We used to joke about how the USAF built such wonderful facilities for their troops – base housing, golf courses, commissaries and exchanges – and saved building the actual airstrip for last. That way, if the money ran out? Congress would have to find some more.
It probably wasn’t true, but it certainly felt that way. The facilities at base operations – where transient pilots would get weather updates and file their flight plans – were often superior to our officer’s clubs. And the USAF officer’s clubs? Pretty darned flush.
When we’d notice the relative disparity between USAF facilities and naval ones, the Air Force guys would reply that ships were expensive. Which seemed to assuaged any feelings of guilt that they may have entertained, but left the Navy vaguely unsatisfied. Of course ships were expensive, but what did that have to do with facilities? Because, stewards of the national fisc that we were, it wasn’t like we’d gone on a three-day bender in Vegas and blew all our cash on aircraft carriers.
Truth be told, feeling like country cousins come to visit the big city never really bothered me all that much. When you spend most of your working life in the Spartan environment of a ship at sea, just about any shore facility that doesn’t have firefighting gear snaking through every passageway, exposed wires and pipes overhead and a needlegun rattling away in the next compartment feels like an upgrade.
Or at least it used to:
To boost morale and reenlistment rates, the Navy and a private development firm have opened the first phase of Pacific Beacon, a $322 million high-rise housing project at Naval Base San Diego.
Four 18-story towers now surround a quad on what was once the base’s par-3 golf course. At full occupancy, the towers will accommodate 1,882 unmarried sailors in 941 apartments…
The project is reserved for ranks E-4 (petty officer third class) through E-6 (petty officer first class). Rental rates are set below what sailors receive in their housing allowances. At Pacific Beacon, each unit accommodates two sailors – each with his or her own room and bathroom. The roommates share a kitchen, living room, washer and dryer, and balcony.
Attracting and retaining a highly trained workforce in the face of stiff inter-service competion and a diminishing applicant pool requires a certain investment.
And, they’ll still have to go to sea.
Update: Bonus Navy headline – Navy subdues VMI. Take that, Noonan.
Just to set the record straight, VMI is but the second best lacross team here in Lexington. W & L would have been a better match.
LaCrosse ? Why not a man’s game, say, Rugby? Or, Aussie Rules Football?
Seriously, I’m not sure why the AF likes sumptuous digs to the point they are willing to pay for them. Being an AF brat, who rebelled and went in the Navy, the facilities I used while on active duty compared well with the AF. This, of course, excludes the ship, for which there is nothing to be done.
Couldn’t kick about the chow, or the gym , or the exchange.
But, I was told about an AF unit relieving an Army unit in Egypt that had been living in tents. The guy had been part of the Squadron setting up, and their “barracks” were inflated, and had air conditioning, even a swimming pool. I can say I would rather have that than a GP Medium tent on the Egyptian desert
There is nothing like trying to sleep to the music of needleguns – something about the way the vibration resonates through the hull. You feel and hear them – even when wearing mickey mouse ears while attempting to catch a few winks….Ah, what fond memories of being in the duty section in the shipyard during IMAV….Did I mention anything about the dust and the AC being down?….You simply cannot explain what it is like living on a warship if you haven’t experienced it.
Having much dealing with the Junior Service in my 5 years at FT Bragg and made many friends, both airlifters and air to mud guys, it was always easy to bust their chops upon occasion as to how “easy” they had it. I also didn’t spare my old man who was a retired AF Chief Master Sergeant. I’d tell him that because of my experiences with his former service I was convinced it was the largest paramilitary organization in the Free World.
My first shore tour was at Chase Field. It had the then new modular barracks. Six 2/3 man rooms around a central lounge area, laundry and head. After living aboard Independence for three years, I thought it was really nice.
And for those old WestPac hands that remember the Upper MAU Camp, I need say anything further. Yeah, I did spend time there chasing Ranger back in 79.
