NAVSTA ADAK by Bob Rich

Adak Documentary

2012-01-09T18:53:00.001-09:00

My Adak Story by Ray Heid

2011-11-12T17:40:00.001-09:00

I left NMCB 7 after my second tour in Vietnam and had ordersto NAVSTA, Adak (summer of 1970. Now,you want to talk about a Climate change! WOW

My ex-wife and I had a son only two months before I returnedfrom Vietnam, so before I left for Adak, I purchased an old Chevy Station Wagonand drove it to Seattle, Which I put on a ship and sent it to Adak.

The next day, I boarded a plane from Reeves AleutianAirlines and was headed for Adak. Ilooked out of the window as we approached the island and saw a dot in thewater, well, the next thing I knew, the pilot was flying low over what Ithought was a mountain and doing a downward flight fast, I thought I was backin Vietnam (Combat Landing). We landedsafely and I entered the terminal. Ihadn’t seen such a small terminal in my short life (I was 21).

I looked around and saw a sign that said, Comsta, call aphone Number, I did and about a half hour later I was picked up and transferredto Comsta.

I made CE2 about 3 months before I left Vietnam, and wasassigned to a Room with the CE1, who was also waiting for housing to bring hiswife to Adak. He was much older andsnored to an unbelievable decimal.

During the time before my Family were able to come to Adak,I learned of the GREAT HUNTING that was available on Adak. Shortly after I arrived on Adak, I was joinedby a couple other Seabees I served with in Vietnam, one of which was the Chiefcook and his second class! (Big Grin). Anyway we would have a SEABEE party once amonth at the SEABEE Hut, on the road just above Maintenance, well, we had an inwith the mess cooks, so we would line it up, They would get some Beef from theGalley, to make a stew, BUT, they always wanted a couple of Ducks andPtarmigan, so I would get my shotgun from the armory and conveniently providethe wild game.

One Friday night, we were having a Party on top of a hill,between comsta and downtown. This oldabandon WWII hut was unclaimed, but we were able to use the old stove for heat,BUT it was in a location, you had to abandon your cars and walk up to get toit. Well, about 11:30 at night, we heara car engine and can’t figure out how in the heck. Then the car engine got quiet and all of asudden, a new person joined us. Rightafter he joined us, he left and came back, then the Engine sounded again andall of a sudden, a horrify crash and we looked around and Jeep was inside theQuonset hut. It seems my Vietnam buddyBruce, decided to make a Grand entry into our Party! LMBO

While still in the barracks, it was so cold, the heating systemdidn’t work worth a darn, so I went to one of the old WWII Quonset huts and gota sheet of Asbestos and when to the Maintenance carpenter shop and using a clothes dryer element mad a spaceheater for my room. Of course, after Iwas there a while and met a UT1, we repaired the main heating system in notonly or wing, but in all the wings (We did most of that work after hours andweekends).

Finally my family came to the island! At the time, the Navy Lodge was ½ a Quonsethut right next to the old Bowling Island. Well, after we got settled in the Navy Lodge,we decided to show my family around
Adak, at the time, there really wasn’t a place to take the family to dinner(Before the Acey-Ducey Club). We gotback to the navy Lodge and shortly after the Bowling Alley burnt to theGround. LOL

Finally, we get our house on Kulak Drive, it was the secondhouse in from the main road. Straightacross form us was an ETC and we became friends along with becoming friendswith the people living next door in the same duplex and only the garage andlaundry room separating us.

First, I’ll start with the Chief across the street. One day he called me at work and said “Ray,there are two WWII Weasels on the island (Track Vehicles), with that we can goANYWHERE on the Island, can you just think of the places we can hunt, want togo together and buy the only one that is for sale, the other one belongs to NAVSTA, well they wanted$1,000 for it so for $500, I said sure, I’m excited, let’s do it. So, we bought it. (1945 Weasel)

Well first time out, we went up the road, going uphill fromthe new Acey-Duecy club under construction above Bering hill, we had a case ofbeer and all the camping gear for a weekend in the Tundra. Everything went great, until we got to the top of the mountain and had to turnback! I was driving and told Bob, noproblem, we can go back down and select a new route. So, I turned it around and headed down hill,in high gear, high range, little did I realize, there were no beaks! We were headed for a 45 degree sharp turn, I triedto slow it and couldn’t, that is when I learned, we have no breaks! I was pulling on the left lever to turnright, NOPE, it wouldn’t do it, I again pulled on both levers to stop it… NOPE (have I mentioned, right after the left wasabout a 300 foot straight down hill rolling hill). By this time Bob is yelling“Turn it, Turn it”, I am yelling back “I can’t, I can’t” then Bob yells “Stop it Stop it” I yelled back “I can’t, I can’t” As we hit the turn, I was pulling on the leftlever and it hit something and turned a hard left and came to a Stop.

The problem is, it came to a stop with the right sidehanging over the edge, and we were teetering. We both moved to the high side, looked at each other, shaking, we said let’shave a beer (good thin it was our younger days) We had a couple beers and decided, Bob would get out first, he got outand with the door open, held the door for me to get out. Now we are both out safe, but had to figureout, how to get the damn weasel back on the road, the right track not only wasoff the track, but was hanging in midair!

So, we decide, I would go back to Downtown and see if Icould get some help. Well about an hourlater, I get down to where the Seabees where Building the new Acey-Ducey Club. It turned out, I recognized an EO that I waswith in Vietnam, and He got a Heavy Duty Wrecker and took me back to theWeasel. The put slings on it, picked itup and lifted it back on the road! Ofcourse, it cost me two cases of beer.

Well, that was the day Bob and I learned to put the tracks back on the weasel.

I could tell a few more stories about Old Blue, but that isfor another day.

At Comsta, you could pick up a telephone and maybe or maybenot, you would get a dial tone. We had a1944 0r 45 Telephone system with Line Finders, Connectors and Selectors, whichhad not been maintained. Being thesecond Senior CE, I used to sneak down to the Comsta Phone exchange to try to learn a little moreabout telephones, well, one day I was sneaking and playing with the system andI’m be darn it the Comsta public works officer didn’t walk in and catchme! All he had to say is can you fixit? I said, I have no idea, I have neverhad any training on it. Well, he said,Petty Officer Heid, you are now assigned to the telephone exchange. YIKES I said.

Well, I learned allot about Selectors, Line finders andConnectors! I also learned on heck of alot about cable splicing! I also me aCivilian, which ran the Telephone Exchange “Downtown” he had been there a while! The story was, he was there because he couldget away from a Divorce! LMBO. But the man was always ready do help thisrookie.

Comsta went a week with no phone service to “Downtown” There was a bad line in front of the phoneexchange, so I went down to help them repair it. I had never been so cold in my life, we wouldgo out and splice for 15 minutes and go inside for 30 minutes to warm up and doit again. Needless to say, after 14hours, everything was back up and running just fine.

Oh, so I thought! Butthen there was an EACN, Bruce Thomeke! We had a Poker at my house on Friday night, Well, being a telephone guy,I had a real telephone I had converted with a battery and it had a dialtone. Well Bruce, when I wasn’t looking,exchanged it with my house phone, then he encouraged me to call another Seabeeto get him into the game! Well, I tookhook, Line and Sinker…. Well, needless to say, I was so embarrassed, I still tothis day hold it against EACS Thoemke!! Geesh Remember, back then Bruce wasa EACN.

One day, you will have t ask Bruce if an aircraft was landedon and Aircraft Carrier which was sitting on his desk by a couple of E-5’s.

Now, let me set up another situation. In Public Works Comsta, the OIC had his office all the way back, One doorout of it, then to the left of it was the Senior Chiefs Desk, then the Clerksdesk (EACN Thoemke) Ok for being a Clerk and an EA, h was a good guy.

I was in the process of Rewiring the phone system in thePublic works office and had ripped all the wires just outside of the Publicworks officers door, so I taught Bruce the color code and when the Publc worksofficer walked back in, he stooped and studied the situation, with his CLERK,cutting wires and in a startled voice, said, “do you know what your doing”,well Bruce said “NO, but Petty Officer Heid” said it was ok for me to try. Well, Once Bruce was done, the phones workedGreat!

I can and may tell more Stories of my experience on Adak,including the stories We used to tell the CT’s at Comsta about us Hunting inAdak National Forest! Grin.. Oh yea, and about the time EACN Bruce Thoemke(Retired as a EACS) had an aircraft land on an Aircraft Carried, which was onhis Desk, just outside of the Company Commanders office3 and just in front ofthe Senior Chiefs Desk. Well, the flightdeck did a great job! The problem is,later that night, the enemy sunk theAircraft Carrier, and it burnt until it sunk! Ask Bruce, he is on hear!

More adventures to come my Fellow ADAK Brothers andSisters! Remember, I am Old School andfemale Navy came on the Island only a couple days before I left the island!

Adak by Bob Rich

2011-10-09T06:17:00.002-08:00

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It's been years since I put this video together from the Super8 silent movies I took while on the island. Hope it brings back memories.

Join our Adak Facebook group, 'NAVSTA Adak AK'.
We need you there.

NAVSTA Adak facebook group

2011-07-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

I just started an Adak facebook group. Please feel free to join so you can upload your own stories and photos without my assistance. Please CC this blog if you can so I can keep it growing.

The group fame is NAVSTA Adak AK It is a closed group, so when you click the button to join, I'll need to approve you before you can get in. I check it regularly, so it shouldn't take long. That will keep out the spammers and help keep the group focused.

Thanks for your continued participation!

A very interesting Adak educational video

2011-06-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

Educational Awareness - Informational Videos

http://adakupdate.com/ICs/eduAware_videos.html

CE2 R. L. Herring ‘Lew’, assigned to Adak Public Works from 1970-72

2011-01-26T15:00:00.002-09:00

To: Bob Rich...

