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COMMANDER'S CORNER
Since our last Newsletter, AFKN has had quite a turnover in personnel. SGM Eugene Stough departed for the States and retirement. I know many will miss "Gene'" and we all send our best wishes. SGM Willard Alexander is now filling the "top soldier" slot and he comes to AFKN with many years of experience in this business. MSG Sidney Grantham who stepped in as a temporary SGM goes back to the Maintenance Division and with him goes my personal thanks for doing a superior job. MSG Grantham exemplifies the initiative and devotion to duty that the AFKN NCOs have consistently displayed. A big welcome for 2LT Barry Lacter who has recently been assigned as OIC of Network News. Captain Block has departed for the States and his tenure as the News OIC has been one of great merit - good luck, "Rick," and thanks.
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ADMIN The Admin Section boasts of a new First Sergeant. The newly assigned First Shirt is SFC William A. Van Buskirk. A word to the wise - do not try to pull any fast ones on Top!! He just finished an assignment with the Disciplinary Barracks, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. SFC Van Buskirk's background includes being a former US ping pong champion. He extends an invitation to play with anyone interested. Sergeant Van Buskirk's favorite hobby is collecting autographs. He is planning to exhibit his impressive collection sometime during his tour in Korea. The Admin Section also had two promotions to Chicken Sergeant as Jim Cole and Don Lopez were promoted to Specialist Fifth Class. Acting Sgt Cole says he is too short to worry about it. NETWORK NEWS The Director of Information for the Armed Forces, Mr John Broger, and his Assistant, Henry Valentino, made a three-day fact finding visit to AFKN Headquarters in January. The two supervisors of the Army's information program and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service met with the Public Affairs Officer, Col Walter N. Moore Jr., Commanding Officer, AFKN, LTC Richard M. Gunsell, Chief of Production, Ed Masters, and the staff of the Network News Center to review news practices, policies and plans. During the second day of their visit, Mr Broger was interviewed on the locally televised program, "Inquiry," and answered questions about news censorship, possible improvement of the AFRTS signal from Washington and the affects of the budget cut for Fiscal Year 1971. Panel members for "Inquiry" were Air Force Sgts Jim Reader and Mike Gent, and SP5 Bud Veasey. Mr Broger visited the Far East Network in Japan before coming to AFKN, and departed for the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. The winter months produced the greatest challenge in News Center personnel in the past year. First to fall back to the "world" was Rick who amassed more than 800 days in the Republic including three Christmases. Rick who was promoted to Staff Sergeant on the day he left, worked both on television and radio, and served on every shift as one the most reliable and versatile staff journalists. SSG Sitler (Congratulations ain, Rick) was reassigned to the Army's Information Office in Washington, D. C. The next to leave was Air Force Sgt Dick Yarnell who handled the midnight to six in the morning casts for almost six months. Sgt Yarnell is currently assigned at Webb AFB in Big Spring, Texas. The NCOIC of the News Center, Army MSG Jerry Clark, departed with his wife for his new assignment with the Command Information Detachment in Washington, D.C. Word is - MSG Clark has completed his first few programs as a panelist on "Pentagon Forum." During his 13 month tour, MSG Clark did no less an an outstanding job in one of the most taxing assignments in the Public Information Field. Thanks a lot from all of us still behind on the Hill and the best of luck in the years ahead. The NCOIC job has passed temporarily to SP5 Bob Larry Ford who has soaehow managed to perform all the administrative and leadership functions of senior NCO along with maintaining much of his newshift work. Air Force Sgt Jim Reader, the 6 O'clock anchor man for television news for almost a year, departed from the Republic for his new assignment at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida. Jim was talented journalist who won the respect of virtually every television-watcher in Korea with his professionalism, delivery and capable news judgement. Off-camera, he was friendly, mature, and concerned about improving the quality of our efforts so that the serviceman would receive the best possible product. Good luck and best wishes form all of us. With the great out-flux of personnel comes an influx as well. Capt Richard Block's replacement sa OIC, Barry Lacter (the first Army Officer in News in many years), arrived from Fort Rucker, Alabama. LT Lacter is a graduate of the Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, the City College of New York, and holds a Masters Degree in Broadcast Journalism from Michigan State University. Capt Block, who has just spent a few days in Japan, will complete his tour on 31 March and will be assigned to the IO Shop at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.
