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Radar Bomb Scoring Division

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The Radar Bomb Scoring Division was a Strategic Air Command military organization which controlled the RBS units and operations of the 1st Combat Evaluation Group. The division included a maintenance office[1] and as with the preceding 1st Radar Bomb Scoring Group at Carswell AFB, the division had 3 Radar Bomb Scoring Squadrons with RBS detachments at fixed radar stations and at semi-mobile radar stations. The semi-mobile stations called "MDLs (Mobile Duty Locations) were sites set up for SAC special missions [and the] equipment, trailers, books, etc" were stored at Barksdale AFB when not in use.[2] Each squadron manned an RBS Express train, but the squadrons were inactivated in 1966 after Vietnam War deployments had begun.[3] RBS trains were inactivated later in the war after the 1968-9 Project 693 downsized by discharging 1st term SAC airmen up to 11 mos. early.[4] Post-war[specify] 

the annual Combat Skyspot trophy was awarded for the outstanding RBS detachment (e.g., to Ashland Det 7 in 1985).[5]
1CEVG radar stations before/after squadron closures on 25 July (12th), 22 August (11th), & 19 September (10th) 1965
Det 10th RBS 11th RBS 12th RBS 20 September 1966 31 June 1989
1 CO: La Junta
Montreal, Canada
 CO: La Junta (1959–1995)[6]
2 MO: Joplin (tbd-1969)[4][7] SD: Badlands SD: Badlands (1960–1968) AZ: Holbrook AFS (1968–1993)[8]
3 NC: Charlotte GA: Statesboro
4 CA:Sacramento GA: Statesboro MO: Oronogo[4]
Bann, West Germany[8] (1970[9]-c. 1985)[10]
5 FL: Tampa ID: Wilder (c. 1993)[11]
6 MI: Bayshore (1963[12]-1985)
7
London, England
 ME: Ashland Strategic Training Range (1963–90)[13]
8 KY: Richmond [14] KY: Richmond[9]
9 AZ: Winslow[15] OH: Springfield UT: St. George (July 1966 from Winslow-tbd)[16]
10 NE: Hastings[17] [18] ND: Bismarck[9] KY: Blue Grass AD NE: Hastings [1]
11 NY: Fort Drum NY: Ft Drum
12 MS: Laurel[19] NV: Hawthorne
13 MS: Ellisville
14 ND: Bismarck (1961[9]-1986)[20]
15 [most of the above deployed for Vietnam Combat Skyspot]
   Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam
16 WY: Powell
17 MT: Havre[9] (1986[21]-c. 1993)[9]
18 MT: Forsyth
19 ND: Dickinson
20 MT: Conrad[22]
21 SD: Belle Fourche

Operations[]

The squadrons initially used AN/MSQ-1, AN/MSQ-1, and AN/MSQ-2 automatic tracking radar/computer systems, and bomber crashes during RBS sorties included 2 B-47 bombers at the Bayshore Bomb Scoring Site in 1961.[23] The Reeves AN/MSQ-35 Bomb Scoring Central was developed for the division (the 1st class was in the fall of 1962, and mid-1963 testing was at the White Sands Missile Range.)[24] During the Vietnam War, the Statesboro detachment used a Soviet T2A for training crews to jam the signal, and 3 US bombing systems developed during the war (AN/MSQ-77, AN/TSQ-81, & AN/TSQ-96) were used post-war in the United States by the RBS Division, which replaced them with the c. 1980 solid-state US Dynamics AN/TPQ-43 Bomb Scoring Set (SEEK SCORE) developed from the AN/TPB-1C Course Directing Central.[25]

At the end of the Cold War, most RBS detachments became Formerly Used Defense Sites (e.g., the earlier Milford Radar Bomb Scoring Site in Beaver County, Utah,[26] closed in 1971[27] and is designated FUDS J08UT0874.)[28] The personnel and the assets of the RBS Division became the 1st Electronic Combat Range Group on 1 July 1989 when the 1CEVG was split and other 1CEVG organizations transferred to SAC headquarters.[8]

806L systems[]

The Electronic Systems Division 806L "Range Threat" systems for electronic warfare simulation were developed[29] for use by 1CEVG late in the Cold War such as the US Dynamics AN/MST-T1 Miniature-Multiple Threat Emitter Simulator (MUTES), for which the group evaluated the prototype in 1977 (operational in October 1978). Similarly, TLQ-11 jammer improvements were in 1978, and in 1979 1CEVG members completed a prototype study and testing of the new Threat Reaction Analysis Indicator System (TRAINS) for analyzing how aircrews and avionics reacted to ground-based threats.