Bob, we have never communicated before but I have been reading your blog and thought you might like to ‘post’ the following information for all interested Seabees. I was a CE2 assigned to Adak Public Works from 1970-72, first in the Electrical Shop, then Air Field Lighting, then the Emergency Maintenance Center, and finally to the Bering Hill Maintenance Center located under the Chow Hall on the hill. Never worked in the Telephone Exchange but visited it occasionally.

The reason I am writing this is to let you know about the NEW Seabee Museum that has been built at Port Hueneme...
(SEE 'COMMENTS' BELOW FOR THE REST OF THE STORY)

Dispensary from John Brown

2011-01-23T05:24:00.000-09:00

Just wanted to let you know that I am still searching for pictures from Adak. I actually have pics that were taken in the front of this Dispensary showing us passing out medications to people driving through the parking lot. Also have a shot taken inside the Pharmacy with several staff packaging the medications for dispensing. Man, hope I can find them.

Letters from Toledo: Adventures of a Female Sailor During the Cold War

2010-12-04T18:06:00.003-09:00

I just received a copy of the book 'Letters from Toledo: Adventures of a Female Sailor During the Cold War', and it appears to be a 'must read' for anyone who's served on Adak. Published in 2010, the book is a true story about a girl from Illinois named Kathy Wolf who enlisted in the Navy in 1977.

Part Four is about Kathy's year on Adak, from Feb. 1979-1980 (and she wrote me a note that it's her favorite part). The book is in letter form, so if you're like me and have a short attention span, you can read through it letter by letter. The book contains photos and Adak National Forest is on the cover! I'm really looking forward to digging into this. It's a book that I'm sure we will all be able to relate to.

Letters from Toledo is being sold on Amazon.com, and can be quickly located by clicking HERE. Buy this book and support one of our own. Thanks so much Kathy for bringing this to our attention. I know it will be a big seller! ~Bob

Awesome 2009 Adak landing video!!

2010-07-15T19:28:00.006-08:00

Click the YouTube icon to watch this on YouTube, full screen and in HD. Awesome!!

Alaska Outdoors TV Adak Alaska Tease clip 2

2010-06-25T19:06:00.002-08:00

This is so freak'n cool!! I have to see this episode! Watch this full screen.

Adak Island Caribou Hunt - Alaska Outdoors Television - Full Episode from Alaska Outdoors Television on Vimeo.

I contacted these guys and they sent me a link so we could watch the full episode before they remove it from the server! Thank you!

'Geology of Southern Adak Island and Kaglaska Island, Alaska'

2010-05-01T18:39:00.002-08:00

'Geology of Southern Adak Island and Kaglaska Island, Alaska'
by George D. Fraser and George L. Snyder

Investigations of Alaskan Volcanoes

CLICK HERE
to download the 44 page book in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format

My Adak 44 Magnum resurfaces after 36 years!

2010-03-25T18:09:00.005-08:00

Then...

...and now.

Not long ago I made contact with my old Adak buddy Mikel (Cliff) Garman who bought my 44mag when I left the island. I loved that rifle, but for the life of me I couldn't remember who I sold it to before I returned home. I was surprised to discover that he had it, so I asked Mike to send me the rifle specs. Mike emailed me this info and photos. Talk about a blast from the past! Check out the holes in the stock to carry extra rounds. That's so cool! Thanks so much Mike.

"The 44 is a model 94 1973 Winchester lever action 44 Mag. The bluing is worn completely off of it and i re-varnished the forearm and stock about 15 years ago. I mounted a silver dollar in the stock that my dad gave me and the stock is drilled to hold 7 bullets in the top back part."

I had such fond memories of this rifle at that time that I recently bought another 44 magnum rifle and taught myself how to reload for it. I also created a blog on the rifle and a 44mag reloading page.

Navcommsta Adak Maintenance 1971-72

2010-02-21T15:35:00.000-09:00

I served at the Navcomsta during the period from December 1971 to November 1972. I worked in support [Seabees] at the Comstation. We had a contingent of trades in UT, CE, EO, BU, UT et al. I worked at the maintenance shop until the CE running the telephone exchange was about to transfer out and I took over for him. I saw the pictures of your switchboard and was surprised as we had a 200 line automated exchange with Stroeger [sp?] switches. We also served boiler watch in the power plant with 3 steam boilers, served on maintenance for the entire facility including "Shotgun" or CDAA and its building. I believe a civilian came to our site to work on our key system in the personnel department. If I remember correctly the exchange was located in the basement of the admin building near the TTY repair facility. Drop me a note when you get a chance.
David Rovaldi, Maryland

Russ Marvin's Return Trip to Adak... Almost.

2010-01-25T15:37:00.001-09:00

Hi Bob,
Keep up the good work with your Adak Blog. I was stationed on Adak in 1966/67 at the USCG Loran Station. That station was shut down in 1979.

I made an attempt to get back to Adak in 2004, by signing up with a birding tour operator. Our flight on Alaska Airlines got all the way out to Adak, and was unable to land due to a low ceiling. They made two or three missed approaches, finally gave up, and returned to Anchorage. The airline did refund the fare, but unfortunately, the tour operator would not refund the balance of the trip cost, as he claimed that the housing reservations on Adak were non-refundable. Ouch ! Anyway, I just saw in the news that Alaska Airlines has just started using RNP (Required Navigation Performance) technology for landings on Adak, which will help to reduce flight cancellations due to weather conditions. The use of RNP at Juneau has allowed the minimum ceiling to be reduced from 1260 feet to 337 feet. For anyone thinking of revisiting Adak, this is very good news.

Speaking of Loran, the Coast Guard is finally getting ready to shut down the entire Loran C system. Most stations will cease operation on Feb. 8, 2010, but a few will remain in in operation until October, as they are subject to international agreements. Attu is one of those stations that will remain open awhile longer. I had the pleasure of visiting Attu in June 2000 for one week. It was an amazing experience. We had three straight days of clear weather. Attu is a very beautiful place on those rare days when the sun shines It was hard to believe that it was the site of one of the bloodiest battles of WWII.

Best Wishes, Russ Marvin - Canaan, CT

Check the Comments

2010-01-02T19:24:00.001-09:00

I've been getting a lot of great communications via the 'Comments' link at the bottom of the posts. If you see a comment, don't forget to have a look.

A letter from UT2 Klute, NAVFAC Adak Seabee 89-91

2009-12-26T17:22:00.001-09:00

Bob, I wanted to pass along to you that I was so excited to see an old piece of my history resurface on your Blog. Wow I couldn't believe it. CLICK to see the photo taken by Pete Pritchard. I painted this wall mural back on the NAVFAC gym wall I would say back in 90 - 91. I used an old transparency overhead projector to trace it on the wall and used spray paint and any paint I could find in the paint locker. Notice in Alaska above the crown there is SEABEE. This was my little add and not on the Original Crest…

Thank you Mr. Rich & Mr. Pritchard for bringing me a happy reminder from the past. With so many photos reflecting Adak as a ghost town with vandalism and building falling apart due to no upkeep, it was so great to see the mural I painted about 20 Years ago in perfect shape and have the opportunity to share it with my family.

UT2 KLUTE, NAVFAC ADAK SEABEE 89-91

A letter from Dick Pratt

2009-12-20T10:31:00.002-09:00

Check out the comment from Dick Pratt on my Jan. 28, 2007 post. Thanks for writing and it's great to hear from you! ~Bob

Coast Guard Cutter from 93?

2009-12-03T16:55:00.002-09:00

Bob,

I was on Adak from 88-94. I was in the last class to graduate from BRHS. I'm contacting you because I believe that I have a photo of Pete Pritchards Coast Guard Cutter from 93. I've attached the photo. Maybe you can forward it onto him for him to confirm. ~Jeremie

Jeremie's email has been forwarded to Pete ~Bob

The Response:

Bob,

The picture is of the USCGC Mellon (WHEC-717). The bow numbers you can just barely see, but the Mellon was the only WHEC to carry the harpoon missile, mounted just aft of the 76MM deck gun. ~Pete Pritchard

Sci-Fi Space Launcher in the Works for Adak

2009-11-16T08:05:00.005-09:00

"Adak may eventually be home to a new massive gas-powered gun used for launching things into space. The new technology is being developed by physicist John Hunter and his colleagues at Quicklaunch Inc...." Click below to access the story and audio file.

Sci-Fi Space Launcher in the Works for Adak

Here's a page I found on the space cannon.

"Hey guys, send me up a pair of sidecuts!"

Great to hear from you Linda!

2009-10-31T12:51:00.003-08:00

Thank you so much for sharing the link to the recent videos of Adak. My dad also really appreciated this. We used to live on Adak on two different occasions. My dad, sister and I talk about Adak on a weekly basis. My dad even has ADAK on his license plate J. We miss the rock, dearly. Despite the conditions of the buildings and how they have been left to disarray, it brings more reason for us to visit Adak once more. If I had some disposable cash lying around, I’d buy one of the Kuluk duplexes in a heartbeat and visit every late summer for salmon fishing, hiking, and fresh air. I’d then lease it out to any former BRHS alumni to who wanted to visit the island for less than what the ‘hotel’ is charging on the island J
I appreciate your Blog and always look forward to news that blows our way from the williwaws of Adak.

