User:Mcdmiller/sandbox/John A Looser

John Andrew Looser

Son of first generation Swiss immigrants in rural Wisconsin, John Andrew Looser was born on February 14, 1921 in Holcombe, Wisconsin. He is a 1939 graduate of Juneau High School. Today, he lives in Eldersburg, Maryland and enjoys his family and their eleven grandchildren after losing Jean, his wife for 61 years, to Alzheimer’s in 2007.

Early Military Career: In 1939 he joined the US Army Air Corps doing basic training at Selfridge Field, Michigan. He was assigned to Scott Field, St. Louis, Missouri, for his machine shop course. At Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois, he completed the Radio Operator and Maintenance course followed by the Teletype Maintenance course. Upon his return to Selfridge Field he was assigned to the Third Airbase Squadron. His first assignment was to assist in maintaining the Air Corp’s first fully remote-controlled aircraft. Thirteen obsolete BT2BG, training aircraft were allocated for this project. The aircraft’s were modified at Wright-Patterson Field, Dayton, Ohio by the project engineers and inventors. Once modified the aircraft were flown to Selfridge Field. The aircraft were subsequently flown over Lake Huron as live target aircraft.

(JPEG 6 thru 10).

World War II:   In 1941, he was assigned to the 5TH Pursuit Squadron, Selfridge Field, Michigan. He assumed the responsibility as a Non Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of the radio and navigational aids section and was promoted to Sergeant.

Sgt. Looser was selected to go to the RAF secret radar training school in Clinton, Ontario. He completed the course and returned back to duty with the fighter squadron. Shortly thereafter he was picked for a secret mission to the East Boston airport. The Signal Corps also directed ten B-18 aircraft to assemble at the airport. When orders arrived personnel were directed to form the 1st Sea Search Attack Squadron. Colonel Dolan was the ranking officer and assumed command. They began to work with MIT who had been developing a radar system to be used for night fighters.

MIT was requested to change course. They were asked to hand manufacture thirteen radar sets to be used in the B-18 aircraft; one for each aircraft, one bench mockup and two spares. The 1st Sea Search Attack Squadron was to begin flying as soon as these handmade radar’s were installed. Sgt. Looser was assigned NCOIC of the Radar and Communication Section. He and his maintenance personnel, along with two Western Electric engineers, proceeded in maintaining the equipment and looking for design errors and system weakness. These needed to be corrected prior to production of the SCR-717 Radar Set, which became the standard bombing radar for the European Theatre. He had the honor to work with the Nobel Prize winner Dr. Shockley. (Pics 11 and 13)

Some of the first production SCR 717 radars were installed in specially equipped B-24s with two large Bombay fuel tanks. This enabled the aircraft to remain airborne for 17-hour missions. (References made to Wikipedia “presidential unit citation awards; 480th Anti-Submarine Group”.) The British were frantically calling for help for the anti-submarine war being fought in the Atlantic. They lacked long range aircraft to fly patrol over the convoys. The 1st Anti Submarine Squadron was outfitted with these B-24 aircraft and ordered take the northern route to England. BW1, the landing field in Greenland had to be used as a refueling point but had not been completed or tested for heavy aircraft. The Squadron departed with Sgt. Looser and his radar crew. The pilots managed to navigate the fiords, land and take off without incident. (JPEG 15b)

The squadron’s first operational base was Saint Evals in Cornwall, England. They operated primarily under 19 Group Coastal Command and supported the British in giving convoy coverage for the US Merchant Marine ships and develop what was known as “killer search procedures”. They began to sweep the Bay of Biscay in attempts to locate any submarines prior to Operation Torch, the Anglo-American invasion of North Africa to open up a second front against the Germans to assist the Russians in their effort to fight. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch

Within a few days after the invasion of North Africa the Army had secured the airbase at Port Lyautey, French Morocco. The squadron and all personnel relocated immediately to that airbase. They encountered a problem of early morning fog which presented a problem for flights returning from long missions that were low on fuel or other missions that had injured on board. Master Sergeant Looser and his assistant, Technical Sgt. Stuber and their radar maintenance crew designed, built and operated the first operational Ground Control Approach Radar (GCA). This consisted of mounting SCR 717 radar set and communications equipment in a weapons carrier truck bed while towing a PE 75 generator power supply jn a trailer. The antenna rotated, scanning the area until the aircraft appeared on the Planed Position Indicator (PPI) scope. The antenna was then stopped and the idler gear was removed and then the antenna was slowly moved by hand back and forth continuously lighting the aircraft with the RF beam. This allowed the operator, who was an all-weather pilot, to reduce the receiver gain to a minimum which effectively sharpening the radar beam width. Several aircraft were saved using this system. Sgt. Looser was awarded the Legion of Merit for this invention with an effective date of 14 February 1944 and presented to him at the Radar School in Boca Raton, Florida by the base Cmdr. on 18 April 1944. (insert jpeg of school paper)

