TACANA TCT MEETING OF 20-21 FEBRUARY 1976

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Animal Partners
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06408446
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: September 6, 2019
• Document Release Date: September 12, 2019
• Publication Date: March 15, 1976

'Approved for Release.: 2019/07/30 C06408446
3.3(h)(2)
6.2(d)
1
ogp 0647-76
15 March 1976.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD
SUBJECT : TACANA TCT Meeting of 20-21 February 1976
ATTENDEES
ORD
T Chairman
TCT Vice-Chairman
CT secretary
ORD
Observation of TACANA Training Methods
On 20 February, 9:00 a.m.. the TCT members met
with
Two flocks of
pigeons are housed and these pigeons
are being trained to fly a dog leg and then return to
their home loft, had placed the simulated
target in a parking lot which was
.approximately 250 yards trom the home loft. ihe flocks
were transported approximately one half mile away and
released to fly to the target and then return to their
loft. The first kit consisted of the older birds
which had used at the demonstration.
Four of the birds did .not perform well on this particular
fli some unknown reason, two of them flew to
the ranch which is located 8 miles from
The other two remained in the local area and
ew in with'the second flock when it was released. The
second kit which consists of younger birds flew almost
directly to the target after ringing up,high enough to
be able to See it. The target was approximately 50 to
75 feet higher than.the release point and the birds
were forced to circle up to an altitude where they could
spot the target and then fly to it.
During the course of the day, the birds were flown
four times with the target being moved around to new
locations in the parking lot and the birds also were
released in different directions from the target. As
the trials progressed the birds got progressively better.
The older birds that had remained and flown correctly
in the first flight of the morning required very little
if any time to orient themselves to the target when it
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SUBJECT: TACANA TCT Meeting of 20-21 February 1976
was within line of sight. In fact, on one release which
was slightly above the target, the older birds upon,
release from the cage, flew straight to the target with-
out deviation, received their reward and returned to
the home loft. On that same flight which was the last
flight of the day, the younger birds made approximately'
two circling flights and then homed directly to the
target and returned to. the 'loft.
At this point in the training the birds are still
being rewarded at the target. Later the reward will, be.
eliminated at the target so that the birds will learn
to fly in an orbit and cris-Cross pattern over the
target before returning to their home base. The target
is currently located close to the home base so that when
a pigeon flies directly from the release point to the
home loft without appearing at the target he is not
reinforced which causes him to return* to the target
again and then to the home loft where he is finally
'rewarded. This is done to insure that the flight to,
the target and orbiting behavior is firmly established.1
In general, the TCT was pleased with the flight
performance of the'Avian assets during this demonstration.
It was gratifying to see the birds flying to the target -
from a considerable distance with very little error.
Prior to the meeting and telephone discussions with
it was thought that the team would be able
Obrveriights of only about a few hundred yards.
However� by the time the TCT arrived in California
the birds were flvin2 from approximately' three quarters
of a mile and indicated that he felt it
would not be difficult to take the birds out to a..
mile or two. This discussion arose after several
flights and it was decided. not to try the greater
distance because the birds appeared to be partly
satiated and their performance might prove to be
erratic from the greater distances which in turn
might weaken their response patterns for the next
day or two.
� On completion of the demonstrations at
the team traveled to ranch in
The purpose of this visit was to show
the u dated pigeon facilities
at the ranc has obtained
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SUBJECT: TACANA TCT Meeting of 20-21 February 1976
approximately 90 pigeons and has installed several new
lofts at the ranch. It was learned at the ranch that
when older birds are obtained, (birds raised by someone
else for five months or longer) they do not perform
well from the outset of the initial stages of opera-
tionally oriented training. For example, when one
flock of twenty older birds which had been located at
the ranch for approximately three weeks was released
for exercise purposes, only six birds returned to the
loft after the exercise period. Later, when the six
birds were flown again only three birds returned to the
loft at the ranch. These-__Lirdeem_to be steadfastly
fixed on the ranch now, feels that this
behavior on the part of the older birds reinforces his
theory that successful operationally oriented training
can only be accomplished with younger birds. He has
another flock of older birds which he is allowing to
become acclimated to his ranch for a longer period of
time before releasing them.
The findings of research activities
to date can be summarized as follows:
(1) It is important to begin training
operational forms of behavior with young birds.
That is to say, with birds that have either been
.raised from the egg or have not been exercised by
someone else.
(2) Using techniques, it is
quite possible to move the birds from one location
to another. For example, the original kit of
birds used at Point Loma have now been moved
six times to new locations. Each time they are
moved, it takes a fewer number of days for them
to become acclimated to their new home position.
It appears that they are homing to the loft rather
than to the site.
