Been there, done that. Have the t-shirt. Sold a few as well. What an experience! Can’t say I loved every minute of it but it sure made a lasting impression on me.
If you served on the DEWLine, you might consider adding your name to the DEWLiner's Contact list at lswilson.dewlineadventures.com/dewline-personnel-directory/.
My dad worked up there operating heavy equipment, tractors, scrapers ect.he made lifelong friends/memories there as a young man, he would have enjoyed this video. He was from the east coast Canada 🇨🇦 New Brunswick
As an ex-communication tech,i was very familiar with a lot of the equipment. The only site that far north that I visited in the early 80s was then named was Inuvik. I did live near and visited frequently was a site located on the Pine tree line ( lowther). Back in my day most of us were trained in Kingston. The nostalgia of seeing a lot of the old communications equipment.
In 1968, at 21, I received training at Bear Creek before being assigned to GMT Granite Mtn in the Seward Peninsula. This was one of 64 stations in what was called WACS the White Alice Communications System. In this great movie, on the DEW Line, WACS is referred to as the lateral comm system and the new tropospheric scatter system or FPTS (FORWARD PROPAGATION TROPOSPHERIC SCATTER). Having served more than 10 years after construction, I take my hat off those who built the DEW Line in 55 and 56. Those guys were tough and real pioneers. So many found memories brought back thRough this film. For more information on FPTS, look up White Alice.
Dad was a watch officer at Murphy Dome west of Fairbanks. It was 'Remote & Unaccompanied' duty. At that time, Alaskan duty was considered OutUS duty as well. We were stationed at Payne Field in Tacoma (where I was born in '59 ). Dad's last active duty was at Elmendorf, so back to Alaska. By that time ('75), it was then CONUS duty.
Right on! I'm sick of it. With the knowledge of hindsight it's easy to judge the past. Our Earth gets smaller every minute, and people need to "Keep Talking". Thanks, James.
This is a tangent memory: the triumphant trumpet music at about 13:30 as the tractor is parachuted in was playing on a loop at POP, Pacific Ocean Park as you entered the “journey to Mars” ride in the early 1960s, a fond memory!
Wonderful video! Many thanks for uploading this Brian: it's great learning about the role Waterways (now part of Fort McMurray) played in this immense undertaking.
My uncle, who was in the Air Force at that time as a Colonel, was the head of that program. He had commanded a squadron of P-61 Night Fighters in WW II.
Night fighters were the most skilled and qualified pilots in the whole air corps. They didn't get the same kills as day fighters, but the very nature of the flying and the technical nature of radar intercepts meant that only the best pilots were accepted, and they went through far more extensive training.
We saw this in grade school in the early '70's. Little did I realize I would be standing duty 10 years later freezing my ass off in Maine in a different capacity :).
I got a chance to work at some of these sites in the 1980s, There were starting to reduce the the man power, The AC&W Sq. were being disbanded and becoming LRRS. Long range radar sites. Only needing a few people to maintain them. Now that satellites were now more common, Line of site communications was no longer needed and were removed. I was with the 1835th EIS at that time from Norton AFB, California and other E&I teams were sent up to Alaska to make the change over by putting in telephone cables from bottom camp to top camp. From there they were hooked to a satellite communication equipment and all the information was sent to Elmendorf AFB near Anchorage. So ended the remote tours .
Jose: You are correct in that the DEWLine, now called the North Warning Sysyem, is pretty well unmanned. There are personnel at the main stations only and the remote sites are visited as required for resupply or maintenance. I revisited the Line in 2012 and did a video of the trip. Look for "Hall Beach 50 Years later."
Its pretty cool hearing about how the military used to function before the 90s. I was enlisted at Ft Lewis in the late 90s in an engineer battalion and we had to deal with so much policy and bullshit that nothing ever got done. It was all about ceremony and standards, it makes me wonder how the US military got anything accomplished. When I hear about things like what you wrote and I see videos from the 80s and prior, it makes life in the military looks pretty fun. Being deployed to pacific islands on the atomic test projects, walking around in shorts and no shirts, no safety hard hats; pretty interesting and nostalgic.
in the 60s.... they built st marie, montana air force base...... they would use the radar site in ophiem about 40 miles north now days....the radar site is just a concrete pad......and the AFB closed down in the late 80s now, a few of the old identical houses have been restored, and a few people line in them but about 80% of the houses are just abandoned....looks like a scary movie set
There has always been bullshit in the military. He3ll, I don't think it could function otherwise. Anyway, the films only show what they want you to see
10 years later, Jimi Hendrix jammed with the Doors on new year's eve. This was a great film, I'm just trying to add some levity to all the negative comments I read below. It was real in 1955, the Russian threat, and although harnessing the military industrial complex is a daunting task, this was the right thing to do, I suppose, at the time. Thanks for posting, I dig these old films. Jeff Quitney and David Hoffman also have great channels chock-a-block with this sort of content.
You have to realise that the Americans had the recent memory of Pearl Harbour. In some ways this was an attempt to prevent a nuclear Pearl Harbour in the then future.
My father worked on construction and after rebuilding diesel generators for radar stations from 57 to 63. He had many pictures of construction equipment and supplies being unloaded from navy ships.
If you can find it there's a book named "Sigfussen's Roads" which is an excellent book about winter freighting in northern Manitoba / Saskatchewan. It covers many of the challenges that operating these tractor / bulldozer freight swings presented. Fascinating stuff.
My dad, working for a Canadian company was a site engineer for, 3 sites I think, installations. I've seen photos of him going ashore in landing craft. Lots of catalina photos also. My eldest brother really wanted to be with dad. He was 18 so dad got him a job in the kitchen. No complaints. Also saw a photo of a polarbear that had to be put down. I still have his mitts.
Thanks for sharing this, excellent documentary. You can summarize the view the US had about them and rest of the world. Speaking about the eskimal's like some sort of creatures capable of learning to work and totally omitting to mention the extensive, irreparable damage done to nature in and around the building and logistics areas. Worth it? For the economy, sure.
The comments section on this one is just as thoroughly interesting as this documentary. I just want to add that if this work had not been done we absolutely might not be alive today.
So is you-tube. Hence the name. However, this is a film from the colonies. They are always 40 years behind there. They didn't have tubes in the 1950s there yet. Most likely this was all operated with relais. When they needed e.g. a 50 Hz signal, they ordered one of their black slaves to push a button 50 times a second.
Kind of my legacy, as my Dad was SCARWAF ( Special Corp[Of Engineers] ARmy WIth Air Force). We lived at Elmendorf while Dad went out with the bush pilots to survey this. One thing they didn't say. Alaska was not a State yet just a territory considered " overseas " ...Lots of stories.
No country in all of history has taken on such massive projects and executed them with such efficiency, expertise, and excellence. From the Manhattan project, to the magnificent science done at the Pacific Atolls, to the Apollo program, to the DEW line, and on and on and on...what ever happened to that greatness? I am Canadian, we in the Western world are in trouble...the great generations (pre-internet) are nearing their ends, and what we have to replace it is thin skinned, weak spirited, cowardly millennials? The rest of the world still values strength and toughness....they are going to eat us eventually :/
The greatness went away when we started letting the PC crowd start calling the shots case in point look what has happened in our inner cities and beyond with the proliferation of the urban culture that does not value hard work and glamorizes killing and being a slacker living off the system !
No country has spent as much as the USA on there military , 60 years later and they are spending more than ever. As our school system falls lower and lower and taxes rise , leaders still think we have to be the world police. this will be America's down fall.
Here in the UK, all our furniture is constructed like this in flat pack form with numbered components, and built with rigorous military standards! If only I wasn't left with 3 or 4 random pieces which mean the whole thing has to be deconstructed and started over again!!! ahhhhhahhaha
I was a navy pilot on the DEW line extension flying a radar equipped constellation from Argentia to the Azores. We were looking for low flying aircraft below the radar horizon of the radar picket ships. A plane took off every 3 hours.
You must be familiar with the Willy Victor group (www.willyvictor.com/) or, more likely already a member. Great group of guys who flew off the end of the DEWLine. Our partners in the air. :-)
At the very least it still provided invaluable experience, and practice operating in arctic conditions extremely far from home. It pioneered a lot of technologies that would further utilization and travel in the Arctic.
