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Home Up The Association News-51st'er finds site Roster Honor Roll Call 51st MMS History Galleries Reunions AAFM Update Links A Tribute...

If you have news of interest to the the group, send it to me
 Ken Kaplan

29 Oct 05 - AAFM Oct Update
Edited news from Charlie Simpson of the Association of Air Force Missileers - thanks to Pete Taylor

AF Space Command will dedicate the Minuteman III post boost vehicle display - an actual PBV with RVs - that will hang the headquarters building on 14 November. If you would like to attend this dedication, let me know - will have details for you. Your AAFM President, Jay Kelley, has been working with other AAFM members, contactors and the command to get the display together and installed.

Mrs William Erlenbusch, the widow of Col Erlenbusch, who along with MSgt Jake Kindsfather, received the first two missile badges from AF Chief of Staff Gen Thomas White in July 1958, recently presented the colonel's badge to Gen Lord at a ceremony at the Space and Missile Center - details in the December newseltter.

We now have signed, numbered prints of our mosaic, Countdown 5,4,3,2,1, available for a donation of $30 each. Darrel Anderson has not signed all of the copies yet (there are 2,000 numbered prints), so if you want a specific number it may take a little longer to get yours. Send a check to me at AAFM, Box 5693, Breckenridge, CO 80424, or log on to www.afmissileers.org to order with a credit card. Special prices for orders of three or more.

The last Titan launch - a Titan IV - was earlier this month from Vandenberg - there have been a number of articles about the launch.

Jim West has researched and written an article that will be in the Winter 2005 issue of ROUTE 66 MAGAZINE. The freelance article is about the former Atlas missile sites around Roswell, New Mexico and the former Walker AFB.

A number of our members attended the recent Peacekeeper deactivation at Cheyeene - more in the next newsletter. President Jay Kelley was the featured speaker at a very successful 308SMW reunion in Jacksonville, AR - more than 200 fokls attended, thanks to the hard work of Bill Leslie and others.

LtCol Mel Deaile, a B-52/B-2 pilot, is currently attending UNC-Chapel Hill and pursuing a doctorate in Military History. His dissertation will focus on the development of SAC "culture" from 1948-1962. He is interested in contacting as many former SAC Warriors as possible that served during that era to discuss their experiences and memories, and is especially interested in what it was like during those years when missiles first became a part of SAC. How welcome did missileers feel? How did that adopt the SAC Menality? Contact Mel at 919-732-8828 or MDEAILE@nc.rr.com

Member Steph Rinker is working to stop the destruction of remaining Titan II missiles at Davis Monthan in the boneyard - he has a petition and is looking for other help - you can contact him at PO Box 690942, Tulsa, OK 74169

Wallace Lee Parker is looking for informatin about Atlas E guidance and alignment at Fairchild (567SMWS), especially involvong theodolites and Polaris, the north star. Contact him at bogwen100@msn.com

Hank Carriger advised us of a project to restore the Looking Glass aircraft at the Strategic Air and Space Museum - you can send donations to Strategic Air and Space Museum, EC-135 Restoration Fund, 28210 West Park Hwy, Ashland, NE 68003. You can contact Hank at handlcarriger@cox.net

The 8AF Museum at Barksdale is looking for support of their Mall of Memories - you can donate and purchase a memorial brick with up to four lines of information (name, unit, etc) for $35 by sending a check to Eighth Air Force Museum Association, Inc, Mall of Memories, PO Box 8159, Bossier City, LA 7113-8159. Contact kaplanx4@bellsouth.net if you have any questions.

The AAFM-Mercenary Missileer forums are on line at www.mercenary-missileer.com/forums

Daniel Hoisington is writing a brief history of Titan I missile system under contract with the Organization of American Historians. It is undertaken, if part, due to the transfer of Missile Complex 2A, associated with Lowry AFB. He would enjoy the opportunity to exchange questions via e-mail or conduct phone interviews with any missileers connected with the Titan I program, with a particular - but not exclusive - interest in those associated with the Lowry sites - and especially the Titan I Missile Complex 2A. Daniel Hoisington, Hoisington Preservation Consultants 1-888-251-6336, djhoisington@edinborough.com

Josef P. Heuzeroth, LTC (Res) German Army, Ludwig-Jahn-Str. 1154634 Bitburg, Germany is preparing a booklet on the Cold War in the Eifel region of Germany. He would like to talk to people who were at Bitburg or other Matador/Mace locations in Germany. His e-mail is j.heuzeroth@surfeu.de

Meetings and Reunions
Association of Air Force Missileers - 27 Sept - 1 Oct 2006 - plan now to attend our seventh National Meeting at the Little America Hotel in Cheyenne, with great tours at Warren AFB. Registration form is part of the September 2005 newsletter and on our web page www.afmissileers.org.

