Interesting places, interesting faces…
Some of the readers ‘may’ recognize this place… Davis AFB
First time was 1974, in the middle of the winter… Gave a whole new meaning to COLD!!!
In and out for years, strangest thing that happened was back in the late 80’s walking in the club one night, looking over and seeing my cousin sitting at the table! We chatted and I found out he was the new field services manager!
He spent about five or six years up there and the cold finally got to him. They finally closed the base in 1997, after a number of fits and starts over whether or not to close it, the operational requirements, etc.
The flying was always ‘interesting’… Take off in perfect weather, land 12 hours later in a blinding snowstorm, or fly to Shemya or Kodiak, or Elmendorf, refuel and sit and wait… sigh…
The Navy called it Adak… And we joked there was a woman behind every tree… sigh…
Except there weren’t any trees…
This book, by Andy Jampoler tells the story of one flight from Adak that went horribly wrong, and caused the loss of five lives…
Assignment there defines “hardship tour”.
I thought that (my last 10 months) in Minot North Dakota was COLD, and it was. But your photos not only look COLD but bleak too. At least there were some women here & there in NoDak.
I guess you can leave your swim trunks at home on this assignment.
After two years on Adak, I can confirm that it’s bleak in winter. Summer was only 3 months long, but amazing to experience. And by the mid-70s, the military population was nearly 50% female.
But there was one gal who, after being advised by a friend that Adak was “a Pacific island”, showed up from Texas with a suitcase full of beach wear. She was pissed. 🙂
“A Pacific Island?” That is EVIL! I like it!
Elmendorf? Uncle Jim was Post Engineer there in ’64 when The Big One hit on Good Friday.
He said he’d been through hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and combat and all were preferable to that earthquake.
LL- Yep, 18 month tours, unaccompanied…
Roger- True!
CP- Pretty much…LOL
Rev- LOL, yeah but as soon as ‘we’ landed, all the women disappeared…sigh
Stretch- Yep, it actually IS one… North Pacific that is 🙂
Stretch- Adak. Way out in the Aleutians chain.
There is a story about Bob Reeves calling the Adak tower requesting the runway and taxiway lights be turned on. When informed the field was closed due to fog he tersely informed them he had already landed and needed to find the terminal.
http://www.sheldonairservice.com/About-Sheldon-Air-Service/Bob-Reeve.html
WSF- Not surprised… 🙂 He ‘did’ have that reputation… o^O
So there I was, attending some class at Goodbuddy Air Farce Base in TX, when I realize that the name tag on the cute PO3 being chatted up by the Marine read my mother in law’s maiden name…
“Excuse me, are you Jill XXXX, from Nebraska? Just left Adak?”
“Yeeeeessssss?”
“Because I’m that Army guy your cousin married!” (Navy family. All of ’em. Although her retired Senior Master Chief uncle didn’t seem to mind me.)
Boy, was that jarhead pissed!