Click on the yellow box below to go back to the main page of the Range Rat Introduction page where you will find information about downrange people, where they worked, where they are now, their email address (if they wanted it published), what stations/ships they worked on, and news about those who have died etc etc.

I now have a Range Rat Sign-in book, to be used exclusively by Range Rats (and their famlies) that you can leave a comment of your experience on the range, where you worked, etc, etc. (See the other entrys in this book for examples, if you leave a comment or message not relating to the range the entry will eventually be deleted, for instance a "Howdy" does not qualify as an entry!). You can give your email address (its not required but its requested) so that other range rats can contact you.

Please do NOT use my "GUEST BOOK" to sign in, that book is for collectors who visit my website, and that is why I made a seperate book for use by Range Rats, called the Range Rat Sign In Book.

Perhaps you are looking for someone who you used to work with that you lost contact with, you could include it in your message in the sign-in book, or better yet send me an email and I can include it on this page.

• Jim Neiger, who was a SOI Analyst (12.17 and 12.18) and then Site Leader at Ascension 12.18 in 1968-69, signed the Range Rat sign-in Book on 30 March '10 and noted this, which I feels needs to be repeated here:
"After leaving ETR, my work has primarily been on the Minuteman and TRIDENT SLBM... In 1989, my work on the TRIDENT missile program took me back to Ascension, and I have made about eighty trips to the island since. For the Navy, I was the Program Manager to upgrade the old Ascension TTR (then 12.17, now 12.15 (FPQ-15)) development and installation of a 40-ft dish, coherent electronics, etc.

I was on Ascension last week when I came upon this web-site. For those who were on Ascension during the 60's, the TPQ-18 is gone, the FPS-16 is gone, the HF transmitter/receiver sites are almost gone. A few of the Saints we knew back then (Jimmy Young, Choppers, etc) are still there. The Volcano Club is still open, but a fraction of what it once was. Whereas we had about 500 Americans on the Base in the late 60's, I expect it's now about 75."

• Thanks Jim for this report. If YOU are on Ascension or visit there on occasion, a report on anything that you feel would be of interest to us ex-rats, please send me an email.

• On 24 March '10 I received the following email from Cassandra Carchetti, now living in Greensboro NC:
• I got your website address while looking at some stuff on the web about Ascension. I spent 2 weeks there in August 1975 covering the launch of the first Viking launch to Mars. I was stationed at Patrick AFB at the time and was with the ARIA aircraft (droop snoot) that covered the launch. We were supposed to be there for 3 days and the launch kept being delayed. We always considered ourselves range rats due to our support of the aircraft that covered all of the launches out of Cape Canaveral. I'll always remember the time I spent on the island and how unique it is. Look forward to hearing from you. Great website.
• I have invited Cassandra to sign the Range Rat Sign-in Book, but so far she has not. (Many times after I reply to similar emails, I don't get a response and wonder why).
• For those of you who dont remember what ARIA is, as it is now history, it stands for Advanced Range Instrumentation Aircraft, and a good website to learn more about this part of range history, I suggest going to this link, whose webmaster is Randy L. Losey: ARIA History Web Site & Archives.
• Did you know that Ascension Island issued a stamp depicting an ARIA? See below. (I believe it's the only country that has done so. If not, let me know).
  
  
  Ascension Island issued this postage stamp depicting a Boeing EC 135N ARIA, on 15 June 1982, one of 4 stamps in a set to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Wideawake Airfield.

• in the Oct 2009 edition of the CSR newsletter, in the photo history section it mentions a CSR TV station on ASC 2006-7.
• Can anyone supply any information about this TV station? Does it still exist, and if not why was it closed? And does the ASC base receive commercial TV signals now?

