Why I joined the Air Force

[jerry]

You have to be able to laugh at your self before poking fun at others!

[NRAJOE]

Heard in basic training you get issued fuzzy slippers and silk pajamas! Say it ain't so jerry!

[Klaus]

This post is so true.

[jerry]

Hey,
We are the only branch that sends our officers to do the fighting. Yes, we typically have it pretty good, comparatively speaking. Some times it isn't the case. Ie... when you spent a year at the Kunsan Federal Prison in Korea. you lose your best friend on the Scud C barraks attack at Dahran. I slept in the Kohbar towers. (got lucky I guess) The C-130 that blew its landing gear in Kuwait and killed everyone sitting in the wheel well area. ( I don't sit there any longer) Exposure to JP4, JP8, Hyd fluid, Hydrazine, Isocyantes, Trich,. You get the idea. We do have a mean bowling alley

[NRAJOE]

Just funning bro...I salute you...

[jerry]

It's cool Joe, like I said, gotta laugh at your self first, eh.

I take what I do very seriously. We have been the brunt of the Joke since 1947. I guess at the end of the day the only thing that counts is lives saved. (on our side of course)

[NRAJOE]

... Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by US Air Force pilots and the replies from the maintenance crews. "Squawks" are problem listings that pilots generally leave for maintenance crews.

Problem:"DME volume unbelievably loud."
Solution:"Volume set to more believable level."

Problem:"Dead bugs on windshield."
Solution:"Live bugs on order."

Problem: "Autopilot in altitude hold mode produces a 200fpm descent."
Solution:"Cannot reproduce problem on ground."

Problem:"IFF inoperative."
Solution:"IFF inoperative in OFF mode."

Problem:"Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick."
Solution:"That's what they're there for."

Problem:"Number three engine missing."
Solution:"Engine found on right wing after brief search."

[jerry]

shorts beetween the headsets are He11

[DANA]

AFTER A THOUSAND HRS IN B-25 AND B-29 WENT TO F-89 FIGHTERS. CAN'T HEAR MUCH ABOVE 1800. THE FLIGHT SURGEON ASKED HOW I COULD HEAR IN THE COCKPIT? TOLD HIM I TURNED THE VOLUME UP. DDUUHH!!!!

DANA

[Big Dog]

I was a "zoomie" avionics tech at Tyndall AFB, Florida in the late seventies. We techs also were used as crew chiefs - in my case on T-33 T-birds.
I actually signed a non-existant problem off using the "short between the headset" remark.

On another occasion the butterbar complained that the aircraft acted "squirley" - I signed it off as "Shot squirrel in accordance with TO 1-30-06".

Can't count the number of times we found roaches under the seat - and I ain't talking about bugs . . .

[DANA]

WHEN I WOULD STAY AT TYNDALL IN THE VOQ BY THE O-CLUB THE ROOM WOULD BE FILLED WITH COCKROACHES FAST MOVING ALONG THE WALL RAILS. WOULD SIT IN A CHAIR AND PICK THEM OFF WITH GI BUG BOMBS . ONLY PLACE THAT WAS BETTER WAS IN KADENA JAPAN . USED MY 45 WITH SNAKE SHOT ON THE RATS ALONG THE THINWALL ON THE EXPOSED ELECTRICAL RUNS.

DANA

[jerry]

DANA,
WHAT WAS THE BASE NAME IN OKINAWA BEFORE KADENA? NAHA I THINK? I WAS THERE IN 85~86 CAN'T QUITE REMEMBER.

Big dog,
I knew guys who were crew chiefs on T33's in the PI. I hear when they had a pressure problem MA would come out and dump some water on the floor to swell the wood up. Worked sometimes, no more pressurization problem.

[jerry]

OK,
ITS COMMING BACK TO ME. NAHA WAS THE CAPITOL OF OKINAWA, THAT IS THE ORIGINAL LOCATION OF KADENA. IT WAS LATER MOVED 70'S MABE?

AT ONE TIME, OKINAWA WAS ABOUT LIKE PEURTO RICO (NO OFFENSE MANDY) THEY USED US CASH, DRANK BUD, DROVE CHEVY K-5 BLAZERS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD. I THINK THEY DEMOCRATICALLY VOTED IT BACK TO JAPAN IN '74 OR SO.

[DANA]

NAHA IS ON THE END OF THE ISLAND HAD A NAVY AIRFIELD. KADENA IS 20 30 MILES UP THE ISLAND AT A NARROW PART. WAS THERE IN 52 AND STILL THERE IN 77 THE LAST TIME I WAS ON THE ISLAND WITH THE 158 TAC EVAL GP.

