PICTURES

Some of my photographs are shown in the photo album.

The below listed link will show the Linage and Honors of the 16th Signal Company. The information is current as of  1990. The document is a .pdf file and you will need an Acrobat Reader to read the document. The reader is available at this link.

    16th Signal Company, Linage and Honors

In the future will be adding a copy of the 16th Signal Company 1967 year book and all the pictures. I have to copy all  photographs without destroying the book. That will be a long project. I will keep a time line on this page.

The DECCA Navigation  RVN 1961 through 1968

 The DECCA project Office and subsequently the 16th Signal Company operated the DECCA Navigation System in South Vietnam. Some information about the DECCA navigation system and its use and lack of use.

 We operated two chains one in the north and the second in the south. I will provide a diagram as soon as I can find my files.

 The DECCA Project Office as well as the 16th Signal Company hat signal personnel to operated the DECCA System radio stations, Cartographers to draw and print  the special maps for the system and all the other support personnel that makes an Army Unit work

 DECCA NAVIGATION  SYSTEM.

 The history of the use, lack-of-use, and misuse of DECCA.

 It was recognized by the earliest planners that one of the limitations of the airmobility concept would be operating at night and under periods of extreme low visibility. Research and Development offered many possible options to improve the helicopter's capability under these conditions, but all were expensive and complex.

 The British had perfected a low-level radio navigational aid known as DECCA which essentially used three low frequency ground radio stations to propagate a series of hyperbolic curves which could be translated by a cockpit instrument into a position fix. Accuracy depended on the spread of the stations, the distance from the station, and the weather conditions. Because of the low frequency, one of the attractive features was its low altitude capability. This contrasted to the line-of-sight limitation of omni directional radio navigation aid and Tactical Air Navigation used by the Air Force. The Army tested several versions of the DECCA System and decided it had enough advantages to warrant its installation on command helicopters and lead aircraft.

 The DECCA chain had been installed in Vietnam and in the early 1960's, the Army took over its supervision and maintenance. A big disadvantage in the DECCA system was the requirement for special maps printed with the hyperbolic grid and a reluctance by the user to take the time and effort to develop confidence in the system. Its use was further complicated by the resistance of the Air Force to accept a position report in instrument weather from a DECCA read-out as a positive fix. Many senior officers were dissatisfied with the accuracy and reliability of the DECCA system at night and eventually the DECCA died from lack of use and misuse. The requirement for a secure, accurate means of low-level navigation remained.