I have told this story before, but only in private company. It was Fall of 1970. Lt Col. Quirk had taken leave and left me in charge of the Squadron. While he was away, three General officers and their entourage came to our Site to hunt geese. Between them, they had seven stars. Two wore three stars. One of the officers was our boss, the Commander of the Alaskan Air Command. Another was the Commander of NORAD. The third was Vice-Commander of the Strategic Air Command. As acting Commander of our radar site, it fell upon me to act as their host. I assumed that role reluctantly, but what choice did I have?
Now, let me preface this story of the radio by saying that when the sun goes down in the boonies near Cold Bay, it gets DARK! I mean REALLY dark. No moonlight. No starlight. None. Nothing! Cold Bay is almost always overcast. Keep that in mind when I say that in October, the largest bears (some say) on earth are still active. On top of that, they are more active at night. They know no boundaries. They go where they please. After all, they fear nothing but man…and most of the time they don’t do that! Or, at least that is how I felt.
On with the story. I made arrangements the best I could for the generals and their staff to sleep in our quarters at the radar site. Which they did. They arose early in the morning, and after eating breakfast in our dining hall, the group of hunters started hustling around, preparing to leave on their hunt. Of course, I was already up, and in my office when I found out that none of the hunting party had a radio or any other means of communication with the world. Really! No way to contact three of the most important leaders of the defense of our Country? What if there is a national emergency? I didn't want to run all over the wilderness looking for them. I fixed that by calling in the ranking NCO of the party and directing him to take my personal radio. I told him firmly that I would hold him personally responsible for bringing it back.
You can guess what happened. After a long day of hunting, the group came dragging back. (At least some were dragging). I sent for the NCO. When he reported to me, he sheepishly told me that he had left the radio out there in the wilderness. I was furious! By now it was getting close to dusk, but I ordered him to go back and get it. I told him I would have the 1st Sgt send someone with him. Reluctantly, off the two of them went in my six-pack Dodge.
A couple of hours later, it was pitch dark when the NCO came into my office with the radio. He was not a happy camper...but I was! I didn't even ask if they encountered any bears.