Station HYPO

In the summer of 1962, Vietnam was on the minds of almost all high school graduates and prospective employers. My dream job at the time was to become an accountant with the railroad. I had been turned down for employment just because of Vietnam. While I had held a variety of jobs, including foreman in a roofing company, construction was not what I wanted to do. So, I took a temporary job bussing tables at a local restaurant In Huntington, WV, my home town and the place where I grew up.  Several weeks later I joined the Navy on 30 August 1962. During discussion with the recruiter I requested a good school as part of my contract. Which school was a matter of discussion at some future date but I thought I wanted to be a Yeoman.  As it turned out, selection as a Communications Technician was going to be the best thing to happen to this young and innocent graduate who was from a poor family. I arrived in Pensacola, FL in April 1963. After learning Morse code, I was placed in Class 01T with a graduation in October.

By: Robert W. (Bob) Mitchell, CTT2 3/67-9/68 Galeta Island, CZ — 9/68-8/69 Rota, Spain

For more than three decades, Galeta Island stood watch for potential enemy approaches to the Panama Canal. Hidden among tropical forests on Panama’s northern coast, the massive AN/FRD-10 Circularly Disposed Antenna Array (CDAA)—better known to generations of Cryptologic Technicians as the “Wullenweber” or simply the “Elephant Cage”—was one of the most recognizable and important collection sites operated by the U.S. Naval Security Group.

Matt Zullo is a retired United States Navy Master Chief Cryptologic Technician and the author of the acclaimed On-the-Roof Gang book series, the definitive history of the U.S. Navy’s cryptologic pioneers during the Second World War. Drawing upon more than twenty years of naval cryptologic service, extensive archival research, and decades of engagement with the cryptologic community, Matt has become widely recognized as the world’s foremost authority on the legendary On-the-Roof Gang.

I joined the Navy via the CASH (delayed entry) program on December 12, 1974 at MEPS in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I then headed to basic training at RTC San Diego on December 27, 1974.  My recruiter was a CTRC.  I was guaranteed CTR school but I was under the misconception that I was going to be a Radioman. This was based on the CTRC telling me that I was going to be working with radios.  It wasn’t until I was going through classification in bootcamp that I realized I was going to Pensacola while another recruit in my company was staying in San Diego for RM A school.