The last P-3C stationed at NAS Brunswick, Maine has gone wheels up for the last time, a victim of the latest Base Closure and Realignment Committee decision:
The P-3 Orions of the VP-26 squadron lumbered down an 8,000-foot runway before heading off to a six-month deployment in Central America. After that, they fly to their new home at Florida’s Jacksonville Naval Air Station.
The planes took off without any speeches or fanfare about 50 minutes apart Saturday afternoon. A small group of visitors gathered at the base operations building to watch, including Albert Stehle of Bowdoinham, whose father, Leroy Stehle, commanded the VP-26 during the early 1970s.
“I just came to see the last plane take off,” said Stehle, a building contractor who lives in the flight path of the base and will no longer be able to look up and see the planes bearing the squadron’s trident insignia. “After being a Navy brat for all these years and having to miss your dad because he was off on deployment, you finally realize it was all for a great cause.”
Brunswick, once home to 4,000 sailors and six patrol squadrons, now has a skeleton crew. Its two runways are scheduled to close in January and personnel will continue to leave the base until it closes for good in May 2011.
One of the few naval air stations I never flew into or out of during my career. Just wasn’t on the way to anything.
Apart, you know: From the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap.
I think the Mainiacs like it that way.
It was on the way to Rangely…
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/usn-sere-school/
I always giggle when VP folks talk about “Deployment”
We would do dets to NAS Key West and there would be a P-3 squadron “Deployed” there.
Bermuda, Lages, Curacao, etc (oh, and they only got to go home every 4 weeks or so!)
Tough life…
Nose,
Not sure when you were at Key West but if it was in the ’60s to ’72, the P-3 squadron you saw there was VX-1. It was shore-duty and “shore” was a good deal. During my time there, we would host single P-3s on x-country hops, but never saw a VP “deployed” to NAS Boca Chica.
I don’t believe Nose was out of short pants by 1972…
1995 or so. “My” VP Navy bears little resemblance to “Your” VP Navy.
Flugel, Nose and Lex are mere pups. What do they know about the “old” Navy. My pre flight class leader went P-3s and often lamented how difficult his deployments to Bremuda were and how hard it was to put up his wife in a decent hotel on the TAD money he received.
Gosh Boss, I know all about Old Navy – bought me a sweatshirt there just the other day! Hardeee Har Har!!
Hey Boss, we’ve got our own store! Wowser… Who knew???
Lex, Mainiacs like that Maine is “off the beaten path”, or that you never flew into/out of the site? Inquiring minds and all…
Had not been to Maine up until the past three years, where I had the opportunity to go there about 5 or 6 times, and travelled a fair part of it by car. Big state, beautiful, remote, quiet, pristine, and their winters reminded me of why I moved to NC from MI.
Wanted to backpack up Mount Katahdin as part of my AT experience as I’ve backpacked from the southern terminus of the AT up to the Shenandoah Valley.
Heh -was told repeatedly while in ME that they are not Mainiacs, they are Mainers or Mainards, not Mainiacs. Never could remember that, much to my enjoyment.
Well, BRAC took away Cecil…now it’s giving us more P-3s. I can see them damn near all day long as they shoot approachs and touch and go’s in my southern view. I’d kinda rather have the aircraft with afterburners, though, the “sound of freedom” is way cooler.
And Nose, my son-in-law who started his Navy career in Brunswick said that P-3 deployments were a pretty good deal…right till he got one to Keflavik in winter time
Sometimes you gotta draw the tough duty. It pays for all the easy stuff you got earlier.
Given the way Maine votes, “Mainiacs” is a much better fit than the other choices.
My only exposure to Brunswick came in the form of lobster. My last assignment was in a VC squadron at Norfolk. One of the other officers came from the VP community, and bummed some time on P3 up to Brunswick and back on a Friday, returning with two 35 gal. trash cans of fresh lobster and clams for the squadron party that Saturday night. A warm night, some pots of boiling water on the deck of the O-club at Dam Neck, and a some quantities of beverage… mmmmm.
