Mr. 50,000: US Army Air Defense Command

On the 25th of January, a telephone call  to Army Air Defense Command headquarters in Colorado Springs conveyed word that the  50,000th man had volunteered appeared for duty with the Army Air Defense Team.  His enlistment highlighted more than 8 years of significant achievement by  the Army Recruiting Service in obtaining quality volunteers to man the Army's  component of the nation's air defenses. Mr. 50,000 Private Robert Nuti was  born 22 years ago in Chicago, Illinois. He is a graduate of Tarkio College, Missouri,  having earned a bachelor of arts degree with a major in mathematics, which will serve him  well in the complicated art of electronics, computers, and missiles in the  ARADCOM arsenal of weapons. Nuti is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Nuti of  Lombard, Illinois, and was recruited for duty with ARADCOM by Staff Sergeant Ronald C. Rexroat of the  Elgen, Illinois recruiting station. Private Nuti, by enlisting under the ARADCOM enlistment  option, selected ARADCOM after receiving a written guarantee that upon completion of  eight weeks of basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, he would receive an assignment to  a Nike Hercules site in the Chicago area. Upon receiving the okay from ARADCOM ,  Private Nuti was sworn into the army by Major General R. A. Huitt, commanding  general of the fifth ARADCOM region. Just as the 49,999 ARADCOM volunteers before him, Private Nuti was carefully screened before being  accepted for a guided missile and electronics training program that will find him assigned  to a missile defended area of his choosing. Following this ceremony in Chicago, Nuti and  his fianceé, Miss Diane Van Cleef, had lunch at Nike site CO3 in the Montrose Park region of  Chicago. There they were shown the various radars that are used to detect and track enemy aircraft.  After looking at the radar, the group then toured the operation center where the complicated radar  display boards, computers, and other equipment are used and were shown how the center fits into  the missile defenses of Chicago and Milwaukee. But there was more to come for this honored  enlist. On Wednesday, Private Nuti and Sergeant Rexroat left by plane for Colorado Springs where  he was met by Miss Teenage America of 1962, Diane Lynne Cox, who was attending Colorado  College. Later he and Sergeant Rexroat met with Lieutenant General Charles B. Duff,  commanding general of the Army Air Defense Command. Each was presented with a plaque  commemorating the occasion, and Private Nuti was presented with a set of shoulder patches,  formally admitting him to the ARADCOM family. From ARADCOM headquarters, Nuti and Rexro,  sponsored by Master Sergeant Mike Thompson of the ARADCOM staff, visited the Air Force  Academy and were given a tour of the grounds, including the academy chapel. On Friday, Nuti and  Rexro formally became Colorado property owners. Of course, they can't build a house on their  newly acquired property since it is only one square foot of land located on Pikes Peak, which  is over 14,000 ft above sea level. Presenting them with their deeds to the land were Mr. John  Sawyer, president of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. Norm Coleman, chairman  of the Chamber's Military Affairs Committee. Later that same day, they met with Major General  Autrey Maroun, Commanding General Fort Carson, and the Fifth Infantry Division and were given  a tour of Fort Carson. A tour of the well-known Will Rogers Shrine on Cheyenne Mountain was next  in store for Mr. 50,000. He and Sergeant Rexroat, accompanied by Sergeant Thompson, visited  the shrine dedicated to the man who said, "I never met a man I didn't like." From  this vantage point, Nuti looked out over the thousands of square miles of eastern Colorado  stretching out from Colorado Springs below. But as all things have to end sometime,  Private Nuti's Colorado tour drew to a close Saturday morning when he and  Sergeant Rexroat left for Fort Knox. Sergeant Rexroat left Nuti there for eight  weeks of basic training. From Fort Knox, Nuti will return to the Chicago area to  serve with the Army Air Defense Command.