References[]

  1. ↑ "Smith, Lowell Vetter, TSgt" (biography webpage). TogetherWeServed.com. http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=81556. Retrieved 2013-08-26.  NOTE: Biopage includes testimonial with "I was serving as NCOIC, Detachment 15, at the time of the incident, and was wounded in the same attack. We also had three additional personnel wounded. Another SAC unit (SACADVON) had 5 personnel billeted with us. One of them, SSgt Johnny Rose, was killed and at least two others wounded. According to some records I've seen, SSgt Norman E. Thomas was also killed in this attack, although I do not remember him as being one of the troops billeted with us."
  2. ↑ https://archive.is/20121115225714/groups.yahoo.com/group/combatevaluationgroup/message/3311
  3. ↑ (DocStoc.com image) 1st Combat Evaluation Group (SAC): April–June 1966 (Report). Volume I. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/111974612/1CEVG-Combat-Skyspot-History. Retrieved 2012-07-14.  (partial transcription at 1stCombatEvaluationGroup.com)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 History of the Strategic Air Command: 1969 (Report). Historical Summary 116. Office of Command History. http://minotb52ufo.com/archives/strategic_air_command/sac_hist_fy69_vol1_ch1.pdf. Retrieved 2013-08-26. "SAC had 64 detachments at the end of FY-69, an increase of nine, offset by a reduction of three. One discontinued was Detachment 4, 1st Combat Evaluation Group (CEG), Oronogo, Missourie. It was the second detachment of the 1CEG to be inactivated in 1968.100 … Scoring activity stopped on 15 December, the equipment was moved,105 and the detachment inactivated on 25 January.106 The other two reductions were Detachments 3 and 19, 3902nd Support Squadron, at Altus and Homestead AFBs, where Manpower Evaluation Teams were no longer required. … 100. Det 13, Ellisville, Miss, discontinued 2 Jun 68; Hist SAC, Jan-Jun 68, pp. 14-17." 
  5. ↑ "Ashland group awarded Combat Skyspot trophy". March 22, 1985. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19850322&id=d9E8AAAAIBAJ&sjid=PC4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=3876,3023381. Retrieved 2012-07-08. 
  6. ↑ "Townsfolk Hope to Shoot Down Military's Bombing-Range Plans". 21 February 1995. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/405724/TOWNSFOLK-HOPE-TO-SHOOT-DOWN-MILITARYS-BOMBING-RANGE-PLANS.html?pg=all. Retrieved 2012-07-06. 
  7. ↑ Kershaw, Marcia (8 December 1961). "Bomb Scoring Squadron To Be Moved To Mississippi Base in February". Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. http://archive.is/20130129213823/http://newspaperarchive.com/joplin-globe/1961-12-08/. Retrieved 2012-07-07. ""…has been located on Oronogo Circle Hill at Joplin Bomb Plot since July of 1959 will be moved in February to Greenville air force Miss. In making the announcement the air force said the move is in line with a policy of transferring such units every two years. Detachment 2 was moved here from Oklahoma City under command of Major Eugene R. Butler with 35 men and officers and has grown to a strength of 72 Personnel … have manned the First a train carrying complete radar bomb scoring equipment for the purpose of scoring SAC bomber at remote locations … Major Butler was the first commander of the First RBS Express when it was put in operation during February … men of the detachment now are aboard that train and that Second and Third RBS Express trains have been added to the program … Joplin Bomb Plot … Hustler jet bombers began training missions at supersonic speeds in an air corridor above this district in October of 1960, the first sonic boom occurred to make area residents even more conscious of the canopy of aircraft which has operated above this region" 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 MacDonald, Ray (29 January 2002). "Detachment 2 Holbrook, AZ" (history anecdote). 1 CEVG/DET 2 History (A fluid Document). 