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My First Assignment
with USAF
Security Service (USAFSS), Japan
by 2nd/Lt Paul Duplessis
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I
graduated from of Electronics Countermeasures (ECM) school
at Keesler AFB, MS as a 2nd Lt on flying status in 1954 as a distinguished
graduate. For my initial assignment, I volunteered for duty with
Air Force Security Service at Misawa AB, Honshu, Japan, where I
served as Squadron ECM Officer with the lst
Radio Squadron Mobile, later redesignated
692lst Radio Squadron Mobile (RSM). My additional duty
was Administrative Officer. This included: security violation investigation
officer, military pay officer and courier officer in support of
three USAFSS remote sites on the island of Hokkaido, Japan.
During the
end of my 1st year at Misawa, I became Commander of Det 4, 6921st RSM, a
14-man test team at a Henashi Saki on the northwest coast of Honshu, Japan.
1st/Lt Albert L. Thompson was my predecessor. The names of the airmen at the
site are: | T/Sgt
Alvin L. Gibson (NCOIC) | A/1c James T. Moore | | T/Sgt
Harmon B. Bentley | A/1c Charles E. Lange Jr | | S/Sgt
Brydon G. Lenhartz | A/2c Nick A. Marino | | S/Sgt
Andrew M. Niznik | A/2c Curtis D. Roberts | | S/Sgt
Benjamin F. Crew Jr. | A/2c Jere A. Brittain | | A/1c
Duane L. Callies | A/2c Walter Spratley | | A/1c
Frank E. Gross | A/2c Charles H McGould |
As
you can see by the following photos, the
Henashi
Saki site
was quite primitive and had little to offer the personnel there. | 
ELINT Intercept van adjacent to ground power shack.
Our mission was to conduct tests to determine
the feasibility of
using atmospheric ducting to intercept and analyze Soviet radar signals.
Det 4,6921st
RSM, was co-located with the 511th Aircraft Control &
Warning
(AC&W) Squadron's 8th relay facility. See FM relay antenna tower
on left.
Two Japanese maintenance men lived on the 2nd floor and
the Det 4 Commander's office and bunk bed were on the 3rd level.
Det
4, 6921st RSM Commander's office where
I lived, reviewed test results and did
my paper work.
 Airmen
Quarters, kitchen and dining hall facility.
Notice the snow weasel and antenna
tower under repair on foreground.
Our
14 man contingency operated 24 hours/day, 7 days/ week.
The enlisted personnel resided in this Butler Hut. Needless to say
accommodations were marginal.
Meals were served as
each 2-person shift was relieved
by the next shift.
For entertainment, enlisted personnel played horse shoes, cards, chess, etc.Left to right: T/Sgt
Bentley, A/2c Usry, A/2c Spratley, S/Sgt Lehnarts,
and A/1c Gross. The girl
in the photo (on the left) is the laundry girl that
came to the site to pickup dirty laundry for her mother to wash and to
deliver the clean laundry. Note the water trailer at the end of the Butler Hut.
Det 4's vehicle motor pool. All personnel were qualified to operate
each of the
vehicles on the site. There was no running water at our site for
drinking,
cooking or bathing. Every evening a "bath run" went down
to Fukaura
city for airmen who wanted to use the Japanese bathhouse.
Filling the water trailer at the Fukaura Railroad Terminal Office (RTO).
The Japanese man on the left was the laundry lady's husband and a
helpful go-between with local community and business leaders.
The Fukaura RTO was a seaport city 3.5 miles north of Henashi Saki
Det
4s open air Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant (POL) storage area.See the
pond near the site.
A/1c
Lange and A/1c Gross in front of the bakery in Henashi Saki where
we
picked up fresh bread daily to feed the Det 4 personnel. We had
bartered large
cans of jelly in exchange for the bread until the baker
informed us that
he had enough jelly to make jelly donuts for several months. Apparently there was
not enough demand to justify making anymore.
T/Sgt
Alvin Gibson, Det 4 NCOIC, assessing the damaged bridge on
the coastal road that our personnel would have to pass when transporting
Det 4 motor pool vehicles (see above photo) and materials back to
Misawa AB. Some materials (POL, Butler Hut, etc.) were shipped by
Japanese train.
2nd/Lt Paul Duplessis with A/2c Spratley,
ground power mechanic, in downtown Henashi
Saki.
Community Relations Project
During my 12 month tour at Misawa AB as a 2nd/Lt, I was assigned as
C.O. of
Det 4, 21st RSM, Henashi, Japan, located about 3.5 miles south of Fukaura
on the
northwest coast of Japan. One day, the laundry women's husband
informed me that
Fukaura's mayor, police chief and headmaster of the middle school invited
me for
breakfast at a local restaurant to solicit assistance.. Namely, to expand
the local
middle school's hilltop playground so the children could play baseball
without
having to go down the hill to retrieve baseballs that were being hit
over the fence
very often. As part of our community relations program, I approved the
use of the
bulldozer by airmen who volunteered to operate the bulldozer while on
break.
To compensate the airmen, they were provided a free hotel room and meals
in
town during their work schedule.
A/1c Gross operating the bulldozer at the school yard while
A/2c Spratley awaits his turn to operate the bulldozer.
Postscript
While on our final departure from Henashi Saki, the train stopped at
Fukaura where we were met by the headmaster of the school along with
hundreds of students from the middle school. They gave us mementos
and small gifts to show their appreciation for the work we did to enlarge
the school's school yard / baseball field.
In
October 1955, the AF Hospital Commander
at
Misawa AB officially declared the site to be inhabitable during
the extremely cold and windy winter months.
was officially closed and all USAF Government
equipment was packed and returned to Misawa.
In February 1956, I was reassigned to Det 2, 6921st RSM,
at Wakkanai AS as the unit ELINT Officer.
See Wakkanai photos and anecdotes... 
In Oct 1956, I returned to the united states on Emergency Leave to attend my Father's funeral. Following the funeral, I was reassigned the Tactical Air Command as an RB-66C Electronic Warfare Officer with at Shaw AFB, SC.
Click
here for my expanded military biography
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