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Show 14 Hilltop Times U, July MISSION 1989. History Office and they have access to all the important facts about the base's past as well as the trivia. Charles Hibbard, Susan Weathers "If you want to know something and David Kendziora would be an un- and we don't know it or can't find out, beatable team at a game of Hill AFB you probably can't find it anywhere, Trivial Pursuit. Hibbard, chief of the History The three make up the staff of the Office, said. The office holds records which provide an almost complete history of the base from its very beginnings. They provide support to the Ogden Air Logistics Center through producing special histories, studies and monographs. The main responsibility of workers at the History Office is producing the annual fiscal year e document, he said. report, a "We don't really get involved in the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing or other tenants," Mr. Hibbard said. The office staff also maintains a photographic archives, the official base history archives and answers special historical services 'requests. The archives contains old maps, newspapers, bulletins and civilian newsletters, i among other records. "We keep all the old stuff," he said. Mamtaining the photo archives is a challenging project, because identifying the various photographs that come into the office is sometimes difficult, Mr. Hibbard said. A vault in the office contains some classified information, but for the most part, the records in the office are unclassified. "A lot of this matter cannot be duplicated anywhere in the world. If it were lost, we would lose a significant portion of history," he said. This information can often be useful to workers today, Mr. Hibbard said. The staff finished updating the current history of Hill AFB last spring, making it current as of 1988. The book by Debbie Christiansen Hilltop Times staff writer "-M- r. i i j ; ' nrr;' "" It t - f" 7 llwtfg. " fet : , i ff-- .. 11-- 1 If you want to know something and we don't know it or can't find out, you probably can't find it anywhere. 500-pag- if ' 66 '' T'l 1 U.S. Air Force Photo by Michael Thompson In search of history Charles Hibbard, chief of the History Office, checks the office's files. 99 Charles Hibbard History Office F-1- r Ug, B-2- 4 Ji-- 6s . . Out of the past From February 1943 to March 1945 the production line was run around the clock to support the war effort (photo at right). Groundbreaking ceremonies for Hill had been held just three years earlier, on is given to retirees, visiting dignitaries, libraries and schools. They are currently working on several other projects, he said. These include a short history of all the military installations in Utah, a monograph" about the base's role in and an inproviding support for terview with Raymond Close, the deputy chief of the Directorate of Maintenance, who retired in 1979. Mr. Hibbard said, for him, the most enjoyable part of his work is doing the research and finding things out, while writing is the hardest part. "Everyone will have a different bias when doing research arid writing. We have to use the facts to present and interpret the history of the base, he said. r: . , t4;i Sbe H - i mm Jan. 12, 1940 (photo below). The History Office maintains the i.i base's photo archives. v if i It r 7 V ' l r J1 ..... I i K n i i I I I I I I I it He? ft to : |