I've been by 7 of the sites in northern Alaska. I live in Fairbanks and that monster truck is parked down the hill from my house. Known all kinds of people that worked on and in them.
The garbage and toxic waste left behind by the DEWLINE has been the horror of the Canadian taxpayer to this day. Still many of the sites have yet to be cleaned up and toxic waste to be disposed of.
The clean-up of the DEWLine is almost complete with the exception of the Cape Dyer site. The clean-up cost, $575 million, is more that the construction costs were ($550 million).
I worked up there as a loadmaster for Bradley Air back in 97 for a few years. I wonder how much cleanup was done to the earlier sites i remember doing flybys and the 45 gallon drums where in the 100s.
The number of 45 gallon drums numbers in the 1000's and 10's of 1000's but they have all been cleaned up (as far as I know). As I mentioned, it cost more to clean up the mess than it did to build the Line in the first place.
Okay, in 1957 they didn't give any thought to that, and neither did anyone else. I worked for the Air Force for 16 years and I have never come across any organization that is more thorough and does a better job of cleaning up after themselves. They study the problem, figure out the best way to do it and they absolutely get it done. They give no shits about how much it costs. I have witnessed it first-hand, and participated in their clean-up programs. TNC, LUR, UTO, CZF, OLI, NFV and EHM.
Worked on the Canadian DEWLINE for about 9 years until close in 1993 and the north warning system continues to this day. I worked at numerous locations from the Yukon to Hall beach. Everything was flown in throughout the year with summer sealift for bulk items and fuel. You never really thought about the cost of things when there but the food was top notch but depended if your chef was good. We had two 737 jets a week from Winnipeg Manitoba Canada to haul people and supplies to main site logistic centers plus four turbo prop dedicated to the job of providing lateral support. We even had 3 sites that were landlocked for sealift and fuel was flown in by a commercial C 130 hercules at i believe $10000 per flown hour with 3 sets of crew to allow 24/7 operation. I think we were told the cost of operation and maintainance all in including people food parts fuel and transport was about $130 000 000 per year. You have to remember everything was done at a premium because of the distance. These stations were built to be operational for between 10 and 20 years but engineered to last 100 years with upkeep. Pretty amazing when you consider they were built in the fifties.
Crazy that they trucked in all the fuel not only to run the generators, but to heat all the shelters as well. Cool that they reused the heat from the generators to heat the shelters, I wonder if they did the same with the heat from the electronics.
The heat generated by the electronics was used to keep the electronic modules warm. The module trains had a hot water (radiators) heating system with the hot water being generated by the generator cooling system.
interesting film. the millions of oil drums left over were a problem tho I hear some have been crush and buried or hauled out. Most of the DEW line has be scrapped and removed.
I'm surprised Churchill, Manitoba wasn't mentioned. Located on Hudson Bay, with an ocean port and rail line, it could have significantly reduced shipping distance and time to the middle portion of the line.
Good point. Sadly, Churchill is located well south of the DEWLine with no easy access apart from air travel. That would have necessitated a huge airlift to move all the stuff brought in by sea.
@@DEWLiner No it has excellent access. As I mentioned, it has an ocean port and a rail line. For many years it was used to ship grain from the prairies to Europe and elsewhere. Here is a quote from the Wikipedia article on Churchill: "The Port of Churchill is the terminus for the Hudson Bay Railway operated by the Arctic Gateway Group. The port facilities handle shipments of grain and other commodities around the world. "
It really does depend upon what part of the year you're there. 100% daylight in Summer, 90% dark during the winter..Spring and fall seem to be about 50/50.
Hello Brian ... Just curious if you knew my dad John Blackburn who worked on the DewLine for 12 years starting 1961-62 I believe.. He was a welder and mobile mechanic !! Hope to hear from you !! Danny
My father john worked as a mechanic from 57 to 63 . He had many pictures of the navy ships bringing the construction equipment and supplies being unloaded. He had pictured of the radar stations and shops also.
bin looking for information on a AAA (stratosphere gun) site north of camp century, that was out on the ice, it was built out of steel tubes, and only manned a couple of years before it got crushed. anybody got any info on other AAA sites ?
Amazing construction and technical accomplishment, but soon obsolete in a couple years because of ICBMs. So instead of early warning radars and Nike ground to air missile sites and B52s flying around 24/7, we built missile silos all over the western USA that housed Titan missiles. Weird, but I grew up a mile from a Nike missile battery site south of San Francisco and I currently live less than a mile from a decommissioned Titan silo missile site now. Damn thing was only active for a few years, it was like I lived close to installations that changed with the advance of technology in warfare. Whether justified or not, just rachet up the fear factor and most Americans fall for it every time.
You're correct, of course. By the late 60's or early 70's missile technology had advanced and the DEWLine's utility diminished but never vanished. It still stands today as the North Warning System. Who know for how much longer as the cost to maintain begin to outweigh the value.
@@DEWLiner While the cost may eventually outweigh the value, the legacy and story of the DEWLine will have a place in the annals of history forever. Along with the Texas Towers and Project Iceworm/Camp Century among many others, some awesome engineering challenges were overcome during that era. Since you spent 3 years freezin your ass off up there, I'm sure you know much better than I ever will, but still it's awe inspiring to fathom getting so much work done in such an inhospitable environment, knowing that what you were doing could mean the difference between getting caught with our pants down or at least having an opportunity to protect ourselves (Or, in the case of MAD, well, you shoot us, we rain unholy fire down on you without limits). Nobody could predict with 100% certainty that changing dynamics of the Cold War would lessen the value of advanced warning radar as soon as it did. Sometimes projects may be ill advised (Iceworm) , sometimes projects may end up being more of a liability than they were originally worth (Texas Towers), sometimes things just don't go to plan. That doesn't subtract from the value of experience, or most of all, the value of your people, the people that made things happen the best they could given the circumstances. Hindsight's 20/20 as far as the project is concerned, but the stories of the people who were there are potential lessons that can live forever, and provide valuable insight for those so inclined to learn.
@@randomtidbits7695 Amen Brother, Amen!! Well stated. Some people feel that because the Lines was never used for its intended purpose that it was a waste of money. I feel it was an insurance policy similar to the fire insurance policy you have on your home. You hope you never have to make a claim and you're glad you spent the money, just in case.
Brian and Daniel, both of you bring up good points. Even in 1967, the missile's had reduced our effectiveness to just being the tripwire for an attack. We were jokingly, but seriousness behind it, told that if Norad suddenly lost our radar data flow, then it was Defcon 1, Big Noise Delta, or general full retalitory war beginning. By then, we only existed to give them enough warning to make the decision to fire back and to get the bombers and ICBM's away before they were taken out by the incoming. Even if we survived the initial attack, our few interceptors wouldn't have made that much of an impact on massed waves of the bombers they would be sending. I think the whole DEW and AC&W system was most effective until about 1962 or so. It cost a bunch to maintain all that in those conditions, we will probably never know the real cost in dollars. Add to that the Texas Towers and even at one time they had a few blimp mounted radars of the NE coast of the US, two ideas that probably seemed practical at the time. Also, the early relative of the modern AWACS, the Super Connie radar planes. I was fortunate (debatable) to do a 30 day TDY tour on a Connie out of McCoy AFB, FL, flying the low altitude track in the Fl. straits between Fl and Cuba in 68, to detect defecting aircraft from Cuba. That was some hot, cramped, stinky, bad for human life living condition for the 16 hrs. or so we were on board. Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder wasn't so glorious after a couple of those flights...lol
Just think, this is only one part of the DEW line as it was at its height. Then it included stations in Greenland and Iceland and Europe to detect missile launches, a whole several thousand mile line of sonar sensors under the ocean to detect Soviet subs and surface ships. And that is just the _distant_ warning line. There are whole lines of near in search radars to detect and intercept aircraft and vessels, 24/7 air patrols over land and sea, fighter and bomber and missile units kept at ready at all times.
Funny, we still had many C-rats, and K-rats that were slightly out dated but eat them anyway because they were still good. I remember the let down I felt when I tried my first MREs back in the early part of 1990. I thought they can keep that crap, it was not fit to eat. Chow Hall folks are the best when it comes to a good deployment!!