Bob,
You may post the email to your Blog. I’ll look for some pictures and send them your way. We lived on Adak from 1975-77 and returned for another round 1984-87. I remember when my Dad gave us his three options for his next Duty, and I believe they were Australia, California, or Adak. Although I was just a little kid the first time we lived on the rock, I remember all the fun in the snow, my experience touching clouds (it was actually fog rolling thru in the hills), playing in the streams, fishing, etc. So of course, I excitedly said, “Adak!” My dad already had his mind sent on Adak. He was so jazzed he was assigned there again. We went shopping a number of times for the best fishing gear to take with us. There is a classified in the Anchorage paper I found online for ASBAG:

LVS ADAK LLC, d/b/a Aleutian Sports Bar and Grill located at 35001 Transit Rd. Adak, AK 99546 is applying for transfer of a Beverage Dispensary Sec. 04.11.090 liquor license to LVS ADAK LLC (Stock Transfer) located at 42446 Kagalaska Adak, AK 99546 Interested persons should submit written comment to their local governing body, the applicant and to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at 5848 E Tudor Rd, Anchorage AK 99507. Pub: Oct. 14, 21, 28 & November 4, 2009

Talking with my Dad last night, it sounds like ASBAG is closing and transferring the liquor license to sell at the Adak Store. He used to manage this club when we lived on Adak the second time around.

Linda Roelens

New YouTube movies from Adak

2009-10-26T14:45:00.003-08:00

Check out this recently shot YouTube video from Adak and the list of movies someone has uploaded. The camera goes through the barracks and into a lot of the places that you know. I find it somewhat depressing to know that if someday I get to take a return trip to the island, this is what I'll be returning to. It reminds me of the time I returned to see the house that I grew up in, knowing that my parents had long passed away and the property was owned by someone else and no longer looked the same. There's really no going back I'm sorry to say. Here's the LINK.

"SeaBee Rich,
Excellent videos. The second video is the Rawinsonde Building for weather balloons and other activities. What a solid brick building. In the background,very briefly, is a grey building, which is the Air Ops, Control tower,weather office and ??? In front of the wx windows is a tree. We made the Christmas photo by the tree. It was about 4 feet tall in 1979. This video shows it to be maybe 10 feet tall. Adak would sure make an eerie ghost town,would it not? ~Patrick, WX Aerographer's Mate March 1979-March 1980"

Vets get a free meal at Applebees!

2009-10-26T14:29:00.004-08:00

It's rare that anyone these days does anything for vets on Veteran's Day. Where I work it's just another day. Not so with Applebees! Any vet can go to Applebees on Veteran's Day and receive a free meal. Just bring a photo of yourself in uniform. Click HERE for more info.

I wrote Applebees to thank them and received the response below. I hope you'll thank them as well. ~Bob

Bob, your email meant the world to us. We strive to provide outstanding service and greatly enjoy hearing that we have attained that goal. We're glad to have the opportunity to show our appreciation to our servicemen and women.

I'm passing along your compliments to the team. As I'm sure you know, comments such as yours provide a powerful motivational tool. Thank you again for your kind words of encouragement, and we hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,

Patrick B.
Guest Relations Coordinator

Can Adak survive loss of fish plant?

2009-10-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

"Adak Fisheries LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Anchorage last week after a complicated political and business battle. One of its creditors this week asked that the case be converted into a Chapter 7 liquidation. "Wonder what becomes of the fledgling town of Adak?" Deckboss writes. "The lone fish plant was a pillar of the economy out there and a major part of plans to turn the former military outpost into a viable civilian fishing town."... MORE

Remember this poem in the Adak Airport?!

2009-09-09T17:10:00.002-08:00

There’s a poem, posted at the airport, that greets incoming visitors:

“…
A soldier stood at the pearly gate,
his face was wan and old
He gently asked the man of fate
admission to the fold
“What have you done,” St. Peter asked,
“to gain admission here?”
“I’ve been in the Aleutians
for more than a year.”
Then, the gates swung open sharply
as St. Peter tolled the bell
“Come on” said he, “and take a harp.
You’ve had your share of hell.
…”

Here's 2 excellent links. I love the photo of the fox. Thanks Robert D. for your kind comments and the links. LINK 1 LINK 2

Adak's power struggle

2009-08-24T16:05:00.001-08:00

"Deckboss simply doesn't have the energy tonight to recap the long and tumultuous history of Adak Fisheries, the little fish plant on faraway Adak Island in the Aleutians.

He can only report the latest drama surrounding the operation.

It seems a flurry of lawsuits have been filed against Adak Fisheries in recent weeks..." MORE

Some interesting info on Adak today

2009-08-23T18:02:00.004-08:00

Adak Station, Alaska

National Register Number: 87000841
Resource Type: District
Property Type: Defense-military Facility
Designated: February 27, 1987

Established in 1942, these World War II installations were the westernmost in the nation for a short while, and allowed American forces to mount a successful offensive against the Japanese-held Aleutian islands of Kiska and Attu. Until recently, Adak, located about 1,400 air miles southwest of Anchorage, remained an active naval station.

The Navy has finalized closure of the Adak Naval Operating base and transferred ownership into private hands. The new ownership is committed to economic development at the expense of the World War II installations. The Navy removed environmental contaminants from the island with no coordination for Landmark preservation. LINK

Adak Army Base and Adak Naval Operating Base
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Adak Army Base and Adak Naval Operating Base is significant for having served as a staging area for the American assaults, during World War II, on Japanese-held Aleutian Islands of Kiskas and Attu.

The set of bases was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Only ruins of the bases survive today.

Pete Pritchard's 2009 Trip to Adak, July 30 - Aug 2

2009-08-05T16:04:00.009-08:00

Thanks Pete!

"A couple of things I found kicking around while I was out there.

Pete Pritchard
Response Supervisor
Alaska Chadux Corp.

Hi Bob,

I was just in Adak for several days tending to a tank ship bringing in about 150000 barrels of diesel. I took many photos and intend to post them up on Google's server and will send you the link. Feel free to use any you wish for the Blog.

Interestingly, I was on USCGC Midgett and pulled into Adak back in 1993 or so, quite a different place now, but the weather is EXACTLY as I remember it.

Take care,

Ex DC1, Pete Pritchard, Anchorage Alaska.

Here's the LINK to Pete's photo album and a LINK to a page I created with some of my favorite photos from the album. Fantastic! Some of Pete's photos are below taken in 2009. Enjoy!

Patrick Lichty returned from Adak

2009-07-28T17:42:00.002-08:00

I just emailed Pat to see if he safely returned, and he quickly responded:

"Yes, I did!
No problems.
I have about a foot deep of books, about 2500 images, a desire to go back once at least, and had the experience of standing at my Dad's lathe in the Public Works building.
I want to go back with the HD camera and my panoramic photo kit."

I'm hoping Pat sends us some photos and a story. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything. ~Bob

Sailors Rescued After 52 Hours Lost Off Alaska's Aleutian Islands

2009-06-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

"ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Rod Whitehead had doubts of seeing his five children again as he marked 52 hours adrift in an open skiff in the northern Pacific on Father's Day.

But that afternoon, as hypothermia and dehydration threatened, Whitehead and deckhand Bill Osterback spotted a basket and a swimmer breaking through the heavy Aleutians Islands fog as they were lowered from a Coast Guard helicopter... Whitehead spent Friday moving the crew from cove to cove along uninhabited Amatignak Island, the southernmost point in Alaska. The closest port is Adak, about 120 miles to the northeast and 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage...

The helicopter reached Adak Sunday night. Whitehead and Osterback were treated for dehydration...." MORE

Patrick Lichty is leaving for Adak!

2009-06-15T19:12:00.003-08:00

From: Lichty, Patrick
Sent: Sunday, June 14, 2009 8:42 AM
Cc: Lichty, Patrick
Subject: Going up to Anchorage Tues, Adak Thu

Bob,

Like a lot of people, I've enjoyed your posts about adak. My Dad, Harold Lichty, was a SeaBee in the 132nd from 43-46, and he has told me stories about the place for years. So, in that he's 88 and getting pretty frail, I've decided to go to the place that's figured so much in my life. A lot of it will be taking a load of panoramic photos, HD (1080I) video, hopefully a hike over to Expedition Harbor on the trail, and so on. More or less, I intend to take (weather permitting) about 3-400 shots of the island a day would like to explore the base as much as I can, and bring it all back to my dad. I even have his stainless steel ring he made int he machine shop.

Anyway, of you have any wish to stay in touch, or even talk, it'd be great.
Carrie's been a lot of help, and any advice you can offer is really appreciated. this is something that's a real adventure, and I hope I'll come back with some friends as well as a better understanding of why Adak had such an impact on my old man.

Best,
Patrick Lichty

Mannn! I just discovered Patrick's email was in my spam. I responded immediately but and I likely missed him before he left. Hopefully he has email. Here's part of my response:

Patrick,

It's so great to hear from you and about your upcoming trip for your dad. That's fantastic. You have no idea how much I would like to take that trip as well. It will be quite an experience for you. I'm sure when you return (and after about 20 years) you'll begin to understand what your dad saw in that place. As you know, the one thing missing will be the friendships... That's a big part of what Adak was all about. Living a rough experience and having friends that were in many cases closer than brothers. Think about that as you walk Bering Hill. It was all about friends.

I wish you all the best on your trip Patrick, and I hope that you return a little different than when you left. Walk where we walked. I would love to know if our water tower is still standing on Finger Bay. Here's a link to my post on that: http://navstaadak.blogspot.com/2006/07/our-water-tower-at-finger-bay.html

Thanks so much for your willingness to share your experience with us. I look forward to seeing what you come back with. I'm also interested to know what life is like for those who remain on the island. What do they do with themselves. How do they support themselves? How much does it cost to live there? That's something I don't hear much about. We know what WAS there. I'd really like to know what's going on now. A list of your basic expenses would be very interesting for us guys who might consider returning someday. Email me with updates from the island if you can and I'll post them on the site. This is an adventure for all of us. Stay safe and have a wonderful trip.

