Thule was always the USAF version of "Eastern Front" during my time in service. But I hear that Shemya is considerably worse. On the other hand Bellows AFS HI was said to be the dream assignment if you don't mind living on a remote island. The beach at Bellows was far nicer than anything I saw in Honolulu.
> -----Original Message----- > From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of WILTON > Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2014 7:08 PM > To: Mercedes Discussion List > Subject: [MBZ] OT - 'Nother Sondy Tale - Panama City > > Yep, 'nother Sondy Tale already. > > PANAMA CITY BEACH > By Wilton Strickland > > My year as Director of Engineering at Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland, > from > 4 February, 1978, to 8 February, 1979, was extremely busy, enjoyable, > interesting and possibly the most productive assignment I had during my 22 > years on Air Force active duty. The scenery in the area is fantastically > beautiful, and the people with whom I worked were very professional, > agreeable and accommodating. I never had time to think about being lonely > - > I was undoubtedly the busiest person on base and surely traveled more than > anybody else there. I was careful not to remind anybody about how my time > away was accumulating, though the Base Commander did balk a bit in > October, > '78, when I went to 'im for his signature on a request form for a trip to > Panama City Beach, FL, to give a briefing at a USAF Pavements Conference. > When I laid the form in front of 'im and said, "Please sign this. I need > to > go to Panama City Beach, FL, to brief the Kulusuk Airfield drainage > project." He stormed (in mock anger), "What the Hell is this? You just > got > back a couple of weeks ago!" I responded, "Well, it was a couple of months > ago, and I'm just trying to do my duty, and you know - I'm going to DO my > duty, and you know I'll do it well. Here's a message from Headquarters > that > says I need to go to Panama City Beach." I handed 'im the message; he > glanced at it and said, "It doesn't say you HAVE to go; it says you SHOULD > go." I responded, "Yes, I know, but you know how I feel about doing my > duty." As I was turning to leave with the signed document, I reminded > him, > "You know, I need to go to Copenhagen the first two weeks in December, > and, > oh, by the way, I'm taking Havbro (Danish contractor's chief engineer) > with > me to Panama City." "Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," he sputtered, "Why does > Havbro need to go?" "For long-term continuity," I responded. He > persisted, > "But, if he goes, why do you need to go?" I also persisted, "Kulusuk is > MY > project; they want ME to brief it, and they're going to talk about lots of > other things that can be beneficial to the base after I'm gone. For > example, we have a big runway re-paving project coming up next summer. > That's > why Havbro should go." > > I left Sondy aboard a New York Air National Guard C-130 on Friday morning > before the Panama City Beach conference began on Monday, and made it home > to > Southern California to see my wife and two sons for a day and a half or so > before proceeding to Florida on Sunday afternoon. Havbro left Sondy on > Saturday aboard a USAF C-141 to McGuire AFB, NJ, and arrived at Panama > City > Beach early Sunday morning. Our rooms were ON the beach - the beach > literally outside our doors - quite a pleasant, nearly tropical - and a > bit > shocking - change from the arctic conditions at Sondy, where the > temperature > was already hovering near 0° F. > > At breakfast the next morning, Havbro told us about going to a restaurant > and bar a few miles down the beach the previous night and stayed until > after > taxis had stopped running. > For a while, he and his newly-found Air Force friends thought they were > stranded and were going to have to walk the 4 or 5 miles back to the > hotel. > Finally, a man driving a very ragged old car came along and offered them a > ride. During the few minutes riding to the hotel, the man told them that > he > had just bought the car the previous day for $10. Everybody agreed that > the > tires alone surely must be worth at least $10. Havbro remarked that he'd > never ridden in a $10 car before. We quickly reminded him that he had > ridden in a worthless car on $10 tires. > > My briefing on the Kulusuk drainage project went very well, but members of > the audience seemed to be much more interested in the fantastic scenery in > the backgrounds of my slides. I tended to agree and easily veered several > times into a Greenland travelogue and told them that they should volunteer > for a government "all-expenses-paid" trip there sometime. (Traditionally, > since the early 1950's, anyway, one of the biggest threats in the Air > Force > has been "getting sent to Thule," - in the far north of Greenland.) I > assured them that for me an assignment to Sondrestrom was a lot better > than > an assignment to Korea. "Before my assignment to Greenland, friends were > telling me I should volunteer for Korea. Well, first, I would never leave > the family voluntarily, and Sondrestrom has worked out much better for me. > I've been able to talk to my wife a couple of times a week, and because of > Greenland's proximity to the States, I've been able to get home to see the > family, at least briefly, about every two and a half months. My job has > also given me the opportunity to take several short trips to other very > interesting sites in Greenland. 'Even visiting Panama City Beach right > now > and will be going to Copenhagen the first two weeks in December. How's > that > for an assignment in the "briar patch?" > > The conference ended on Thursday afternoon and left plenty of time for me > to > fly to Raleigh-Durham, NC, and spend the night with my mother. On Friday, > I > borrowed my sister's car and drove about an hour to Greenville, NC, to see > my daughter, who was a senior in college there. 'Then drove her about an > hour to Seymour Johnson Air Force Base to renew her dependent's ID card. > 'Flew > to Philadelphia that night and arrived at McGuire Air Force Base at about > midnight to await a Saturday morning C-141 flight to Sondy, arriving back > there about mid-day. > > > > > > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