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A1C Brian Blazer was assigned to the News Center after a tour working for the AF Officers Training School near Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Brian will work regular News shifts and will turtle Specialist Jud Booth for a possible shot as "News Beat Korea" honcho - a challenging job. Specialist Booth will ETS in April. SP5 John Jessup from Harrisburg, Nebraska, replaces Air Force Sgt Art Shotwell who will depart for Travis Air Force Base in April. John, who comes to us from the Army Hometown News Center in Kansas City, Missouri, is a graduate of the University o£ Nebraska. Army Specialists Roy Berg and Jim Thompson return from the world to the Sports Department and find Air Force Sgt Mike Soper, transferred to us from Radio BAYONET in the 7th Infantry Division. Specialist Thompson will ETS shortly and, the presence of Mike Soper will enable a smooth trans£er and avoid a shake-up in the Sports Department. Air Force Sgt Mike Gent and SP5 Bud Veazey have taken over the major TV cast at Six O'Clock. Mike Pope still mans the 8 O'Clock cast and Air Force Sgt Don Andrews is broadcasting the evening report at 10 PM. The oldest member of the News Center, Peter Choi has resigned and his loss has created a critical vacancy in the News Center. And our outstanding representative form the Republic of Korea Army, KATUSA Sgt Hong, Sung Duk, is due to ETS within the next few weeks. NETWORK RADIO Much has happened in Network Radio since you last heard from us. Radio has seen a new influx of "Blue" with a little Army Green mixed in also. In Air Force Blue, we welcomed AIC Lee Linkous who hails from Florida. Lee has been assigned to Vagabond FM, where his ideas will add a new sound on our Fine Music medium. Also added to the FM staff is AIC Berry (correct) Burks. Berry is Texas boy at heart, but with as eye out for bigger things. AIC Tom Taylor, an upstate New Yorker, will shortly add to the staff of Radio Mercury. Lest we not forget, another new addition is Air Force Sgt "Brother Bruce" Dortin. Bruce is holding down the nitebeat slot at Radio VAGABOND, but is famous network wide for "Soul Spectacular" - his Saturday night Soul Show. If listener reaction means anything, Bruce is the most popular thing to hit the airwaves since anyone can remember.
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The Army also helped the personnel prob1em with the addition
several new broadcasters. SP4 John Elder joined us in the Specia1 Events
Department. John is an Oklahoman, and was last stationed at Fort Gordon,
Georgia. SP4 Ron Donahoo - Ron is a Buckeye, and last saw duty at
Fort Jackson. And a final edition is PFC James Hansel - James is now OJTing
at Radio Gypsy.
Network Radio had one departure in recent weeks. We all bid farewell to SFC Pete Richards, gone but not forgotten. Pete is headed for duty in the Washington, D.C., area. The reins of Network Radio went, temporarily, to Sgt Gus Treewater in the programming area, and fell on the shoulders of Mr Ed Masters for administration. A word from Gus - "If you have any problems, do not hesitate to call...Ed." Sgt Tony Booth is now Vagabond Station Commander which now officially entitles him to pass the buck. Lest we not forget, SP4 Country Bob Seagroves is now Radio's engineer. Bob replaces Sgt Willie Nelson who has taken over Kunsan Air Base as Radio MERCURY Station Commander. Bob, by the way, hails from Mule Shoe, Texas, which gives him the right to do our Country and Western survey. And speaking of people on the move, SPS Roger Kohagen is now night man at Radio HOMESTEADER. Roger asked to go to Pusan when he learned the post there is called Hialeah Compound. However, he reports things at Hialeah a little quieter than expected. And finally AIC Dave Massa will soon be heading off to Radio TOMAHAWK to replace AF Sgt Jerry Polen. Dave seems excited about the move but he has not told anyone yet. And that concludes our Space Available report from Network Radio. But wait, one more addition to the family...the Sgt Gus Treewater family gave birth to a baby girl. Rumor is she will be assigned to Network News. RADIO BAYONET December arrived after November last year and with it - our new Station Commander, Sgt Dennis Lopez. Dennis replaced SSG Bob Britton who departed to assume the same position at Radio KILROY, Taegu. Sgt Lopez came to us after an award-winning stay as the "5 AM Jock" at Radio TCMAHAWK, Munsan.
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December also brought much hard work in preparation for the holiday season.
Besides making personal appearances at many local parties, we staged the
first annual "AFKN Christmas Caroling Party" at the Hourglass Service Club
with trips also to the local orphanages and hospitals in Tongduchon. We, also,
instituted daily traffic and road condition reports in the last month of
the decade.
January proved to be slower paced, but had its share of surprises. In mid-month, we lost AF Sgt Mike Soper. Following in Roy Berg's footsteps, he was snatched to Network Headquarters as a sportscaster. Mike's popular morning show, "Time-News-and-Trivia," was taken over by Dennis Lopez, who is still complaining that "it is dark when I go to bed, and it is dark when I get up!!" The end of the first month of 1970 saw plans in full swing for the upcoming 7th Division Blood Drive. For the BAYONET Staff, the first week in February will go down as the longest days of their Korean tour. SP5 Chuck Sherman, Program Director, and Dennis Lopez made the statement that they would stay on the air, live and remote from the Casey Service Club, one hour for every ten pints of blood donated to the 7th Division Blood Drive. Their marathon began at noon on 2 February and lasted, AND lasted, AND LASTED, until 6:30 AM on 4 February. A total or 42 1/2 hours of sleepless broadcasting collected 425 pints of blood, the division goal and limit. Assisted at the studio board by SP5 Bob Boyd, Station Engineer, and SP5 Bob Wikstrom, night time music man, the entire staff said that they would do it again because or the excellent cooperation they received £rom the Casey Service Club and the 7th Division. Dennis and Chuck received letters of commendation froa the Division Commanding General at the completion or the marathon. February also saw the departure of Bob Wikstro. £or the states where he is currently studying ror his £irst class ticket prior to accepting a job with a Seattle Radio Statien. A special thanks to Bob for l3 months of hard work as Radio BAYONET's most popular part-timer. The end or February also brought more remodeling of our studio facilities. Our record library was moved into a newly divided office area. At the same time, Dennis Lopez and Chuck Sherman found themselves in their very own office areas, complete with "In and 0ut" boxes. Mr Kang, Station Librarian, is still looking
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Thirteen old "Date with Chris" shows in the new library section. To
finish out February, we conducted a Sunday afternoon remote from the
Hourglass Service Clab celebrating the "Parade of American Music Month."
