Cold War.

Members like Deb and Jim are what make this a great

association of which to be a part. When something needs

to be done or planned someone always steps up to help.

Between reunions, the Board takes steps to carry out the

wishes of the members and to work with and guide the

next reunion chairperson. This association is nothing

without its members. I say that with emphasis because

we want and need your input, suggestions and comments

on how we can make this organization better.

To repeat, we are now less than 12 months until our

Seattle Reunion. Now is the time to start making plans

to attend! Now is the time to contact an old flying buddy

and ask him or her to come to Seattle to have a few

laughs with old friends. I hope to see you all there.

Norm Goetz and Fred Kemp at PACCS Memorial, NMUSAF

Fred Kemp and Al Yaroch On Board Air Force Museum’s EC-121D

Air Force Honor Guard at PACCS Memorial Bench Dedication 3

President From Page 1

Some representative photos from the 2008 Reunion

Charlie Jones at Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park

Seattle 2010 - Summary of Agenda

Wednesday, September 8

1000-1700 Reunion Registration

1800-1900 Social Meet & Greet-Heavy Hors D’ oeuvres

Thursday, September 9

OPTION #1 0900-1300 Boeing Museum of Flight Tour. Lunch on own.

1300-1700 Transport to Pike Place Market. Tour down-

town using Hop on/Hop off buses.

OPTION #2 0900 Pike Place Market-Market Heritage Tour

(Blend of history, current info, dash of anecdotes,

and shopping tips by knowledgeable insiders; then

tour on your own.

or

Private Tasting Tour through Market (1100-1300)

(Tour serves as light lunch. Limited to first 32)

or

Tour the Market on your own/lunch on your own

1300-1700 Tour downtown using Hop on/Hop off buses

1700 Transport to The Old Spaghetti Factory-Dinner

Friday, September 10

OPTION #1 0800 Depart hotel to Paine Field’s Future of Flight

(No cameras, cell phones, bags/purses, elect-

ronics allowed on tour. Lockers available-$1)

1130 Lunch (Fresh fruit salad, dessert, bottled water

plus choice of sandwich: Roast beef and Cheddar;

Turkey and Havarti; or Ham and Swiss)

1230 Paul Allen’s Heritage of Flight Tour

1500 Return to hotel. Dinner on your own

OPTION #2 0900 Depart hotel to The Outback Kangaroo Farm

1130 To Country Village Shops. Lunch on your own

1500 Return to hotel. Dinner on your own.

Saturday, September 11 0900-1200 Business Meeting

1800 Banquet at the Red Lion Inn

(Choice of : Grilled Northwest Salmon-Cedar

planked salmon filet grilled with lemon & garlic

served with a Wild Rice Pilaf or Roast Sirloin

of Beef with a Peppercorn Demi Glaze served

with Rosemary Garlic roasted potatoes.

Sunday, September 12 0900 Memorial Service

4

SEATTLE REUNION DETAILS

The Boeing Museum of Flight is one of the largest

attractions in the Pacific Northwest and attracts more

than 400,000 visitors annually. Exhibit highlights include

the Concorde, Air Force One (The first presidential jet, a

Boeing VC-137B, delivered to Dwight Eisenhower in

1959), and the world’s only existing M/D 21 Blackbird/

Drone pair. The Museum of Flight Store features top

quality flight-related gifts, apparel, books, models and

educational toys. You will be on your own for lunch and

the Wings Café menu features delicious, moderately-

priced soups, sandwiches, salads and hot entrees.

Those of you who choose to go to the Pike Place

Market Thursday morning have several options. One is

the Private Tasting Tour through the market that in-

cludes food and wine tasting, bottled water, insider’s rec-

ommendations and information on Seattle’s best restau-

rants, local cuisine, ethnic eateries, local entertainment &

activities, tips on purchasing and preparing foods, and

historical & cultural commentary. Some of the foods you

may sample include award winning clam chowder, Ital-

ian truffles, English crumpets, Italian gelato, Chinese

herb tea, local cheese, Alderwood smoked salmon,

Washington fruit, Russian piroshky pastries, famous

donuts, sweets and more. The tour is intended to serve as

a light lunch and is limited to the first 32 who sign-up.

