Milford chronicle., 1954-12-03
Civil Defense Notes
~ Il eaeeroM -


state Director of Civil Defense
fhe dangerous mile in this
country's air defense system is
from ground level to 5000 feet
Radar's probing eyes, which watch
constantly from stations along our
northern front and down both
coasts, are far-sighted. but they
cannot, with any certainty, spot
low-dying craft below 5000 feet
To serve as the lower level len
in its bi-focal vision, the Air
Force relies heavily on its Ground
Observer Corps. it is quite possible
say airmen, that loW-fying enemy
craft could escape radar detection
10 that event. ground observers
might give the initial attack warn
ing
In July. 1852, ground observers I
in 26 states began Operation Sky
watch. This meant round-the-clOck
sBotting for stacking planes that
might hove into view at any mo-
ment
ia Delaware right now, there are
l8 ground observer posts with about
40 volunteers. For adequate cover
age, 26 posts are needed with over
5000 volunteers.
Only seven of the is are stated
around the clock. the remainder
operate parttime. OF the posts work
ing q hours. most are stated by
military or state personnel as part
Of their regular jobs For instance
tower guards at the New Castle
County WOrkhOuse also double as
ground observers
Among those posts stated by
volunteers. the two most faithfully
operated are the wilmington and
Harrington units The former Is
operating 75 per cent Of the time
and the Harrington post is on watch
95 per cent Of the times according
to Air Force officials.
Many Delaware GOC posts, once
fully named, have become almost
deserted. It IS easy to get volun-
teers. but hard to keep them. IT
IS easy to hire a man with en-
thusiasm by pointing out that if he
sights one enemy A-bomher he may
save a million lives. But It Is hard
10 keep him watching in tWo-hour
shifts week 10 and week out, month
after month.
Yet ground observers are needed
not only to sound an initial warn
ing but also for folloW-up spotting
Should enemy flight, detected by
radar and intercepted by u. S
fighters, break away at low altitude
the GOC reports would be relied
upon to track IT,
Another function Of the GOC Is TO
report plane crashes as soon as
possible. so that Air Intelligence
may parachute men into the scene J
to question enemy pilots, check
enemy planes.
Plane spOtting brings no glory. It
is lonely. mOnOtOnOus work, Yet
many Delaware volunteers have
stuck by t. Some have logged 1000
hours and more at skyWatching
Quite a few make the regular two
hour spotting shift a family affair
Man and wife teams are not un-
common. Housewives sometimes
take their children to the post for
a tour Of duty
Those interested in volunteering
should contact their local Obser-
walton post supervisor or write the
state Civil Deftnse office at Newark
Once in the GOES. the volunteers
are trained By and work with the
Air Force.
Another phase Of sCD,s air oper-
ations Is the work of the Civil Avi
alton Division In an emergency,
roughly twenty planes with $50
pilots, private and commercial,
would be on call, ready to carry out
any mission assigned by the state
CD director.
These planes operate out Of l0I
airports, mostly small fields In
Delaware. The unit is controlled
out Of the New Castle County Air
port by G. Edwin Petro, airport
manager, who IS CD chief Of civil
aviation. His Office VIII fan out
the RED" alert grounding all civil
planes during an enemy attack
Immediately afterwards, military
planes viii. Of course, get top
priority in the air But after the
airport traffic situation clears, the
Civil Aviation group viii be ready
to function as a part Of Civil De-
tense.