March came in like a lion with the arrival of AIC Roger Castro. Roger is new to Korea and AFKN. So far this month, we also saw the promotion of Bob Boyd, fix-it-all engineer, to Staff Sergeant. Besides conducting formations and police calls, Bob still finds time to play with his transistors and tubes. Our daily line-up reveals Dennis Lopez, mornings, on "T-H-T"; Chuck Sherman, afternoons, with "Carousel"; and Roger Castro, evenings, on the "Night Train." Even though we lost ace sportsman, Mike Soper, we covered the 7th Division Invitational Basketball Tourney and the Eighth Army versus the Korean All-Stars Exhibition Basketball Games, during February. This spring, Roger Castro will be handling the play-by-play of the Champion Bayonets Baseball Games. With December, January, February and some of March behind us... only our leader, Dennis Lopez, knows what lurks in the shadows till April Fool's Day!!! RADIO COMET The Radio COMET staff spent the early part of December tying up leftovers from Marathon 1969. This year's marathon ran for twenty-five hours during the last weekend in November and collected over $3,200 for our six Base-sponsored orphanages. The entire broadcast was remoted from the Osan Service Club and fed to the studio building where reports from the mobile unit, open messes and telephones were mixed by studio engineers. Credit for this year's success can go to Larry Sly, our anchor announcer who came down from Seoul, Ken Lott, mobile unit announcer from Munsan, and Mark Whatley, studio engineer from Taejon. Not to let the holidays catch us unprepared, much of early December was spent planning a Stag Night party as a thank you to several of the base units that have helped us during the year. We also put together a turkey dinner for our Christmas Ever party here at the station. Helping with the holiday bird were Station Commander, Chuck Hanberry, and his wife "Harvey," Bill and the soon to be Mrs Cranney, Dick Houser and friend,
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and Dirty Dave Weber. Also with us were security policeman
Tom Weldon and wife, bartender Paul Reiling and Mark Whatley who
slipped out or Taejon again to join us.
Radio COMET played "Platters for Pints" 23 January in a joint drive between Suwon and Osan Air Bases. Once again, the broadcast was remoted with the disc jockey working out of the Service Club and mixing done in the studio. A special three-way phone circuit was used between the service club disc jockey, the studio engineer and the record librarian working the card catalog. This way, every man requesting a song heard it played over Service Club speakers before he 1eft the building. Two days later, remote faci1ities were set up at the Osan Base Gym ror coverage of the 314th Air Division Basketball Finals. Mike Soper did an excellent job calling the action as Kunsan beat out Kwangju ror the championship. Listeners in Kunsan as well as Taegu were able to fo11ow the game live through feeds set up by the 2146th Communications Group. The Radio COMET staff even managed to get into the basketball act through the carefu1 guidance or coach Bill Cranney as we defeated the Base Gym Staff by the skin of our teeth in the rirst Radio Wonder basketball game. "Sophisticated Soul" premiered on each local ha1f-hour during February. Reggie Sullivan, from the base information office, approached us with the idea and carried the project through. The purpose is to get a greater variety o£ soul music on the air and not just the charted commercial soul. Reggie carts about ten voice-overs each week, telling something special about a particular song or artist, and these are played back along with the corresponding record following the half-hour weather break. Radio COMET also sent three baking teams on a broadcast from the February Pizza Party Contest at the Double Five Service Club. Engineer, David Weber, won in the most original creation category. Fifty free chicken dinners were given away during February to morning show listeners through the Snack Bar Delivery Service as they began chicken-in-a-basket service. Bill Cranney got free long enough to really get himsel£ tied down for good when he was married in Seoul on 10 February.
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Radio COMET was also around to cover recent choice entertainment on base
