MOVING HISTORY FORWARD: The Ground Observer Corps and its super volunteer

One of the more interesting side stories I encountered while doing research for the Museum of North Idaho’s recent Garden District walking tour centered around Mrs. Leona Sotin.  

Leona, her husband and three sons moved to Coeur d’Alene from Klamath Falls, Ore., in 1953 and took up residence at 801 E. Lakeside Ave., a Garden District home. Within a year of arriving in town, Leona became heavily involved in the Coeur d’Alene Ground Observer Corps (GOC) Post. 

I had never heard of the GOC before, so to satisfy my curiosity about the program, I made it the focus of this month’s history story so we all could be better informed about another interesting chapter in the history of Coeur d’Alene. 

In 1950, the U.S. Air Force had begun a special civil defense program, naming it the Ground Observer Corps and organizing and training civilian volunteers to track aircraft during two-hour shifts, using the naked eye or binoculars, to supplement their existing radar coverage. In 1952, the GOC changed the name to Operation Skywatch, and by 1953, the program had established a foothold in the Idaho Panhandle with posts in the three northernmost counties. 

The main purpose of the GOC/Skywatch program was to provide “low altitude visual surveillance,” particularly in areas where gaps existed in radar coverage. A system of Air Force radar networks had been developed to search for and intercept flights that originated in Cold War countries, but they were somewhat ineffective in monitoring low-level flights through mountainous areas like those found in North Idaho.   

When a building located on the city’s Mullan Park property failed as a location for Coeur d’Alene’s GOC observation post, construction was started atop City Hall for a replacement. It took a crew of workers headed by Howard Schooler and Tom Emerson several weeks to install a small box-shaped building funded by donations from clubs and businesses in the city. 

The 10-by-10-by-7-foot lookout included 3-foot high windows on all four sides and a catwalk for the GOC observers to allow movement around the three outside edges of the structure and unobstructed views of the sky as aircraft passed overhead. 

In 1954, Leona Sotin joined the GOC effort as a volunteer and quickly worked her way up to chief observer of the Coeur d’Alene Post. Continuing her rise in the ranks of the GOC, she moved up to supervisor of the Coeur d’Alene Post in 1955, replacing Tom Emerson. That same year, she was one of four volunteers who were awarded recognition for posting 500 hours (or 23 days) on Skywatch duty.  

Before Leona Sotin resigned in May 1958, after nearly four years of volunteering, she had logged more than 1,750 hours as an observer, which equates to almost 73 full days. By that time, she had guided Coeur d’Alene’s GOC to become the top Skywatch program in the region, earning a special Merit Award for devotion to the program. 

Improvements in radar technology and the implementation of other surveillance systems like the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system diminished the need for the GOC program. It was disbanded by the U.S. Air Force Air Defense Command on Jan. 31, 1959, and the end came for Coeur d’Alene’s GOC Post on Jan. 25, 1959. The last shift was served Jan. 31, and the program was officially terminated Jan. 31, ending an interesting footnote to Coeur d’Alene’s story.

    Coeur d’Alene Mayor Perry Christianson presents the Supervisor’s Wings to Leona Sotin at a special awards ceremony honoring the achievement of GOC volunteers. Mrs. Sotin also received a certificate signifying that she had reached the 500-hour plateau serving skywatch duty. Before leaving the program in 1958, she had accumulated a total of 1,750 hours.