• This is a true story because it happened to one of my friends. One late afternoon when one of my co-workers, who shall remain nameless, was returning from a party at the Exiles club in Georgetown, he had the misfortune to meet up with the Honey Dipper on the road in front of the golf course. Having had a little too much to drink, he came down the road just a mite too fast and slammed into the back of the Honey Dipper's truck. If I remember rightly, we called it the Honey Bucket.
  The Honey Dipper had just finished making his rounds and his truck was filled almost to overflowing. (Many of the houses in Georgetown did not have indoor plumbing as we know it. They used something like a chamber pot or something similar.) It doesn't take much imagination to visualize what happened next. He hit that truck dead center. The door flew open and the contents flew everywhere. It took several hours for them to clean up the mess, but the aroma lingered for days.
  (Russell worked on the ASC tracking radar from 1967-68).

• This photo was sent in by Mike Doherty who works on Ascension, and said it was photographed by Leon Lacy.

Click on above image for an enlarged view
and then click it again for a much larger view.

• This photo was sent in recently by Mike Doherty who works on Ascension and who had asked me if I wanted to see a photo from the early 60's. The picture he sent had more of the bulding and more mountain background, and a list of the names in the photo which I cropped out, as one name was spelt wrong, (which was the first one on the list: my old buddy "Charlie" Elgas). Here is the list of names which I assume the names go from left to right since Charlie's name was the first one on the list and he is the farthest to the left in the photo: Charles Elgas, Leon Strickland, Bill Morefield, Duff Green, Warren Hengst, John Blalock, Morris Gillson, Bob Ibarguen, Wayne Melton, Pete Thomas, Tom Smith, Jerry Larson and George Havermahl.


• 01 SEP 2007, Charlie Elgas identified Havermahl in the photo, (the orginal name that came with the photo had Havermahl's last name really screwed up). Are there any other misspelled names in the above list?). The end of the lists of names says the location was Bks. 5 End Room.
  Charlie Elgas also provided more info about Volcano Radio and the staff, he writes:
  "John Blalock had just made a major upgrade to the transmitter (made it a 30 watt transmitter from just 3 watts) when a visiting photographer took the picture. It was located inside bks 5 with the antenna strung across to the mess hall. As I mentioned before, the photo did make the cover of the RCA 'MTP News.' The station engineer, and rebuilder of the stations transmitter, was John Blalock (RCA Comm). Warren Hengst was then the station manager (PAA supply). At that time I was the station studio engineer, program director, DJ, news reader and janitor. Ha ha. For 5 years I was the manager and coordinator of AFRS Asc Island for the military programs and ZD8VR civilian programs. The base (early on) allowed us to move out of the small Q hut into a spare room on the base. I lived just down the hall from the studio in bldg 5 prior to my room in the middle of the three new bldgs. Later the studio was moved back to a single and very large Q hut.
  By that time I last left Asc (and the range) we were a 24/7, AM and FM, 1kw station. The 1kw antenna and transmitter was out in an antenna field building, but abandoned by RCA to us. I always wondered what happened to it all since then. Kip Carter (tlm tech) did a lot to upgrade the studio just prior to my leaving. He got the base club to donate some money for a good, but used control room audio console. Did it stay on the air after the contract changed in the 80's?"
  Maybe someone can provide more information about Volcano Radio after the range contract changed in the 80's.
• 11 AUG 2008, ANOTHER VOLCANO DJ HEARD FROM: Russell Estlack, a Bendix employee on ASC from 1967-68 writes: In my spare time, I was a DJ on Volcano Radio. My show was called What Ever Happened to Good Music. I got in serious trouble with the Brits when I played Johny Horton's Battle of New Orleans and dedicated it to the British Army.
• 05 MARCH 2008, SHORT HISTORY OF VOLCANO RADIO BEGINNINGS: Carroll R. Michaud Maj. USAF Ret'd, ASC Base commander 1971-2 sent this piece of info: "Volcano Radio Station, (ZD8VR) 'The Golden Voice of the South Atlantic' was built by WWII U.S. Army personnel. 1st "On_Air" broadcast was 3 Sept 1944, Call Letters WXLR. The station shut down when the Army base closed after WWII. U.S. civilian contractors recommissioned the base and the radio station in 1957 to support USAF Eastern Test Range Operations.