(3) The fifty mile range for homing does not
appear to be a problem. The birds have already
homed from 44 to 46 miles while carrying 37 gram
payloads.
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SUBJECT: TACANA TCT Meeting of 20-21 February. 1976
(4) On a preliminary look, it appears as
though the A, B, c dogleg is well on the way
to being established in the training process.
The target is currently situated very close to
the home loft, but within approximately two
weeks a new and larger target (20 foot in diameter
radome cover) will be obtained and relocated in
increments of 15 to 25 to 30 miles from the home
loft location. At that time the ultimate mission
oriented training will be in the final stages.
Discussion of Project Schedule
On Saturday, 21 Fel, ruary 1976. the TCT and
and Mr. Reiser met with
to discuss
future activities of the project. urpose of
this meeting was to be certain that understood
the.milestOnes.included under the Avian projec schedule .
and to determine if there might be ways in which that.
schedule could be cn.ppded nro sightly.- As a result of
these discussions,l agreed not to move the
birds in California anymore. It was felt that the number
of moves that he has already made with the various kits
has clearly demonstrated the feasibility of numerous moves
to new locations and that it was now more important to ,
establish the mission behavior in the birds so that the,
project could progress more rapidly to the operational
testing sta e. It was reconfirmed that the intent of
the move to Oklahoma wasAmmolte_an interim
test of the opera lona' scenario., agreed
that it should be possible to adhere to the existing
project schedule and was relunctant to promise an -
earlier completion date. The schedule
currently adhering to is as follows: March 1 through
April 3 the training required to cause the birds to fly
to a target two or three miles away from the release
point, orbit, and then home to a home loft located at
least 25 miles away from the target will be completed.
On 5 April through 21 May the project will relocate to
Oklahoma and an interim test of the entire
operational scenario will be. performed. The final
test of the operational capability of the Avian assets
will occur between 24 May and 25 June.
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agreed to remain in California until
23 and 24 February to search fn-Y. site lncations for
the new radome type target. requested
to contact the TCT as soon as the A, B, C
behavior was clearly established. At that time, we
would anticipate returning to California to observe
that performance and complete preliminary. California
testing of the Avian capability.
Camera Development Progress through 19 February 1976
One dummy configuration of the latest camera and
timer was presented to during the TCT meeting
for testing with the bird harness. Camera number 1 was
modified for image motion compensation by the contractor
was returned and tested against moving targets (resolution
chart on a car) at distances of 50 and 100 feet and volocities
from 0 to 50 miles per hour. The results of this test
showed proper motion compensation. A number of negative
aspects of the test were as follows:
(a) A small hair line crack in the camera
case caused. occasional fogging .(approximately
10% of the pictures).
(b) In one or two percent of the pictures,
the shutter stuck open causing over-exposure.
(c) The center of the field of view was
slightly defocused, whereas the edges which are
clamped showed good focus.
The camera has been sent back to to enable
him to correct these problems. There still appear to
be problems in developing 3414 film as per Kodak
instructions, especially with regard to pulling the
developer to compensate for varied lighting conditions.
Since the supply of film in 16mm format is exhausted,
and using the film slicer is a risk when accomplished by
people unfamiliar with the equipment, a meeting was
held with of NPIC to discuss the
possibility of obtaining NPIC assistance in dealing
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SUBJECT: TACANA TCT Meeting of 20-21 February 1976
with the above problems and also to obtain their
assistance in developing enlargements of selected
negatives. As a result of the meeting with NPIC
the following assistance and recommendations were
offered:
(a) NPIC will develop all film and make'
proper adjustments for varied lighting conditions.
(b) advised that tests be conducted
with 5069 film which permits good resolution under
lower light levels while still using the fast
shutter speed to minimize motion blurring.
(c) NPIC will task Kodak to provide 16mm
format film so that unnecessary handling and
slicing in-house can be eliminated.
estimated that he would have some 16mm film
delivered in approximately a week.
(d) NPIC will provide good quality enlargements.
of selected negatives.
(e) NPIC will provide technical assistance
in determining resolution capability and does
not necessarily require a resolution target in
.the field of view during flight testing.
At this time, the camera development problems
appear to be under control. A refitted camera is
scheduled for delivery during the week of February 23
and tests with it will be conducted during the first
week in March. NPIC intends to develop this film and
provide advice on handling the film in the field
during subsequent tests of the camera. The new F 2.5
lens is on schedule for delivery in '
early March. it is expected that a simulated field test
will .be conducted in mid-March at the
Some film will be developed there
so that any turther camera problems can be dealt with
directly by It is estimated that a second
flight test to be conducted in early April will provide
a comprehensive test of the new F 2.5 system.
Sec'y TACANA TC1L
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