Former personnel of NCU-37 Sobe Camp, Okinawa

Former personnel of NCU-37 Sobe Camp, Okinawa - 1956
Reunion in Warrington, VA - March 24, 2011

Image/Words from Neal P. Gillen

Four of the original Naval Security Group (NSG) members assigned to NCU 37 early in 1956, beginning a long-term
joint intercept operation with the Army Security Agency’s (ASA) 8603rd Detached Unit at Sobe Camp, Okinawa,
gathered for lunch on March 24th in Warrington, Virginia.
As pictured above, the Plank Owners, Eugene Kilby, Brian Desmond, Neal P. Gillen, and Donald E. Ervin reminisced
about adapting to the often unpredictable weather conditions, the friendly Okinawan people, the casual Army
routines, living down the hall from Tsu Shin Tai - the 24/7 poker casino and EM Club, and coming of age with a
remarkable cadre of capable CT’s.
Gillen and Desmond were transferred from Guam to Okinawa and Kilby and Ervin came from Wahiawa, Hawaii. At the
end of their tours, and before their discharges, Desmond and Kilby were off to Northwest, Virginia, Ervin to
Amagansett, Long Island, and Gillen to Naples, Italy.
Each of the four CT2’s credit their NSG training and service with their success in life, Kilby as the Chairman & CEO of
Aero International; Desmond as a State Department & CIA official, Gillen, an attorney & author as Executive Vice
President of the American Cotton Shippers Association, and Ervin, the founder of regional banks, as Chairman & CEO
of Precision Tune.

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