James F. Bond Sr. Interview, 26 February 2005
‹‹ Interview Index
1 /
2 /
3 /
4 /
5 /
6 /
7 /
8 /
9 /
10 /
11 /
12 /
13 /
14 /
15 /
16 /
17 /
18 /
19 /
20 /
21 /
22 /
23
| JB: | No, to place time on it, it was during the Ice Bowl when Dallas and who was it played that game up there? Maybe it was Green Bay. They called it the Ice Bowl. | |
| TT: | Yeah, I know the one you're talking about. | |
| JB: | We went to that game. Yeah, we had plenty of antifreeze with us (laughs). That was the coldest man; I don't think I enjoyed that game at all. | |
| TT: | So your first assignment in Minot was as a Flight Security Controller? | |
| JB: | No, I was with the missile team the whole time I was there. You have to go through a certain period of training for their systems, everything we did out there was by Code Packs. All of our communication when we left base, went out to the field for duty, the first thing that you do is stop, they had a telephone there, you would call the Transportation Division give them your vehicle number, how many were in your party, where you were going to, and you would authenticate one of their security people over the phone every time you left the support base. | |
| TT: | So they must have had a huge schedule on the wall there, and they just kept track of everybody constantly. | |
| JB: | Yeah, especially in the winter, 'cause it would be real easy to get out there where nobody could find you. I remember a lot of whiteouts when we were going from the missile field back to the support base, walking in front of the bus to make sure we were still on the road. Big 'ol parka pulled up, little hole like that (gestures) where you could see through. | |
| TT: | How did you remove the snow from the drive into the launch security facility? | |
| JB: | Well, we had shovels there. | |
| TT: | So you had to shovel all that? | |
| JB: | Well, out there, the wind blew quite a bit, so. The only time it would get really bad is if we had snow and then it would get warm enough to melt it, and it would freeze again. | |
| TT: | Did you start out as a Flight Security Controller then? | |
| JB: | Uh huh. | |
| TT: | So they gave you November right away and you were there the whole period of time you were there? | |
| JB: | Well, you go in there and you work with another Flight Security Controller on-the-job training until you learn everything. I guess you could say until they trust you to be able to operate it by yourself. | |
| TT: | So by October '68 you had gone through your training? | |
| JB: | Oh yeah. I had been out there a while as Flight Security Controller. | |
| TT: | Right, let's talk about your procedures. | |
| JB: | When you leave support base and you get out to the missile field—depending on which one you were assigned to—and it easily took us about an hour and a half, maybe two hours depending on the weather to get to the missile field, or the missile site itself, where the Launch Control Facility, LCF was. It was surrounded by a fence, not electrified, you had a garage off to the side when you came through the gate, and there were antennas, |
‹‹ Previous Page — Next Page ››
9