when Walter and Gracie Lantz arrived 5 December, special NCO Club show on
13 January, and the Beulah Bryant Show on 9 February.
RADIO GYPSY Unchon Radio GYPSY recently moved from atop "Gypsy Hill" at Camp Kaiser to a new location in the valley. All equipment, fies, and platters found themselves in the new building in a mere four days - thanks to the assistance of Ex-NCOIC of Network Radio, SFC Richards, and four AFKN engineers. Since the move was completed, two new members have been welcomed to the staff of AFKN's northernmost station. SFC Ralph C. Glapion comes to Radio GYPSY from the Richmond Microwave Relay Site. He has taken over as GYPSY's new Station Commander. PFC Jim Hansel, the other newcomer, helps with administration announcing. RADIO HOMESTEADER At the top of Radio Homesteader's activities for the New Year was the highly successful Blood Drive Marathon from 5 to 7 January at the Idle Hour Service Club, the donation center. The total of 340 pints collected nearly tripled last year's figure. The marathon, conceived by SP4 Jeff Marcus, our program director, was not merely a remote broadcast; the turntables and board from our auxiliary studio were actually moved to the Service Club along with about 500 records. Blood donors were able to make requests and watch them being played, as their hearts busily pumped out pints. When the blood team moved out at 5 p.m. the first day, 83 pints had been collected, a figure which seemed far short of our 300-pint goal. SP4 Marcus and A1C George Glass handled all disc jockey chores, working straight through from 8 a.m. Monday until 10 p.m. Tuesday. The Service Club was open all night long for visitors and before donations had started Tuesday, 60 telephone pledges had been taken. After a few short but blissful hours of racktime on Tuesday night, both men were back on the job the next day until the drive officially ended.
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When the original goal was within striking distance, a second target of
325 pints was announced, in return for which A1C Glass made his final
appearance in a flannel Santa Claus suit.
During the drive, Engineers SP5 Doug Kron1age and SP4 Ron Johnson pulled long boardshifts back at the station, switching us into and out of news, checking temperatures, and playing records which we did not have with us. HOMESTEADER's 100 percent participation in the drive itself included pints donated by both our houseboy, and our frail, young, 105 pound secretary. Four hours after the blood drive was over, SP4 Marcus was over at the post gym, doing his second play-by-play broadcast of a PBC basketball game this season. SSG Bob Lohr, Station Commander, and SPS Kron1age have been assisting at courtside. SP4 Marcus also traveled to Taegu from March 3-7. Radio KILROY's SP5 Marion Zimmerman came down here that week to handle Jeff's nightbeat show. Our (imaginary) Creative Programming Award goes to SP4 Marcus for his highly authentic radio re-creation of New Year's Eve at Times Square, with music by Guy Lombardo (naturally). The half-hour special was aired on 30 December on the Five O'Clock World, and listeners claimed they could almost see the big ball descending. Radio HOMESTEADER is now broadcasting a 5-minute taped program called "Hialeah Highlights," which features news of women's organizations in the area, and includes interviews with Pusan VIPs. The wives of both the Pusan Base Commander and the LBCD KMAG Commander have already been guests on the show. The program is hosted by a young officer's wife, a former Miss Kentucky, and is aired Tuesdays and Fridays at 7:55 a.m. and 5:05 p.m. Who's Who: SFC Floyd Harrell, of Augusta, Georgia, former NCOIC of a mobile TV team at Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania, replaced SFC James Robinson this month as Area Commander. SP5 Roger Kohagen of Network will take over the PD desk this month from SP4 Marcus, who is returning to civilian life (and getting married!!). Now that the four rebroadcast sites in the South Coast area are unmanned, all maintenance is being handled by AFKN Radio and TV engineers SFC Harrell, SP5 Kronlage, and SP5 Albie Beutler,
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SP5 Clyde Sharpe and SP4 Johnson. In addition, the TV engineers are working on a television translator at Pulmosan to bring the dazzle of video to the Chinhae area.
RADIO KILROY During January, Radio KILROY lost SP4 Thomas Pokragac for DEROS and separation. We also started a local feature, "Message of the Stars," about basic astrology. This prograa is produced by SP4 Byron Maddox, our STRATCOM parttimer, and is still on the air. It is heard within our local programs weekdays at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. Lt Arnold, AFKN Admin Officer, visited here 21 through 24 January and then left for Pusan. In February, Post Engineers installed a new 30KW generator for us and took out our old 15KW unit. Now we can remain on our 5KW transmitter during local power outages. Previously, we had to decrease our power to 1KW for standby power. Sp4 Nate Oeser, our KILROY Program Director, did a special three-hour program, "The American Music Scene Now," as part of February's Parade of American Music month. We aired the program on 20 February between 7:05 and 10 p.m. This Special told how the music of today evolved from Country and Western, Rock, Soul, Folk, MOR and Blue from the past three decades. On 2 March, the Taegu Air Base NCO C1ub-Officers Annex was comp1ete1y destroyed by fire. Damage to the building was estimated at $58,000 while the inventory loss aaounted to $130,000. We phoned the report to Network News, and the story was used on the 10 p.m. newscast that night. SP5 Rudy Navarette, AFKN KILROY TV, left for reassignment to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, on 3 March. His rep1acement, SP5 Ronald Bowie arrived here the same day. Also on 3 March, SP5 Marion Zimmerman from KILROY left for Pusan for four days while SP4 Jeff Marcus from Pusan came here for the same period to broadcast the Eighth Army Depot Commnd Basketball Tournament with teams in Pusan, Taegu, and Camp Carroll. Jeff Marcus did an outstanding job calling all the games we broadcast. Friday night, 7 March, we had a Pusan invasion party and did a live remote record hop from the Camp Walker Entertainment Workshop. SP4 Byron Maddox, our parttimer, hosted the event attended by over 100 teenagers from Chinhae, Pusan, and Taegu. Other radio personnel helping out for this included SP4 Nate Oeser, SP4 Ivan Lemon and Pusan's SP4 Jeff Marcus.