Reminds me of many deployments I was on. Most had chow hall people so C-rats, K-rats, and MREs were almost unheard of except for emergency stores in vehicles and dispersal points. Hell, we even eat like Kings while in the desert prior to that failed Iranian rescue attempt and air-conditioning for our tents.
I was a 19 year old civilian when I went to Thule in 1978 to work at BMEWS Site 1 (J Site) when weather was bad enough for all personnel on base to be locked down, if the storm lasted more than 8hrs then the base commander and Thule base civilian Site manager would jointly announce via in barracks klaxon that the distribution of C rations was approved. Then we would go see the dorm manager in the building and you signed for 2 boxes of rations using your meal card number. Usually we ate on base in the chow hall which had American and Danish meals. Also ate most meals at J site being worked nights 12by6. Great food I gained 22lbs my first 9 months. I was there from November 78 to May 81. Had the time of my life. Made and banked over 20k.
Somebody is making great business for having this Cold War. Few people died but everybody scared to death and money just kept coming. By the way they create good jobs too. The worst thing that ever happen to us is the collapse of USSR,
It's an unfortunate truth that wars, cold or hot, are good for business. It's interesting to note that during the "Cold War" there were at least two "Hot Wars", Korea and Vietnam.
The war on terror hasn't been a cash cow for the military the way nuclear weapons was but it's been great for many government agencies that have had huge expansion since 9/11. The air force and submarine fleet will miss the USSR but they've been replaced by suspected enemies under every bush!
++ twnetf ++ Don't worry about the ussr or what ever it is called now. If they wanted to they could beat you without even trying. As for all the new enemies you have made world wide, well they are just biding their time.
++ Rob M ++ Well you'll be alright then, won't you? Underestimating your enemy as usual. Because as you've been brought up to believe, no-one is as big, rich, more influential and powerful as the good old us of a, is it? Well you have some rude awakenings soon my friend.
I mustered out of the Marine Corps in 1968. I had been trained as a Ground Radio Repair technician. There were ads in the local newspaper wanting former military technicians to work at the Dew Line. I attended a meeting of interested guys to find out more about the job. I don't remember a lot of what was said, but I do remember 2 things. First, they told us that we would be in damned cold weather. Second, they did not allow regular leave to go back to civilization for rest and relaxation. But they would bring entertainment to us. Rock and roll bands were often flown in. There were lots of pretty ladies in the bands, who also were hookers. For $500 a pop, they'd entertain the guys in their room. I almost took the job, but decided to use the G.I. Bill and went to college.
It's a good thing that you didn't get sucked in by the old "rock & Roll" or "Hooker" ploy as you would have been disappointed. Never happened. We did get three first run movies each week though and while we weren't supposed to have booze, every station had a well stocked bar and Saturday night was usually a blast. They did their best to provide recreational activities (mostly indoors where it's warm).
It was. Each DEWLine site had a well equipped amateur station as a back-up emergency system. I was VE8SK while on the Line and made many contacts using our emergency equipment.
What an effort for a system that was essentially obsolete the day it went into service. Like the B-36 bombers- obsolete before they came off the drawing boards. But, the old soviets did not know that at the time. The game was to plant doubt in the other guy's head. And the obsolete and very ineffective DEW line accomplished that.... just barely by enough.
It sounds like Johnny Carson was doing all the talking in that thar film? Anyone agree or know who it was that lent their voice to this production. I didn't see any credits on either end?
Vital Historic Information on National Security for the Northern Continent Nations as they joined w/new technology to provide defense in meeting the challenges of a constantly changing world in the post World War II era and the emergence of a new balance of power among the victor nations.
When Starfish Prime was detonated near Johnston atoll 700 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands it immediately made the DEW line obsolete. The radars would have no utility. Thus were the Soviets to use this method it would immediately alert all Strategic forces to go to failsafe #4 condition and become airborne for the next three days.
Dew Line was dedicated to prevention of war with a known enemy. It is easy to criticize this effort 70 years later. I worked at a shop supplying materials for the Minuteman Missile project in North Dakota in mid 60s. It was obsolete within 10 years also....... but probably prevented nuclear war also. Our enemy now is from within...... and we are now unable to stop them due to petty political fighting and funding going to lazy drug crazed non producers. The Dew Line and Minuteman projects were built by heroes and worth every dime.
Good catch. For the most part, there are no trees in the Arctic but there are trees in the sub-Arctic where much of the supplies would have been gathered in preparation for the trip North.
That is a rock bluff, not trees. The white areas are patches of snow. Rest assured though, that entire segment is total bull. Testing beaches as they describes simply cannot be done in February. Too cold, not enough sunlight, and the fact that the beach is covered with six or more feet of very solid sea ice. At the time the DEW Line was built they put out a massive amount of cold war propaganda.
I'm not sure what weapons you're referring to. The only weapons on the Canadian DEWLine site were the rifles owned by the indigenous people (called Eskimos at the time).
Right, I recall Dad mentioning they were issued their survival knife unless in active combat or something like that. I was wondering if the in general United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) is using, can use or can be used to detect the Moscow, Cuban and Uzbekistan Embassy style assaults that are a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW). I'd guess the U.S. Navy ELF Project Sanguine and other ELF/VLF systems are better suited for the lower frequencies. I also was wonder if the DEW term was used to popularize in another way more covertly to make more obvious the issues in the USSR at the time that were being covered up, with misleading and really malicious since we have a Right to Know what can poison and murder us, and is to this day like in Cuba and Uzbekistan that has come out in the news thanks to the U.S. DOS and Canadian equivalent. I've read though like more the conspiracy with Moscow, that microwaves can be used and for not only sound and body assaults/murdering per 18 USC 1111... also for mind control in not only hypnosis, NLP... but literal remote control. John Williams of lonestarconsultinginc.com has a lot of information related to directed energy weapons (DEW's) once you read the descriptions of the devices they can make and sell even. With two that are not on the consumer grade market anymore, i.e. Scanners the Device: www.lonestarconsultinginc.com/mindcontrol1.htm#SCANNERSDEVICE and The ULTIMATE WEAPONS & LAB DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM: www.lonestarconsultinginc.com/mindcontrol1.htm#ULTWEAPONS William's systems are like radio shack style made. I imagine the rack mount commercial and professional grade systems are way more dangerous and need to be exposed to the public for more even amateurs RDF and fox hunting illegal stations. For NORAD to have such systems and U.S. and Canadian Diplomats and others being targeted causing mild traumatic brain damage... I wonder what the Roman Catholic Jesuit Countries, Communist Countries and their descent cohorts or other Countries have like the U.S. and I believe Canada didn't want at one time say regarding Jose Delgado's not well disclosed wireless work on mind control.
Strange also is I'm finding a RADAR line missing from Michigan having information online that used to be present, Mt. Baldhead AFS in Saugutuck and the associated RADAR stations going east used to be referenced. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Warning_System en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_general_surveillance_radar_stations en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Air_Force_aircraft_control_and_warning_squadrons I'm hoping nothing foreign combatant has invaded the stations in Michigan and is being malicious elsewhere as Cuba used to have a huge mafia organized crime presence and Michigan does warehouse a bunch of old mafia hideouts, mafia families, communists and middle eastern clients descent. Same goes with trafficking of narcotics and dangerous drugs with old FCC stations and the ELF/VLF stations in Wisconsin where ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Hasenfus ) was shot down in a C-123 more publicly disclosed where Michigan has closed FCC stations ( www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol4no2/html/v04i2a05p_0001.htm and groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.radio.cb/Yd1L5ZxVjqs ) also that who knows what they can be used for now days criminal and I've heard rumors that the DEA/CIA would monitor shipments triangulating with the stations between alaska and allegan like the Sheriff's did as documented in Cocaine Cowboys. I recall there used to be info in the public regarding missionaries from Michigan and the area occasionally getting shot down also in Central or South America for smuggling ( www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/11/cia_punished_16_officers_in_20.html ) though I guess some weren't. Strange and now later generations of alcohol, crack/cocaine, opiates and on meth babies grown up and all cute, sweet, innocent acting compounding and concealing gross frauds and cheats office neglect of duties with false pretense amnesic drug induced alibi's. Some places around here all the elders are dead. Michigan at least in the U.P. and West Coast is rather disturbing in quite a few communities. Talk about mutinying. I also think the NSA Act of 1947 bringing the Project Paperclip and other POW's that were alcoholic addicts on DI-X (meth, coke and oxycodone) were way to deadly inbreds that looks like domestic humans to some who were way to vulnerable to their poisonous intent of which may have gay bombed the US into other strange extortion, blackmail and integrity comprimization schemes we still see the desensitized population effect of.