Since “I’s the guy” who suggested this topic, and a Jr. Birdman to boot(ex), let me speculate on the historical and functional differences in approaches between the services in this matter.
From a historical perspective, the AF was born at the beginning of the cold war, which meant that SAC was the predominate (and at first ONLY) nuclear delivery service we had. This will astound people, but at one point in the early 50s, SAC was getting 1/3 of the military appropriations of THE ENTIRE DEFENSE BUDGET, leaving not only the other AF commands, but the other three branches–Army, Navy&USMC to scramble for what was left. Aditionally, SAC was led by a man, Curtiss “Bombs away with Curt Lemay”
Lemay, whose attitude was that only perfection was allowed in those who would handle the nuclear mission. This extended to everything from aircraft & Maint. facilities to housing, (yes, golf courses and O clubs) to OERs for personnel. I am not exaggerating. In the AF there was such a thing as what came to be known as the “SAC OER.”
Mere mortals in other commands often had 7s & 8s mixed in with 9s (the max in those days) to reflect reality. SAC personnel OERS routinely reflected a perfect solid “9″ or “all to the right” score. The reasoning went something like this: LeMay considered SAC to be perfection on Earth, and as head of perfection on Earth, how could he be perfect if all those under him were not perfect? I kid you not, this syndrome was very real, and put officers in the other commands at a terrible disadvantage come promotion time when their more realistic numbers were compared to those of SAC personnel–with the result that SAC officers were promoted at such a rate that SAC couldn’t utilize them all at the higher levels and they began to spill over to the other commands–which is how it came to be that an ex-SAC General who new nothing of fighter ops assumed command of TAC.
The upshot of all this is that in those Red Scare” years at the height of the Cold War Congress threw tons of money at SAC no questions asked. LeMay and SAC were Gods as far as public support went (Remember the movie “Strategic Air Command” with Jimmy Stewart–a SAC AF Reserves BG–as the lead?) and therefore resultant Congressional support was concerned. Lots of fairways, tennis courts, swimming pools and bowling alleys were built in those years. S0—- I would contend not only does much of that infrastructure still exist,but the attitudes that produced it within the AF have persisted thru inertia if nothing else insofar as present day priorities are concerned.
From a functional aspect one must remember that the “tip of the spear” for the other branches sits either in the field (Army & Marines) or at sea (Navy.) For the AF the “tip” sits at home. Air force pilots typically spend 90+% of their waking AND sleeping hours on base or flying out of it. For the other branches almost all tng & ops are conducted in the field, as it were. Thus the focus of the AF is inward, towards the nest–the others outward as they live “in the field” as often as they do at/on the logistical base that supports them and from which they deploy. And when the USAF DOES deploy, it likes to take the creature comforts with it. Simply a matter of “corporate culture.” The Army and Marines, by contrast, seem, to these eyes at least, to hold the belief that spartan facilities are good for the soul because they don’t want people that are going to have to sleep in the mud get too aclimatized to comfortable settings.
End of lecture/spout.
(Except to say the most sumptuous O Club in all of Vietnam was located at DaNang at the Navy’s legendary NSA “Stone Elephant.” where I spent as many hours swilling down the grog as I could finagle/finesse.)
Open squadbays. Open showers. Open heads.
And that was when we had a barracks, a luxury in many ways.
Sometimes, like at Cubi, we had Quonset huts, and shower heads running over a concrete pad in the jungle behind the huts.
Other times, like in Korea, it was 12-14 man tents and outdoor showers run by a heated generator on some schedule that always seemed to overlap with my duty hours. Open latrines with 55 gallon drums, and a burn detail. We went there for Cope Thunder, and one of those trips was in February. My respect for the Marines and Soldiers that fought the Chinese took a tic upward. How anyone could fight in that cold…
But hey, we were Marines.