Regards from all of us,

Bob

After 34 years I received an email from my old Adak and Gitmo buddy Mikel Garman!... and today, Jim Kartes!

2009-04-19T15:32:00.011-08:00

Check this guy out! Mikel, you sure haven't changed much over the years and your Seabee jacket still fits... almost!

I can't believe it! I've been trying to get in touch with this guy for more years than I care to remember (34?!). We lived and worked together on Adak (he took the movie of me climbing a telephone pole), bought my 44magnum and 12 gauge when I left (I forgot I sold them to him), we were best buds at Port Hueneme and were roommates on Gitmo. Cliff is in 3 or more photos that are in the little slideshow that's running at the top of the right column. The biggest shock today was to learn that the reason I couldn't find this guy for so many years was because I never knew his real name! He went by Cliff Garman while in the Navy, but his real name is Mikel! Mikel Cliff Garman. Mikel felt that there were too many Mikes in the Navy so he went by his middle name. It has a unique spelling, Mikel instead of Michael so I still can't figure that one out. Hey, my name is Bob and there are only ten million of those! What ever the hell your name is, it's great to see your face again Mikel and to know that you're still here and doing well (considering what a terror you were in those days. Kinda thought you might be dead by now). Getting up in age and knowing that I almost died at 30, I sometimes wonder if my old Navy buddies are still around. I feel good today knowing things are well and he's still smiling. It's so cool that you've been following this blog for a couple of years!

I asked Mikel to send me some stories and photos if he gets around to it. I'm really looking forward to hearing from you again, and sharing your memories with my Adak friends who follow this blog. Thanks for getting in touch buddy!

Mikel just said today that he has a lot of his old Navy stuff, so I'm hoping he'll send me photos to post. He just send me detailed information on he 44magnum and the 12 gauge I sold him on the island. He still has them and it sounds like they've been put to good use. I've always missed that 44 magnum, and just this year Anthony Imperato, the president of Henry Firearms gave me a brass 44 magnum lever action rifle to replace the one I had on Adak. I can't believe that after over 30 years, I have a new 44 and have made contact with my original. This was one hell of a weekend!

And it continues...! Today I was contacted by another very close Navy friend, Jim Kartes! Jim and I went to Construction Electrician School at Port Hueneme together, shipped out to Adak and worked side by side for a year on the switchboard and climbing poles. Returning to homeport, we spent just about every day together along with Jim's wife Patty and Cliff (Mikel). We traveled all over California together, including being snowed in on the top of Yosemite National Park. The grounds keeper for the condo said during the war some Seabees pulled his ass out of a jam, so he put us up for the night free of charge in a beautiful condo with a burning fireplace overlooking the snow covered treetops. He brought us a bag of groceries, a bottle of wine, and left us with memories we'll never forget. It makes me feel good to know as I get up in age that my Navy buddies are alive and well, and have been living their lives. Over the years that I knew these guys I felt that they were closer than brothers. I hope they felt the same, and maybe someday I'll be posting something similar about Larry Brown, LeeRoy Cox and the rest.

...and me then (1974) and now (2011).

FOR SALE: Fouplex on Adak

2009-04-17T15:09:00.000-08:00

Hi Bob, I enjoy the posts you put out for everyone to read about Adak.

We are looking to sell our fourplex on Adak for 20K cash. If you know
of anyone looking for a good deal to pick up a hunting or bed and
breakfast home please pass it on. Maybe a time share for folks that
were stationed out there and want to come back and visit.

It is listed on Craig's list at
http://anchorage.craigslist.org/reo/1107655165.html

Thanks,

Carrie Johnson

A great letter from Tim Ritchie

2009-04-05T06:25:00.003-08:00

"I was at Fire St #1.I was and EO and wasn't too keen on fire fighting so I was one of the dispatchers. You guys from the phone exchange would come there when the Fire alarm control would screw up. You guys repaired it. Big machine that was in the middle of the dispatch office. When a alarm box was pulled it would print out a mores code or something. I would have to look at chart to find the location. You guys would come in to the Williwaw on your breaks during the day. I worked the mid or grave shift and would be there during the day. Hanging out by the juke box, watching the activity on the air field. One or all of you guys wore a knee length parka. I think it was you. I remember you because our last names are similar. I was also the Fire Inspector for 90 days there. I went to all the buildings to check fire extinguishers to insure they were full and working. The co2 ones people would use to cool their beer with. ALWAYS dragging them back to recharge.

"I went to all the buildings to check fire extinguishers to insure they were full and working. The co2 ones people would use to cool their beer with. ALWAYS dragging them back to recharge."

I would go into the phone exchange to check the ones there always saw you there. We spoke a couple of times I know. One time I and my room mate who was training me were headed out to Comsta to check the buildings there. He was driving a Suburban we headed up the hill pass the end of the runway and was hauling @ss up it. All of a sudden we heard a bang and the truck came to a sudden stop. We got out and the rear tires were a good 2 feet off the ground. Looking underneath we saw that the front u joint had came off and had speared the drive shaft about a foot into the dirt road! He had to walk back to the Contractor camp to call the fire station so someone and a wrecker could come and get us. I have a few pictures but not many of myself.Unfortunately I was the one taking them so I am not in any of them. I will have to scan them some time and send them to you... I stayed in an retired in 1994 as an EO-1... Planning to relocate to Vegas in a month or two after I get everything packed up."

Great to hear from you Tim, and best of luck in Vegas. Maybe you'll run into my brother who spends a week there every year. Stay in touch! ~Bob

Ken Tahfs spent 7 years on Adak

2009-01-25T12:07:00.001-09:00

"Dear Mr. Rich,

I was perusing the Adak sites provided on the i-Net and came across your very interesting site. My family and I spent 7 years in Adak (1983-1990)...lots of memories and a great time for all of us.

I was impressed with your return visit report and appreciated the many photos you shared...the ruined structures are somewhat depressing...what a waste!

I still think of Adak from time to time, in fact, I still have an Adak front license plate on my vehicle here in Florida. Few people know about Adak, but every once in a (rare) while someone asks me about it.

During the last few years on Adak, I was the elementary school principal at Ann C. Stevens Elementary School. My wife was an elementary school teacher, and my two boys (now in their 30's) accrued all of their elementary school experience at Ann C. Stevens.

Respectfully curious, ~Ken Tahfs"

Great to hear from you Ken! I didn't make a return visit, so you were likely reading something I posted from someone else. I'd really like to return, but it is an expensive trip and I know my wife prefers sun to ice. Maybe some day. If you have any photos, movies of letters you'd like to share with us, we'd all enjoy having your insight since you were there so long. I take it you were there as a civilian? Did you meet your wife there or did you arrive together? It would be an interesting story to hear if you ever feel like writing it out for us. Thanks for getting in touch and I hope to hear more from you. Regards ~Bob Rich

Adak photos by Corey Feldon taken between Jan 97 & Aug 98.

2009-01-06T06:25:00.023-09:00

THIS IS WHERE I LIVED; THE BUILDING ON THE LEFT, 3RD ROOM FROM THE REAR BUT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BUILDING ~BOB RICH

"I'm assuming that this email will reach you. I just want to say how refreshing it is to stumble upon your blog on Adak. I have a story about Adak that some may find interesting. I grew up hearing stories about Adak. My father was a Utilitiesman in the Seabees & was lucky enough to have Adak be his first duty station. That was back in 1972. I actually have some pictures that he took of him & his buddies. I have scanned them through to my computer, in order to preserve them. I have to find them on here, but would be interested in sharing them with you for the purposes of this blog, if interested. My father's name is Curt Feldon. I don't know if that will ring a bell to anyone. He used to tell me about his buddy that worked the switchboard. He said that they would get phonecalls directed to some "secret" sub-base. Supposedly this sub base was inside of the mountain at Finger Bay. The stories from my youth are kind of vague, now that I'm on my 30's. The stories I recall more vividly are from my two years on Adak. That's right. I joined the Navy in 1995, 11 days after high school graduation.

COREY ON ADAK

After bootcamp in Great Lakes, I went to Ft. Leonardwood, MO to learn my trade as an Equipment Operator in the Seabees. My first duty station: The Rock. I landed on island in February of 1996. We made our home on Bering Hill for the first year I was there. We then moved down off the hill into the homes around the "new" high school. I have tons of pictures from my stay, but need to scan them to my computer, as I did my fathers. Before this gets too long, I'll end for now. If you get this, let me know. I have VERY good memories of Adak & would love to go back TO VISIT some day. Very Respectfully, Corey W. Feldon"

Thanks so much Corey! This is quite a find. I'm sure everyone will enjoy seeing them. Please send more as you get around to scanning them. Regards, Bob

The last photo is of the Adak National Forest. It isn't actually a National Forest, but many people believe it is. Here's a bit of interesting info I just came across:

"The cluster of 33 trees at this site is the most visible remnant of a formal tree planting program undertaken from 1943 through 1945. The project was initiated at the direction of Army General Buckner in an effort to boost morale. The single sign that reads "Enter and Leaving the Adak National Forest" was placed here on a whim by local residents in 1962 or 1963. Two large surviving groves from this World War II era planting program are located in the sheltered ravines of Nurse Creek and Hospital Creek."

Private Snafu

2008-12-21T18:28:00.005-09:00

You've gotta see this! - 'Prisoners of the Williwaw'

2008-12-08T14:37:00.004-09:00

I've always said that Adak should be used as a huge prison. Well someone else had the same idea!