I'm guessing the programs with the Paperclip and other POW's were too dangerous since they were all addicted to DI-X and alcohol for the most part. Before WWII the enforcement of the Mann Act, Harrison Act, Pure Food and Drug and Pure Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act had cleaned up the population for the most part in the U.S. That changed after the NSA of 1947 et.al. after the new inbred junkies were brought in, learned our systems (and vulnerabilities) and started using our systems for nefarious operations is my theory.
No. By 1994, when the Internet was in its infancy, the DEWLine had morphed into the North Warning System (NWS) and all the sites, with the exception of the Main sites, were unmanned and connected to the south by satellite. The few remaining Main Sites have Internet as they remain manned to a limited extent.
Wow, truly incredible, you'd have to do something really bad to get duty at one of those stations haha. I often wonder if those fears justifying all this justified it in reality.....
Well, they had the bombs, they had the bombers. Without this they could have attacked and basically destroyed the US and our combat capacity before we could launch counterstrikes, and the Soviets definitely had extensive radar warning systems to allow their fighters to intercept our bombers. This was long before you could just push a button to launch a massive counterstrike, before MAD was a thing. Easy to say now "oh we didn't need this stuff, they wouldn't have actually attacked us", but we don't know that. This was the period when they still considered a nuclear war "winnable", and with that kind of advantage it would be hard for the USSR to resist the opportunity to take us out before we got wise and caught up to them. In any case, it wasn't "wasted" money. It all went back to US companies that hired US workers, who got paid for their work. The equipment was all made by US companies, US workers got paid fat checks to go north to do the labor, and came home and bought stuff with their income. So the money didn't just vanish because it was spent.
I was a kid growing up in the Air Force at this time. I remember feeling like I was part of something cool and special. All that effort of men and money for what? But what the hell. They learned stuff and we won the cold war.
And in just a half decade was obsolete when the ICBM was put to use ! Are any of these sites used any more ? Or are they abandoned ? If so waiting to see them come up for sale on the GSA auction website . Be interesting to see if any one would buy one just to power one would cost a fortune !
John: The DEWLine didn't become totally obsolete and continues to serve in a modified form to this day as the North Warning System (NWS). Almost all of the previously manned stations have been replaced with unmanned sites either at, or nearby the initial stations. If you want to learn more, go to www.lswilson.ca, including some pictures of the abandoned sites in Greenland (DYE-2).
I see that they were turned over to the Canadian government some time ago amazing how our construction people can over come about any terrain or weather I drove a truck In Alaska for the oil field in the 80s and it was nothing like the dramatized ice road truckers series We had less problems ! we had purpose built Kenworth tractors wit all kinds of extra heating systems locking diffs and studded tires .
@@johnsiders7819 A couple of points. The Canadian portion of thr DEWLine always 'belonged' to Canada and was staffed, for the most part, by Canadians (me being one of them). If you've driven in Alaska during the winter, you have a much better understanding than most people as to how harsh the climate can be. Thanks for taking the time to make thoughtful comments.
Most of the sites in Alaska are still manned (and womanned) by several hundred of my friends and co-workers. You know, it's pretty difficult to get in to repair or maintain a radar if there's no one there to plow the runway or keep the generators running. They tried; failed. Part of the US side is called the ARS (Alaska Radar System). The feed from the remote sites is fed over to Anchorage Center (ARTCC) near JBER in Anchorage for air traffic control. The FAA partially funds operations. They LIKE having radars for air traffic control, strange as it may seem. @@DEWLiner
We also had one 45min above montreal in the late fiftiesNever been use but some local store flourish because of the 100+ workers now only Huge concrete building where young go to smoke. Often raves and party happen.
Here is an interesting side bar that dove tails into the prehistory. Bedaux is well remembered still in a few communities up here touched by the entire operation. (((-: It is a rabbit hole once one gets digging. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Champagne_Safari en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bedaux
An extraordinary construction feat. Great video.
Been there, done that. Have the t-shirt. Sold a few as well. What an experience! Can’t say I loved every minute of it but it sure made a lasting impression on me.
If you served on the DEWLine, you might consider adding your name to the DEWLiner's Contact list at lswilson.dewlineadventures.com/dewline-personnel-directory/.
My dad worked up there operating heavy equipment, tractors, scrapers ect.he made lifelong friends/memories there as a young man, he would have enjoyed this video. He was from the east coast Canada 🇨🇦 New Brunswick
As an ex-communication tech,i was very familiar with a lot of the equipment. The only site that far north that I visited in the early 80s was then named was Inuvik. I did live near and visited frequently was a site located on the Pine tree line ( lowther). Back in my day most of us were trained in Kingston. The nostalgia of seeing a lot of the old communications equipment.
Checkout lswilson.dewlineadventures.com/forum/, you might be on the "Old Boy's" list.
So you were a technician in the field of excommunication?
@@DEWLiner Since this video was uploaded 7yrs ago @ 480p, it would be nice if you 're-uploaded' it with finer detail!
@@lilblackduc7312 I would if I could. This is not my video but was one that I found and added to the mix. Time and technology is taking its toll.
@@DEWLiner In that case...Thank you for the upload!
In 1968, at 21, I received training at Bear Creek before being assigned to GMT Granite Mtn in the Seward Peninsula. This was one of 64 stations in what was called WACS the White Alice Communications System. In this great movie, on the DEW Line, WACS is referred to as the lateral comm system and the new tropospheric scatter system or FPTS (FORWARD PROPAGATION TROPOSPHERIC SCATTER).
Having served more than 10 years after construction, I take my hat off those who built the DEW Line in 55 and 56. Those guys were tough and real pioneers.
So many found memories brought back thRough this film. For more information on FPTS, look up White Alice.
I worked on the DEWline in the Greenland sector. It was the DYE section. Dye 1,2,3 and 4 radar stations. Each section could scan 400 miles.
My Dad was stationed at Sondrestrom Air Base, in 1964, my Mother and I could not go with him on that tour of duty!
That must have been in Cape Dyer where my father was based at ❤️
Dad was a watch officer at Murphy Dome west of Fairbanks. It was 'Remote & Unaccompanied' duty. At that time, Alaskan duty was considered OutUS duty as well. We were stationed at Payne Field in Tacoma (where I was born in '59 ). Dad's last active duty was at Elmendorf, so back to Alaska. By that time ('75), it was then CONUS duty.
My Father did a year at Murphy Dome from 1975-1976.
i love videos like these showin us how they did thing back then
Fear is even bigger business now and no end of growth in sight. Well done!
What a day to see your comment! :/
Right on! I'm sick of it. With the knowledge of hindsight it's easy to judge the past. Our Earth gets smaller every minute, and people need to "Keep Talking". Thanks, James.
ua-cam.com/video/GiwKb-x7wXQ/v-deo.html
Great Channel!! 👍 Thanks for all the cool old documentaries
This is a tangent memory: the triumphant trumpet music at about 13:30 as the tractor is parachuted in was playing on a loop at POP, Pacific Ocean Park as you entered the “journey to Mars” ride in the early 1960s, a fond memory!
Wonderful video! Many thanks for uploading this Brian: it's great learning about the role Waterways (now part of Fort McMurray) played in this immense undertaking.
My uncle, who was in the Air Force at that time as a Colonel, was the head of that program. He had commanded a squadron of P-61 Night Fighters in WW II.
share more Shimshon!!!
Night fighters were the most skilled and qualified pilots in the whole air corps. They didn't get the same kills as day fighters, but the very nature of the flying and the technical nature of radar intercepts meant that only the best pilots were accepted, and they went through far more extensive training.
We saw this in grade school in the early '70's. Little did I realize I would be standing duty 10 years later freezing my ass off in Maine in a different capacity :).
I empathize with your ass freezing in Maine. I froze mine in the Arctic for 3 years. :-)
@@DEWLiner Thank you both for your service, and freezing your asses off in the process.
Loring AFB?
