In God we trust" - all others we monitor videmus omnia “we see all” Preserving the history of the aviation pioneers and programs that developed the U-2, A-12 and YF-12 during the Cold War. The high water marks of aeronautical development

2008

ROADRUNNERS INTERNATIONALE CELEBRATING THE 50TH BIRTHDAY OF GROOM LAKE


Photo contributed by Jon Levin - Ontario, Canada

Organized by Reunion Chairman Harry Martin and his committee, the 19^th Roadrunner reunion was held at the Gold Coast Hotel and Casino with attendees from as far as Canada and the UK . The theme of this year’s reunion was this being the 50^th anniversary of Groom Lake receiving the first U-2 flown by Roadrunners. Scheduled activities included a tour of the Predator operations at Creech AFB, a dinner cruise on Lake Mead , a golf tournament, and a symposium consisting of 3 panels; early U-2, Oxcart, and support contractors.  George Knapp, investigative reporter and long-time Area 51 enthusiast with CBS KLAS TV Channel 8 video taped various activities for airing on the local nightly and morning news.

            On October 4, 135 Roadrunners and their guests attended the Creech AFB tour.  That evening, 120 attended the dinner cruise on Lake Meade . The following day, 25 played in the Groom Lake golf tournament at the Desert Willows Golf Course under the management of Slip Slater. Winners of the tournament were: Ladies closest to the Pin - Barb Ross; Men's winner was Sam Ursini for his eagle on the 18th hole.

            Roadrunner secretary John Byrnes, with the assistance of several Roadrunners, spent countless hours and did a superb job of running the 2500 sq ft Command Post for the registering of reunion attendees. Security and table seating was managed by Tom Bolich. Frank Murray presented a significantly enlarged scrapbook for viewing by the members.  TD Barnes organized the various forums for the symposium that kicked off with Hank Meierdierck moderating a forum covering the early U-2 program at Groom Lake . The U-2 program, which put Groom Lake on the map 50 years ago, was well covered in the Las Vegas CBS evening news.  Slip Slater moderated a forum composed of the remaining project pilots to talk about the Oxcart program. The following day, T.D. Barnes moderated the contractor support forum consisting of representatives from Lockheed, Pratt & Whitney, Honeywell, and EG&G.

            A general membership meeting was conducted the morning of October 6.  The membership voted to accept the recommendations of the Murray committee regarding continuing Roadrunners Internationale and accepting associate members within the association.. The nominating committee headed by Hank Meierdierck presented a slate of officers to be elected. Elected by the membership were T.D. Barnes as president, Harry Martin as executive vice president, John Byrnes as both secretary and treasurer. TD Barnes remained as webmaster and Frank Murray remained as historian.   The general membership meeting was followed by a well- received presentation by Joe Ventolo, A-12 author and former curator of the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio .  The subject of the presentation was “When Archangels Rest – the #122 Odyssey.” The presentation, supported by observations of Torrey Larson, sparked sharp concern about the shabby treatment of the A-12 articles in retirement and bolstered support for bringing one of the A-12s back to Nevada .

            The Roadrunners topped off their 19^th reunion with 285 attending the banquet and sharing a large birthday cake to celebrate Groom Lake 's 50^th.  The Nellis AFB honor guard presented the colors. Deputy wing commander, Col. Terry New entertained the banquet attendees with an excellent speech accompanied by a well presented PowerPoint presentation demonstrating the Air Force organizational strategy and missions of today. T.D. Barnes presented a short video tribute to Roadrunners deceased since 2003 just prior to the awards ceremony.  A Groom Lake 50^th Anniversary video was distributed in a DVD to everyone attending the banquet.

            During the new officers welcoming ceremony, all of the previous officers and board of directors were acknowledged for their untiring service to the Roadrunner association.  Vice President Harry Martin was especially recognized for his chairing what many classified as the “Best Roadrunner reunion ever.” Representing the outgoing officers and board members, Slip Slater presented outgoing president Roger Andersen with a beautiful glass plaque mounted on a wooden stand.  Bearing the Roadrunner patches, the plaque recognized Roger Andersen for 3 terms as president of the Roadrunners.  Outgoing President Anderson presented each of the outgoing officers and directors with a personalized Fisher Space Pen in recognition of their contributions to Roadrunners Internationale.

            In a special award ceremony recorded and shown on the local CBS news program, Roadrunners Hank Meierdierck and Louis Setter were awarded the CIA Agency Seal Medallion.  Maj. Gen. Pat Halloran made the introductions of the two recipients who then read the agency’s citation and presented the award to each other.