I received an email from the author and he said that he's working on a screenplay of the novel. I asked him to keep us informed on the progress of the project. I'll be getting a copy of the book which I'll be reporting to you on. Here's Ed's web site: http://www.edgriffin.net/ ~ Bob
Read this:

Prisoners of the Williwaw

by Ed Griffin

300 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #00-0061; ISBN 1-55212-397-9; US$20.87, C$24.00, EUR17.14, £12.00

Convict Frank Villa reaches deep into history, psychology and penology and comes up with a plan to establish an island prison where three hundred convicts can serve out their sentences, accompanied by their families. He dreams of a new society, of a community founded on the American ideals of freedom and respect for the individual. But Frank soon discovers that he and many others lack the skills needed to build the future. It's one thing to walk out of prison; it's another to melt the bars deep in the soul.

What would happen if three hundred hardened convicts petitioned the United States Government for an abandoned island where, accompanied by their families, they would be set free to earn their own way?

Overwhelmed by prison budgets and prison riots, the government agrees and sets the prisoners free on windswept, treeless Adak in the Aleutians, the site of a former "hard duty" Navy station.

Prisoners Of The Williwaw is the story of the power struggle between the idealistic leader of this expedition, convict Frank Villa, and a smooth prison boss, James T. Gilmore. Frank Villa opens a school, arranges jobs for people in a small assembly factory and calls for free elections. "Boss" Gilmore opens a house of prostitution, sells booze, drugs, and guns, and schemes to take over the island one way or another.

Frank's struggle is internal as well as external. He strives to overcome the effects of prison on his psyche. A convict must be passive; a man in charge of a community must take command. A convict must build a wall inside himself against any relationship with a woman; a free man has to leave himself open to love.

The strife between Villa and Gilmore accelerates when their wives arrive and unexpected complications develop.

These conflicts play out against a backdrop of constant rain, vicious windstorms (williwaws), escape attempts, and a coup by a new group of prisoners from the federal penitentiary in Florence, Colorado, the worst of the worst.

Adak clips I took with my Super8 movie camera 1973-74

2008-12-07T17:51:00.010-09:00

Email Gov. Sarah Palin

2008-11-11T16:13:00.009-09:00

THAT'S SARAH BEHIND THE GUN

Last night I sat down and wrote the Gov. Sarah Palin an email. I told her that I volunteered a year of my life to serve my country in Alaska, and I am requesting that she do likewise, leaving Alaska to serve her country in Washington DC. I requested that she make the decision to run for a congressional seat in 2010 so she can go head-to-head with the political left and fight for the things most of us strongly believe in. We need her representation in Washington. She's tough, courageous, charismatic, and if she were to make a strong showing in the Senate, she'd be a shoe-in to run for President in 4 years. Here's where you can email her. Thanks Friends!

http://gov.state.ak.us/govmail.php

A year on Adak

2008-10-19T15:27:00.003-08:00

THIS WAS THE PATCH I HAD SEWN ON MY LINEMAN COAT WHILE ON ADAK. I MISPLACED IT YEARS AGO, AND I HAVE FINALLY LOCATED AND PURCHASED A REPLACEMENT ON eBAY IN MINT CONDITION. $2.00!! YA BABY!!

GETTING THERE

THAT'S ME, PREPARING FOR THE MILITARY

On February 16, 1973 I boarded a plane at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut and began my long trip to Adak. The trip began with a 6 hour direct flight to Seattle Washington, followed by a flight to Anchorage. It was a spectacular flight as we flew over huge glaciers and a heck of a lot of snow and nothingness. I fall asleep quickly on planes, so the next thing I remember was waking up as the plane was banking over what appeared to be a fishing village of some sort before we leveled out to approach the runway at Anchorage International. What really struck me about the landing was the carcasses of crashed airplanes that lined both sides of the runway, as if to remind the pilots of the danger that they were facing each time they landed there. We did land safely and I found myself boarding a Reeve Aleutian Airlines prop job, which began the 3 hour flight to Adak Island. This was the first time I had ever seen frozen ocean. I remember saying to myself that I really wouldn’t care to make an emergency landing in this water. Most of the trip was uneventful (I think). I slept through most of it. I would later discover that the Reeve pilots were considered to be some of the best in the world. They had to be, considering the weather conditions they flew in. On my return trip from the island I saw first hand how skilled these pilots were. My plane took off in whiteout conditions. It was snowing so hard that I couldn’t see the wings of the plane.

When you think of an “International Airport”, most people think of a huge building complex filled with terminals and runways. Adak International Airport was about as big as its National Forest (the smallest national forest in the country, which consisted of about a dozen small trees). The airport was basically a building the size of a small, single level school building which had large glass windows that looked out toward the runway. I landed with some other guys who would be inhabiting the island with me for the next year and we were loaded onto a gray military bus which shuttled us up to the barracks at Bering Hill. I soon met up with some of my old buddies from Construction Electrician School who had arrived earlier that day. Not having anything scheduled to do that day except eat, my buddy Jim Kartes and I decided to go exploring. Totally unprepared for where we were, we put on our standard issue Seabee jackets, hung a left at the bottom of Bering Hill and started walking down the road to who knows where. We soon came to some water, I remember remarking on how crystal clear it was. The air was so clean! We were told that day that if we ever planned to stop smoking, this was the place to do it. None of us did.

It wasn’t long before it began to snow. Not knowing what to expect and starting to get cold, we decided it was time to turn back. Within minutes we were in the middle of a snow storm that we weren’t dressed for. Thankfully the first vehicle to be headed in our direction stopped and told us to jump in. It was an officer who had been out fishing. As we quickly discovered, Adak could be a dangerous place to be caught outside unprepared. Later that day we went to an orientation and were instructed NEVER leave the area without signing out and stating your estimated return time. Those who forget to sign back in found themselves in major trouble as a helicopter rescue team was deployed to find them.

I was at NAVSTA Adak for a year, from February 1973-1974, working as a telephone lineman for half my tour and as a telephone operator the other half. A year is a long time without leave, and I remember remarking more than once that Adak would make a great prison. Even so, I have many fond memories of the island and its people, and every so often something that happened returns to me. This year I decided to start writing them down...

THE TELEPHONE EXCHANGE

One evening when I was manning the NAVSTA telephone switchboard, the red emergency light and buzzer went off. It was the one light that never went off, but we were told that if it did, we were to drop everything and answer it. It was an emergency and likely the Captain. The buzzer went off, I dropped all of my other calls and plugged into it. It was a Captain from the mainland, and he told me to connect him to the base Captain immediately. I pulled the toggle switch back so I could listen in, and I overheard the Captain say that there was a 7 earthquake that was just about to hit the island. Moments later the brick walls around me began to ripple as if made of Jell-O. I thought the building would collapse, so I disconnected my headset and ran outside. To my amazement, the seemingly endless flat ground that surrounded the Telephone Exchange looked like an ocean. Wave after wave passed and faded into the distance, and I could feel the earth rising and falling under my feet. It must have lasted about a minute. The building hadn't collapsed, so I ran back in to see if any more emergency calls would follow. Soon after I received the 'All Clear'.

One of my favorite jobs working at the telephone exchange was tracing phone calls. The Switch Room was a clean and secured area that we had access to. It was heaven for guys like me who love gadgets. In those days all of the switches were mechanical, and as you walked through the switching area, you could hear and see the clicking of the relays as people dialed their phones. We were taught how to trace the call from one relay to another until we discovered the call's origin. Security would often call us in at night to trace a call for them. It was like a hi-tech game. One of the bennies of the job was that we were able to call home free of charge by connecting to operators all over the world that would put us through to the States. I often ended up waking up my family and friends at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. Sometimes after hours we'd hang out at the TV station, and the guys there would let us take the controls. Boy that was fun!

When I was on the Telephone Line Crew, we used to drive around in this big, gray line truck filled with telephone cable and tools. It was slow moving and we had to double clutch it, but once it got rolling it used to haul. A game we used to play was to drive the truck as fast as we could down a hill, aim for the biggest hole we could find and try to get the passenger to smash his head on the ceiling. No matter how good you got your buddy, he always got you back when it was his turn to drive. Those hard hats did serve a purpose.

Many of the telephone poles on Adak had been standing since WWII, so when we sunk our climber into one, it was as if the pole was made of balsawood. If the chunk of wood didn't come flying out, it sunk in so deep that we had a hard time pulling our spikes out. Due to high winds, half the pole was usually covered with ice and snow. That was the side that you climbed on, so we could wrap your hands around the backside that was usually dry. We'd never belt off while climbing up, fearing that if we were to start burning down, we couldn't get away from the pole and would wind up with a stomach full of splinters. We'd always push ourselves away from the pole and we all burned down from time to time. We would love it when we'd get a call during a storm in the middle of the night telling us that the Captain's phone went out and had to be repaired immediately. We'd have to climb the rotten poles in pitch dark in driving snow with a flashlight it our mouth to see what we were doing. Ya, we loved the Captain...

PARTYING

Friday nights the cases of beer stacked to the ceiling. More than once I stood watch, found a guy passed out in the head that was laying face down in his vomit. I was kind enough to turn the guy over so he could breath.

There was a lot of dead time on the island and not a lot for young guys to do. Some hung out every night in the bar. Some were into drugs. One night a bunch of us guys were picked up by an Amtrack and we were driven through really deep snow to the top of a mountain, which I believe was Mt. Moffett. In the middle of nowhere there was a quonset hut all lit up with loud music coming from it. Inside it was filled with guys, and most were high on something. They had a blazing fire in the middle of the tower in an oil drum stove, and they were heating batteries on top of it, trying to give life to their flashlights and tape players. I remember walking outside to get away from the crowd and lying on my back in the snow. I looked up and saw the clearest sky I had ever seen. There was an intensely bright full moon and a sky filled with stars. The air was just so pure and clean. I remember thinking that it was like being on another planet.