Thank you for posting this interesting history
My father was in his 70's and still had a US security NDA about his involvement.
I got a chance to work at some of these sites in the 1980s, There were starting to reduce the the man power, The AC&W Sq. were being disbanded and becoming LRRS. Long range radar sites. Only needing a few people to maintain them. Now that satellites were now more common, Line of site communications was no longer needed and were removed. I was with the 1835th EIS at that time from Norton AFB, California and other E&I teams were sent up to Alaska to make the change over by putting in telephone cables from bottom camp to top camp. From there they were hooked to a satellite communication equipment and all the information was sent to Elmendorf AFB near Anchorage. So ended the remote tours .
Jose:
You are correct in that the DEWLine, now called the North Warning Sysyem, is pretty well unmanned. There are personnel at the main stations only and the remote sites are visited as required for resupply or maintenance. I revisited the Line in 2012 and did a video of the trip. Look for "Hall Beach 50 Years later."
Jose Moreno: I wonder what’s going to happen when whoever starts shooting the satellites down.
Its pretty cool hearing about how the military used to function before the 90s. I was enlisted at Ft Lewis in the late 90s in an engineer battalion and we had to deal with so much policy and bullshit that nothing ever got done. It was all about ceremony and standards, it makes me wonder how the US military got anything accomplished. When I hear about things like what you wrote and I see videos from the 80s and prior, it makes life in the military looks pretty fun. Being deployed to pacific islands on the atomic test projects, walking around in shorts and no shirts, no safety hard hats; pretty interesting and nostalgic.
in the 60s.... they built st marie, montana air force base...... they would use the radar site in ophiem about 40 miles north
now days....the radar site is just a concrete pad......and the AFB closed down in the late 80s
now, a few of the old identical houses have been restored, and a few people line in them
but about 80% of the houses are just abandoned....looks like a scary movie set
There has always been bullshit in the military. He3ll, I don't think it could function otherwise. Anyway, the films only show what they want you to see
This was FANTASTIC!!!! Thank you for sharing this vid!!!!!
I saw this in a theater in Fort Lee, NJ when I was about 7 or 8 years old...first time I've seen it wsince then...almost 60 years later...
The day the DEW Line went operational I'd just had a birthday and was 5yr old.
Did anyone back then wonder if the Russians had any idea how to jam such radar?
The very act of jamming would have been an indication that they were coming.
10 years later, Jimi Hendrix jammed with the Doors on new year's eve. This was a great film, I'm just trying to add some levity to all the negative comments I read below. It was real in 1955, the Russian threat, and although harnessing the military industrial complex is a daunting task, this was the right thing to do, I suppose, at the time. Thanks for posting, I dig these old films. Jeff Quitney and David Hoffman also have great channels chock-a-block with this sort of content.
You have to realise that the Americans had the recent memory of Pearl Harbour. In some ways this was an attempt to prevent a nuclear Pearl Harbour in the then future.
My father worked on construction and after rebuilding diesel generators for radar stations from 57 to 63. He had many pictures of construction equipment and supplies being unloaded from navy ships.
If you can find it there's a book named "Sigfussen's Roads" which is an excellent book about winter freighting in northern Manitoba / Saskatchewan. It covers many of the challenges that operating these tractor / bulldozer freight swings presented. Fascinating stuff.
I was stationed at Port Mollar DEW station...A good tour of duty in 1968-1969. USAF.
I would have loved to work on that equipment.Would love to today, modern or old.
Interesting & entertaining. Thanks for the upload.
My dad, working for a Canadian company was a site engineer for, 3 sites I think, installations. I've seen photos of him going ashore in landing craft. Lots of catalina photos also. My eldest brother really wanted to be with dad. He was 18 so dad got him a job in the kitchen. No complaints. Also saw a photo of a polarbear that had to be put down. I still have his mitts.
Thanks for sharing this, excellent documentary. You can summarize the view the US had about them and rest of the world. Speaking about the eskimal's like some sort of creatures capable of learning to work and totally omitting to mention the extensive, irreparable damage done to nature in and around the building and logistics areas. Worth it? For the economy, sure.
My father worked for Spartan Air services as a helicopter mechanic. He helped build the DEW line
The comments section on this one is just as thoroughly interesting as this documentary. I just want to add that if this work had not been done we absolutely might not be alive today.
And remember kids, that equipment was all tube operated!
So is you-tube. Hence the name.
However, this is a film from the colonies. They are always 40 years behind there. They didn't have tubes in the 1950s there yet.
Most likely this was all operated with relais.
When they needed e.g. a 50 Hz signal, they ordered one of their black slaves to push a button 50 times a second.
It all fits in an iPhone now.
That is why it was Reliable.
The Kaiser That explains rather a lot old chap.
@@leegenix asked a kid at the verizon store how long my new phone would last he said without blinking an eye 3 years..........
Really excellent thanks.
Very interesting, especially after watching a video on the Chain Home system. Thanks.
Kind of my legacy, as my Dad was SCARWAF ( Special Corp[Of Engineers] ARmy WIth Air Force). We lived at Elmendorf while Dad went out with the bush pilots to survey this. One thing they didn't say. Alaska was not a State yet just a territory considered " overseas " ...Lots of stories.
It is amazing just how much work went into these operations. Wonder if we could do it today?
It is truly amazing what a country (or a person) can do when they feel threatened.
No not today we are collectively not smart enough , as a nation our IQ was around 102 today were are lucky if we can get to 95
@@oceanhome2023 that was back when the USA was 90% white. Now it is only 59% white.
No country in all of history has taken on such massive projects and executed them with such efficiency, expertise, and excellence. From the Manhattan project, to the magnificent science done at the Pacific Atolls, to the Apollo program, to the DEW line, and on and on and on...what ever happened to that greatness? I am Canadian, we in the Western world are in trouble...the great generations (pre-internet) are nearing their ends, and what we have to replace it is thin skinned, weak spirited, cowardly millennials? The rest of the world still values strength and toughness....they are going to eat us eventually :/
Sadly, some other country, most likely China, will rise up to fill the leadership void..
Look at who executed this undertaking...sjw enemy jealousy-enemy #1
The greatness went away when we started letting the PC crowd start calling the shots case in point look what has happened in our inner cities and beyond with the proliferation of the urban culture that does not value hard work and glamorizes killing and being a slacker living off the system !
No country has spent as much as the USA on there military , 60 years later and they are spending more than ever. As our school system falls lower and lower and taxes rise , leaders still think we have to be the world police. this will be America's down fall.
Here in the UK, all our furniture is constructed like this in flat pack form with numbered components, and built with rigorous military standards! If only I wasn't left with 3 or 4 random pieces which mean the whole thing has to be deconstructed and started over again!!! ahhhhhahhaha
I was a navy pilot on the DEW line extension flying a radar equipped constellation from Argentia to the Azores. We were looking for low flying aircraft below the radar horizon of the radar picket ships. A plane took off every 3 hours.
You must be familiar with the Willy Victor group (www.willyvictor.com/) or, more likely already a member. Great group of guys who flew off the end of the DEWLine. Our partners in the air. :-)
A friend of mine was a navigator on the RCAF Argus sub hunters, back in the early 60s, including during the Cuban missile crisis.
An amazing achievement but obsolete by the time it was finished, the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System went live in 1960.
Quite true. The race to stay ahead of innovation and technology is an never-ending challenge. Even today.
At the very least it still provided invaluable experience, and practice operating in arctic conditions extremely far from home. It pioneered a lot of technologies that would further utilization and travel in the Arctic.
@@hummerskickass I got here watching videos of the Mack trucks and land trains, the stuff we made way back then even is just cool.
@@ApolloTheDerg that is the exact same way I found this video.
@@ApolloTheDerg mack truck vid for me too
I've been by 7 of the sites in northern Alaska. I live in Fairbanks and that monster truck is parked down the hill from my house. Known all kinds of people that worked on and in them.
I've been to all of them, but you also worked in a fish plant in Clam Gulch. Hi Jack!
What did Mack call these trucks?
Them big trucks are neat. Vid on the Macks on you tuber.
@@michaelrice500 Hello back to you. I just saw your response. Did you spend time at OOS too? I was there summers of 76 and 77. Fun place to work.
The garbage and toxic waste left behind by the DEWLINE has been the horror of the Canadian taxpayer to this day. Still many of the sites have yet to be cleaned up and toxic waste to be disposed of.