Orders for the squadron were to travel with absolute minimum personnel. Col. Roberts did not take a radar maintenance officer overseas with the unit as there was no radar maintenance officers’ trained on the 10 cm radar, as none had gone through any courses at that time. He had observed Sgt. Looser’s abilities to manage during the B 18 days. While overseas Col. Roberts and his executive officer submitted papers requesting a battlefield commission for the Sgt. however they were lost. This was so noted in his Legion of Merit award. (JPEG  015c & 015d)

n 1943, the Navy took delivery of their long-range PB2Y4 aircraft. By prior agreement made by the Joint Chiefs of Staff the Army Air Corps would cease operating aircraft doing patrol work once the navy has long range capability. The 480th Anti-Submarine Squadron was told to cease operations and return to the states for reassignment. Sgt. Looser was assigned as supervisor to the Air Corps Technical Application Center (AFTAC) radar section at the Orlando Airfield, FL until the end of the war, when he was discharged. (JPEGS 17-21)

AFTER THE WAR

John returned to live with his parents in Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin and immediately began attending night school, concentrating on math. At this time he met the love of his life, his wife to be Jean Goldammer. He worked at Kohler Company as a pottery caster while trying to obtain admission to schools.(JPEG 22) After months of delay he received a letter granting him a waiver for his extended time out of service to return with his grade as Master Sergeant. Sgt. Looser joined the 56th Fighter Group at Selfridge Field, Michigan, assuming duties in the 63rd Pursuit Squadron as NCOIC of the Radio Maintenance & Navigational Aids Section.

In 1949 he was given a commission in Air Force Reserve (JPEG23) and was given assignments at various US based radar stations until he was deployed to the 603rd AC&W Radar Squadron in Landstuhl, Germany. The USAFE Commanding General recognized the efficiency of the squadron and directed Capt. Looser and a crew to complete the installation of an AN/FPS 6 radar height fighter on the top Temple Hoff airport operations building, in Berlin. This was during a period of the Russians insisting on a height limitation for the American air corridor to Berlin. For his outstanding performance he was awarded the Outstanding Performance Award. (JPEG 25 & 26)

In 1957, Captain Looser completed his tour and returned to the states being assigned to the Bomarc missile program. Upon completion of Boeing’s training school in Seattle, he was assigned Chief of Maintenance for to the newly formed 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron in New Jersey. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIM-10_Bomarc)

Capt. Looser was awarded for his Outstanding Performance at the Bomarc missile site. '''(JPEG 26-30). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/FSQ-7_Combat_Direction_Central '''

Gen. Pritchett the NYADS (New York Air Defense Sector) commander and Col. Sheppard 46th Missile Squadron Commander offered Capt. Looser the lead position for NYADS Project Blue Suit. This was a project to see if officers could be trained to take over the maintenance of the AN/FSQ-7 computer from IBM.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN/FSQ-7_Combat_Direction_Central 

He was sent to IBM Training School in New York for computer maintenance. (JPEG 31-33) After completing his work at the SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) system, he was sent overseas for one last assignment at Lindsey AFB, Wiesbaden, Ger.

 http://ed-thelen.org/412L-AircraftWarning&ControlSystem1959-1980.pdf 

In 1966, he returned to the US and retired from the Air Force as Major with 27 ½ years of service. It should be noted that he held every grade from Private to Major in including the 4 Warrant officer grades.

After Military retirement:

He joined Bendix Field Engineering supporting NASA’s worldwide tracking network. After two years at Bendix Field Engineering, he joined Federal service with NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manned_Space_Flight_Network 

At Goddard he was assigned to work with the Network Support Team (NST). He was Team Chief for all Manned Space Flight Apollo, Skylab, and Soyuz missions. For his work on the Apollo missions, he was invited to the White House and awarded NASA’s Exceptional Performance Award. After the Manned Space Flight Missions ended, he was transferred to the Network Support Managers (NSM). He retired in 1976. (JPEG 34a)

John and Jean (wife) moved to Hanover, PA in 1977. He became active in Adams Rural Electric Cooperative by joining the Members Advisory Committee (MAC). He and one other Mac member ran for election to a seat on the Adams Electric Cooperative Board of directors. They were both elected and the first members to ever unseat a sitting board director. The Adams board elected him to be there representative on the board of directors of Allegheny Electric Cooperative. They owned the Raystown Hydro Electric Project, a portion of the Niagara power, 10% of the nuclear power plant at Berwick Pennsylvania and were responsible for the supply of all power for the cooperatives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Recognized for his outstanding performance he was awarded The Man of the Year Award and was selected as Vice Chairman of Allegheny Board and then was not able to accept the chairmanship due to the emergence of Jean’s Alzheimer’s disease. They moved to Maryland for assisted living where his wife of 61 years passed away. John now resides there and continues to help others with computers, electronic repairs, and community involvement. (JPEG 038)