Instructor Will Waddell

Welcome to

Apollo Training Team . Com

50th Anniversary Edition

ApolloTrainingTeam.Com

a space history website

Hugh W. McNeese

Supervisor & Team

Leader

The Apollo Training Program was designed to provide an integrated training program for the flight crew, controllers, launch operations, and NASA and contractor engineering personnel.

The same Apollo Engineering Instructors provided the training programs to each group of students. This resulted in total continuity of spacecraft systems information being presented throughout the program. The instructor engineers were among the most knowledgeable personnel on the Apollo Spacecraft systems functions and operation. Their ability to communicate this knowledge to others was second to none. As part of their preparation for subsequent flights, they monitored each flight from launch, Mission

Control Operations, and the actual flights through splashdown and recovery via audio and closed-circuit television.The differences between each spacecraft system, system operations and procedures were tabulated and presented to those personnel assigned to that flight.

There were no gaps in information, no dated information, nor any misinformation presented in this training program.

It should be noted that the F.A.A. requested that they be permitted to use Apollo Training's testing procedures and evaluation in their program. Permission was given of course.

7. Actual hardware used in demonstrations

8."Dry Run" (practice) presentations

Note: Apollo Training introduced the "dry run" to the entire Apollo program. Others gradually adopted it until it became a common practice

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Webmaster note:

This is a private and independent website, and as such, was prepared with the consent of participating team members only who provided personal data to proudly support Internet publication of their participation in the Apollo Missions

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Instructor Willard "Will " Waddell

Sequential Systems

Astronaut Briefing Session

AWARDS AND COMMENDATIONS

Outstanding Performance Award for 500 hours of instruction time presented by H.W. Pinkham, Director of Apollo Site Activation and Logistics, North American Aviation . 1966

Outstanding Performance Award for 1000 hours of instruction time presented by Wally Schirra. 1967

First Snoopy Award, presented by Neil Armstrong. 1968

Letter of appreciation from James Lovell for training

prior to the Apollo 8 mission. 1969 Second Snoopy Award, presented by Walter Cunningham subsequent to the Apollo 8 mission. 1969

Letter of appreciation for his employment at North American Rockwell by J. P. McNamara, Space Division President.

Apollo Achievement Award for Apollo 11 success, signed at Washington, D.C. by Thomas Paine, Administrator, NASA

After serving in the U. S. Army Air Force at the end of World War II, Willard "Will" attended and graduated from the Northrop Institute of Technology, Inglewood, CA. For 11 years before joining North American Aviation, he worked as a mechanic-electrician on Air Force bombers for the Grand Central Aircraft Co., Tucson, AZ.; on F-89 Scorpion Interceptor-Fighter aircraft at Northrop Aircraft, Hawthorne, CA.; and on various aircraft from Cessna’s to airliners to jet executive aircraft for the AiResearch Aviation Service Co. at the Los Angeles International Airport.

He joined North American Aviation’s Autonetics Division, Anaheim, CA. in June 1962 to instruct Air Force civil service technicians on the maintenance of the Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) inertial navigation and guidance system components.

In October of 1963 he transferred to North American's Space and Information Systems Division (S&ID) in Downey, CA. He was assigned to prepare and present instruction on the Apollo Sequential Systems.

Sequential Systems comprised circuitry in both the Command and Service Module to automatically sequence events required for the rescue of the crew in the event of an abort. Manual backup switches were also available on the C&D panels along with others to initiate normal mission events. Sequential Systems interfaced with many other Apollo systems.

Will has retired and residing in the southern California area

Biography