MY BUDDIES

Larry Brown was like my brother. We roomed together in Electrician 'A' school at Great Lakes and we went to Adak together. I was so stupid that I lost his address and I never heard from him since. Cliff Garman and Jim Kartes were great friends as well. After Adak, we went everywhere together while stationed at Port Hueneme. Cliff and I went to Gitmo together and I think Jim went to Puerto Rico. I had a roommate from Boston on Adak that we used to call 'Doc'. He was a bit strange, with long straight black hair that he used to slick down for inspection. Dress codes were rather lax under Admiral Zumwalt. I don't know if I ever ironed my uniform. Doc was dating a young, good looking civilian and they started a rock band that was actually quite good. They had the Jefferson Airplane sound down, and my Roommate Lee Roy Cox and I used to be there sound guys. When my tour of Adak was over, I received a call from someone who told me that Doc had cut his wrists in order to get off the island early. I wonder what happened to him?

Jim was a true 'gearhead' and had a great Land Rover. One night we offered to baby site for a family that we knew. The streets were dry as a bone when we got there, and the next time we looked out the window, the snowdrifts were over six feet deep! I remember getting in the Land Rover that had chains all around and just plowing through the snowdrifts like they weren't there. I bet that Jeep is still on the island.

Jim and I filed a claim for a water tower that overlooked the Crab Processing Docks at Finger Bay. If I remember correctly, you could lay claim to a building until the time you left the island. I had an AR-15, a beautiful Browning semi-auto shotgun and a 44-magnum lever action rifle. The water tower already had a deck, which split the tower into 2 levels, the top for sleeping and the bottom for hanging out and cooking in the oil drum stove. We hung gun racks and added bars to the doors and windows for security because someone was always trying to break through the locks when we weren't there. We usually had enough ammo to fight a small war, and we hunted Ptarmigan and just about anything else that moved. At night we'd hunt rats in the dump. Lee Roy had a car, and I remember painting the face of a girl on the hood with One-Shot sign paint. The car had a huge rack of spotlights in the front that we could turn on with the flick of a switch. We'd slowly and quietly pull into the dump. Each of us would get out of the car on the left and right behind the open doors and someone would throw the switch. Rats would be running everywhere. We'd shoot and reload as fast as we could for about a minute. By then everything was dead or gone. With flashlights in hand, we'd pile up the dead rats and the pile would be about 2' high. When we'd return in the morning, there wouldn't be a trace of them. I was told that the eagles picked them up at night. The fun would start again the following night, and they never seemed to be in short supply.

I was 18 when I went to Adak. I wish I were older because I know I would have made better use of the time and experience. Though I'm not proud of everything we did on the island, we did work hard and did a good job considering we were just a bunch of kids out of High School with no work experience, little or no supervision and huge responsibilities. My friends became closer than brothers and I will always remember them. For me Adak was the adventure of a lifetime. When I was there I couldn't wait to leave. Now that it's been 30 years, I wish I could return to those days...at least for a couple of weeks.

Regards to all who served there.

Stay on top of Adak news with Alaska Public Radio

2008-10-06T18:16:00.004-08:00

Thanks Bob Paulsen for this link to The Alaska Public Radio Network website. There's print and audio stories that will update you regarding the recent problems that the island has had with fuel shortages, power loss and earthquakes. It's Alaska Public Radio athttp://aprn.org/index.php?s=adak

You can also subscribe to numerous Alaska podcasts including Alaska Public Radio via iTunes.

Here's a page where you can subscribe to their podcast and RSS feeds:
http://aprn.org/podcasts/ Simply click the iTunes link on this page and it will launch your iTunes player and a 'Subscribe' button will appear. Click it and you're subscribed to the audio podcast!

If you can't get that to work, then this is a must see! CLICK HERE

Update on the Adak fuel shortage

2008-08-01T17:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Carry,

We heard a story that Adak was almost out of fuel. Do you have any more information on the island’s current situation? Thank you!

Regards,

Bob

Bob,

Thank you for your interest in Adak, here is some information about the current Adak Island fuel situation.

The City of Adak owns and operates the electrical utility system in Adak. The electricity is produced through the operation of diesel powered generators. On June 30, 2008, the Aleut Corporation received news from the City of Adak that they were nearly out of fuel to operate the City’s diesel power generator. That same day, the City began power rationing by shutting down the power plant for periods of time to conserve fuel for critical activities.

For some time now, Aleut Enterprise, LLC (AE, LLC), a subsidiary of the Aleut Corporation, has been working with the City of Adak in an attempt to avoid this type of situation, with no success. The City of Adak owes AE, LLC a large amount of money for the purchase of their fuel. The Aleut Corporation has a responsibility to over 3500 shareholders and its resources are limited, so simply continuing to extend the City’s credit uncapped and purchasing more fuel with monies that belong to all of our shareholders is not a prudent business decision. However, allowing the residents and businesses to go without power for large blocks of time each day is not acceptable either.

The Aleut Corporation worked out a temporary agreement with the City Manager and elected officials to supply fuel for the power utility for a period of 60 days, ending September 2, 2008. During that time, a long-term solution must be developed and put into action by the City. The Aleut Corporation is fully engaged in the problem and we are exploring several alternatives that may lead to a long-term solution that ensures the City’s ability to generate power and our ability to get paid for fuel while continuing to operate our business interests on Adak.

The residents of Adak have been urged to get involved by assisting the hired and elected City officials in development of a long-term solution to this crisis. The Aleut Corporation is willing to support their efforts and remains flexible, but ultimately it is up to the City officials and residents of Adak to be responsible for the future viability of the community.

Please feel free to contact me directly.

Thank you,

Eric R. Waterman
Director of Operations

The Aleut Corporation
4000 Old Seward Hwy., Suite 300
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
907 561-4300 (Office)
907 301-3265 (Cell)
907 563-4328 (Fax)
ewaterman@aleutcorp.com

A letter from David Reed who served on the US Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis

2008-07-21T16:22:00.002-08:00

Mr. Rich,

I stumbled across you blog and found it to be very interesting. I served in the Army from 2003 to 2008 and was temporarily assigned to the US Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis during the summer of 2005. While on the Jarvis we made two stops on Adak. It was a surreal place. All the abandoned buildings and "stuff." I was amazed at the shear volume of things that were just left behind after the base closed down. The local people were all very nice and were definitely happy to have some off island money being spent in the general store and at the VFW. It must have been quite an experience to be there at its prime. I enjoyed the blog and will check back from time to time. I will also see if I can dig up any pictures from then.

David Reed

Great to hear from you David. We are all looking forward to seeing your photos and hearing any stories you'd like to tell. Thanks for writing and stay in touch. ~Bob

Adak running dangerously low on fuel

2008-07-05T16:18:00.009-08:00

Wed, July 2, 2008
Posted in Alaska News, Top Stories
The city of Adak is running out of fuel to run their electrical generators. Adak City Manager Steven Hines says this morning they had enough to provide about 15 hours of electricity to the 300 person community. They’ve only been providing power for 11 hours per day since Monday.
Anne Hillman, KIAL - Anchorage

Thanks to Bob Paulsen for the heads up on this. Temps have been in the upper 40's - mid 50's, so I hope they were able to get through this. I'll be searching for an update. I'd like to know how the City Manager allowed this to happen? Unless he had a damn good excuse, they should consider looking for a new one. If you go to the KIAL web site, you can click to hear the audio which supplies more information.

This is what appears to have happened: Most of the city's income seems to come from the cod harvest. This year it has been down 60% so Adak doesn't have an income and they already owe their fuel supplier, The Aleut Corp. $320,000. This supplier refuses to extend them credit, so they are in trouble. Here are my questions to Mr. Hines: "Where is the city planning? Talk about having all your eggs in one basket? How can you allow such a vital commodity to be governed by a single source of unstable income, and why isn't there a secondary source of fuel?" - Bob

A letter from Adak vet Corey Feldon

2008-06-19T18:29:00.002-08:00

Mr. Rich,
I'm assuming that this email will reach you. I just want to say how refreshing it is to stumble upon your blog on Adak. I have a story about Adak that some may find interesting. I grew up hearing stories about Adak. My father was a Utilitiesman in the Seabees & was lucky enough to have Adak be his first duty station. That was back in 1972. I actually have some pictures that he took of him & his buddies. I have scanned them through to my computer, in order to preserve them. I have to find them on here, but would be interested in sharing them with you for the purposes of this blog, if interested. My father's name is Curt Feldon. I don't know if that will ring a bell to anyone. He used to tell me about his buddy that worked the switchboard. He said that they would get phonecalls directed to some "secret" sub-base. Supposedly this sub base was inside of the mountain at Finger Bay. The stories from my youth are kind of vague, now that I'm on my 30's. The stories I recall more vividly are from my two years on Adak. That's right. I joined the Navy in 1995, 11 days after high school graduation. After bootcamp in Great Lakes, I went to Ft. Leonardwood, MO to learn my trade as an Equipment Operator in the Seabees. My first duty station: The Rock. I landed on island in February of 1996. We made our home on Bering Hill for the first year I was there. We then moved down off the hill into the homes around the "new" high school. I have tons of pictures from my stay, but need to scan them to my computer, as I did my fathers. Before this gets too long, I'll end for now. If you get this, let me know. I have VERY good memories of Adak & would love to go back TO VISIT some day.

Very Respectfully,

Corey W. Feldon

Carol Hunter on the Adak Tsunami

2008-04-01T16:16:00.001-08:00

Hi Bob,

The stories of the tsunami warning made me chuckle!! Dave and I were at the bowling alley that night, when the shore police came and told everyone we had to head for high ground! We had our two dogs at home, so we were going exactly opposite of all the traffic, back into Old Roberts housing. We got the dogs, and a 6 pack, and headed for the hill. We sat up there and talked on the cb radio to our friends, LaVern and Kathy Davis, who lived in Kuluk housing. By the time they said we could go home, we were hungry, so we went to Davis' place and grilled steaks in the little mud room out their back door. By that time, it was after 3 a.m.!! What great times. The wave didn't come, and we were relieved, because we put our shotguns up in the top of a closet, thinking if the water got higher than that, it was going to be too late anyway!! Good times, Bob, good times. Take care. Carol H

Excellent Stuff from Brian Chickosky

2008-03-31T18:20:00.006-08:00

RAT BATTIN!