The clean-up of the DEWLine is almost complete with the exception of the Cape Dyer site. The clean-up cost, $575 million, is more that the construction costs were ($550 million).
I worked up there as a loadmaster for Bradley Air back in 97 for a few years.
I wonder how much cleanup was done to the earlier sites i remember doing flybys
and the 45 gallon drums where in the 100s.
The number of 45 gallon drums numbers in the 1000's and 10's of 1000's but they have all been cleaned up (as far as I know). As I mentioned, it cost more to clean up the mess than it did to build the Line in the first place.
Looking at this documentary i can just imagine how much it was hard work
building a site like Cape Hooper.
Okay, in 1957 they didn't give any thought to that, and neither did anyone else. I worked for the Air Force for 16 years and I have never come across any organization that is more thorough and does a better job of cleaning up after themselves. They study the problem, figure out the best way to do it and they absolutely get it done. They give no shits about how much it costs. I have witnessed it first-hand, and participated in their clean-up programs. TNC, LUR, UTO, CZF, OLI, NFV and EHM.
Unfathomable the money this must have taken to build and maintain for so many years
Worked on the Canadian DEWLINE for about 9 years until close in 1993 and the north warning system continues to this day. I worked at numerous locations from the Yukon to Hall beach. Everything was flown in throughout the year with summer sealift for bulk items and fuel. You never really thought about the cost of things when there but the food was top notch but depended if your chef was good. We had two 737 jets a week from Winnipeg Manitoba Canada to haul people and supplies to main site logistic centers plus four turbo prop dedicated to the job of providing lateral support. We even had 3 sites that were landlocked for sealift and fuel was flown in by a commercial C 130 hercules at i believe $10000 per flown hour with 3 sets of crew to allow 24/7 operation. I think we were told the cost of operation and maintainance all in including people food parts fuel and transport was about $130 000 000 per year. You have to remember everything was done at a premium because of the distance. These stations were built to be operational for between 10 and 20 years but engineered to last 100 years with upkeep. Pretty amazing when you consider they were built in the fifties.
John Dennison and his crew would have carved out ice roads/winter roads over the tundra to the Canadian DEW sites.. That man could accomplish anything
Crazy that they trucked in all the fuel not only to run the generators, but to heat all the shelters as well. Cool that they reused the heat from the generators to heat the shelters, I wonder if they did the same with the heat from the electronics.
The heat generated by the electronics was used to keep the electronic modules warm. The module trains had a hot water (radiators) heating system with the hot water being generated by the generator cooling system.
The 1957 movie The Deadly Mantis was filmed at one of these locations
interesting film. the millions of oil drums left over were a problem tho I hear some have been crush and buried or hauled out. Most of the DEW line has be scrapped and removed.
Cool upload.
I'm surprised Churchill, Manitoba wasn't mentioned. Located on Hudson Bay, with an ocean port and rail line, it could have significantly reduced shipping distance and time to the middle portion of the line.
Good point. Sadly, Churchill is located well south of the DEWLine with no easy access apart from air travel. That would have necessitated a huge airlift to move all the stuff brought in by sea.
@@DEWLiner No it has excellent access. As I mentioned, it has an ocean port and a rail line. For many years it was used to ship grain from the prairies to Europe and elsewhere. Here is a quote from the Wikipedia article on Churchill:
"The Port of Churchill is the terminus for the Hudson Bay Railway operated by the Arctic Gateway Group. The port facilities handle shipments of grain and other commodities around the world. "
Bucky Fuller did the domes protecting the radar equipment in the bad weather I believe.
The radomes were of Bucky Fuller's design.
Looks like his stuff.
I work for a retail hardware store.
Not a single one of my co-workers (myself included) would survive this massive undertaking.
Every time I was up there, I never saw this much daylight as shown here...
It really does depend upon what part of the year you're there. 100% daylight in Summer, 90% dark during the winter..Spring and fall seem to be about 50/50.
#Outstanding #Educational Video
Hello Brian ... Just curious if you knew my dad John Blackburn who worked on the DewLine for 12 years starting 1961-62 I believe.. He was a welder and mobile mechanic !! Hope to hear from you !! Danny
My father john worked as a mechanic from 57 to 63 . He had many pictures of the navy ships bringing the construction equipment and supplies being unloaded. He had pictured of the radar stations and shops also.
Ya I know what your talking about a Giant Welder. Right Like Get dericted in energy
bin looking for information on a AAA (stratosphere gun) site north of camp century, that was out on the ice, it was built out of steel tubes, and only manned a couple of years before it got crushed. anybody got any info on other AAA sites ?
Amazing construction and technical accomplishment, but soon obsolete in a couple years because of ICBMs. So instead of early warning radars and Nike ground to air missile sites and B52s flying around 24/7, we built missile silos all over the western USA that housed Titan missiles. Weird, but I grew up a mile from a Nike missile battery site south of San Francisco and I currently live less than a mile from a decommissioned Titan silo missile site now. Damn thing was only active for a few years, it was like I lived close to installations that changed with the advance of technology in warfare. Whether justified or not, just rachet up the fear factor and most Americans fall for it every time.
You're correct, of course. By the late 60's or early 70's missile technology had advanced and the DEWLine's utility diminished but never vanished. It still stands today as the North Warning System. Who know for how much longer as the cost to maintain begin to outweigh the value.
@@DEWLiner While the cost may eventually outweigh the value, the legacy and story of the DEWLine will have a place in the annals of history forever. Along with the Texas Towers and Project Iceworm/Camp Century among many others, some awesome engineering challenges were overcome during that era. Since you spent 3 years freezin your ass off up there, I'm sure you know much better than I ever will, but still it's awe inspiring to fathom getting so much work done in such an inhospitable environment, knowing that what you were doing could mean the difference between getting caught with our pants down or at least having an opportunity to protect ourselves (Or, in the case of MAD, well, you shoot us, we rain unholy fire down on you without limits). Nobody could predict with 100% certainty that changing dynamics of the Cold War would lessen the value of advanced warning radar as soon as it did.
Sometimes projects may be ill advised (Iceworm) , sometimes projects may end up being more of a liability than they were originally worth (Texas Towers), sometimes things just don't go to plan. That doesn't subtract from the value of experience, or most of all, the value of your people, the people that made things happen the best they could given the circumstances. Hindsight's 20/20 as far as the project is concerned, but the stories of the people who were there are potential lessons that can live forever, and provide valuable insight for those so inclined to learn.
@@randomtidbits7695
Amen Brother, Amen!!
Well stated. Some people feel that because the Lines was never used for its intended purpose that it was a waste of money. I feel it was an insurance policy similar to the fire insurance policy you have on your home. You hope you never have to make a claim and you're glad you spent the money, just in case.
As Peter Crenshaw, from the Three Investigators, would say:” I’ll buy a double helping of that”
Brian and Daniel, both of you bring up good points. Even in 1967, the missile's had reduced our effectiveness to just being the tripwire for an attack. We were jokingly, but seriousness behind it, told that if Norad suddenly lost our radar data flow, then it was Defcon 1, Big Noise Delta, or general full retalitory war beginning. By then, we only existed to give them enough warning to make the decision to fire back and to get the bombers and ICBM's away before they were taken out by the incoming. Even if we survived the initial attack, our few interceptors wouldn't have made that much of an impact on massed waves of the bombers they would be sending. I think the whole DEW and AC&W system was most effective until about 1962 or so. It cost a bunch to maintain all that in those conditions, we will probably never know the real cost in dollars. Add to that the Texas Towers and even at one time they had a few blimp mounted radars of the NE coast of the US, two ideas that probably seemed practical at the time. Also, the early relative of the modern AWACS, the Super Connie radar planes. I was fortunate (debatable) to do a 30 day TDY tour on a Connie out of McCoy AFB, FL, flying the low altitude track in the Fl. straits between Fl and Cuba in 68, to detect defecting aircraft from Cuba. That was some hot, cramped, stinky, bad for human life living condition for the 16 hrs. or so we were on board. Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder wasn't so glorious after a couple of those flights...lol
Just think, this is only one part of the DEW line as it was at its height. Then it included stations in Greenland and Iceland and Europe to detect missile launches, a whole several thousand mile line of sonar sensors under the ocean to detect Soviet subs and surface ships. And that is just the _distant_ warning line. There are whole lines of near in search radars to detect and intercept aircraft and vessels, 24/7 air patrols over land and sea, fighter and bomber and missile units kept at ready at all times.