Strategic Air Command Reunion - 24-27 May 2006, Tucson, AZ, contact Toby Romero, 4918 E Cooper St, Tucson, AZ 85711-3620, 520-327-2224, e-mail jtrome-25@excite.com

"ICBM Gang" Reunion, 30 Jan-2 Feb, Cocoa Beach area, for those involved in ICBM test and development, contact pwaite1@cfl.rr.com

3 Sept 05 - Passing of Edwin Archie Schmidt 1/17/1934 - 8/29/2005

Family, friends and aquaintances of Ed Schmidt - this is Anne - Ed's daughter and I'm going through his address book to let you all know that he passed away today (8/29/2005) at 1:35 PM. His family - wife Brenda, daughter Anne, grandson Sean and grand daughter-in-law were all with him at the time, and wished him a peaceful journey on his next "TDY". Most of you know he has battled non hodkins lymphoma for the past ten years. We are planning a very private "celebration of his life" with immediate family. If you would like to honor his memory, we ask that a donation, in his memory, be sent to Lymphoma Research Foundation, 111 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10006 or www.lymphoma.org. I am going to keep his AOL account active for a while - but you can also email me at annequick@comcast.net or send cards to my mom Brenda Schmidt, 15071 Capetown Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92647. We all will miss this wonderful loving man - who enjoyed and loved his family, golf and a good bottle of scotch!!!! Cheers.

26 Jan 03 - Old 51st MMS member finds site

LeRoy W. Beattie, who was stationed at the 51st MMS at Vandenberg from February 1969 to May 1971 has stumbled across our site. His name and e-mail hyperlink have been added to the roster. Welcome LeRoy!

19 Jan 03 - Vandenberg receives first Boeing Delta 4 rocket

I visited this complex on my last trip to VAFB, in Sept 2002. It is an awesome place, the size of the buildings and the handling equipment make the old Titian II look like a booster. I hope that they can finally start using some of the facilities that were put in years ago. Pete Taylor
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18 Dec 02 - 2002 Titan 2 off till January
 
Dogged by continued bad weather at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Titan 2 rocket and the Coriolis military satellite cargo were set for a fourth consecutive launch attempt today. But a technical concern with the spacecraft prompted a scrub this morning.
   MISSION STATUS CENTER - live updates!
 
Thanks to Pete Taylor:
Thought you guys might be interested in this. This is the LAST Titan II from SAC inventory. This bird was on alert at F.E. Warren AFB, it was originally scheduled to fly in May, but had some problems, so they used another, also a old SAC bird. I saw this missile, when I was at VAFB in September, they are calling it "Hanger Queen ", since it has been around so long.

A end of a era will close with it's launch, think about it, this bird had a Mark 6 on it at one time....

Pete

 

8 Dec 02 - 2002 Reunion - 51st Munitions Maintenance Squadron Association
 
A brief rundown on the reunion.. It was very nice. Some people made it to
the Hoover Dam, which I had visited before so did not go.

We all went to the Threat Museum and Thunderbird hangar at Nellis AFB.

Some even went to see the Debbie Reynold Show at the Rio, where we stayed.
It was a very good show and we had our banquet there.

The Rio is a very nice hotel where we had good rooms as you can see by the
hospitality suite.

The Suttons and Ray Baker had lined us up with very good accommodations and
various things to visit.

Ed Schmidt
 

 

2 Sep 02 - 463 Reunion
 
There will be a 463X0 reunion for all Air Force nuclear weapons specialists Albuquerque NM (the nuclear womb) in October 2003 during the week of Oct 13 to 17. For information go to: http://hometown.aol.com/a463x0reunion/myhomepage/club.html

18 Jul 02 - 2002 Reunion
 
51st Munitions Maintenance Squadron Association
 
Well, Folks,
    Here it is again: reunion time!  June Sutton, John Baker, and Joe Mathis have explored the area in Las Vegas and the location for this year is "The Orleans," a beautiful, well-maintained, and easy-to-find location with covered parking and shuttlebus service to the Strip.  June and Joe have looked at the rooms nd they are being provided to us at $40 per night.  A block of rooms has been made for the 51st MMS.  Check-in begins Sunday, Sept 15, and check-out is Friday, Sept 20.  What's the reason for the "during-week" reunion? Ans: $$$$.  This letter will itemize the rubrics of attending.
    Hotel:                The Orleans
    Address:            4500 W. Tropicana Ave., Las Vegas, NV 89103
    Rsrvtns:            Toll Free: (800) 675-3267   Local: (702) 365-7090
                            Must be made by August 15 (Possible to cancel w/o charge with notification
                            Rooms have either one King bed or two Queen beds.  You need to let the reservations
                            clerk know when you make the reservations.
    (Note)  Even-numbered rooms, e.g. 720, 914, 822, face the strip. Odd-numbered rooms, e.g. 721, 915, 823 face     the western mountains.
 
