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Airtides passes another waypoint

  • Published
  • By Gary Boyd
  • 305th Air Mobility Wing historian
MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. --  As our base newspaper shifts from printed paper to electronic format, it is important to take a quick look back and appreciate the heritage of the base paper -- and perhaps a deep breath as technology alters the way we can do business! 

The base paper has come a long way since 1942 when it was published in support of a nation in war. Called the "Pegasus," the newspaper documented the busy days when Fort Dix Army Air Forces Base supported everything from submarine patrols to mobilization and demobilization surges. Staffed by journalists recruited from the leading newspapers, the Pegasus did not differ much from the quality of any major metropolitan newspaper of its day. When the air base closed in 1946, the Pegasus was relegated to history, and it appeared it would remain so, as even Fort Dix itself struggled to find a new mission. 

In the very early days of the newly independent Air Force, the Berlin crisis of 1948 caused the United States to alter its tradition of demobilization and demilitarization and accept for the first time the mantle of world power. The subsequent Berlin Airlift and the onset of the Cold War necessitated the reopening of many fallow air bases, such as Sheppard, Charleston and Fort Dix, which was renamed McGuire AFB in early 1948. The base newspaper emerged in August of that year as active-duty air units began to be assigned again. Calling the 1948 editions "newspapers" was a little kind -- they were actually mimeographed newsletters called the "Recon Recorder" in honor of McGuire's host 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. By January 1949, the Recon Recorder became an "unofficial" newspaper, printed by a local contract at no cost to the government, very much like Pegasus had been. It soon became evident that the large bombers and reconnaissance aircraft of the 91st SRW were better suited to an overseas assignment, and McGuire became an Air Defense Base in 1950. The Recon Recorder became "Fighter Scope." Aside from the name, coverage also changed in the four-page paper, reflecting the host 52nd All Weather Fighter Wing's mission and focus -- almost every feature was geared to the fighter plane alert mission. 

When McGuire became an air mobility operation with the transfer of the Atlantic Division of the Military Air Transport Service and 16111th Air Transport Wing from Westover AFB, Mass., to McGuire in 1954, the base voted on several ideas to rename the paper. The populace selected the unique name "Airtides." The new name reflected a general Air Force emphasis, rather than simply the mission focus of the host wing. Airtides was a unique handle, and the Public Information Office staff of two airmen who ran the paper soon transformed the product into one of the best quality newspapers in MATS and the Air Force. 

Over the past 53 years, Airtides has maintained its unofficial status and was published off-base and paid for through advertising (though contract printers changed from time to time.) Along with its predecessor publications, the base newspaper has been available as a free, take-along newspaper 50-weeks a year, for almost 60 years. Though there have been changes in format and Air Force culture, today's Airtides definitely looks and feels much the same way it did during the 1950s. 

With the advent of high-speed internet connections, newspapers have begun to shift their focus to the rapid-fire online community. The accessibility and immediate nature of these online newspapers changed publishing forever -- giving rise to a new, near-instant media. The evening newspaper has become all but a historic artifact in the 21st century, as the news cycle compressed so much as to render them historic documents by the time a reader sat down and perused the content. A weekly newspaper such as Airtides had even less flexibility, as events and news changed from the time it hit the base on Friday throughout the following week. Thus, despite the long and proud printed heritage, it was evident that technology had made the old static weekly paper a remnant of the past -- as drastic a comparison as the first mimeographed Recon Recorder was to the later commercial enterprise newspaper. 

The paper you are holding is now a collector's item. In years to come, you might be able to sell it online, or scan its features for e-mail. Whatever it is you plan to do with the June 29, 2007, Airtides, it will involve computer technology, and most probably some form of Internet access and digital storage. Cutting out the middle man and wasteful newsprint was inevitable. Airtides has simply evolved as it has always done. No longer bound by printers ink and paper, it will be more dynamic and user-focused -- not as quaint or convenient in some ways, but much more relevant. Base papers have always been nothing more than a reflection of the Air Force at large. Today's reflection is a soft white plasma screen glow, available 24-hours a day.