Submitted by: Jay Ford SPC4, Army Ordnace Corps (ret) 7-9Dec02 I am a veteran of the US Army, and in 1953-1956 I was assigned to the Aberdeen Bombing Mission headquartered at Edwards AFB. My duty assignment was at the Special Weapons Branch at Kirtland AFB New Mexico, from which flights were scheduled to the Range for bombing table generation purposes. I rode as an Ordnance Observer many times on B-36 drops over the Range. This was probably before your time, when the Army Ordnance Corps operated the Range and reduced the data down to bombing tables for the Air Force. When the AF took over this responsibility on1 Jul 56, our Branch at Kirtland was closed and I was re-assigned to Fort Huachuca (AZ) for separation from active duty. So I didn't spend much time on the ground at Edwards, but did have a tour of the cameras, telemetry receiving stations, and data reduction center in Pasadena as part of my "orientation" when first assigned. I spent a little over two years in the bombing range business. The commander at ABM, as I remember, was LTC Clyde Bills. Our boss at Kirtland was a civilian employee of the Army, Herman Miller. I remember my first flight on a B-36 as an ordnance observer. My responsibility was to turn on the telemetry transmitter mounted in the aft compartment behind the bomb bay a few minutes before drop so that the Army guys on the ground could verify operation. The telemetry equipment sent a signal to the ground at the moment the bomb carrier strap separated ("bombs away" point). I was seated on the floor in the rear compartment, and had been warned by the two airmen in the rear to prepare to hold myself steady at take-off. For nearly an hour I listened on earphones while the pilot and engineers ran up each of the 10 engines and pronounced them ready for take-off. Right after the pilot said "Kirtland tower, Air Force XXX rolling", PFC Ford starting sliding toward the tail, frantically trying to catch my boot heels in a strut on the floor. I did, and after turning around to face forward again, was greeted with two grinning airmen with "I told you so" smirks. The acceleration at take-off was remarkable - we rolled 2 or 3 thousand feet (on that 11,000 foot E-W runway) then pointed up at about a 45 degree angle to gain altitude. I believe many of our drops were of the MK-17, which totally filled the forward bomb-bay and weighed in at about 45,000 pounds as I recall. One time a drogue 'chute had failed to open as the bomb separeted, and it had crashed miles ahead of the target in the dry lake. We turned around and headed back to Kirtland. We found out later that the commander at Edwards was already on the ground at Kirtland, complaining to our commander about making holes in "his" dry lake! Another time, my boss asked me to ride in the foward cabin area, and lay on my stomach between the bombardier's feet (practically) and observe the 'chute deployment below the aircraft as the bomb came into my view. I was in place, after asking the bombardier if I would know when separation occurred. He assured my I would (!). I scooted forward as far as I could (into the front bubble) and looked down through the plexiglass. The instantaneous loss of over 20 tons of weight of course caused the airplane to move upward quickly, and took my breath away - but a gasping PFC did his job and noted the 'chute deployment (OK that time!). I think it was that same flight that we battled a fierce headwind all the way to Edwards (took almost 4 hours), but made the return from start of the escape manuever to touchdown at Kirtland in 55 minutes! During my time at KAFB I believe all drops were of thermonuclear shapes, the MK-17 among them. I hope I'm correct in remembering the big bomb as Mk-17, and not some other number - it's almost 50 years ago!

Submitted by: Dan LaRue, Newbury, MA. 9Nov02 I pulled duty on the "Range" from '75 - '78 as an airman and sgt. in the "Instrumentation Mechanic" speciality. I spent many hours in "East Flank" tower aiming a transit, pulling and scoring A-10 gun targets, packing chutes from air drops, theodolite tracking B1 TFR runs over Haystack Butte, etc. I did electronic repairs, and couldn't stay away from the machine shop. I welded a tripod stand that held the anemometer on top of DAGRAG tower. Might still be there. Loved every bit of it and missed it like hell when I departed. I especially missed the desert and the people who live there. Your picture of the old radio console at Downfall, looked exactly like it did in my day. At the time Downfall was manned by Joe Riley. An older pleasant gentleman, that seemed to be a fixture on the range. My boss was James Munson, who ran Range Operations. Great guy to work for. I can barely make out what appears to be the old wooden water tower in the compound. Some things just don't change. Indeed it is. Here's a photo of DAGRAG tower taken in 1986, with the anemometer circled. --Ed.

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