April 1, 2008

Now here's a strange one from Brian. I told him that we used to shoot rats in the dump. He responded with this:

"We took sticks with spikes on them and went "Rat Battin'". If there was a bunch of eagles hangin around sometimes they would catch them when we threw them in the air."

Hi Bob,

Well it took a little time but I managed to find some pictures of when I was in the service.When I was in Nmcb-40 i entrusted a "friend" with my personal effects and needless to say he robbed me, all my pictures cloths albums and my motorcycles. All I managed to recover was my motorcycle. So all the pics I'm sending are of Adak with the exception of the one playing war games I'm Puerto Rico. The Picture of me by my grill is pretty recent, that's my step daughter behind me.

Here's one Adak memory I've told more than once, I used to get a real kick out of ptarmigan hunting in the tundra. The funny thing was that the birds would be in winter plumage ( white) and the tundra was brown and green. You would come up to a covey and blast a few and just watch the little white balls fly over the next hill. You would just keep following them around until you got your limit.

I also remember the 4th of July party on Kuluk beach. I laugh when I read the papers about people jumping in the water doing a Polar bear club. Well I would like to think that on Adak we started the polar Bear club because on the 4th of July one must go swimming, after all it is summer. Not everyone can say they went swimming in the Bering Sea!

The picture of the radar ship was taken from my party cabin looking over sweeper cove. It was only about 16x20 but it was all you needed to hang out and have a little fun without getting into trouble. Plus what a view!

Well Bob if I find anything else I'll let you know, I see you've been busy on your shooting page so I'm going to hang out there a bit. Take care.

Brian
Thanks for sharing your memories with us Brian! Regards, Bob

A photo link from SW3 Craig Hall

2008-03-31T18:03:00.004-08:00

Pictures of adak during my stay in 1977 as sw3 craig hall at:
Here's a link to his Adak photos:
CLICK HERE

Note that Craig has his photos protected so you can't download them.

Some things I remember, from Steve (last name unknown)

2008-03-26T17:40:00.002-08:00

Thanks Bob Paulsen for forwarding this to me. ~Bob

"i'll check out the sites you mentioned. ty. i was on adak only a few months as my wife became critically ill back stateside. she survived, thank god. i was a navy dental technician (DT2). came into adak after a 3.5 yr stint at MCB Camp Lejeune. the first few nights on the island were scary, because i could hear my locker doors in the barracks vibrate and make sounds. i found out later that these were caused by earth tremors. (welcome to adak). one guy i was stationed with told me that the island was resting on two stone pillars, and that one had been lost in an earthquake!! this of course made me feel good, lol.

another thing i recall were the wonderful beer machines in our barracks. we used to play cards on the weekends and around midnight or so ( a bit fuzzy lol), we would put on our dungarees and somehow find the mess hall in time for Mid-rat's. we'd kinda stagger in and the cooks knew what was up, but heaped our plates full of eggs, sausage, bacon and what have you.

i remember the day the crab boat came into the base, too. I heard they were selling live king crabs for $2 a pop. i told my buddy, Bill Sale, a first class photographer's Mate, that i'd pick up one for him and one for me. i went to the crab boat on my lunch hour and saw a van there from either the messhall or the Husky Lodge. the back doors of the van were open and guys were tossing live crabs into the van!! i boarded the boat and a deck hand asked how many crabs i wanted. I said two. after he donned all the gear you'd see in a picture of "the old man of the sea" lol, a man identifying himsel as the capt of the boat asked if i wanted to go up and see the pilot house. i said, "sure".took a quick tour and it was gorgeous inside. i liked the way the deck mate got the crabs out of the "hold". he stuck a LONG pole down into the hold and waited a couple of minutes, pulled the pole out and sure enough, crabs grabbed onto the pole. i took the crabs to a fellow DT's house and his wife cooked them for me as well as a lot of others who dropped theirs off that day too. that night we went to the photo lab (at OPS?) and Bill and i ate crab and crackers. some of the guys were having the crabs mounted.

as for earthquakes, the only thing i vividly recall is that one day i was working my regular shift at the dental clinic, and someone looked out the big window there and said "here comes a quake". i looked out and didn't see anything. i guess he knew what to look for. a minute or two later, i looked up at the ceiling in the clinic where concrete blocks were supported by steel beams. the swayed in the air like they were hanging by giant rubber bands. then it was over. i got a chair, reached up and of course tried to move the blocks, and discovered there was no moving them at all except with a crane or a bulldozer haha. solid as a rock. the force of an earthquake finally hit home.

as i said previously, when Bill and i were at the bering theatre, the night the lights came on and all the marines were ordered out, we thought russia had missiles heading for us. no idea at that time we were under a tsunami warning. the next day one of the guys joked that the marines were ordered to the lowest part of the base in order to form "a human wall" to prevent the wave from hitting the base. quite a tribute to our tough brothers, eh?

i partied a few times at what we all called the dental cabin up in the hills. we built fires, drank beer, listened to music, drank beer, told stories, drank beer (get the picture?).

i had my car shipped up from the states by sealand, along with my household effects. one night i was driving around somewher, (i can't remember exactly where, because i was drinking), and got my car stuck pretty good in a ditch. 2 MP's drove up and saw my predicament. the car had to be towed out of that ditch (stuck good). they gave me a ride back to my barracks. my car was dropped off at my barracks the next day and i had to pay a towing fee, but no questions asked and NO DUI. amazing.

well, if i remember anything else, i'll let you know. tc, cya later. steve"

RECEIVED 3/31/08 via Bob Paulsen:

"i was on adak in 1975 and i remember what happened at the bering theatre that night. a photographer's mate first class named bill sale and i were watching the movie, and as you said, the lights suddenly came on. i remember a voice on a loudspeaker tell all marine personnel to report back to their barracks or stations immediately. bill and i wondered if the russians had a missile or two headed our way. we had no idea until later that it was a tsunami warning. we also had some great t-bones and ribeyes at the Huskie Lodge. thanks for the memory, steve."

Brian Chickosky, Adak Seabee from CT

2008-03-22T17:36:00.005-08:00

"Hi Bob,

I stumble across your site inadvertently one day. There was an article on a town in Norway being the longest nights and days and I thought how it reminded me of Adak. So I was looking at some Adak sites and happened across you. I too was an Adak Seabee, though I was there after 80-81 then off to nmcb-40 for the remainder of my time. Alot of your stories were the same as my stories it is as though we were at the same parties and places,one thing you said I agree with that Adak would have been appreciated more if we were there when we were older. I also like your shooting page, I think it's pretty neat. I too am from Ct. (Enfield) and I liked how you went through getting your pistol permit and all. My wife should be getting hers next week. It is always good to see people picking up the guns again, and I love your enthusiasm. It is kinda funny that I was thinking of getting into the coyote hunting, I have a bunch here, and again I stumble on to your page. I look forward to scanning your site again and till then keep up the great work also help us keep track on our legislature with these two bills SB-603 & SB607 I'm sure you've heard about these. I am sending a picture of what I look at in my backyard, I am sure you'll appreciate it. Take care, Brian Chickosky"

It was great to hear from Brian today. I asked him for photos of himself 'then and now', as well as any photo and memories he'd like to share. Above is the awesome photo he sent of his back yard. Thanks Brian! ~Bob

1973 Meningitis Outbreak

2008-02-27T02:53:00.003-09:00

"I was there from Feb.73-Feb. 74. I was a Corpsman at the Dispensary. I think I remember the earthquake you spoke of in your blog. During my tour was when we had to medicate the whole island because of meningitis. We hard cars driving thru the parking lot of the dispensary and we dispensed meds. ~John D. Brown, Corpsman"

I don't know if I know John, but we were on the island the same year. I wrote him back and requested that he send us photos (especially of himself) and a story. We've never heard from a Corpsman so I'm looking forward to getting stories from the Dispensary. Please stay in touch John. Great to hear from you. ~Bob

"Hi, Bob. There was a meningitis outbreak just shortly after I arrived on the rock, which was is May, 1973. I was working at the old NX, the new one was in construction stage. We all had to go to the dispensary to get some medication that would keep you from contracting the disease. I don't remember how many people were affected by the illness, but all of us had to take the meds. ~Carol Hunter"

My Photos

2007-07-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

Our Water Tower at Finger Bay

2007-07-06T19:03:00.000-08:00

The cabin at Finger Bay was on a hill that overlooked the crab processing dock. From the top it gave us a beautiful view of the bay.

(Photo: View from the tower)

WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE
INTERIOR
The interior was divided into two levels. The lower level had a rather nice but primitive stove constructed from an old oil drum. Steel workers must have made use of the water tower at one time. A stove pipe vented the stove through the ceiling, and I never remember being cold when inside. The stove also provided us an excellent cooking surface. The upper loft was half the diameter of the tower, and was very well constructed out of wood. There was a homemade wooden ladder attached to the wall that made it easily accessible, as we installed wooden gun racks that we made to store our firearms. We used Colman lanterns for lighting. A horizontal gun rack was mounted along the edge of the loft which held my lever action 44 magnum rifle, and the other was mounted to the 4x4 column that supported the center of the loft. That rack held our two 12 gauge shotguns vertically. I owned a beautiful Browning semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun that I purchased at the Navy Exchange on the island, and if I remember correctly, Jim had a pump action shotgun. We used to store our guns in the armory next to the barracks and check them out when we left for the cabin. We spent a lot of time there target practicing and hunting ptarmigan*. The first thing we did when we arrived at the cabin was to bring in our gear and stack our ammo on a table on the loft. We always had a good laugh when we looked at the arsenal, and one of us would usually comment that we had enough ammo to fight our own war.