Making a stop at an Air Force base was an eye opener. We went from those tents straight to Osan for a 96 one time. Very posh. We went to the NCO club, and a waiter with a white cloth over his arm gave us a wine list. The chowhalls were like restaurants, the barracks like hotels. Schools, tree lined streets, dependent housing. Big PX. Gyms, tennis courts. In Korea. About an hour by helicopter from that tent and the amenities of the Corps.
Well, anything which destroys a golf curse is good by me. I live in a county with well over 150 pasture-pool facilities and exactly one shootin’ range. What I want to know, is, why is it against the law to plant anti-personnel mines on and in golf courses? Which King of Scotland was it who forbade his subjects to play golf on Sundays, because that was when they ought to have been out exercising with their weapons?
Xairboss,
W&L might have the “best” lax team in Lexvegas.
However, (comma) in my unbiased opinion, W&L is the second best school in Lexington.
Regards,
Jake (Gradumentateded from The I back before Coedumacation)
Oh, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest:
I recall my trip to Philmont as a Boy Scout. We were given freebie accommodations at military facilities along the way. The nicest, and the worst, were both AF facilities. The nicest was in Big Spring, Texas, near Waco. It was a SAC base, and had all modern conveniences. The steam room off the gymnasium was really nice.
The worst was an old WWII barracks at Kelly, complete with Sgt Snorkel snoring away in his little space at the end of the building. Honest!
The best food was at a Naval Air Station near New Orleans. Yummy!
This happened oh, about 1965-1967, or thenabouts
While a member of the Junior Service on a 3-month TDY with the Army 60 miles from my home base, my squadron commander came to inspect my housing “situation”.
I, along with two other AF guys on the TDY, was living in a pre-fab “temporary barracks” erected while the regular barracks was being refurbished.
My CO, a female major, walked through the dark hallways and peered into the latrines and shower rooms with water on the floor without a word.
When we got back out into the sunlight, she drew herself up to all of her 5’2″, looked up at me and said, “I am giving you a direct and lawful order. You will NOT, under any circumstances, live in this facility. Is that clear?”
I said, “Yes, Ma’am” and commuted the 60 miles from my apartment for the three months of my TDY.
Sorry, Army. Just not up to AF standards.
BTW – I was also SAC-umscized in the early 80′s. The points made about SAC are all correct. But, during that time, you never heard about nuclear warheads being flown across the country by “mistake”.
JTG/
That would be NAS Belle Chasse on the “East Bank.” Can’t beat New Orleans food/cookin.’
I can’t comment on the O-side of the house, as all I know was acquired through osmosis from the Ol’ Man (a career AF guy) and my two boys, one Navy, one USAF. But I’m eternally grateful for the “quality of life” E-side amenities I enjoyed… most especially base housing… during my 22 years.
Case in point… my Navy son, then a LT j.g., visited my AF son before he was commissioned and commented on the quality of enlisted base housing at Cannon AFB… to the effect of “Dang. You live a whole helluva lot better than I do!” And it was true: I visited my Navy boy at about the same time-frame, while he was in Navy base housing at Newport, RI. “Dismal” doesn’t begin to describe the hovel… since condemned, as I understand it.
ASM826
Speaking of Quonset huts. At the AFB I was stationed at in England–RAF Woodbridge, many were WWII Quonset huts–O-club, Squadron Complex of leggo-style assembled huts, enlisted mess hall etc. Although the VA alert facility (nuke) the BOQ, married housing and “All-ranks” enlisted club
were new construction. Over at the Bentwaters part of the twin base complex everything was new, except for some Quonsets which housed overflow batchelors from both bases on both perm and temp basis. I lived in one for a year prior to moving off base.
Also has some as temp. married housing
IIRC. Barracks at Laughlin in Del Rio were no great shakes either–but the town was main thing. Early guys to DaNang when there was only one runway which we shared with the 1stMAW saw everyone living in tents, but by time I got there had new a/c quarters built along with second runway.
