Commanding Officer – Lt. Robert W. Lewis
Left Port Hueneme – 21 February 1944
Locations: Port Hueneme, CA – USNAAF San Clemente, CA – Noumea, New Caledonia
Known Officers:
Richard Willis Heard, Jr.; Irving Wordle; Van Fields; O.W. Gornall, Lt(jg); Victor Savik; Ray Keesey; Pete Thomas; Richard W. Heard; Ollie Eggers; Joe Michael, Cade, A.J. Lt(jg)
Known Enlisted: Upon Commissioning
Anderson, Koaster A S2c – Anderson, Spencer E S2c – Armagost, William, M S1c – Austin, Lloyd S2c – Benge, Curtis D S2c – Bentz, Earl R S1c – Bohnert, Lloyd S2c -Brenner, Jacob J S2c – Cadhan, Edward W RT3c – Clark, Ernest H S2c – Clement, Edwin L S2c – Collins, Thomas E S2c – Costanich, George K S2c – Dorion, Edward F S2c – Erhart, Peter P S2c – Fein, Henry S2c – Fuchs, Benard D S2c – Garber, George P S2c – Gensburg, Otto S2c – Gillaspie, George H Jr – S2c – Grilli, Aldo “A” S2c – Ham, Robert C S2c – Hamilton, Mack H S1c – Hana, William A S2c – Hartstein, Robert J S2c – Hernandez, Manuel L S2c – Hogg, Theodore H ARM3c – Honn, Allan P S2c – Houlihan, James W ARM3c – Huber, Leonard W S2c – Hughes, Eugene W S2c – Jacobs, George J S2c – James, Harry F Sr S2c – Jones, Levi G S2c – Johnson, Justa R F1c – Kamping, Harold E S2c – Kaufman, Robert S F1c – Kersenbrock, Dale A S1c – Kinney, Arthur J S2c – Lambert, Donald A S2c – Lang, Harold W F1c – Lazenby, Martin L S2c – Linn, Ernest C S2c – Lohmuller, Richard L Jr S2c – Lowry, Earl E S1c – Mancel, Joseph F RT3c – Marshall, John H Jr S2c – Metcalf, James E GM3c – Milleson, Lloyd E S2c – Mongiello, Anthony J S2c – Moskal, Michael S1c – Nelson, Roger C ART2c – Nesmith, Frank J S1c – Oakman, Jack C S2c – O’Brien, John F ART2c – Ocohiuto, Albert S2c – O’Dea, Frank J S2c – Odell, Robert B S2c – O’Neil, William H MoMM2c – Priest, Elmer S2c – Przanowski, Stanlet W S2c – Radosza, John E S2c – Remsing, Joseph S2c – Reynosa, Edward L Y2c – Rinden, Keith L S2c – Rubin, Sidney L S2c – Rupp, William E S2c – Ruscigno, Michael J S1c – Ruwe, Walter J S2c – Schnier, Frank G S2c – Schultz, Howard F S2c – Seboldt, Carl F RT3c – Sheble, William L S2c – Sladen, Charles E S1c – Smith, Billy M S2c – Smith, Nilan L S2c – Smith, Walter T – Streicher, Earl V S2c – Stroyan, Peter B S2c – Sullivan, William J Y3c – Thielen, Matthew P S2c – Thrasher, Clarence W S2c – Vogel, Louis H S2c – Wagner, William S2c – Walsch, George J S2c – Ward, William E ART3c – Warner, Donald A MoMM2c – Wentz, John H F3c – White, Kenneth E MoMM2c – Wiesmann, Wilbur T S2c – Wiser, Raymond G S2c
Additional Known Enlisted Personnel: Date Assigned To Unit 24
Rating/Rate as of date assigned
Bockes, Kieth K RM3c 12 Dec 43
Dorton, Edward F S2c 12 Dec 43
Simpkins, William H EM2c 12 Dec 43
Balsdon, Robert M S2c 31 Jan 44
Barber, Ernest L S2c 31 Jan 44
Barger, William J S2c 31 Jan 44
Brown, Garth J S2c 31 Jan 44
Graham, Wayne E S2c 31 Jan 44
Nesmith, Frank J S1c 5 Jan 44
Pell, Donald A S2c 31 Jan 44
Sheble, William L S2c 31 Jan 44
Willits, Vernon L ART2c 5 Jan 44
Winters, James W S2c 31 Jan 44
Lowry, Earl E S2c 18 Feb 44
Odell, Robert B S2c 18 Feb 44
Aglibot, Elias G S2c 29 Mar 44
Doran, John P S2c 15 Mar 44
Halter, Harvey P S1c 29 Mar 44
Lodigkeit, Edward W S1c 29 Mar 44
Koher, Howard C S2c 29 Mar 44
Martinez, Tony B S2c 29 Mar 44
Parker, John G S2c 29 Mar 44
Richter, Ray E S1c 29 Mar 44
Robson, Thomas H S2c 29 Mar 44
Smith, Orville W S2c 29 Mar 44