The tickets for the HOP/ON HOP/OFF BUSES are

good for all day so you can begin enjoying the sights of

Seattle anytime you choose. Buses depart every 30 min-

utes from seven centrally-located stops including the

downtown shopping district, the Seattle Center/

Experience Music Project/Space Needle, Belltown, Bell

Street Pier, the Seattle waterfront, Pioneer Square and

Pike Place Market.

Dinner at The Spaghetti Factory will include salad,

hot fresh baked bread, coffee, hot tea, iced tea, or milk,

and their signature spumoni ice-cream for dessert. Entrée

choices are:

SPAGHETTI with rich meat sauce of ground beef sau-

téed with onion and celery then simmered with tomatoes

and Italian spices.

BAKED LASAGNA made from scratch in their own

kitchen with layers of noodles, marinara sauce, ground

beef and pork, and four kinds of cheese.

CHICKEN MARSALA, a seasoned breast of chicken

with fresh mushrooms and Marsala wine, served along-

side spaghetti and Mizithra Cheese and Browned Butter.

The 73,000-square foot Future of Flight Aviation

Center & Boeing Tour is one of western Washington’s

major attractions. It features the only public tour of a

commercial jet assembly plant in North America. We

will take the expanded Boeing Tour at the nearby assem-

bly plant where 747, 767, 777 and 787 airplanes are as-

sembled. We will watch a dramatic time-lapse film of a

Boeing 777 being assembled in the new 240-seat theater.

The planes within the Flying Heritage Collection

were created at a time when aeronautical discovery had

evolved to aviation mastery. Finely crafted by distin-

guished design bureaus with leading technologies of the

1930’s and 1940’s, the main emphasis of the collection

includes combat aircraft from WWII. Paul G. Allen’s

collection of rare military aircraft comprises examples

from the United States, Britain, Germany, Japan and

Russia and pays tribute to veterans and the struggle re-

quired of humanity during the challenging days of WWII

and other world conflicts.

At the Outback Christmas Tree & Kangaroo Farm

you will be entertained by the tame wallabie and their

babies. Meet Flower the Turkey, emus, pot-bellied pigs,

wallaroos, peacocks, chickens and a miniature horse who

has an attitude and doesn’t like being petted. At the end

of the tour, the owner brings out a talking parrot, then re-

turns with a bottle-fed joey that makes the rounds, with

each person able to hold it and pose for pictures.

The Country Village is an arts mall off the beaten

track where you can shop, dine and feed the chickens.

Over 40 individually-owned shops and restaurants are

clustered among beautifully landscaped gardens, ponds,

wandering paths and picnic areas. Country village has

everything from fabulous home décor and original art to

antiques and innovative toys. Take your time and enjoy

live glass blowing, train rides and the beautiful scenery.

Enjoy a leisurely lunch before heading back to the hotel

for the evening. Lunch options range from a teahouse to

a hot dog stand to a fine Italian restaurant.

The buffet on Saturday night includes your choice of

Grilled Northwest Salmon or Roast Sirloin of Beef plus

the Red Lion House Salad of mixed leafy greens tossed

with a light Bleu cheese vinaigrette dressing, diced ap-

ples, candied spiced Northwest walnuts and shredded

carrot. Fresh seasonal vegetables, warm artisan rolls with

sweet cream butter, freshly brewed coffee, decaf coffee

and assorted Tazo teas will be served along with Choco-

late Blackout Torte which is a dessert of two layers of

moist, chewy chocolate cake filled and covered with

chocolate truffle cream. It is decorated with a Belgian

chocolate fan nestled in a dark chocolate fudge rosette.

5

REUNION PUBLICITY Numerous publications and organizations have been contacted and requested to publi-cize our next reunion scheduled for September 8-12, 2010 in Seattle, Washington. They are: 1. AIR POWER HISTORY-Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation 2. AIR FORCE MAGAZINE– Journal of The Air Force Association 3. AIR FORCE TIMES 4. AMERICAN LEGION MAGAZINE 5. COLD WAR TIMES– Web site: www.coldwartimes.org 6. DAEDALIANS 7. MILITARY– Publication on WWII, Korea Viet-Nam, Cold War & Today 8. MILITARY.COM 9. MILITARY CONNECTIONS- Web site: http://militaryconnection.com 10. MISSILEER MAGAZINE 11. MOAA (MILITARY OFFICER ASSOC- IATION OF AMERICA) 12. RADAR MAGAZINE 13. 390TH SMW MAGAZINE 14. TOGETHER WE SERVED.COM 15. TREA –The Retired Enlisted Association Web site: www.trea.org Be watching for notices of the reunion in each of the above. Some have already posted; others will be doing so in the near future.

