Wake Up! Sign Up! Look Up!

This is the tag line for the Ground Observer Corps (GOC), civilian plane spotters who searched the skies for enemy aircraft from 1951-1959. In 1953, the Air Force launched Operation Skywatch to expand the program and get more recruits. An integral part of civil defense, the GOC comprised of an estimated 800,000 members who volunteered for shifts at local observation posts and filter centers that tracked aircraft reports.

In February of 2019, I spotted a set of GOC wings at an antique store in Berkeley Springs, WV. I had no idea what this little pin was nor what the GOC was but I bought it anyway and started down the rabbit hole of research. This blog is an attempt to document my research and my growing collection of GOC artifacts. If you were a member of the GOC or have information that you would like to share, send us an aircraft flash through the contact link above.

1950 1950s 4602d ad council advertising af manual aircraft flash air defense command air force altitude articles background baltimore blind brochure Christmas civil defense cold war delaware dog filter center forms goc goose ground observation corps guidebook human interest Indiana intro iowa montana observer operation skywatch planespotters publicity radar skywatch UFO usaf watchtower wings