CHAPTER 5 :ALTUS COMPLETED
THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
In the fall of 1962 Altus was completed. I gave the Safety
Technicians a bon-voyage. Each got a good letter of
recommendation. I called home office about Pat Robinson hoping
they find something for him to do there. I had killed my chances
of being transferred.
Jack Garrison called me several months earlier, while Altus was
still unfinished. He offered to transfer me in to home office on
his staff. When I visited home office safety I thought it was
boring. Leaving Altus before the finish, walking around the plant
looking for cigarettes in the wastebaskets, was not a future to
me. When he told me I would have to "temporarily" give up my
ninety dollars a month off-site bonus I was sure I wanted no part
of home office. I thanked him but rejected his offer.
My Chief of Industrial Relations was aghast. Nolan could not
believe I had just thrown my career away by turning down the Chief
Safety Engineer. It also bothered him that I had not even
mentioned the offer until after I turned it down. I was 24. What
did I know about all that. I was on a roll. I was having too much
fun to see even sixty days ahead. Nolan assured me I had thrown my
future away. In emphasis he suggested that I get my resume
printed and out to other contractors. I put out around three
hundred resumes to every aero-space contractor.
I was packing the last boxes for shipment to Kearny Mesa when I
received a call from Jack Garrison's assistant Bill Bordon. Bill
wanted to know if I still had those Safety Advisor Manuals. I
told him they were packed for shipping but yes they were here. He
asked me to unpack that box and put thirty of them in the hands of
the next supervisor heading to Kearny Mesa by air. They were in
Safety's hands the next day. Later I learned that USAF had
confronted Convair about the accident at the Russell Site. They
alleged that the silo sites had no integrated, documented plan for
silo emergencies and that, in part, accounted for the fire and
damages. We, at Altus, were the only site that did have the
integrated plan and it was documented in the Safety Advisor. Jack
and the San Diego boys went into the meeting with the Safety
Advisor. They distributed the copies before the meeting began and
took the wind out of USAF's sails.
Then I got another call. Would I pack up and drive to Lincoln,
Nebraska right away. Sure I would, what was up. USAF had given
Convair a new project called "Clean Sweep". It was a follow-up
contract to take the system upgrades to each site and install
improvements and correct deficiencies The rumor mill had it that
the Air Force Techs had screwed up the systems. Our guys said that
if the LCC panel required a green light to go on these Air Force
Techs went down into the silo and made sure a green light came on.
Even if the way to get the light on was to bypass the system it
monitored. Our Engineers remarked that if Atlas had to be
operationally launched it would be a great surprise if one out of
four actually fired. Omaha, Nebraska was SAC headquarters and we
were getting into a pushing match with the Soviet Union over Cuba.
Those missiles had better be working.
I drove to Lincoln in early October of 1962. Our crews were moving
around all the Sac Atlas sites making repairs and adjustments.
They found a lot wrong. We were working twelve to fourteen hour
days. We were not reading newspapers about the build up. Most of
us were rolling in and out of bed and to and from the sites. The
most dramatic event I recall was watching the DefCon numbers going
down. We knew what defcons represented. They started at five.
This was a relaxed state of readiness. They terminated at one.
This was everything ready to launch with the launch officers
finger actually poised over the button.
The United States had never been to DefCon 2. We went to defcon
two while I was in an Omaha area silo. I wasn't sure if it was
good to be in a silo and kiss the world goodby or be in the world
and kiss a girl goodby. I decided on the latter.
One of my very best friends and co-workers from Cheyenne was also
assigned to Clean Sweep. Alex (Flip) Manzano and his wife Anita
were in Lincoln when I arrived. Every minute we were out of the
silo Flip and I buddied around. One night we were strolling around
a Lincoln, Nebraska Mall. I chanced to look through the window of
a full service camera shop. Behind the counter, waiting on a
customer, was a beautiful Swedish blonde.
Swedes were new to me and they were very numerous in Nebraska. I
thought Swedish women were just great. Flip prodded me into going
into the camera shop. With him, looking through the window I
approached this beautiful girl. I asked her if she had some sort
of camera and she replied that they didn't carry that brand. I
said I should probably go to Penny's. She smiled and leaned
forward. She said " we don't say Pennys in here." I thought that
was a cute answer and suggested she show me around to those other
stores the next night. I explained that I was new in town and
really did not know my way around.
She looked at me for a moment and then said she had other plans
for tomorrow night. Just as I was thinking of my next move she
said "but I could show you around tonight." Within fourteen days
of our meeting we eloped to Sioux Falls, South Dakota which had no
three day waiting period. We were married on Dec 11,1962.
Eventually we had two beautiful children, Traci Ann and Shaun
Andrew. We remained together until 1971.
The day after I proposed, the Chief of Industrial Relations at
home office called. What are you doing in Lincoln? I said I was
getting over shaky knees. Well, would you want to go to Cape
Canaveral and handle our safety program there? I was too surprised
to take it seriously for a moment. He really meant go to the Cape
and run Astro. safety for the last Mercury shot.
Gordon Cooper was scheduled to launch in May 1963. It was now Dec
9th 1962. I said I would be there and then asked him if there
wasn't a better transfer package for married couples. He paused
and then said "you will keep that lousy ninety dollars your so
worried about." No, I replied, "Its not about the ninety bucks
its about me getting married in two days." He broke up." You sure
will go to extremes Naughton, but yes you get one thousand
transfer instead of three hundred."" Okay," "I said put me in for
a married transfer and I will be at the Cape right after New
Year." He said "you will be at the Cape by twenty December"
I had to leave Darlene behind, in Lincoln and go directly to the
Cape.