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Volunteers Needed For
Ground Observer Corps
■Governor Battle has issued a call for volunteers to help man the Ground Observer Corps in Virginia, an important link in the nation’s air defense system.
The Governor emphasized that the Ground Observers are bridging ing one major gap in the nation’s defense by reporting low flying planes, which cannot be picked up by the radar system.
He also quoted this statement from representatives of the Department of Defense with reference to the need for a 24-hour operation: “For the past two years, other elements of the air defense system, that is the Ground ■Radar Stations, and the Fighter Interceptor Aircraft, have been h operating on a continuous 24hour basis. During this period, Army anti-aircraft artillery has been positioned around some., of our major cities on the same alert basis. The final link in our defense is the Ground Observer 'Corps. When this element is brought to full operational capacity, all elements of our air defense system will be continuously operational. If the Ground Observer Corps had been well enough organized and trained two years ago, the Air Force would have requested that it be placed on full time duty at that time.
“The threat of atomic attack against the^ major cities and industries of this country is a real one. Our military estimate is that the Russians have over 400 long range atomic bombers of the TU-4 type, similar to our B-29’s, which they can launch against this country at any time. These aircraft, loaded with atomic and conventional bombs, have the capacity of releasing these bombs into all of our major cities. Flying time for this type of aircraft between the USSR bases and their targets in the I United States in most cases is ap\ proximately 12 hours.”
“We cannot afford to take any . canoes, and the cooperation of I many hundreds of our citizens is
H needed to bridge this gap in our defense. Here in Virginia, we have ‘been unable to operate all of our ground observation posts and adequately man the Filter Center positions because of insufficient vol
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