• 05 MARCH 2008, SEE A STAMPED ENVELOPE COMMEMORATING THE 30th ANNIVERSARY OF WXLR: It is signed by one of the station's Disc Jockey's who was on the island October 1945 to June 1946. (We met on the internet some years ago and met in person one year when he visited Fort Myers FL.) To see the special envelope click on this link: WXLR Anniversary Envelope
• 02 NOV 2008, VOLCANO RADIO STATION MID 1980'S (ASCENSION) :




Ralph Jackson, Volcano Radio Station Manager.
Range Rats are not the only ones reading these pages, as in Oct. I heard from Colin Evans an RAF chap who was stationed at ASC in 1985 who sent me this email:
"I found your website with interest in particular about ZD8VR Volcano Radio. I was lucky enough to be posted out there whilst serving in the RAF in 1985. At that time the Station Manager was a guy named Ralph Jackson. I approached Ralph and asked if he was looking for additional DJ's as I had worked on BFBS Cyprus and he said 'Yes'. In simple terms I did an audition in the studios and the rest is history. For six months I was the only British Forces DJ and quickly established my on Saturday evening show. In those days there was no CD's it was just vinyl and reel-to-reel tapes. Those where perhaps the best 6 months of my RAF career and one I'll never forget. I'll send you a page taken out of a island magazine and on one side it talks about Volano Radio. It shows a picture of Ralph Jackson."

Ralph Jackson shown above, was a Pan Am mechanic, and he has been instrumental in keeping the station functioning around the clock for many years. You can see the article than Colin sent by clicking here.
Other station personnel mentioned in the article are: Ed Hurley, Bendix; Steve Rivenbach, RCA; Brian Williams, Pan Am; Reggie Turnst, RCA and Tom DeLaet.

RALPH JACKSON HEARD FROM:
In Nov 2008 I received this email from Ralph: "Hi, this is Ralph Jackson, a Range Rat for over 20 years, and ZD8VR Station Manager. I live in the Panama City area of Florida part of the year and Ohio the other part. I have kept in close touch with the MacDowell's and the Jourdans who recently attended the Range Rat Reunion in Florida. I was the radio station manager for almost all the years I was on Ascension which was over 20 years. I am married since the last year on Ascension. My wife, Debbie, worked for Fred Kenney for the years she was there from 1985 to the end of 1988 when the contract changed to CSR and they didn't bid her job." (Ralph has yet to sign the Range Rat Sign-In Book).


Does anyone know if Volcano Radio is still in operation? Perhaps it has closed since we now have satellites that can beam in TV and Radio Programs. If anybody has additional information please send me an email.

• I found this card on the web sometime ago, which shows that Vocano Radio was still in operation in 1979. For those of us who have bad eyes, I will note what is on the card:
  
  1602 KC, 500 Watts
  VOLCANO RADIO STATION
  The Voice of Ascension Island, South Atlantic Ocean
  To: (name of person it was sent) This confirms your reception report of our transmissions on 05 May 1979 at 00:01+ GMT.
  "Volcano Radio" appreciates and acknowledges all such reports. The station is owned and operated as a non-commercial, voluntary basis by the employees of Ascension Island Auxilary Air Force Base (US).
  US Mailing address: Volcano Radio Station, Ascension Island, Patrick AFB, Florida.

• I need some help on this one. I got this photo at GBI many years ago, I think it might have been taken by telemetry manager George Brown, and I presume its the famous Ascension beer drinking donkey (it looks like it likes Budweiser!) So please provide some info if you can.

• Is this the Ascension beer drinking donkey? If not, where else would this be taken at? Maybe identifying the guy in the photo would help?
• Did any other islands have beer drinking donkeys? I seem to recall that there was one at the St. Lucia Base. Anyone who worked at St. Lucia let me know what you think?

