2 COLLAPSE OF TEXAS TOWER NO. 4 
Then, on March 20, 1961, the Department of the Air Force an- 
nounced publicly that Major General Viccellio, Commander of the 
26th Air Division, with headquarters in Syracuse, N.Y., had preferred 
charges of culpable negligence (under art. 119 of the Uniform Code 
of Military Justice) and dereliction of duty (art. 92) against Col. 
William Banks, USAF, the Acting Commander of the Boston Air De- 
fense Sector, Stewart Air Force Base, Newburgh, N.Y., and charges 
of dereliction of duty against both Maj. William’ Sheppard, USAF, 
the Commander of the 4604th Support Squadron, with headquarters 
at Otis Air Force Base, Falmouth, Mass., and Maj. Reginald Stark, 
USAF, who, during a portion of ‘the time prior to the collapse of 
tower No. 4, was the acting commander of that squadron. Since 
these officers had been given no prior opportunity to cross-examine 
the witnesses who appeared before the Board of Officers and whose 
testimony presumably gave rise to the charges against them, an in- 
vestigating officer was appointed to determine which of the charges, 
if any, should be made the basis of possible courts-martial proceed- 
ings. During that investigation the right was extended to those 
charged to confront the witnesses who earlier had appeared before 
the Board of Officers and whose testimony was presumably damaging 
to those officers. 
The Preparedness Subcommittee unanimously agreed that in order 
to avoid any interference with or prejudice to the judicial rights of 
those military officers, it would restrict its investigation, for the time 
being, to matters relating to the design, construction, and repair of 
Texas tower No. 4, leaving to a properly constituted judicial forum 
the determination of the ouilt or innocence of those officers in properly 
discharging their responsibilities as military commanders. 
The subcommittee is well aware of the fact that this self-imposed 
limitation will preclude it from reporting all the facts surrounding 
this tragic occurrence which it has accumulated in the course of its 
investigation. However, it was determined to be the only means by 
which it could be assured of assidiously avoiding an intrusion into 
an area where it felt that it should not trespass, at least while charges 
were pending. 
Accordingly, the subcommittee held open hearings on May 3, 4, 
10, 11, and 17, which were limited to the design, construction, and re- 
pair of Texas tower No. 4, and took testimony from the persons listed 
below: 
LIST OF WITNESSES 
Hon. Joseph V. Charyk, Under Secretary of the Air Force, accom- 
panied by— 
Col. Robert B. Baldwin, USAF, Chief, Air Defense Division, 
Directorate of Oper ations, Headquarters, USAF. 
Col. I. H. Impson, USAF, Chief, Engineering Division, Directo- 
rate of Construction, Headquarters, USAF. 
Col. John E. Gill, USAF, Director Facilities Support, Directorate 
of Civil Engineering, Headquarters, Air Defense Command. 
Mr. Max Golden, General Counsel, Department of the Air Force. 
Mr. E. Ross Anderson, president, Anderson-Nichols Co., Boston, 
Mass., accompanied by— 
Mr. John Minnich, chief structural engineer. 
Mr. Martin G. Rolland, chief mechanical engineer. 