It’s a cargo you wouldn’t have fit into a fighter!
George V.
This news makes me sad. I was a TACCO in VP 26 from 74 to 77. We deployed to Bermuda, Rota on the Costa de Luz in Spain, Lajes in the Azores, and Two Goats, Ascension Island. Only a couple of days in Keflavik, and only one (seems like very long) weekend in Sigonella, Sicily. Our crew had a cassette deck we would plug into the ICS to play George Benson and Stevie Wonder while we were on patrol, and our ordnanceman was famous throughout the wing for the good cuisine he spirited up back in the galley. Best times of my life.
Lt. SuperBad
We just missed being squadron mates. I had orders from VX-1 to VP-26 in Nov ’75 while 26 was deploying to Bermuda. My bride of 1.5 years would have gone to Brunswick in the dead of winter whilst myself would have traipsed off to sunny Bermuda. Herself, being a California girl, said “It ain’t gonna happen, Sailor!”
I called my detailer and got the orders changed to AVB school in Memphis, and thence on to Hawaii. Much better…
Hey… I had a good friend in VP-26. I arrived in Broomstick in ’77, with orders to VP-10, thence to the ASWOC. I was a NATOPS evaluator for the SS1/2 stations and got to fly with a bunch of different crews from all the squadrons while at Wing5. While at the ASWOC, I also briefed and debriefed pretty much every crew there over a three-year tour.
After I got out, I stayed in the area, and have pretty much been in Bath since I first arrived up here.
It was terribly sad to hear the last of those great planes flying overhead. I was invited over to watch them depart, but just couldn’t bring myself to go. It’s all so sad. Closing Brunswick was, and still remains, one of the most short-sighted and plain old stupid moves that this government has ever made.
P-3′s used to have a ready-alert bird 24/7 for to provide SAR support for all the fishing fleets and boats up and down the coast. Now, there’s nothing north of Boston. Fishermen will die because help was too far away, and the blame will rest purely with the BRAC commission.
With the base closing, and all the Orions gone, there really isn’t anything left here for me. As I’ve posted before, the taxes and government here are far too onerous now, and it looks like next spring will find us pulling up stakes and heading to Texas.
respects,
Maine to Texas? Damn. That’s serious, Tim.
I watched the withering away over the years of the Reserve force at Pt. Mugu, but was utterly astonished when VP-65 got hacked. IIRC, they were about the only VP outfit left in the SoCal area.
AW1Tim,
If you were at VP-10 on ’77, you served with my dad. We were there from 77 to 81. Dad was MO at 10 and then XO/CO of 23. Lots of fond memories…
Small world, eh? I was with VP-10 from ’77 though ’80.
George V/
Don’t be so sure. The center-line and wing tanks on an F-4 modified as baggage pods could hold 144 cases worth of the best German ice-wine on the trip across the channel back to the UK. Trust me.
Don’t forget about the aft avionics bay behind cell 7, and the cargo blivets on 2 & 8. And then there was the radome…
It is amzing where you cab stow things on a fighter AC. Booze runs have been made with almost every AC that was built post WW2. F-4s make expensive cargo planes, but they can get the job done when it is needed.
George V/
Forgot about six
Being of Maine Stock going back to before the Revolution, I will miss visiting NAS Brunswick. The In-Laws are on the appoach path in Topsham. I was born at Dow AFB (now BGR Int’l) in the way-back. Loring is gone. Brunswick is gone. Portsmouth is the only thing left of DOD in Maine now. Cryin’ shame. AW1 Tim – Ancestor was a minuteman from Pownalboro (Woolwich) later a Continental soldier which is turf you should know well. I mourn for my state even though I am “away” for years.
That would likely be Captain McCobb’s company, if I remember correctly, of the Lincoln County regiment.
My folks also go back before the revolution, but were from North Carolina then.