• 12 APRIL 2007, MORE INFO ON REBEL WAS SENT TO ME FEB 07. "Rebel was the first one as you have it on your web page", writes Jack Tolman. He continues: "Some Donkey hating person tried to castrate him but botched the job and they had to take him up to Green Mountain to the English Vet who lived there. Security got a call that Rebel would not eat the grass or other food they were trying to feed him and they were concerned that he would starve to death, the guys at the base put two and two together and sent him some hamburgers and beer which he ate and made a full recovery! After Rebel returned to the base he was later run over by I believe an AF type who was devastated that it happened.
  I used to show the movies at the old Volcano Club and Rebel would stagger, YES STAGGER down to the movie screen and lie down to watch the movie, if it was not a western he would get up and go back to the bar to bum drinks, he was so funny he would try to walk but would get his two front legs crossed and fall down.
  He would come into the club when it opened and if you were sitting by the door he would bite you on the elbow until you bought him a beer (which they sold at a cheaper price just for him) if you ignored him he would flip the light switch right by the door until someone bought him a beer, as he got drunker he would come all the way into the bar and bug people until the bar tender had to run him out the back door to the patio. Rebel used to come over to Barracks 3 Saturday mornings where my room was and bang on the door (as he knew I had a refrigerator with cold beer in it) he would not go away until I gave him a beer.
  
  Rebel was so famous that a Brazilian TV station from Rio got permission from the State Department to come to Ascension (VIA military Aircraft) to film a story about him, which upset the British when it aired in Rio, they later came out saying that they would not allow anymore donkeys to become alcoholics on the Island. When Rebel died I think they buried him by the flag pole in front of barracks 3. After I left Ascension they did have another Donkey who hung around the base named Hardaway.
• REBEL DONKEY INFORMATION ADDED 02 JAN 07: Jim Ketchum wrote me 06 Oct 2006:
  "Rebel was the beer drinking donkey at Ascension! He was eventually backed over by a 2 1/2 ton truck and that was the end of Rebel. I think there was a Rebel 2 but I was gone by then. Rebel and I shared a lot of beer, carrots and movie watching!.... He used to try to sneak up on me and bite my butt but it never worked out for him because the volcanic soil crunched when he was making his move!"
• < 02 AUG 2008, MORE INFO ABOUT REBEL FROM JOHN GLADDEN, FROM JAN 07:
  I was told that the driver of the truck that hit Rebel was a GEEIA troop. Although I was on Ascension more than once, I never witnessed the donkeys Rebel or Raider, but more than one Range Rat has sworn the GEEIA info to be true.
• 02 AUG 2008, JOHN GLADDEN WROTE ABOUT A 2nd ASC DONKEY, IN JAN 07:
  I believe the second beer drinking donkey at Ascension was named Raider. One story I heard was that he met his demise in one of the islands official Donkey Shoots.
• 05 MARCH 2008, ANOTHER ASC DONKEY NAMED JJ: Craig Hawk who worked at the ASC NASA Tracking Station Nov. 1967 thru March 1968 said they also had a drunk donkey named J.J. who used to meet them every morning and they would feed her fruit from the mess hall. Craig also tells something about his time on the island: "I worked in the supply section with John Kelley. George Cantrell was the station M/O at the time. I had a band called The Apollo's and we played at Two Boats club and the little beach hut and club in Georgetown a few times. I had a great time."
• 02 AUG 2008, MORE INFO ABOUT THE DONKEY NAMED JJ: In July 08 Russell Estlack who worked at the Devil's Aspit on Ascension 1967-1968 emailed me "Concerning JJ, the beer drinking donkey, when we were on R&R in Recife, someone shot him with a spear gun. He did recover, but I was told that someone killed him when they did it a second time a few years later".
• 01 MAY 2007, MAYAGUANA HAD A BEER DRINKING DONKEY TOO!
  Mac Stinson wrote me in Feb 07 with two pictures and this note: "A bit of history should be included with these photos. The critter was imported in 1956 on the northbound LST from Grand Turk as arranged by Pan Am subcable tech (that's right Pan Am had some of them in those days) Ray "Melon Belly" Smith. The donkey keeper shown in the pictures was a power house operator who's name escapes me. Alas, we have a sad ending. The donkey disappeared after a brief time at Mayaguana; it was rumored that the base manager had him executed for persistently using the catchment basin as a toilet. Sorry the picture quality is so poor. It is ektachrome and evidently doesn't survive too well! Mac"
  To see the two pictures Mac sent click on these two links below
  Mayaguana Range Rat with Donkey
  Mac says it's the same guy in both pictures. only in this next picture he was dressed to go to a "ripsaw" in the village and decided to parade the critter around the bar first!
  Mayaguana Range Rat with Donkey in the bar.



