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 On Tuesday, June 24th, 1997, the SACMARC returned the
historic Offutt Air Force Base amateur radio call sign, K0AIR, to the
air from the Confederate Air Force's "Fifi". The last flyable
B-29 Super fortress in the world, when it was on static display at Eppley
Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska.
Amateur Radio Station KØAIR
KØAIR is the "call sign," of one of the station licenses
of the Strategic Air Command Memorial
Amateur Radio Club (SACMARC). The other one is
KØGRL.
Originally assigned by the
Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) sometime during the Cold War, KØAIR
was a "military recreation station" located at "Building
305, Offutt Air Force Base."
according to the 1963 Amateur Radio Callbook (Offutt,
near Omaha Nebraska, was the Headquarters base for the
former Strategic Air Command or SAC, 1946-1992, now
reorganized into a unified command called
USSTRATCOM).
The station license was listed under "Elect. Maint. Section., 31st
Comm. Sqdn., Bldg. 305, Offutt AFB" in the 1969 Callbook and
"Elect. Maint. Section, 1911th Comm. Sqdn., Bldg. 305, Offutt
AFB" according to the 1976 Callbook. Unfortunately, the license
lapsed sometime afterwards (it does not appear in the 1980 Callbook),
and the call sign was unassignable under FCC rules for two decades.
Recent changes in FCC rules, including the adoption of a
Vanity
Call sign Program, offered the opportunity for SAC veterans, and
other members of the local amateur radio community, to recover that call sign
in memory of SAC and military communications history. KØAIR was taken
down from history's attic, dusted off, and returned to active use in
February of 1997.
KØAIR is a station in the amateur radio service. This is a special
world-wide communications service, defined by international treaty,
devoted to technical experimentation, public-service, and promoting
international goodwill. KØAIR's original purpose as a military
recreation station was to provide members of the armed forces assigned
to Offutt AFB with off-duty recreation and training in communications
and electronics. In its reincarnated form, KØAIR is a living exhibit of
SAC and USAF military communications history, as well as modern amateur
radio practice.
Having reactivated KØAIR and using it during special communications
events (such as the one at the
Confederate
Air Force B-29 Static Display at Eppley Airfield in Omaha on June
24th and 25th, 1997, we've had the privilege of meeting (on the air) at
least several other radio amateurs who are former military communicators
and remember station KØAIR at Offutt AFB. One of them, Chuck Sudds, KØTVD,
sent us an interesting personal
account of his Vietnam-era (1967-1969) memories of running overseas
telephone patches for the Military Affiliate Radio System (MARS). He
served as one of the operators at KR6CF in Okinawa, Japan, and recalls
not only KØAIR's strong signal into the Pacific Rim on HF, but also a
frequent operator of that station, a helpful airman named "Al"
(his full name, unfortunately, lost to history).
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