Al, Jeff Shipman was an E-8 who had the job of Munitions Superintendent for 4 years plus. Jon Lindgren contacted me when he came out once to tell me about Shipman being a good superintendent who wanted to know more about the "old" 51st MMS since Lindgren had told him that was the original organization to support munitions on Vandenberg. Shipman became a friend of our association and worked very hard at cementing that relationship between all his people and the 51st group.

I met his commander and invited him to one of our reunions out here and he spoke to the group. Shipman continued to further the camaraderie of our groups and went so far as to order medallions (made in Turkey) depicting the logo of the current organization, 576th Flight Test Squadron, on one face and the logo of the 51st MMS on the other, thereby showing the "before" and "after" of the support organization on Vandenberg.

The 51st was decommissioned in 1972 and the entire function became the Munitions Branch of the parent organization 395th Missile Maintenance Squadron. This unit was later swallowed up by the 394th Missile Squadron because the 395th was decommissioned with the removal of the Titan II from the Inventory. The 394th continued for many years, including the advent of the "Peacekeeper" the name given to Missile X. Since lots of the equipment was the same which was used with Minuteman, the 394th was still involved.

Then the big shakeup came about with the demise of Strategic Air Command and the 1st Strategic Aerospace Division, all parents of the Munitions group. With the commissioning of the 14th Air Force's 30th Strategic Missile Wing here at Vandenberg, the Munitions organization became the Munitions Flight of the 576th Flight Test Squadron. This sort of closed the loop on the old original 576th Strategic Missile Squadron which was the parent of the Atlas and Titan operations in early Vandenberg years.

Shipman was one hell of a good superintendent who molded his munitions troops into a gung-ho "Ammunition (Ammo)" crowd, They crowed a lot but the produced a lot. So the old 51st wasn't concerned about the 576th, the 395th, the 394th, the 4300th, or whoever since they were a squadron on an equal with all those other organizations under the 1st STRAD. However, when they were decommissioned and became a Munitions Branch, their mission did not change, only their identity and the parent organization.

I forget who the original superintendent was, but in 1966 Roy Payne transferred to the 3901st and I came out to take over as superintendent. When I retired in 1968, Dexter Babcock took over until he retired. Then TV Starritt took over till he retired, then Joe Chambers took over until the decommissioning in 1972 and he retired.

Since then, the superintendent has been varying ranks, but usually was a SMSgt (E-8). Jeff Shipman was promoted to CMSgt.a couple years ago and was transferred right away to Offutt AFB. SMSgt Normal took over and I understand he was promoted but hasn't had his number drawn yet. I'll bring you up to date on that when I find out. But all told, the support and storage of all ammunition, small diameter solid rockets, the Titan organizations, the Delta (souped-up Thor), the Atlas, the Peacekeeper, the Blue Scout programs and anything involving munitions as well as the installation of scoring kits for the numerous re-entry vehicles that are launched from here has been the responsibility of the current organization that was originally the 51st Munitions Maintenance Squadron.

EOD was part of this picture all the years until the 30th Space Wing took over, then they became part of the Common Supply organization. There seems to be very little camaraderie between EOD and the remaining munitions troops. Instead of having a 1st Strategic Aerospace Division over several Missile Operations Squadrons and Missile Maintenance Squadrons and the 51st Munitions Maintenance Squadron, all these responsibilities fall under the 576th Flight Test Squadron of which the current Munitions Flight is part.