Eyes to the Skies!: Civil Defense Volunteers Ensured Safety and Posterity
Ground Observer Corps volunteers support Air Force command in protection from Soviet air attacks
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After the close of World War II, world power relations shifted. A global clash with USSR had Americans uneasy, particularly after the Soviets developed nuclear weaponry in 1949. In response to global Soviet aggression, Congress approved measures to strengthen civil defense programs like the Ground Observer Corps (GOC). The GOC not only watched the skies, but they also served as public relations for the Air Force and Cold War policies in general. Spokane’s eagerness to participate in civil defense activities no doubt related to its proximity to a number of Air Force bases, Hanford’s nuclear development facility, and its historical military heritage.
Two groups of civil defense volunteers comprised the GOC: observation posts and information centers. “Spotters” staffed 160 observation posts in shifts. All hours of the day and night spotters watched, noted, and reported aircraft activity. Spotters telephoned the information centers when they spotted and identified aircraft.
A second group of volunteers worked inwhat were called filter centers. They marked the trajectories of aircraft on large maps then relayed this information to Air Force jet squadrons. Spotters, plotters and Air Force officers monitoring them, provided critical information to the Air Force before radar technology developed to surpass human ability to detect air traffic.
The 4770 Ground Observer Corps Squadron led by Captain Raymond L. Cawood, hosted a grand re-opening of the filter center on Tuesday, January 8th, 1952. The filter center at 610 W. Sprague served as an extension of the McChord Air Force Base out of Tacoma, Washington. The GOC arm of civil defense operated nationally until 1959 when radar technology replaced volunteers.
Where this GOC filter center once buzzed of aircraft activity and rumblings of the Cold War, the Spokane Transit Authority’s Downtown Plaza now houses the hub for city buses and its patrons.
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Spotters followed specific protocols in monitoring the skies for aircraft.
Barb Mortenson of Gorham, New Hampshire demonstrates binoculars’ restricted use to identify planes. Actual ground observing or “spotting” was done with the naked eyes. Spotters followed specific protocols in cooperation with the United States Air Force. Image courtesy United States Library of Congress.
Spotters occupied observation posts twenty-four hours a day.
GOC spotters monitored aircraft activity from observation posts until the late 1950s, when radar technologies surpassed the accuracy and range of the human eye. Image courtesy Washington Secretary of State Archives, Eastern Washington Branch.
Spotters and plotters worked in shifts, all hours of the day and night, the Cold War never slept. Washington State’s number of civil defense volunteers compared to the overall population, found its ranking #1 in the nation. Image courtesy Washington Secretary of State Archives, Eastern Washington Branch.
