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My older brother was stationed at Griffiss Air Force Base not too far away in Rome NY. It closed in 1995, I believe.
Hancock Air Force Base is a former regular AFB that has the ANG and Reserves. It is about a mile or so from my house and still has a small BX too. It closed as a regular AFB in 1983-84.
I remember Plattsburgh AFB and the big push to keep it open.
Government Island, Alameda CA- Went there for USCG basic training. Governor's Island, NY - Stationed there for electronics school, my ship was stationed there. Fort Devans, MA - Best friend stationed there in the Army, visited him.
Every Naval Air Station I served at from 1974-1995, is closed:
NAS Glynco, GA
NAS Cecil Field, FL
NAS Memphis, TN
NAS Dallas, TX
NAS Glenview, IL
Also, RTC Orlando, FL
If you served in a Navy aviation rate prior to the mid- 1990's, there's a high probability most of your NAS's are closed. They killed off a bunch of them with the Cold War draw down.
When I was in my late twenties and early thirties, we were stationed in Aschaffenburg, Germany. The post closed down while we were there (1992), shortly after the troops came home from the first Persian Gulf war. In fact, I was the very last Officers Wives Club president there (for what that's worth!).
I loved that little post, and it was sad to watch it close down.
I went back to Germany on vacation a couple of years ago. They were demolishing our housing units. My former house was next on the chopping block. Remembering all the families who lived there, and how the sidewalks and playgrounds rang with the laughter and chatter of children and their moms, the desolation of the apartments was actually heartrending.
But in a way, it felt good to see Aschaffenburg without a US military presence. Mission accomplished. Time marches on.
Twenty years ago (our quarters were those third floor windows!):
Same building in 2011:
I'm sure they're gone now.
I have no desire to go back there anymore. That chapter of my life is officially closed, along with the post.
For those of you who went through navy boot camp in San Diego. A lot of the old buildings have been preserved. Check it out if you are ever in town.
This is something I surely want to do. Not too long ago there was a travel show on TV about NTC San Diego and it sure triggered long forgotten memories to see things and places from those very long ago days when you were a very young raw recruit.
Did any of you grow up on or near a now-gone military base? God bless.
My family wasn't military, but we lived at Glasgow AFB, Montana for a while. That was in the 1970s, just before it was deactivated. Today the flight facilities are owned by Boeing. Some of the houses are occupied, but for the most part it's a ghost town. The last time I was there in the 1990s, the Elementary School I attended was falling down and the roof was caved in. The base hospital which was already abandoned when we live there is still there, still stocked with 1960s era medical equipment. It's an interesting place.
Was sworn in USAF in 1968 at Ft Holabird, MD...gone long ago.
1968-69 First duty station was Oxnard AFB in Camarillo CA...closed in 1969
1969-70 Stationed at Langley AFB on BOMARC missle site in Newport News..now the city bus garage
1970-71 SLK... better known as Shu Lin Kou AS located on a mountain 20 miles outside Taipei Taiwan. USAF Security Service site...closed sometime in the late 70's.
1970-72 Kadena AB in Okinawa...best duty in the AF at the time until it reverted back to Japan in 72.
2 TDY's to RVN...Danang and Bien Thuy in 1971-72...we all know what happened to them.
My favorite base was Stewart AFB in New York. We lived there in the early 1950s.
I started school in Washingtonville, NY. The base kids were taken by military bus to school. The civilian kids were amazed that we got to ride in a blue bus. Back then there were lots of forested places on base. I remember walking with my friends to the camp grounds and the APs picked us up because we were on top of an outhouse. LOL. I also remember collecting blueberries in the hilly areas behind the housing. The housing: It was a two-level apartment building with the front doors opening to the outside. There was not a lot of housing available. We got housing because of Dad's job. A general actually lived next door to us. On the other side was a base surgeon who I recently tracked down and talked to. He saved my life back then. My sister was born at West Point Military Hospital and I had my tonsils out there. That was cool. I remember the cadets marching to class.
There was a hole in the fence behind the officer's club and we would climb through it and visit farm families down the dusty dirt road. My parents never found out about that until I told them when I was in my 30s.
Looking back at it I remember a good time at Stewart but kids today could not get by with that because there would be no holes in the fence. I was only 5 years old. Imagine that. It was a safer time back then.
When we left Stewart we transferred to Hawaii for 4 years. Hickam AFB. What a change that was. I loved it but really preferred NY. Then we were transferred to McConnell outside Wichita, Kansas. We were there during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Dad flew B-52s. I don't remember which. What I do remember is that for nearly a week we didn't see him because he was sleeping on the flightline waiting to receive orders to bomb Cuba. Yikes! I was in my teens at that time and I have never been so scared in my life. I've got goose bumps just thinking of it.
Before Stewart we were stationed in San Antonio, Great Falls, Montana, somewhere in Pennsylvania and somewhere in Ohio. I don't remember those bases.
I will never say anything negative about the Air Force because I loved it and the military life. It was good to us. Very good. I'm still a military kid at heart.
Yes. The old Navy boot camp in San Diego is long gone, closed in the 90's. It's been redeveloped into a multi use community; condos, restaurants, grocery store and charter schools. Now called Liberty Station.
A lot of the old Navy buildings have been preserved including the old base chapel. The drill field has been turned into a park with trees, benches and water fountain. The old navy training ship USS Recruit has been preserved and is still there.
If you're one of the thousands of recruits who went through boot camp over the years, it's well worth a visit if you happen to be in the area.
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Gone... but not forgotten