And the DEWLine lives on as the North Warning System albeit mostly unmanned.
Amazing they could build anything with that fuzzy, out-of-focus equipment!
Funny, we still had many C-rats, and K-rats that were slightly out dated but eat them anyway because they were still good. I remember the let down I felt when I tried my first MREs back in the early part of 1990. I thought they can keep that crap, it was not fit to eat. Chow Hall folks are the best when it comes to a good deployment!!
Reminds me of many deployments I was on. Most had chow hall people so C-rats, K-rats, and MREs were almost unheard of except for emergency stores in vehicles and dispersal points. Hell, we even eat like Kings while in the desert prior to that failed Iranian rescue attempt and air-conditioning for our tents.
I was a 19 year old civilian when I went to Thule in 1978 to work at BMEWS Site 1 (J Site) when weather was bad enough for all personnel on base to be locked down, if the storm lasted more than 8hrs then the base commander and Thule base civilian Site manager would jointly announce via in barracks klaxon that the distribution of C rations was approved. Then we would go see the dorm manager in the building and you signed for 2 boxes of rations using your meal card number. Usually we ate on base in the chow hall which had American and Danish meals. Also ate most meals at J site being worked nights 12by6. Great food I gained 22lbs my first 9 months. I was there from November 78 to May 81. Had the time of my life. Made and banked over 20k.
My dad worked on the DEW Line from 1964 to 1975
Your dad's name (Giff) is on the DEWLiner's Personnel Listing at lswilson.dewlineadventures.com/dewline-personnel-directory/.
@@DEWLiner yes that’s him
Somebody is making great business for having this Cold War. Few people died but everybody scared to death and money just kept coming. By the way they create good jobs too. The worst thing that ever happen to us is the collapse of USSR,
It's an unfortunate truth that wars, cold or hot, are good for business. It's interesting to note that during the "Cold War" there were at least two "Hot Wars", Korea and Vietnam.
The war on terror hasn't been a cash cow for the military the way nuclear weapons was but it's been great for many government agencies that have had huge expansion since 9/11. The air force and submarine fleet will miss the USSR but they've been replaced by suspected enemies under every bush!
Don't worry, we have China now!
++ twnetf ++ Don't worry about the ussr or what ever it is called now. If they wanted to they could beat you without even trying. As for all the new enemies you have made world wide, well they are just biding their time.
++ Rob M ++ Well you'll be alright then, won't you? Underestimating your enemy as usual. Because as you've been brought up to believe, no-one is as big, rich, more influential and powerful as the good old us of a, is it? Well you have some rude awakenings soon my friend.
I mustered out of the Marine Corps in 1968. I had been trained as a Ground Radio Repair technician. There were ads in the local newspaper wanting former military technicians to work at the Dew Line. I attended a meeting of interested guys to find out more about the job. I don't remember a lot of what was said, but I do remember 2 things. First, they told us that we would be in damned cold weather. Second, they did not allow regular leave to go back to civilization for rest and relaxation. But they would bring entertainment to us. Rock and roll bands were often flown in. There were lots of pretty ladies in the bands, who also were hookers. For $500 a pop, they'd entertain the guys in their room. I almost took the job, but decided to use the G.I. Bill and went to college.
It's a good thing that you didn't get sucked in by the old "rock & Roll" or "Hooker" ploy as you would have been disappointed. Never happened. We did get three first run movies each week though and while we weren't supposed to have booze, every station had a well stocked bar and Saturday night was usually a blast. They did their best to provide recreational activities (mostly indoors where it's warm).
I have a zippo slim commemorating the dew lines construction I never had any idea what It really did
Great place for a radio station!
It was. Each DEWLine site had a well equipped amateur station as a back-up emergency system. I was VE8SK while on the Line and made many contacts using our emergency equipment.
A battle against nature in its truest form
What an effort for a system that was essentially obsolete the day it went into service. Like the B-36 bombers- obsolete before they came off the drawing boards. But, the old soviets did not know that at the time. The game was to plant doubt in the other guy's head. And the obsolete and very ineffective DEW line accomplished that.... just barely by enough.
Thank you Canada!
Now we have to take action against enemies from within our borders and even the government
Amen Alvin!
Same government
I always felt that way when the white man stole our land
Sounds like you have been breathing Rupert Murdoch’s bullshit for too long
Lol
It sounds like Johnny Carson was doing all the talking in that thar film? Anyone agree or know who it was that lent their voice to this production. I didn't see any credits on either end?
I hear two narrators. One does sound a lot like Johnny Carson. The other sounds like Peter Graves. But was it them? ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
Vital Historic Information on National Security for the Northern Continent Nations as they joined w/new technology to provide defense in meeting the challenges of a constantly changing world in the post World War II era and the emergence of a new balance of power among the victor nations.
great video.thanks
the rush song
When Starfish Prime was detonated near Johnston atoll 700 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands it immediately made the DEW line obsolete. The radars would have no utility. Thus were the Soviets to use this method it would immediately alert all Strategic forces to go to failsafe #4 condition and become airborne for the next three days.
Dew Line was dedicated to prevention of war with a known enemy. It is easy to criticize this effort 70 years later. I worked at a shop supplying materials for the Minuteman Missile project in North Dakota in mid 60s. It was obsolete within 10 years also....... but probably prevented nuclear war also. Our enemy now is from within...... and we are now unable to stop them due to petty political fighting and funding going to lazy drug crazed non producers. The Dew Line and Minuteman projects were built by heroes and worth every dime.
Sure sounded like R.W.R POTUS 40 was narrating on some parts of this......
All started with a small dozer. Wow.
at 10:12 there are trees in the background. in the arctic?
Good catch. For the most part, there are no trees in the Arctic but there are trees in the sub-Arctic where much of the supplies would have been gathered in preparation for the trip North.
That is a rock bluff, not trees. The white areas are patches of snow. Rest assured though, that entire segment is total bull. Testing beaches as they describes simply cannot be done in February. Too cold, not enough sunlight, and the fact that the beach is covered with six or more feet of very solid sea ice.
At the time the DEW Line was built they put out a massive amount of cold war propaganda.
2:18 “by 5 they could wipe out New Orleans”... DO IT!
It’s an armpit!!
And now all these people are dead. Gone but not forgotten.
I wonder if used as or with directed energy weapons (DEW) now? Didn't some of these system get re-appropriated or hidden in regards to joint use?
I'm not sure what weapons you're referring to. The only weapons on the Canadian DEWLine site were the rifles owned by the indigenous people (called Eskimos at the time).
Right, I recall Dad mentioning they were issued their survival knife unless in active combat or something like that.
I was wondering if the in general United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command (ADC) is using, can use or can be used to detect the Moscow, Cuban and Uzbekistan Embassy style assaults that are a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW). I'd guess the U.S. Navy ELF Project Sanguine and other ELF/VLF systems are better suited for the lower frequencies.
I also was wonder if the DEW term was used to popularize in another way more covertly to make more obvious the issues in the USSR at the time that were being covered up, with misleading and really malicious since we have a Right to Know what can poison and murder us, and is to this day like in Cuba and Uzbekistan that has come out in the news thanks to the U.S. DOS and Canadian equivalent.
I've read though like more the conspiracy with Moscow, that microwaves can be used and for not only sound and body assaults/murdering per 18 USC 1111... also for mind control in not only hypnosis, NLP... but literal remote control.
John Williams of lonestarconsultinginc.com has a lot of information related to directed energy weapons (DEW's) once you read the descriptions of the devices they can make and sell even. With two that are not on the consumer grade market anymore, i.e. Scanners the Device: www.lonestarconsultinginc.com/mindcontrol1.htm#SCANNERSDEVICE
and The ULTIMATE WEAPONS & LAB DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM: www.lonestarconsultinginc.com/mindcontrol1.htm#ULTWEAPONS
William's systems are like radio shack style made. I imagine the rack mount commercial and professional grade systems are way more dangerous and need to be exposed to the public for more even amateurs RDF and fox hunting illegal stations.