It’s a wonderful place, and to tell true, I’ve lived here longer than any other place. It’s a wonderful area, with good people, but I am just getting priced out.
I truly predict that within one or two generations, the majority of Mainers will be retirees or welfare recipients. the working families can’t afford to stay, and the jobs are going away as fast as snow in April.
I was in VP-11 “Luvin’ Eleven” from 89-92 and deployed to Sigonella with dets to Souda Bay, Turkey, Rota, and many long days in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Followed with a deployment to Roosy Roads and Panama. Brunswick was cold, snowy and miserable most of the time, but hey, where else could you get a McLobster sandwich at the base McDonalds? And cheap lobsters on the Commissary? Sad to see it go, it was a one of kind sorta place.
AW1 Tim, I can see you are up to speed on the local history. Cobb’s company headed south right after Lexington and Concord. 6xgreat gramps went with them to Mass right after Lexington and Concord. He was one of those levied to remain with the Continental Army when the Militia were released after the siege of Boston ended. He and some were attached to Arnold for the Quebec Expedition up thru Maine. His element was left behind at Fort Halifax (may be mistaken as Halifax is in Winslow in stead of the name of the fort at Augusta) because there weren’t enough provisions. If he had gone, I may not even be here to write this. Interestingly (and ironically)”Gramps” had been with Arnold on two later occasions in 1777. Arnold led a relief expedition after Ticonderoga/Mount Independence was abandoned without a shot. In August 1777, Arnold’s relief column of over 1000 Continentals headed up the Mohawk towards Oriskany but countermarched when the issue was resolved. Again at the Battle of Bemis Heights at Saratoga. “Gramps” regiment was in one of the brigades (Learned’s) that Arnold scooped up and led in the assault on the German Redoubt thereby winning the battle and taking another bullet in the same leg as he was at Quebec.
Anyway, some good sojers come outta Maine. Millet, Chamberlain etc.. And I am proud to have served in my own small way and not in the same league as the aforementioned.
BTW, is the commissary closing there also? I know Bangor kept a small one after Dow closed.
SERE at Brunswick, Oct ’84. RAG flights from Norfolk w/ quick stops at Brunswick to pick up lobster. What’s the Navy to do now?
Dust,
re: leg wounds at Saratoga… My “gramps” Thomas Ross was also wounded in the leg while serving as a cannon loader at Saratoga. Got him discharged from the Continental Army. Went home to PA to mill grain for Washington. Leg wound didn’t heal, oozed for years. Went out to stand in the Susquehanna River in all weather to flush it. Homesteaded in what are now suburbs of Pittsburgh. Had to leave property several times for years at a time due to raiders or Indian trouble.
The end of my junior year in HS, my Dad was up for orders. He just having made O-6… there were options, something in Brunswick was stewing or he could be the Gator on a carrier. He opted for the Gator gig, looking back I think it was a point of self preservation… pull his 17 year old daughter out of HS and take her to the great white north, would surely have been a mistake he would have heard about for years to come. I’m not sure, he being a Southerner, was all that stoked for it anyway. Ten years later, my husband and I were on vacation in Maine and I had my husband go to Brunswick so I could hsee what I might have had instead. It was early September, so it was beautiful. Being a Southern girl, I’m thinking my thoughts would have been different in ohhh… say… January?
Dad was in VP-56 out of Jax in the mid-70s. I’m not recalling one of those good gigs of which folks above are speaking. I remember his doing Keflavik… in the winter… a lot. Sigonella and Rota. Not one Bermuda deployment in that bunch.
I hate to see it closed. Spent quite a bit of time on that base while Pre-Comm’ing Decatur. Good place all in all (‘though I was a lucky one, got to stay at he Holiday Inn in Bath instead of the flea bag they used in Brunswick for most). Great people up there.
NAS Lemoore is expanding.
No lobsters though..
P.S Why have all of the pilots in our neighborhood left?
