I have been reading through some of CAPT Joe Kelly's personal notes (recently declassified) regarding the history of the SOSUS community. I thought this "snapshot" of what the system looked like and cost the taxpayer in 1968 would be of interest. - Jim

Fact Sheet - SOSUS - as of September 1968

2 Ops Control Centers Norfolk Pearl Harbor

21 Naval Facilities 13 Atlantic 8 Pacific

34 arrays 24 Atlantic 10 Pacific

10,050 nm of cable 6,082 LANT 3,968 PAC

304 Naval officers

2376 enlisted men

$510.1 million invested in equipment

$ 36.5 million invested in Military Construction

$546.6 million total investment

$14.6 million annual military pay

$ 7.4 million annual operational budget

$14.0 million Research and Development

That is some really interesting information. I wonder how much the Apogee (sp?) system cost us that year. I was in Bermuda when they put that super computer in but it must have been budgeted way before that installation. The handheld devices (DEMPs) are now used by all the supermarkets for data input and inventory. That was a truly unique system built by CDC (Canada)and took up half the first floor of the T-Bldg

Interesting stuff, especially the average annual military pay. I was an E-6 at the time and that seems about right.

a little under $5500 a year per sailor. I think I made about 1200 in 1969 as an E1-E3, so somebody did a lot better than 5500.

What an amazing bargain the nation got. WECo and AT&T should be proud of what they achieved.