For NORAD to have such systems and U.S. and Canadian Diplomats and others being targeted causing mild traumatic brain damage... I wonder what the Roman Catholic Jesuit Countries, Communist Countries and their descent cohorts or other Countries have like the U.S. and I believe Canada didn't want at one time say regarding Jose Delgado's not well disclosed wireless work on mind control.
Strange also is I'm finding a RADAR line missing from Michigan having information online that used to be present, Mt. Baldhead AFS in Saugutuck and the associated RADAR stations going east used to be referenced.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Warning_System
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_general_surveillance_radar_stations
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Air_Force_aircraft_control_and_warning_squadrons
I'm hoping nothing foreign combatant has invaded the stations in Michigan and is being malicious elsewhere as Cuba used to have a huge mafia organized crime presence and Michigan does warehouse a bunch of old mafia hideouts, mafia families, communists and middle eastern clients descent. Same goes with trafficking of narcotics and dangerous drugs with old FCC stations and the ELF/VLF stations in Wisconsin where ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_Hasenfus ) was shot down in a C-123 more publicly disclosed where Michigan has closed FCC stations ( www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol4no2/html/v04i2a05p_0001.htm and groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.radio.cb/Yd1L5ZxVjqs ) also that who knows what they can be used for now days criminal and I've heard rumors that the DEA/CIA would monitor shipments triangulating with the stations between alaska and allegan like the Sheriff's did as documented in Cocaine Cowboys. I recall there used to be info in the public regarding missionaries from Michigan and the area occasionally getting shot down also in Central or South America for smuggling ( www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2010/11/cia_punished_16_officers_in_20.html ) though I guess some weren't.
Strange and now later generations of alcohol, crack/cocaine, opiates and on meth babies grown up and all cute, sweet, innocent acting compounding and concealing gross frauds and cheats office neglect of duties with false pretense amnesic drug induced alibi's. Some places around here all the elders are dead. Michigan at least in the U.P. and West Coast is rather disturbing in quite a few communities. Talk about mutinying. I also think the NSA Act of 1947 bringing the Project Paperclip and other POW's that were alcoholic addicts on DI-X (meth, coke and oxycodone) were way to deadly inbreds that looks like domestic humans to some who were way to vulnerable to their poisonous intent of which may have gay bombed the US into other strange extortion, blackmail and integrity comprimization schemes we still see the desensitized population effect of.
I'm guessing the programs with the Paperclip and other POW's were too dangerous since they were all addicted to DI-X and alcohol for the most part. Before WWII the enforcement of the Mann Act, Harrison Act, Pure Food and Drug and Pure Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act had cleaned up the population for the most part in the U.S. That changed after the NSA of 1947 et.al. after the new inbred junkies were brought in, learned our systems (and vulnerabilities) and started using our systems for nefarious operations is my theory.
All of this can be dealt with by wearing a simple foil hat. Some people only wear them at night, slightly less embarrassing.
I do wonder, with the invention of the internet, if that was installed up at all those stations?
No. By 1994, when the Internet was in its infancy, the DEWLine had morphed into the North Warning System (NWS) and all the sites, with the exception of the Main sites, were unmanned and connected to the south by satellite. The few remaining Main Sites have Internet as they remain manned to a limited extent.
The paranoia of the warlords and keep the poor hungry.
But look how it stimulated the electronics industry and generated employment. What did the poor ever do?
Kind a hard to feed the poor if they all die in a nuclear attack.
How can you tell if Detroit is wiped out?
The crime level drops dramatically.
The gunshots subside
Funny but horrible
Detroit by 330, by all means, please do!
😆 lol
Haha rofl
I keep thinking a giant preying mantis is going to appear
Nice, I was wondering about that. 😊
Wow, truly incredible, you'd have to do something really bad to get duty at one of those stations haha. I often wonder if those fears justifying all this justified it in reality.....
Well, they had the bombs, they had the bombers. Without this they could have attacked and basically destroyed the US and our combat capacity before we could launch counterstrikes, and the Soviets definitely had extensive radar warning systems to allow their fighters to intercept our bombers. This was long before you could just push a button to launch a massive counterstrike, before MAD was a thing. Easy to say now "oh we didn't need this stuff, they wouldn't have actually attacked us", but we don't know that. This was the period when they still considered a nuclear war "winnable", and with that kind of advantage it would be hard for the USSR to resist the opportunity to take us out before we got wise and caught up to them. In any case, it wasn't "wasted" money. It all went back to US companies that hired US workers, who got paid for their work. The equipment was all made by US companies, US workers got paid fat checks to go north to do the labor, and came home and bought stuff with their income. So the money didn't just vanish because it was spent.
The 2nd narrator @ 9:23 sounds like Johnny Carson
Sounds more like rod serling
Sounds more like rod serling
Sounds more like rod serling
Sounds more like rod serling.
Anyone else miss Jeff Quitney's UA-cam channel?
Very Interesting...
Is that Peter Graves narrating??
He Is Nuts ... Probably Not......
It does sound like him.
Nope, but close sounding.
@@erikhertzer8434 Hi son, have you ever seen a grown man naked!!
I was a kid growing up in the Air Force at this time. I remember feeling like I was part of something cool and special. All that effort of men and money for what? But what the hell. They learned stuff and we won the cold war.
After satelite surveillance, just a backup role. Apollo`s was smoke screen for build it.
I wonder what the total price was for this
$550 million in 1955 dollars.
And in just a half decade was obsolete when the ICBM was put to use ! Are any of these sites used any more ? Or are they abandoned ? If so waiting to see them come up for sale on the GSA auction website . Be interesting to see if any one would buy one just to power one would cost a fortune !
John: The DEWLine didn't become totally obsolete and continues to serve in a modified form to this day as the North Warning System (NWS). Almost all of the previously manned stations have been replaced with unmanned sites either at, or nearby the initial stations. If you want to learn more, go to www.lswilson.ca, including some pictures of the abandoned sites in Greenland (DYE-2).
I see that they were turned over to the Canadian government some time ago amazing how our construction people can over come about any terrain or weather I drove a truck In Alaska for the oil field in the 80s and it was nothing like the dramatized ice road truckers series We had less problems ! we had purpose built Kenworth tractors wit all kinds of extra heating systems locking diffs and studded tires .
@@johnsiders7819 A couple of points. The Canadian portion of thr DEWLine always 'belonged' to Canada and was staffed, for the most part, by Canadians (me being one of them). If you've driven in Alaska during the winter, you have a much better understanding than most people as to how harsh the climate can be.
Thanks for taking the time to make thoughtful comments.
Most of the sites in Alaska are still manned (and womanned) by several hundred of my friends and co-workers. You know, it's pretty difficult to get in to repair or maintain a radar if there's no one there to plow the runway or keep the generators running. They tried; failed. Part of the US side is called the ARS (Alaska Radar System). The feed from the remote sites is fed over to Anchorage Center (ARTCC) near JBER in Anchorage for air traffic control. The FAA partially funds operations. They LIKE having radars for air traffic control, strange as it may seem. @@DEWLiner
Lots of Logistics there.
That first map seems odd why does the 2nd largest geographical country on the planet look smaller then its northern neighbour.
Its called perspective millennial
Is there anybody that's been to the base in Galena Alaska ?
We also had one 45min above montreal in the late fiftiesNever been use but some local store flourish because of the 100+ workers now only Huge concrete building where young go to smoke. Often raves and party happen.
Now they only have a half dozen guys at each site.
My God this would never been possible with the modern plague of OSHA!
It's not a plague. It's for people's protection. And I don't work for OSHA !
I think that's a young pre-Tonight Show Johnny Carson narrating this.
I was actually think Ronald Regan. I know he narrated quite a few of these type of things during the second world war but that was a little later
@@tomfowler1268 it's either, I know their voices well. This was most likely a Western Electric Narrator.
Oh NOOO not the cornfield!!!!
THANKS.
MEN & WOMEN
They made it sound like destroying El Paso or New York would have been a bad thing.
El Paso by 6! Houston and Dallas by 6:30!
Cool history.
Here is an interesting side bar that dove tails into the prehistory. Bedaux is well remembered still in a few communities up here touched by the entire operation. (((-: It is a rabbit hole once one gets digging. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Champagne_Safari en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bedaux