Did Gates send an order?
Great X-C destination. Portland Tower would always ask for a runway alignment check if we brought anything more than a single ship. When picking up lobsters, the fishhouse just outside the gate knew probably better than we did the dimensions of door 14L, in order to use the most appropriately sized box. Four corners parties will never be the same. *sigh*
Great 3 years there, ’82-’85, on CPW-5 staff. Skiing every Thursday during the season, road trips to Boston to see the BoSoxs, the Bruins and the Golden Banana, cheap lobsters. Beautiful country. Not as windy but way colder than Adak.
I’m sure Adak is another NAS Lex didn’t fly into.
Well, then I would have seen you at Quarters. I was the LPO of OpCon Division at the ASWOC, plus did my watches in the Analysis Division, and running the SS1/2/3 stations in the 14B44 simulator.
Small world..
Well AW1, I was the SimCoord while I was there.
Hmm, Brunswick, let’s see… (thumbing throught he mental directory)
– Jumping off point for SERE School . . .in the middle of January
– Aegis test and development support . . . in the middle of December and February
– Stopover enroute to Iceland via Gander and Sonderstrom (Greenlenad) . . . in early January
– Special ops with other assetts stationed in the NE USA . . .in the middle of January
Yea, there’s a trend in there…
Oh yea, stopover/Customs point for a plane load of my JOs coming back from an airshow in Halifax with boxes of Havana’s stowed in back – well, at least *that* one was in the summer…
- SJS
Damn. VP-5 and VP-30 used to keep us supplied with lobsters at Jax from Brunswick. We used to cook them in a 5 gal shortning can at the shelter by the marina. Instant party.
I’m noticing a trend here. Lobsters. So maybe, just maybe, if there had been an occasional drop off of bugs at the local Beltway NAF, we might not be having this conversation. {sigh}
Brunswick. And a summat regal name, at that.
Did a 13 month ROH in BIW back in the early (way early) 80s. Lived at the Q on Brunswick for a month before finding an apartment. I flew Cessnas with the Navy flying club there. Had to do a 360 on final once or twice to let a P-3 play through. Cool thing there was the heated runway. If they had a dusting they would turn it on, but any kind of heavy snow they had to break out the plows.
Best liberty of all my duty stations, backpacking in the warm months (a relative term) and skiing in the cold months. There was a little ski area in Auburn that had night skiing, $5 from 8 to 11.
Interesting demographic fact that I discovered. There are no single, attractive women in Maine between the ages of 18 and 30. The cute ones get married at 18, and divorced at 30. As a single 22 year old ensign, I ran with mostly 30-something (and a 40-something or 2) gals. No shortage of those, either. I always smile when I see an article on Cougars
Navig8r-them Maine wimmin make good shade in the summah and warmth in the wintah. (married one) (Good thing she’s not looking over the sholdah right nowh.
Ha. My friend that works for the client I’ve visited over the past few years in Maine “exchanged” his Houston darlin’ for one of those Maine wimmin. (He thought he was going to Maine for a few months; his company decided two years was about right.)
Understand they are to be married shortly.
Bit of a change twixt Bangor & Houston -he could not wait to get back home and be near his beloved Aggies again.
Mainers have a certain understated sense of humor.
Tourist: Does this road go to Bar Harbor?
Mainer: Nope. Stays raht theyah.
Ayuh,
Tourist: “How far is Portland from here?”
Mainer: “From the way your pointed, I’d say about 25,000 miles… ”
“You can’t get there from heer.”
NAS Brunswick… Wow… I was with Marine Barracks, NAS Brunswick from 1984-1986. Ran with a few of the lads in VP-44, married an Aviation Yeoman at FASO – had a parachute rigger as a best man… Good times, nice base, stayed out of trouble… Used to use the “big eyes” from one of the station’s towers to peer into the top floors of the dorms at Bowdoin College – until some idiot spilled the beans and they put up curtains…