• Anyone who has more info about other Base Donkeys send me some info.....

• In October 1952, the Air Research and Development Command approved a plan to extend the Eastern Range's length to 5,000 miles to meet SNARK and NAVAHO missile testing requirements. Antigua, St. Lucia, Fernando de Noronha and Ascension were tentatively selected as host sites, and agreements were negotiated with the governments of Britain, St. Lucia, Brazil and Ascension to authorize construction.
• The St. Lucia and Ascension agreements were signed on 26 June 1956, and the Brazilian Agreement was signed on 21 January 1957. Following an exchange of notes with the State Department, Britain granted the U.S. access to Antigua on 15 January 1957.
• The Eastern Test Range supported its first 5,000-mile-long mission, a SNARK test flight, on 31 October 1957. This was when Antigua and Ascension AAFB supported their first missile launch and both stations were then declared operational.
• It has been my practice to commemorate important space events and I thought it would be appropriate to mark this important date in the history of these two stations in 1977. Being a stamp collector who also collects special covers (envelopes), I also prepared and issued special commemorative covers (envelopes) for the 20th anniversary. The covers were then mailed to the islands for postmarking on that date of 31 Oct 1977 at the Antigua and Ascension postoffices. Examples of my efforts are shown below
  
  (In 1957 I was working in telemetry at the St. Lucia AAFB tracking station and so I too took part in tracking this particular Snark flight. In later years I also worked at both Antigua and Ascension tracking stations).
  This special cover was issued by the FMF Local Post commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Ascension AAFB tracking its first missile, the Snark. This missile flight opened the 5,000 mile long Eastern Test Range.
  (Note: while it may be hard to see, the Ascension postage stamp on the above cover depicts the Ascension AAFB living quarters and administration buildings, etc. at the foot of Cat Hill.
  A Snark missile launch.
  
  To see the special envelope prepared for the Antigua anniversary
  click on this link: Antigua Cover

• Doug Rogers signed in Dec. 13, 2005. I have been looking for him for a number of years, I didn't know him personally but a downrange friend of mine, Charlie Elgas, knew him from Ascension and always wondered what happened to him after Doug left the range. I kept up with many range rat whereabouts since I left the range and have managed to track some down, it became a lot easier too once I got a computer. Check out Doug's entry in the RR sign-in book on Dec. 13, 2005. While on ASC he was the driving force who got the Ascension Historical Society going in l966. Doug and the Island kids built it from scratch, and he was the curator of the Ft.Hayes Museum. Doug said that he visited ASC in l997 to accept an award from the AscHistSoc, on its 30th anniversary. A new museum/community center was built on ASC and the museum and now community center are sort of focal points there.

Range Rats Friends that I have contacted by email long before I started this Range Rat Information Page, plus a few I've added since Starting my Range Rat pages, (please note that this list may be incomplete):

• ASC - Ascension
• Scottie Lonnie
• Joe Makeever
• Jimmy Townsend

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Postage stamps about space and the range....

The left stamp issued by the USA on the day Astronaut John Glenn successfully splashed down in Grand Turk waters.
The middle stamp issued by the Bahama Islands shows a radar antenna. Grand Bahama Island, Station No. 3, had a radar station.
the right stamp issued by the Dominican Republic shows the Mercury capsule orbiting earth. There was a tracking station (No. 8) in the Dominican Republic, at Sabana de la Mar, in 1956, however (DOM) closed in 1957 long before the Mercury flights of 1960-63.

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