The USAF once had a secret base in South China Sea

Malmstrom Air Force Base museum had a rare visitor on Dec. 22, 2016 when former Air Force radar operator Bob Cunningham dropped in to share his story on a secret Air Force project in the South China Sea back in the 1950s.

U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner
U.S. Air Force photo/John Turner

It was 1956 and the service wanted to do an aerial electronic geodetic survey in the area as part of a wider effort to accurately map the earth.

To accomplish that, temporary ground stations hundreds of miles apart will transmit electromagnetic pulses that are picked up by specially equipped aircraft. These signals are triangulated as the aircraft flew in a grid pattern.

Cunningham was part of a four-man team sent to North Danger Reef in the South China Sea to establish one of these temporary ground stations. They were joined by another radio relay team of six airmen for six months.