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RADIO MERCURY -
Kunsan, AFKN's Baghdad by the Bay, has been shifting staffers like sand
on the shore. SSgt Dave Shepherd left the Kun with Santa for an
assignment at Tan Son Nhut. SSgt Ken Lott departed for reassignaent to
Kincheloe AFB, Michigan. Replacing the guitar playing Station Commander,
SP4 Roger Schulman carded an outstanding fifteen-day course record before
relinquishing the top slot to SSgt Willie Nelson, 25 February. SP5
Edmundo Daniel accepted the relatively new television department job.
AFKN Kunsan's Old Guard, still includes SP4 Paul Pedersen,
Chief of Radio Engineering, and famous Network unknown, AIC L. R.
aver, Program Director.
RADIO TOMAHAWK AFKN's closest radio facility to the Demilitarized Zone has r cently completed an extensive remodeling program. Radio TOMAHAWK has become a must on any tour of the Second Infantry Division. New furnishings include console furniture aDd record cabinets, acoustical tile for the ceiling, better lighting fixtures, a "carousel" tape cartridge rack and ceiling-to-floor gold and green draperies. Future plans include wall-to-wall carpeting. The project was initiated and completed by the TOMAHAWK engineering sta££ with the helpful guidance o£ Station Commander, SSG Bunn L. Thompson. Our two industrious engineers, SP4s Terry Menke and Tim Lewis, and Mr Kia, our Korean engineer, worked day and night to complete the big project with a minimal of interruption to our local broadcast hours. Our crack engineers collaborated patiently to completely rewire the board during the remodeling caper and managed to remain surprisingly calm throughout the nerve-wracking job. A big DMZ pat on the back to the engineers for a job well done. TOMAHAWK extends an open invitation for all to visit our station. Then you will see why we are so PROUD!! Remodeling was not the only newsworthy item at TOMAHAWK. Two of the sta£f have been honored with special citations. SSG Thompson was recently presented a letter of appreciation and a trophy from the Paju Police Chief. The award was presented for "meritorious services rendered to the local community... and untiring efforts in promoting a good relationship between the United States and the Republic of Korea." Air Force Sergeant
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Jerry Polen was awarded the AF Commendation Medal in a ceremony at
Osan last month. The medal was presented for "meritorious service as
Editor and Writer for the Nellis Century newspaper, Nellis AFB,
Nevada." During the time Jerry was editing the paper, the Tactical Air
Command Editorial Achievement award was presented. The TAC paper placed
first in newspaper competition and second in the Air Force-wide
competition. His office also was named "Outstanding Information Office"
in 1968. Jerry is so short that he is reaching UP to cue records on his
"Mail from Home" show each evening. Jerry has been doing the request
program for almost 12 months and has accumulated a large following
among Division personnel. The program has been running continually since
1960 and letters from the States average about 60 to 90 per week.
Congratulations to TOMAHAWK staff members. Second Division personnel have
it jumping out of the rack for formation to the "clownery" of our
newest staff announcer, 'marvelous-morning-music~man' Robert D. Williams,
Jr. Bob keeps the records spinning the "poor puns" flowing from 5 til
8 a.m. each Monday through Friday. His audience response has been very
good but he still finds difficulty being the "longest" person at the
station.
TOMAHAWK's family is looking forward to the arrival of AIC David E. Massa as a new staff announcer. Dave has been working at Network and we believe ready for some good experience at an outlying station. Welcome aboard, Dave!! Being 3 1/2 miles from Panmunjom is not all that bad!! With the good news of a new arrival came the bad news that TOMAHAWK was losing one of her engineers. SP4 Tim Lewis has been reassigned to Chunchon Radio Rebroadcast Site. We will definitely miss his "Soulful" assistance and pleasant disposition. Among the programaing scheduled at Radio TOMAHAWK during this month is the annual Easter Sunrise Service from Charlie Block Hill. Our engineers and announcers will brave the cold temperatures high atop Pajuri's mountain to air the service. The Second Division Chaplains, the Division Band, 2d Brigade Chapel Choir and the Jo Son Orphanage Choir will participate in the Easter Service. TOMAHAWK has made the broadcast an annual affair.
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Our Korean secretary-record librarian, Miss Kia, not only gets better
looking everyday but she becomes more and more efficient. She has
completely revamped our record library filing system. The updating
project began many weeks ago and now gives TOMAHAWK a record library
and file system second to none in the Network. However, things have
slowed a bit when Miss Kim runs across a recording group like
"Cold Blood," "The Blodwyn Pig," "Grand Funk Railroad," "The Who?," and
the "Plastic Cow." Pulling her hair out, she usually screams,
"Whatever happened to the KIM SISTERS!!!"