Regardless of menu, cost will be about $30/person for the banquet but the $350 room will be provided free.  Since some people can't eat red meat and some people don't want chicken, we have a choice of a buffet which includes BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Herb roast Chicken, and Sliced Smoked Brisket with ALL the trimmings, salad, desert, coffee, tea.  What do you think?  The only other option is to have ALL steak, ALL chicken, or steak and chicken together.  Price for the combo of chiecken and steak would be higher.
 
Money for dues (R24-member), registration ($10-person), and meal ($30-32-person) may be sent to Joe Mathis 1712 Sheffield Dr., Lompoc, CA 93436.  We need to collect money starting SOON.
 
Lots of tours are available and I cant set up something if enough people are interested through the hotel concierge.  Example: Tour to Hoover Dam by bus.  Cost extra and we can do this after arrival.
 
Lots of everything available to all to make a choice.  Example: shows, IMAX, Fremont Street Experience, casinos, you name it.  OK, the hotel has Jacuzzi and beautiful pool and exercise rooms.  There are more amenities than you can shake a stick at.  The hotel is fairly new.
 
I plan to use one of the King bed rooms (with permission of the occupant), or with no luck there, rent one of the hotel rooms.  We can have our Business Meeting there too or in one of the bar spaces in the lobby.
 
If you think of anything we've overlooked, CALL me!
 
Agenda will be somewhat like this:
    Sept 15-16                Check-in and look over the city
    Sept 17                    Bus trip to Hoover Dam and "on-your-own"
    Sept 18                    On-your-own, Nellis tour, any other tour
    Sept 19    9:30am     Business Meeting
                  7:00pm     Banquet
    Sept 20                    Breakfast in Courtyard Cafe and Departure
 
RESPONDE SIL VOUS PLAN WITH YOUR COMMENTS, AND SOON!!!! (VIA E-MAIL)
                   

12 Jun 02 - 2002 Reunion - place will be "The Orleans" in Vegas. Time will be September 15 thru 20.  Make own reservations using 51st MMSA identity.  Rooms for 51st are $40. Considering trip to Hoover Dam and Threat Museum.  We can probably get into the Thunderbird Museum at Nellis AFB. Understood Col.Goldie may be able to get us into the nooky sites up north of Vegas.  That's not yet set.  All I can do for now.  Will send phone nos. of Orleans when I get it. - Joe Mathis

5 May 02 - I received some new photos from Ken Kaplan. They are posted to a new Galleries page called Vandenberg Views

13 Apr 02 - another 51stMMS member finds us.

Hi Al, What a surprise to learn that there is a 51mms organization. I made this "discovery" by chance after reading the guest book on the 463x0 website. I served at Vandenberg in 1968 and worked on the Titan II/Mk-6 system.

I entered the Air Force on 1/13/67. While in Basic at Lackland, I was given three choices for career fields and assignment locations. My first choice was nuclear weapons and California or Germany. I got them all! I thought I was going to get some flying time in nukes - wrong! After basic, I transferred to Lowry for training as a 463. My first assignment was the 51st MMS at Vandenberg. I was there from 12/68 through 1/69 and worked on the MK6 RV (Titan II). We performed lots of training, a number of RV installations and one successful OT. My crew chief was TSgt ? Smith and crew members were Dennis Gagne, Mike Kurtz, Don Ruckles and ? Weaver (who was my roommate). I'm sorry I can't remember some of the first names. From Vandenberg, I was sent to Germany and served two years at Hopsten (Det 3, 50th Tactical Fighter Wing). I was discharged on 1/12/71.

73 Ken Kaplan

17 Nov 01 - This week the History Channel aired an excellent program called "America's Lost Bombs: The True Story of Broken Arrows". If you look past the fact that they had to fill 2 hours with file footage and therefore while talking about a MK-4 they showed a clip of a crew placing the shroud over the spike of a Mk-43 and one of the clips depicting Palomaris, Spain (What Palomaris incident?) showed some of the troops wearing parkas... it was right on. The interviews were with B-52 pilots involved and other knowledgeable experts in the field.

I searched the History Channel Web site and could not find when it airs again, nor could I find the video for sale. If it shows up on your TV Guide in the future, it is a "must see". I give it 3-1/2 stars!

It was so good, that when it aired later that night, I recorded it...

9 Oct 01 - Newsletter


51 stMMSA Member                                                                           October 2001

The 7th Annual 5 1 stMMSA reunion was held 15-19 August 2001 at Albuquerque, NM. Those of you who missed this one missed a really good one! It was hosted by Joe Harker and Jon and Joan Lindgren. We were headquartered at the Winrock Inn and from check-in to check-out we had a ball! We had some new faces this year with several people attending a reunion for the first time.