DANA

[jerry]

SORRY FOR THE SMALL LETTERS DANA.

Kadena history
Kadena history dates back to just before the April 1945 invasion of Okinawa when a local construction firm completed a small airfield named Yara Hikojo near the village of Kadena.

The airfield, used by Japanese warplanes, was one of the first U.S. 10th Army targets and was captured just hours after American troops stormed the island beaches April 1. Americans captured a 5,000-foot strip of badly-damaged coral runway. Army engineers quickly made repairs and by nightfall the runway could accept emergency landings. After adding six inches of coral, the airfield was declared operational eight days later. By August 1945, an additional runway was built and the original runway lengthened and improved to accommodate bombers.

Although originally a fighter base, a B-29 organization — the 316th Bombardment Wing — was the first element responsible for base operations. The 316th was preparing to fly combat missions against Japan. However, President Harry Truman announced the end of offensive action against Japan on August 15,1945, before bombers could take to the skies. The surrender of the Ryukyus-deployed Japanese forces occurred Sept. 7 when Gen. Joseph Stilwell accepted the surrender at a location which later became Kadena's Stearley Heights housing.

The 316th BMW remained at Kadena until inactivation in 1948. An advanced element of the 316th returned to Kadena in June 1950 when the 19th Bomb Group arrived from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, to fight the Korean War. In August 1950, the 307th Bomb Group arrived from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., adding to the base's growing bomber force.

When the Korean War ended in 1953, the B-29s departed and in 1954 were replaced with F-86 Sabrejets from the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing (from Korea). In March 1955, the 313th Air Division was activated at Kadena, replacing 20th Air Force as the senior U.S. Air Force organization in the Ryukyu Islands.

The 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, as the wing came to be known, exchanged its F-86F Sabre Jets for supersonic F-100D Super Sabres in 1957. The wing converted to F-105D Thunderchiefs in 1962. In the early '70s, the wing traded its Thunderchiefs for F-4C/D Phantoms. We received our latest fighters, the F-15 Eagle, in 1979.

Then, in 1991, the largest reorganization the base had ever seen took place when many units realigned, redesignated or inactivated. The 313th AD deactivated Sept. 30 and one day later Kadena combined three wings — the 376th Strategic Wing, 18th Combat Support Wing and the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing — into one, thus incorporating the E-3 Sentry (Airborne Warning and Control System), KC-135 Stratotanker and the F-15s all under one wing — the 18th Wing. Since then, the 33rd Rescue Squadron and its HH-60G helicopters have also realigned under the 18th.

Additional unit restructuring has followed, making Kadena one of the most complex and certainly the largest operational combat wing overseas in terms of the number of aircraft assigned.

[Doglips]

Ah Jerry Misses BC street....not far from KADENA....$5 GI.
Rember drinking MoJO or Habue Sakie????

was on the rock in 1988-1989.....bc street tore down and modernized....no bars now high priced shops...like beverly hills.

[Klaus]

The F-86 was the nicest version of the various Focke Wulf TA-183 copies made after WW2. The MiG-15 was almost an exact clone, except streched slightly to accomodate the longer pirated version of the Rolls Royce NENE engine.

[DANA]

WAS A GUNNER ON B-29 307 BW 372 BS .ONE COMBAT TOUR IN 1952. LIVED IN TENTS DOWN THE HILL FROM THE MAIN PX. MOVED INTO THE MK AREA (MORRIS KNUTSON) WHEN THEY FINISHED THEIR BASE COSTRUCTION. WHEN BACK IN 1977 AS TAC EVAL SAW THAT OUR QUARTERS WERE NOW USED AS BASE CHILD CARE.

DANA

[jerry]

Hey Doglips,
Yeah, I remember BC street. I was there Mar 85~ Nov 86. It did change at, or a little before I got there. Some of the same bars stayed, they brought the store fronts out to the street. If I recall it's now Chuo Park Ave. Went from BC (bring cash) to Cash Please Purple Haze was the designer drink when I was there. Never tried it, the formaldehide thing wasn't appealing to me at all. Had a buddy I had to scrap up from the street at whisper alley more than once.

DANA,
HAVE ANY PHOTOS FROM YOUR DAYS ON THE ROCK? THANKS FOR PAVING THE WAY FOR US YOUNG BUCKS!

[DANA]

DID NOT TAKE THE PICTURES I SHOULD HAVE. ALL WE HAD WERE
BROWNIE CAMERAS (127). A FEW PICTURES HOLDING 100 # BOMBS IN FRONT OF OUR AIRCRAFT. NONE OF KOZA (NOW OKINAWA CITY).

DANA