Cha Cha, our houseboy supreme, has certainly become more than just "a household word" lately. He works many extra hours to provide all the comforts of home for everyone at TOMAHAWK. His unofficial duties include parttime cook, bartender, soccer player and Godfather for our (usually) pregnant dog - Ralph!! One final note concerning announcers. Recently one of our jocks was under the weather for awhile and Network gave us the services of one of their top DJs - Don Johnston. While here, Don did the "Mail from Home Show" and found out why everyone at TOMAHAWK wants to stay right here. Thank you DeeJay, the DeeJay!! NETWORK TELEVISION January 1970 may well be referred to by the "Old Timers" of AFKN as the month of near Network TV collapse. In this month, we bid fond farewell to old pros like Air Force Sgt Jim Frank... SP4 Gil Bochicchio was missed immensely during the Six O'Clock News...a1so on the list of departed, NBC Director type, Ron Mack (need we say more)...and we must not forget that AFKN all-time gentleman, Rick Skewes. Complicated by Television's successful M151 Safety Campaign and Drug Abuse programming, for awhile there seemed no relief for our overworked crew. But with a skeleton crew, bolstered by the AFKN Team spirit, we struggled through a very long month. Finally, we gained one bright and shining new body, in the person of SP4 Bob Lederer, University of Michigan trained broadcasting giant. Welcome aboardd, Bob!! As January came to a close, AFRTS Los Angeles released another thrilling sports spectacular, as the USSR and the United States
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competed for the AAU Boxing Championship. One complication did arise,
however, the first half of the matches arrived ithout announcer or
play-by-play comment. But again, not easily panicked, Dave Cash and
Dana Hersey immediately put their heads together and succeeded in
mumbling and contradicting each other through the entire first half.
Thanks be to the efforts of cool minded professionals like Howard
Cosell and Mohammed Ali, who came through in the second half, the AAU
Championships were not a total loss.
In February, the USARPAC Championships were broadcast live and in living black and white from Shea Field House in ASCOM. TV once again produced an end product it could be reasonably proud of. TV also bid farewell to PFC Russ Britton, SP4 Marshall Logue, Air Force Sgt Tony Christophersen, PFC Gary Workman, SP5 Wayne Cress, Air Force Sgt Gene Cox, SFC Lou Marsh, TSgt Donald Fortney...and last but by no means LEAST - TSgt Ed Webb. During the past few months, we welcomed the following people - the shining future of AFKN Television - SP4 Dan Chin, brought to us through the courtesy of Fort Monmouth's TV Production Course; AIC Donald Comly, Projection's finest, already involved in numerous Korean culture projects; AIC Randy Ashurst, who joined the ranks of the Television production crew, is currently involved in finding a "hooch" with just the right atmosphere but can be found at almost anytime at the Bando Hotel; Air Force Sgt Marty Weinstein, who exercises the philosophy that a little knowledge of the broadcasting industry goes a long way, also does hokey impressions of President Nixon; SFC Jim Marcum, new NCOIC of knob twisters and dial jockeys, was hijacked from the Orderly Room; and finally - SFC Bill Branyan, with a long list of credits, is aptly filling the big shoes of TSgt Ed Webb as NCOIC, Network Television. Other happenings of interest...if you are a religious viewer of Captain Overscan, you will note decided improvements in STROBAR, also the appearance of an extreaely hokey wizard (Pete Russo) who is not very bright but still somewhat entertaining. In conclusion, TV submits humble gratitude to all those who have left us, sadder but wiser...and also welcomes those who have just joined what has to be the closest broadcasting team in the world.
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ENGINEERING AND LOGISTICS OFFICE
Under the reorganization plan for Headquarters AFKN, the office of Special Assistant for Engineering has been abolished and designated as Engineering and Logistics Officer (ELO). Super- vision of the Engineering, Maintenance, and Supply Divisions are the responsibility of the ELO. A wind-up of reorganization has placed the training of AFKN personnel, the monitoring of travel and other administration matters again under the Deputy Commander. The Supply Officer (Mr Nunley) has been given total responsibility for preparation and execution of the budget (just call him money-bags). Relocation of the office of the ELO was also effected; it is now located in Building No 1353, AFKN Headquarters, telephones 6122,6171. In this building also are the Chief Engineer, Mr Jerry McDonald; TV Technician, Mr Warren Thewis; Chief KN Engineer and Project Officer, Mr Pak; the Network Engineer draftsman, Mr Bae; Miss Lee, Stenographer; Engineering and Logistics Officer, Mr Charlie Barr, and his righthand man, SP5 Jesse L. Gough, Engineer. Problems related to engineering, maintenance, or supply should be directed to this office. MAINTENANCE DIVISION During the past month, several significant improvements have been made by the Maintenance Division among which has been a new antenna system at Wonju which has provided coverage of the adjacent airstrip with a more than adequate AM signal. The ground radial system at the South Post QM transmitter site was unearthed and proven, which led to a returning of the antenna and an improved radiated signal. The shop has also undergone a clean-up prograa to make it a more pleasant and efficient working area. SFC Cline is combing through the parts (he says: junk) to return to Supply all parts that are excess to their stockage level and needs. ENGINEERING DIVISION The Engineering Division has been up to its ears in rewriting the equipment section of the TDA - a tedious and meticulous job entailing hundreds of line items o£ equipment representing every major end-item used in the Network. Mr Thewis has been giving Unchon a boost toward completion o£ the new station which
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lacks only installation or new FM receiving antenna, to be stalled on
a telephone pole supplied and installed by R&U Camp Kaiser. Problems at
Kwangju have been handled by Mr Pak and "Antenna" Kim; one more trip
and the station will be completely removed from the KMAG Compound and
operative at the Air Force Base. Support of this station has been
undertaken by the Air Force since we are now their tenants. The
translator at Mudungsan is now housed in a new building, al1
installation is complete, and, when a strong enough signal can be fed
to the set, the troops should be enjoying TV programs from Seoul.