I must say the best times were had at the old WWII Quonset hut O’club at our “own ” Air Force over at RAF Woodbridge–the Woody Club–away from the prying eyes of Sr officialdom over at Wing HQ at the main base–RAF Bentwaters.
‘Bout damn time the Navy remembered the people that make birdfarms go fast enough to launch officers into the sky. E-4 through E-6 personnel do the daily chores that keep ships operating at peak efficiency. They are the ones who toil in the engineering spaces, maintain the equipment and do the messy jobs. Without them, the Navy would be permanently tied to the pier. Giving them quarters at the expense of a golf course makes perfect sense to this Beached Chief.
The next move is to do something for the E-1 to E-3 sailors.
Its been several decades now (wow. Im old), that several buddies and I were discussing this very topic. We were stuck on the boat on a sleety January night in Mayport. Even though not on (3 section) duty, it was jut too miserable to try and brave the elements and go anywhere. Because there was no steam forward, our berthing was frigid, and the messdecks were too drafty and cold as well. We had retreated to Combat and turned on everything that would just to warm it up a little.
Anyway, somebody brought up the question about why we couldn’t live even half as good as off-patrol Boomer pukes…Perhaps even live off the boat…Nahhh. Never happen.
So, good for those kids on the green.
However, gotta wonder how far the USN will carry this “Employer of Choice” concept.
“This is basically a merchant ship — we don’t shoot at anything,” he said. “You put in your hours and you get paid for it, and that’s that.”
Just gotta wonder if the Battle E will be supplanted by the JD Power Award…
SAC became some thing of an armpit for much of the ground organization. While LeMay did a lot for the troops, he also made life difficult. The food service types, for example, were on what amounted to permanent KP. I was born at a SAC base (Hunter) and my father went from Hunter to Asheville, NC to re-enlist as that was the only way he could get out of SAC.
LeMay started a lot of stuff that worked their way through the other services. He liked the hobby shops (he and his best friend Butch Griswold, like tinkering with sports cars), and he started the flying clubs as well. Still, he lead the AF down a path that gave the country an unbalanced force, with inadequate fighter aircraft. The AF General Staff didn’t control him as much as they should. I think it was while he CG SAC that he said “The Soviets are the opponent. The Navy is the enemy.” I think the time he spent on Guam and not getting his way with the Navy hurt him a bit.
I don’t fault the AF for trying to take care of their people. But it IS up to higher authority to strike a balance between creature comforts and fighting power.
And Justthisguy is right. There is NO excuse for a base not to have a shooting range open to the troops. Bulldoze the damned golf course to make room. You can’t fight with a golf ball.
Okay, I can now comment on this, having as of this weekend now been a guest of the Army, Air Force and Navy.
Army: Camp Rilea, OR – Last visit: Open bay barracks, 40 bodies per bay. First Visit: Guest housing… shared toilet, 194os era building.
Ft. Lewis, WA Guest house: 1930s era building that was part of the old Madigan Hospital complex. I don’t remember the bathroom (that’s bad, because that means it was probably down the hall).
Yakima Training Center: Guest Housing – 1950s(?) era buildings (like everything on main post other than the gym) , nice enough room, bathroom/showers at the front of the building. Next visit included open bay barracks.
Nellis Air Force Base: Rooms basically up to Motel 6 standard, aside from bathroom/shower shared with neighbor. Take your shower shoes.
Marysville, WA Navy Gateway Inn & Suites. Formerly known as the BOQ. This weekend’s accommodations. Wow. Marginally smaller than the apartment I spent my first 3 years married life in. Easily adequate kitchen with small fridge/freezer, microwave, gas stove & range. Dishes nad flatware included plus a small container of dish soap to wash them with. Two TV’s – one standard with VCR/DVD built in, one HD flat panel in bedroom. Nicest alarm clock I’ve ever run into. Closet you could hide a squad in. Wi-Fi that actually works. Nice exercise room as well. Good sized NEX and commissary within 100 yards, gas station across the parking lot. Indian Casino within 2 miles. Mattress on double bed has never heard the word “firm” so much as whispered near it. Incredibly comfortable.