1CEVGA.com. http://1cevga.com/det2.htm. Retrieved 2013-01-20. ""1 CEVG/Det. 2 was moved from Wall, SD to Holbrook, AZ in 1968. We were up and running around the middle of April. …1990 when we became 99 ECRG/DET 2 . The last RBS/ECM sortie was on or about September 13, 1993. The last ECM-only sortie was on or about September 30, 1993. A B1-B from Dyes (not positive) flew the last RBS/ECM mission. A C-130 from Hulburt Field flew the last ECM mission. The period of time between October 1, 1993 and Christmas was used for decommissioning the systems"" 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 "Combat Evaluation Group – A place for CEVG'ers and Range Rats to Meet" (Yahoo newsgroup). "Founded: 9 January 2000". http://groups.yahoo.com/group/combatevaluationgroup.     Citations in chronological order:
  10. ↑ http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:ok-K-2inVysJ:groups.yahoo.com/group/combatevaluationgroup/messages/3279%3Fo%3D1%26xm%3D1%26m%3Dp+site:groups.yahoo.com+cevg+statesboro&hl=en&gl=us&prmd=imvns&strip=1
  11. ↑ "Closure plan saddens radar base chief". Spokane, Washington. 29 May 1993. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FF1WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2_ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5501,6230827&dq=bomb-scoring&hl=en. Retrieved 2012-07-10. 
  12. ↑ Mueller (1982). Air Force Bases as of 1982 (Report). p. 613. 
  13. ↑ https://archive.is/20130206181952/groups.yahoo.com/group/combatevaluationgroup/message/11782
  14. ↑ "Radar Bomb Scoring Site at Army Depot to Close". 29 May 1993. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LH&s_site=kentucky&p_multi=LH&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB73E937B5D5B81&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM. Retrieved 2012-07-09. 
  15. ↑ http://www.usaf-nav-history.com/dr0711.pdf
  16. ↑ http://archive.is/20130209185639/http://groups.yahoo.com/group/combatevaluationgroup/message/38535
  17. ↑ Spurlin, James. "[veteran listing 49816]". VetFriends.com. http://www.vetfriends.com/veterandirectory/?member=49816. Retrieved 2012-07-09. 
  18. ↑ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Page:United_States_Statutes_at_Large_Volume_106_Part_3.djvu/532
  19. ↑ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=vUgzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_xIGAAAAIBAJ&pg=589,679523&dq=bomb-scoring-unit&hl=en
  20. ↑ "MSgt. Robert L. Dilley" (memorial webpage). Biography and Family of Robert L. Dilley. Ancestry.com. http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnoye/robert.html. Retrieved 2012-06-22. 
  21. ↑ Havre RBS opened in 1986 http://www.rtbot.net/Havre_Air_Force_Station
  22. ↑ http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-103hr2401enr/html/BILLS-103hr2401enr.htm
  23. ↑ http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kxAwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OhEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6108,4596026&dq=bomb-scoring-unit&hl=en
  24. ↑ Skinner, Don (July 31, 2010). "Memories/1CEG". http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:OyiJjj_m1tcJ:groups.yahoo.com/group/combatevaluationgroup/message/86756+reeves+%22msq-35%22&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us. Retrieved 2012-09-24. "I spent the first 3 months of 1964 on RBS Express at Thoreau, NM as maintenance man" 
  25. ↑ http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/systems/an-tpq-43.htm
  26. ↑ http://corpsfuds.org/php/list.php?type=sites&find=exvqzcto&county=
  27. ↑ "[commemorative plaque identified by webpage"]. plaque located at site. date tbd. http://corpsfuds.org/reports/NDAI/J08UT0955ndai.pdf. Retrieved 2012-07-09. 
  28. ↑ Finding of No Department of Defense Actions Indicated: …Milford Radar Bomb Scoring Site (Report). CorpsFUDS.org. http://www.corpsfuds.org/reports/NDAI/J08UT0874ndai.pdf. Retrieved 2012-07-08. 
  29. ↑ http://www.tinker.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-061220-053.pdf
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