NETWORK SUPPLY Due to the loss of Mr Jerry Wright of the Network Supply Office (he has accepted an Accountable Officer assignment at Uijongbu), the activity has been operating short-handed. The KN Storekeeper was also affected by the reduction-in-force and the warehouse is manned only by SP5 Carreon who is putting in a rough eight hours and doing a fine job. SFC Johnson has had a run of bad health, due to the gout, which has put him on crutches during the past month. He has had several trips to the hospital including a two-week stay there. FIELD OPERATIONS The heavy turnover in personnel has begun in March, and will continue through May. Heading the list of new arrivals is SFC Ralph O. Cline who came to AFKN from Fort Ritchie, Maryland, and has been assigned to Field Operations. Ralph has been spending most of his time in the Net Maintenance Shop working on the new unit PLL. No stranger to AFKN is SFC Johnie Wha1em who came from Fort Hood, Texas, and was assigned to the big windy hill at Richmond TV Rebroadcast. SP5 Ronald D. Bowie who came from Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, was assigned to Taegu TV Rebroadcast. SP4 David C. Crane who came from Walter Reed AMC and has been assigned to Net Maintenance, will miss his color TV programming. After receiving his "Kimpo crewcut," SP4 Loren L. Williams caught the big bird headed for the big "D," Dallas, Texas. SP5 Burris L. Parent leaves pajuri TV Rebroadcast with rod
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and gun headed for the sportsman's paradise, Geismar, Louisiana. SP5
Robert W. Cleary has walked down the hill from Salem Microwave Relay Site
for the last time and has headed for Boston, Massachusetts. Congratulations
to SFC James E. Robinson, Area Commander, Pusan Radio and TV Rebroadcast
for the fine job he did at Pusan. SFC Robinson received the AFKN Certificate
of Achievement and has temporarily returned to the world to retire from the
Army. He said he will return to settle down in Pusan and work for the
Raytheon Corporation.
SP5 Samuel L. "Slippery" Wilson has slipped out of the Network Maintenance Shop for the last time and has headed for greater feats in his disappearing act to the Mobile Television Depot at Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania. SP5 Rudolph A. Navarette will be sorely missed at Taegu TV Rebroadcast, but will be a tremendous asset at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. SP5 Bohdan Kushnir, Station Commander of Radio RAMBLER, Chunchon, has gone to the sunny climate of Fort Huachuca, Arizona. SP5 John Tandy, former NCOIC of Net Maintenance, will be a welcome addition to the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. SP5 Ronald L. Hodge has departed Charlie Block country for the land of Lincoln, and Casey, Illinois. Air Force Sgt James O. Harmon was given an early out upon notification that his mother was in serious condition at the hospital in Coco, Florida. Our sincerest wishes for a speedy recovery to Mrs Harmon, and a fond farewell and our appreciation for a job well done at Kwangju TV and Radio Rebroadcast to Sgt Harmon. Due to the acute shortage of personnel, several transfers of key personnel have been made to fill vacant slots across the Network. MSG Sidney F. Grantham has moved to the SGM slot vacated by SGM Eugene W. Stough who has retired to the Golf Capital, Augusta, Georgia. MSG Phillip R. Bagato has left the Net Maintenance Shop for the air conditioned Field Operations Office. SFC Ralph C. Glapion has left Richmond TV Rebroadcast to take over the helm at Radio GYPSY. Air Force TSgt Billie R. Perkins has left Pusan TV Rebroadcast to take over the helm at Kwangju Radio and TV Rebroadcast, and to complete the move from KMAG Compound to Kwangju Air Base. SP5 William D. Leslie has left Richaond TV Rebroadcast to lend his invaluable assistance to the Net Maintenance Shop.
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SP5 Robert L. Titus has received hard stripes and has taken over as
Assistant NCOIC of Network Maintenance after a very fine job at Brooklyn
Microwave Relay Site. SP5 Edwin D. Morgan has moved from the Main TV
Broadcast Site at Pugaksan to lend his expert assistance to SFC Johnie
Whalem at Richmond TV Rebroadcast. AIC Gary A. Matlock has moved from
Dartboard Microwave Relay Site to Taegu TV Rebroadcast Station. Gary has
his plans all made to take the mid-tour route via Okinawa to the world in
March. SP5 Daniel L. Olson has taken the chopper ride from Dartboard
Microwave Relay Site to Salem Microwave Relay Site, and will be our man
at Salem.