Navy wins. Hands down.
Air Force offers recall program for rated officers
2/5/2009 – RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFRNS) — The rapid expansion of unmanned aircraft systems and other emerging missions and rated officer requirements has created an Air Force demand for experienced, rated officers. To meet these critical shortages, the secretary of the Air Force has initiated a Voluntary Retired Rated Recall Program.
Pilots, navigators, and air battle managers who retired as a lieutenant colonel or below, and who are younger than 60, may apply for the program. Officers recalled under this program will be used in myriad positions including intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rated staff, and other rated requirements. Officers will be recalled for between 24 and 48 months depending upon the requirement.
Officers recalled will not be eligible to receive aviator continuation pay. Also, by volunteering for recall, officers become eligible for deployment. Retired Regular and retired Reserve officers are eligible to apply, and officers who retired via a Selective Early Retirement Board may also apply. Officers permanently retired for a physical disability are ineligible.
The application period runs through Dec. 31, 2009. For details, go to the Air Force Personnel Center’s “Ask” Web site and enter “Retired Rated Recall Program” in the search function. Applicants having additional questions after reviewing this information should contact the Air Force Contact Center at (800) 616-3775. After Feb. 22 call (800) 525-0102. The commercial number is (210) 565-5000, and DSN is 665-5000. People may also send queries via e-mail to afpc.recall@randolph.af.mil.
You know, its been nearly 20 years since I graduated from the finest school in the country, and I have yet to figure out if W&L is good for anything other than having Lee Chapel on the grounds…
Oh, and take a look at VMI BB – SI article this week!
It’s been 35 years since I graduated from the finest school in the world and pretty much everyone there will tell you that having a Harvard man running the country is a sure recipe for disaster.
Bullnav:
All I know is when I used to visit my best friend at W&L back in the day there always was a damn fine party going on someplace….
And where I went we never claimed to be the finest anything – but I never knew that at the time.
Had to feel that way if you’re school mascot was a Turkey.
Go Hokies!
Ron F/
Speaking of Harvard types running the country, remember in Halberstam’s “Best and the Brightest” were he quotes a conversation between LBJ shortly after ascending to the Presidency and Speaker of the House old Sam Rayburn, in which LBJ was explaining that things would be alright? “I’ve got all these Harvards and Yales, around me to advise me,” LBJ reassured Rayburn. “Yes,” old Sam replied, “they may be all you say they are, Lyndon, but I wish at least one of ‘em had ever run for Sheriff once.”
To say that Obama has ever “run” for office in anything like a real-world, honest election with no unfair advantage such that he was forced to face reality is a joke.
Hey T6,
I bet you didn’t know the Officer of The Deck of the Belknap when it ran into the JFK was a Hokie did ya? Industrial Engineering, no less.
At Tennessee Tech we had a bit of doggerel “The Civils design the building, the Electricals design the power systems, the Mechanicals put in the machinery, the Industrials say “paint it blue.”
I can understand the lack of enthusiasm for W&L at VMI. W&L has the Lee chapel and the tomb of the finest man to ever wear uniform in the US, and all VMI has is the Marshall collection. I’d feel put upon as well.
VX,
I understand Rayburn’s concern completely. I held elective office as County Engineer of Morgan County Ohio. Anyone that hasn’t faced a fair election and the consequences of it when you go to work, should never be seriously involved in government policy.
QM:
Blacksburg a heck of a long way from the Ocean is all I’m sayin’
Obama is still running for something based on the campaign rally he held today. Didn’t get the memo that told him he needed to stop groveling and start leading I guess….
And yes, Robert Edward was a mighty fine Gentleman. Didn’t do too bad on the battlefield, either.