***REMINDER*** ASSOCIATIONAL DUES COVER THE PERIOD OF 1 JANUARY - 31 DECEMBER AND ARE DUE ON THE FIRST DAY OF JANUARY OF EACH YEAR. TO DETER-MINE IF YOU ARE CURRENT, SIMPLY CHECK THE YEAR FOUND IN PARENTHE-SES ON YOUR MAILING LABEL.

6

***REQUEST***

PLEASE CONSIDER WRITING A STORY FOR THE FLYER. IF WE ARE TO CON-TINUE TO RECORD AND TO PRESERVE THE LEGACY OF PACCS, IT WILL BEST COME FROM MEMBERS’ RECOLLEC-TIONS AND MEMORIES OF THEIR VARI-OUS EXPERIENCES.

Available SAC ACCA Merchandise Item # Item Description Item Sale Price

101 Caps, SAC ACCA $10.20

111 Coin, PACCS Memorial Silver $ 8.70

106 Lapel Pins, SAC ACCA (new) $ 4.60

103 Patches, SAC ACCA $ 4.80

To order, contact the Treasurer. See page 2 for an ad-

dress. Note that prices includes shipping. Make your check

payable to SAC ACCA.

***CORRECTION***

The three pictures of Aircraft No. 63-8049,

printed in the June 2009 edition of the Flyer, were

provided by Hal Starnes; however, he notes that he

was not the photographer. Does anyone know who

snapped the shots?

Strategic Air Command

Airborne Command Control Association SAC ACCA Recording, Preserving and Celebrating the Legacy of PACCS

Membership Application or Annual Dues Renewal Form

Name: _______________________________________________ Spouse’s name: _______________________________________ (Last, First, Middle)

Rank/Title:____________________ Branch of Service: ________ Status: ______________________________________________ (Active, Retired, Other) Mailing Address:_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone No.: _________________________ Email address: _________________________________________________________

Indicate your affiliation with PACCS, ACCS: [Organization - Duty - (Dates)] Examples: [22nd ARS - IP (74-82)], [34ARS - BO (63-

66)], [HQ SAC - ABS (69-71)], [2nd ACCS - In-flight Maint (69-72)], [55th SRW - Staff (72-73)], [(4th ACCS - Crew Chief (74-76)],

[AEAO/40ADIV (74-76)], [SAC Hq - Planner (88-90)].

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Amount Enclosed:

_______Initial Fee ($10.00) _______ Annual Dues ($15.00) Year(s)_________ ________ Reinstatement ($10.00)

If paying annual dues, please indicate for what year(s) you are enclosing payment. The current paid year for your dues will

be found in parentheses on the mailing label of your most recent newsletter.

New memberships require the payment of the initial fee and dues for the year ($25.00). Dues are for the period 1 Jan

through 31 Dec and are due the first day of January ($15.00) each year. A reinstatement fee, plus current dues, is due for

inactive members who wish to reactivate their membership after an absence of two years or more ($25.00).

Please indicate your preference regarding the publication of your name and address on membership rosters which may

be provided to the membership of SAC ACCA.

I authorize: ______ Name, U.S. Mail and Email addresses on ACCA rosters to the general membership.

______ None of the above to be published on ACCA rosters to the general membership.

Send to: Make your check out to:

SAC ACCA

Steve Leazer, Treasurer SAC ACCA

6141 Bagley Avenue

Twentynine Palms, CA 92277-2502

SAC Airborne Command Control Association

Wilton O. Curtis, Secretary

2319 Pleasant Run Drive

Richmond, VA 23238-3026

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

REMINDER: Deadline for 2010 Associational

Membership Dues is 1 January 2010