Recruit! Recruit! Recruit! There was a huge push in the 1950s to recruit people for the GOC. While the GOC officially started in 1951, Operation Skywatch in 1953 set the goal of having all observation posted manned 24/7 at full capacity. Recruiting volunteers to watch the skies for planes at all hours of the day … Continue reading Shilling for the Corps
civil defense
Who Watches the Watchmen?
A GOC post was overseen by a supervisor. The post supervisor was assisted by the chief observer and the assistant chief observer. For the new post supervisor, The Post Supervisors Manual outlined everything a new supervisor needed to know to successfully recruit, train, staff, and fund-raise for their new post. At only 14 pages, it … Continue reading Who Watches the Watchmen?
All Along the Watchtower
Once a community stood up a Ground Observation Corps post, they needed an observation tower. Observation sites were ideally spaced 8 miles from each other. Obviously, this didn't happen so neatly in real life for a number of reasons, mainly there are limits to how many volunteers could build and staff observation posts. While the … Continue reading All Along the Watchtower
“The Air Force Man”
The Ground Observer Corps (GOC) was under the direction of the United States Air Force (USAF). With the call for over a million civilian observers and observing posts placed 8 miles apart over thousands of miles, the USAF had to hit the pavement and go into local communities. They not only tried to recruit people … Continue reading “The Air Force Man”
The Ground Observer’s Guide
Say you've answered the call to be a Ground Observer. After signing up either at your local Civil Defense office or with your local GOC post, you would probably be handed a copy of the Ground Observer's Guide and told to read up.
Ground Observer Corps - Operation Skywatch 