Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
GROUND OBSERVER CORPS
GROUND OBSERVER CORPS. A part of the Civil Defense network. The ground observer corps of Civil Defense was reactivated in May 1953, to prevent a sneak attack up the valley of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER, considered a natural invasion route. Ground observers were needed to fill the gap in the nation's radar defense network that was then unable to detect planes flying beneath 3,000 feet.
Fifteen volunteers, including a troop of Boy Scouts, signed up initially to operate a proposed observatory on top of the Grandview Avenue fire station. It was suggested at the time that if eighty-four volunteers signed up, each person would only have to work two hours per week.