SP5 Edmund E. Daniel has taken over Kunsan TV Rebroadcast after a fine job at Net Maintenance. SP5 Clyde D. Sharpe has moved from Changsan Microwave Relay Site to assist SFC Floyd R. Harrell at Pusan TV Rebroadcast. SP4 Julian T. Lewis has moved to Radio RAMBLER from Radio TOMAHAWK to assist Air Force Sgt Verne E. Tame, Jr. Improvement in the microwave link from Pugaksan through Madison Microwave Relay, Highpoint Microwave Relay to Richmond TV Rebroadcast was achieved by the fine Net Maintenance team of SFC Ralph Cline, Sgt Bob Titus, SP5 Bill Leslie and SP4 Mike Talley with the expert assistance of AF Sgt Bob Bell and SP5 Bob Ansart. The microwave dishes were aligned and complete alignment of the microwave transmitters and receivers was accomplished. Congratulations to SP4 Michael L. Talley upon his receiving the AFKN Certificate of Achievement which was presented by LTC Richard M. Gunsell. AlC Larry Cookson has taken the big "red bird" to the world for 25 days of relaxation with his new bride. CW2 Larry B. Junkin and MSG Phillip R. Bagato had the pleasure of representing the Commanding Officer, LTC Richard M. Gunsell at the dedication of the EM billets at Pajuri in Charlie Block country. Congratulations for a superb effort go to Net Maintenance in installing a Microwave link from KBS-TV Transmitter Station on Namsan to AFKN Headquarters for live TV coverage during the 1970 USARPAC Boxing Tournament, at Shea Field House, at ASCOM. Temporary loss of signal on the second day occurred when the KBS Microwave dish at ASCOM was toppled by heavy winds. Fast work by KBS technicians soon restored the link.
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Work is still underway at Kwangju to complete the move of the
AM Transmitter from KMAG Compound to Kwangju Air Base. Difficulties with
the received TV signal strength are still to be overcome. Praise is due
SP5 Ed Daniel and SP4 Dick Pederson of Kunsan TV and Radio Rebroadcast,
for the fine effort at bringing the TV Transmitter up to full power and
installing a temporary TV transmit antenna in an unsuccessful attempt
to improve TV signal strength at Mudungsan for the TV translator there.
Further improvement in the TV transmission at Kwangju Air Base is a
continuing goal of AFKN. Congratulations to TSgt Billie Perkins and
SP5 Preston Saith at Kwangju for the fine job of repairing the spare AM
and PM transmitters. Congratulations to SFC Leslie Watkins and the personnel
of recabling the equipment racks and installing a video switcher
to the 5KW transmitter to provide fast switchover of the video signal in
the event of microwave relay dropout from AFKN Headquarters.
A first in Korea will be the UHF translator now in the process of installation at Pulmosan by SFC Floyd R. Harrell and personnel at Pusan TV Rebroadcast to provide TV coverage to the Chinhae Naval Base. Soon to be effected is the much needed reconditioning of the FM antenna tower at Hwaaksan TV Rebroadcast. Thanks to prompt action by SFC Robert L. Hall and the personnel at Hwaaksan TV Rebroadcast, safety of the tower was insured when he effected repairs on two severed guy cables. With a third guy cable still down, a contract was made with the Han Gook Antenna Company through the efforts of Mr Clarence L. Nunley of Net Supply. KUDOS A word of thanks to Miss Lee, Engineering Division, for her loyal and staunch support in the preparation of the TDA and MTDA. For over a week and a half, Miss Lee put in a solid eight hours a day typing and also worked on Saturday to keep pace with the requirements. Throughout the preparation of the TDA and MTDA, the outstanding worker was SP5 Gough who played the lead in controlling the preparation of the many inputs, routing them to the persons concerned for the detailed preparation. Final subaission to the Commander at 11:45 p.m. on 4 March ended a long, hard 30 days of intense work. A final word on the TDA ~ Engineering and Logistics Office, charged with the updating of the TDA, especially thanks to the Command Secretary for the diligent and productive seven hours of overtime she worked on 4 March that made ,it possible to meet the 5 March ultimatum. Many thanks, Helen.
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AFKN ORPHANAGE
The AFKN Orphanage Committee would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped make this a Merry Christmas for the 88 g1rls of the Sun Duk Won Orphanage. Thanks to all who gave up their time Saturday, 20 December, to make sure the girls received a warm welcome. Special thanks, however, to several persons - the Studio Lounge crew who prepared the hot dogs and donated cokes and ice cream as well as time and space; TV...for use of the studio while gifts were distributed; Dave Cash, who directed a 40-minute taping session; Ed Masters, who purchased a Christmas stocking for each girl; Tony Booth, whose mother sent individually-packaged stockings for each girl; Ron Mack, whose church sent $25 to buy candy; Susan Gent who baked six dozen cookies for the party; Tony Christophersen, who will be remembered as the weird beard (Santa); and Radio BAYONET, who supplied us with the Santa Claus suit. For those of you who regularly contribute to the Orphanage Fund, your money went to purchase a pair of boots for each girl. Again, thank you for whatever your contribution.
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