We checked in and had fellowshipping from Wednesday afternoon on. Wednesday evening we had a few groups join up for supper at a local establishment. The majority of the people checked in Thursday morning. After registrations were conducted, about 9:30 Thursday morning we all got on a bus and visited the Air Force Laser Facility Lab where we received a briefing and saw a video depicting the various uses of High Intensity Lasers in the Air Force Defense System. This tour was set up by Joe Harker who works there. We saw a demonstration of the power in a 15,000 watt Laser. Wow! Thursday evening most of us took the Sandia Tram to the top of Sandia Peak to view the sunset. If you've never taken this trip, it's well worth while. The scenery on the way up and down was fantastic.

On Friday we had various groups involved with golfing at a local course with the usual wagering. We thought we had a new sucker in the crowd, but Larry Pederson gave all the golfers a good lesson in the sport. That's OK - He bought the drinks afterward! Another group took a sightseeing trip up to Santa Fe and a few of us took a sightseeing trip around Albuquerque. Again, we had lots of fun at suppertime!

Saturday was the big day. In the morning we had our business meeting. Reports were rendered and elections were held. Ed Schmidt was reelected President, John Ray Baker was elected as Vice-President, and Joe Mathis was reelected as Treasurer. Joe Mathis also volunteered his services as Secretary for this year. Pete Taylor was reaffirmed as our Historian. Al Alvareztorres was affirmed as our new WebMaster. His site can be located at http://members.home.net/albert13/51mms.htm. Also check out the 463XO site at http://www.geocities.com/usaf463/463X0homepage.html.

A discussion was held relative to the 2002 reunion site, Las Vegas, Nevada. VP Baker will work with Jack and June Sutton who live in Las Vegas to lay the groundwork. We will keep you posted on this. The time frame expected for the reunion will be disseminated later, but be ready because it will be Fun! The 2003 reunion will be held at Vandenberg/Lompoc.

Also on Saturday, we visited the National Atomic Museum on Kirland AFB. You who have been to the museum before know what fun we had this time. It was a lot of fun talking over the various weapons we had worked with at the wide-spread munitions sites throughout the world. The wives got a big kick out of this too! We had our traditional banquet Saturday evening. Thirty-one people attended. Among the first time attendees were Al Alvareztorres and Donna Shinitis, Ted Morris, Ed and Bea Myers, Larry Pederson, and Cliff and Lily Ruff. Cristal Kodak also attended for the first time. Guests were Ed and Beryl Schwanitz (guests of Ed Schmidt) and Bobby R. Smith (guest of Joe Mathis).

When the banquet was over, we held the Honor Roll Call on those members whom we know have passed away. In the past year, we added one new name to that list: Bill Conrad. Following this, Joe Mathis gave the farewell blessing to the membership.

Many conversations continued late into the night and on Sunday morning, those of us who were still around got together for breakfast in the Winrock before heading back home. I would like to add for everyone's information that this reunion was an exceptionally good one. "And a great time was had by all!"

We've got lots of plans for the future of our organization and we would like all of you to be an active part of it. We are especially interested in getting the addresses of any former 51st members and we encourage any of you who have old special orders with names and serial number to send a copy to the Secretary.

Financially, we've been holding our own. For those of you who have not yet paid your 2001-2002 dues, you may send them in to the Treasurer. We still have some ball caps, insignias of the old 51st, and commemorative coins available to those of you who are interested. Caps are $14, insignias are $4, and coins are $5. Add $1 for shipping and handling. 

Ed Schmidt, President
 John Ray Baker, Vice-President
4202 Herbert Terr.
Woodson MO 63114		 Joe Mathis, Secretary/Treasurer
1712 Sheffield Dr.
Lompoc CA 93436

2 Sep 01 - I have placed a link in the Links Page to the Official Cold War Recognition Certificate Site.
  "In accordance with section 1084 of the Fiscal Year 1998 National Defense Authorization Act, the Secretary of Defense approved awarding Cold War Recognition Certificates to all members of the armed forces and qualified federal government civilian personnel who faithfully and honorably served the United States anytime during the Cold War era. Which is defined as Sept. 2, 1945 to Dec. 26, 1991."
  A medal was designed but was never authorized by congress due to budget considerations (click on medal for a site that sells them). I followed the instructions on the Official site and I got my certificate in about a month. They are now swamped and it may take a year to arrive in the mail.

31 Aug 01 - 2002 reunion in Las Vegas. Time and place TBA

This page was last updated on 11/3/05
Webmaster - Ken Kaplan