Swenson, Clayton E S2c 29 Mar 44
Whitesell, Gerald W RdM3c 29 Mar 44
Woolard, Rudolph G S2c 29 Mar 44
Zechmann, Joseph L RT1c 29 Mar 44
Bohnert, Lloyd H S2c 21 Apr 44
Spence, John W S1c 11 Apr 44
Zimmer, Frank V S2c 21 Apr 44
Narative:
Argus Unit 24 was commissioned 25 November 1943
No documentation has been found to date indicating the date Unit 24 was decommissioned. Unit Muster Rolls date 31 May 1944 show all enlisted personnel transferred to other locations for duty. Correspondence dated 7 June 1944 from Lt. Robert Lewis to the CNO, Washington,D.C. states that “this unit has been decommissioned.”
Photos and Documents:
photo and article courtesy of Shelley Heard
Article: Passage to Milne Bay, by Bill Lee – historian for the USS West Point. Argus Unit 24 left San Pedro, California aboard the USS West Point on February 22, 1944. This article, from the August 2009 edition of the Pointers Pup describes that voyage.
photos from the estate of George K. Costanich
Photo captioned Noumea, New Caledonia
Unit 24 – no members identified
photos courtesy of Nan A.
United States Navy Argus Unit Historical Group 
I have found the name George K Costanich on the Veteran’s Project site. I see that he served in Argus 24 during the time my father served in Argus 14. I notice that Mr. Costanich list his home state as California. Does anyone have any info on him and is he still alive? If he is, I would love to talk with him about his service.
Nan,
I was in contact with Mr. Costanich in July. I will forward your request to him via e-mail. I am sure he will respond. He had contacted another member regarding his Unit 24 activities. Please let me know if you don’t hear from him in a few days.
Larry
I trained at Camp Farragut, Idaho and went on to Radio School at the Univ of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho
thence to Port Hueneme, CA to train in the Argus Unit program and was a RM3c with Argus 21 sent
to Barber’s Point, Honolulu Territory of Hawaii and on to Roi-Namur, Kwajalein Atoll , Marshall Islands.
I, too want to learn and talk to Argus Unit veterans.
THANK you so much! I have been trying to find anyone that may have served when my father did – even if the Argus unit was different. And also someone that was a radarman and was in Idaho for training. I even posted flyers at our nearest veteran’s home, but no response. Once again, thanks.
Nan
I have reviewed all of my father’s letters sent home from Port Hueneme, CA, regarding his joining Argus Unit #24, and his first reference is in a letter dated Nov. 21, 1943, where he wrote,
“We go away on Thursday next for 2 weeks so better have the blessed event wired me c/o Argus
Unit #24 A. B. D. Port Hueneme, Cal.”
The “blessed event” took place two days later in Savannah, GA: the birth of his only daughter.
Shelley
My dad, Lt(jg) Oliver H. (Ollie) Eggers was with Argus Unit 24 in New Caladonia and appears in the photo on this site. Previously he served as a Fighter Director Officer in USS Nassau (CVE 16).
I have a photo of George Costanich in Argus unit 24. I also have a picture I took of him and I before his passing.
Hi Nan, I would love to see the pictures of Mr. Costanich. He was revered here, of course. Please, contact me by email with the particulars: shelley.heard at gmail dot com. If there is anything I can do for you regarding Argus 24, I’m happy to help all I can. All the best.