EXTERIOR
The exterior of the tower was constructed like a large barrel with a series of 2x4’s running vertically and held together with 8 round metal evenly spaced rings. Tar paper was used on the roof to seal it off from the elements, and for as long as we were there I never remember an interior water leak from that flat roof.

WHAT WE DID
We lived in rather close quarters at Bering Hill, so it was nice to have a place to get away to. A place that didn’t have stereos blasting 24 hours a day. In fact, at night there wasn’t a sound except for the wind. On the weekends we’d load up Jim Kartes’ Land Rover with Chef Boyardee raviolis, all kinds of junk food, our gear, guns and ammo and head for Finger Bay. As a kid I spent a lot of hours with my brother Doug hunting pheasant, squirrels and rabbits, so I guess this was a bit like home.

WILDLIFE
As we walked the edge of the bay, we would always see the round heads of seals poking out of the water with their two round eyes watching our every move. There would also be sea otters frolicking in the water, which I took movies of with my Super8 movie camera (remember those?!). Bald eagles were usually watching us from the tops of the 40 ft telephone poles and huge seagulls were everywhere.

OWNERSHIP OF THE WATER TOWER
After going there a few times we discovered that there was a law on the island that allowed anyone to claim property rights to structures on the island simply by filling out a form at Bering Hill (I wish that same law applied in CT!). So Jim Kartes and I filled out the forms and took joint ownership of the water tower until we left the island in 1974, at which time ownership reverted back to the State of Alaska. There were 4 of us who regularly visited the cabin together: Jim Kartes, Leroy Cox, Cliff Garman and Bob Rich (me). We were as close as brothers and we had a great time together exploring the area and using the tower as our base. Finger Bay was lined with buildings that were used in clam processing. There were also many abandoned Quonset huts from WWII. We spent a lot of time exploring the huts, but they were always empty. Over the thirty years since WWII there were plenty of me (military and civilian) on the island to strip away any remaining artifacts. I am happy to say that we never disturbed any of the locked buildings that we knew were owned and of value. I wish I could say the same for others on the island. Though we installed a prison-type steel bar door over the existing wooden door, vandals would routinely pry off the door and ransack the tower. Were there is man, there is evil, and crime existed on Adak just as it did everywhere else. No matter how many times we reinstalled the door, we would return to find it would be pried off. In time we abandoned our hope of trying to improve the tower. In all the time we spent at Finger Bay, I don’t remember ever seeing another human being, so there was nothing to stop a person from destroying someone’s property except his conscience, and those are sometimes in short supply. We finally got tired of seeing our work destroyed, so we simply stopped going there. We had discussed plans of staking out the tower and setting up an ambush (we sure had the firepower), but we never did. We figured that the odds of being there at the right time would be too slim. That was a good decision, since I likely would be writing this from prison if we had opted to carry out the original plan.

* Any of various grouses of the genus Lagopus, inhabiting arctic, subarctic, and alpine regions of the Northern Hemisphere and having feathered legs and feet and plumage that is brown or gray in summer and white in winter.

An Adak friend from Atlanta

2007-05-21T16:41:00.000-08:00

Hi Bob,

It has been a delight to find your blog, pictures and video along with some other former residents of "The Rock". The sights and descriptions of "The Birthplace of the Winds" brings a lot of memories back.

I have been enjoying the Discovery's Channel "The Deadliest Catch Series". Watching the crab boats being tossed around in the Bering Sea like toys brought back the memory of my one day on a Wakefield Crab processing boat, but it fortunately was tied up to the pier. One day was enough for this Airdale stationed at the end of the conveyer belt taking the last bits of crab shell and banging out chunks of crab meat while standing in water up to my ankles with less than adequate boots on my feet.

You Seabees climbing the telephone poles had it rough, while we in the weather office only had to go outside for a few moments to take a weather observation, or attempt to launch a weather balloon in 40 knots of wind.

Not much to predicting the weather.. Rain, Drizzle, Fog with snow and winds 30-45knots gusting to whatever...with little visibility. Those young Lieutenants flying the P-3 Orion aircraft deciding to fly or not, while Reeve Aleutian Airways routinely came and went like it was sunny and calm each day.

Thank you for providing us with information about the contamination of the island of Amchitka. My arrival to Adak was about a year after the blast. The joke around the weather office was that the name was changed to Amka, because we blew the "chit" out of it...ha ha ha. I hope the joke was not on us. I do recall there was a small wooden shed like enclosure just outside the weather office that was called the Gufu or something like that. Every 90 days or so, we would retrieve a filter, and replace it with a new one, sending the exposed filter to the Atomic Energy Commission. No one, at least in my paygrade of AG2 knew what kind of exposure we were getting on the island.

I am new to blogging and was trying to add my comments to your wonderful blog, but coudn't figure out how to do it. Take care my friend. Greetings from Atlanta, Ga.

Interesting nuke links from Marvin Arnold

2007-04-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

This photo is awesome!
"I found some more info on those nukes we had in Adak. The first link talks about the weapons themselves. The second confirms the existence and when they were removed. The third, you might have already read about, is Adak's soon to be newest commodity.
http://www.answers.com/topic/b57-nuclear-bomb
http://www.prop1.org/prop1/radiated/ak0rept.htm
http://www.strategypage.com/military_photos/200621221.aspx

30 Years After, The legacy of America's largest nuclear test

2007-03-29T18:22:00.000-08:00

by Jeffrey St. Clair

Amchitka Island sits at the midway point on the great arc of Alaska's Aleutian Islands, less than 900 miles across the Bering Sea from the coast of Russia. Amchitka, a spongy landscape of maritime tundra, is one of the most southerly of the Aleutians. The island's relatively temperate climate has made it one of the Arctic's most valuable bird sanctuaries, a critical staging ground for more than 100 migratory species, as well as home to walruses, sea otters and sea lions. Off the coast of Amchitka is a thriving fishery of salmon, pollock, haddock and halibut.

All of these values were recognized early on. In 1913, Amchitka was designated as a national wildlife refuge by President William Howard Taft. But these ecological wonders were swept aside in the early '60s when the Pentagon and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) went on the lookout for a new place to blow up H-bombs. Thirty years ago, Amchitka was the site of three large underground nuclear tests, including the most powerful nuclear explosion ever detonated by the United States.

The aftershocks of those blasts are still being felt. Despite claims by the AEC and the Pentagon that the test sites would safely contain the radiation released by the blasts for thousands of years, independent research by Greenpeace and newly released documents from the Department of Energy (DOE) show that the Amchitka tests began to leak almost immediately. Highly radioactive elements and gasses, such as tritium, americium-241 and plutonium, poured out of the collapsed test shafts, leached into the groundwater and worked their way into ponds, creeks and the Bering Sea. At the same time, thousands of Amchitka laborers and Aleuts living on nearby islands were put in harm's way. Dozens have died of radiation-linked cancers. The response of the federal government to these disturbing findings has been almost as troublesome as the circumstances surrounding the tests themselves: a consistent pattern of indifference, denial and cover-up continues even today.

There were several factors behind the selection of Amchitka as a test site. One most certainly was the proximity to the Soviet Union. These explosions were meant to send a message. Indeed, the tests were designed to calibrate the performance of the Spartan anti-ballistic missile, built to take out the Soviet nuclear arsenal. Publicly, however, the rationale offered by the AEC and the Defense Department was simply that Amchitka was a remote, and therefore safe, testing ground. "The site was selectedand I underscore the pointbecause of the virtually zero likelihood of any damage," claimed James Schlesinger, then chairman of the AEC.

What Schlesinger and his cohorts overlooked was the remarkable culture of the Aleuts. Amchitka may have been remote from the continental United States, but for nearly 10,000 years it had been the home of the Aleuts. Indeed, anthropologists believe the islands around Amchitka may be the oldest continuously inhabited area in North America. The aleuts left Amchitka in the 1880s after Russian fur traders had wiped out the sea otter population, but they continued to inhabit nearby islands and relied on the waters near Amchitka for subsistence. The Aleuts raised forceful objections to the tests, pointing to the risk of radiation leaks, earthquakes and tsunamis that might overwhelm their coastal villages. These concerns were never addressed by the federal government. In fact, the Aleuts were never consulted about the possible dangers at all.

In 1965, the Long Shot test exploded an 80 kiloton bomb. The $10 million test, the first one supervised by the Pentagon and not the AEC, was really a trial run for bigger things to come. But small as it was, there were immediate problems. Despite claims by the Pentagon that the test site would not leak, radioactive tritium and krypton-85 began to seep into freshwater lakes almost instantly. But evidence of radioactivity, collected by Defense Department scientists only three months after the test, was kept secret for five years. The bomb site continues to spill toxins into the environment. In 1993, EPA researchers detected high levels of tritium in groundwater samples taken near the test site.

The contamination from Long Shot didn't deter the Pentagon bomb-testers. In 1969, the AEC drilled a hole 4,000 feet deep into the rock of Amchitka and set off the Milrow nuclear test. The one megaton blast was 10 times as powerful as Long Shot. The AEC called it a "calibration test" designed to see if Amchitka could withstand a much larger test. The evidence should have convinced them of their dangerous folly. The blast triggered a string of small earthquakes and several massive landslides; knocked water from ponds, rivers and lakes more than 50 feet into the air; and, according to government accounts, "turned the surrounding sea to froth."

A year later, the AEC and the Pentagon announced their plans for the Cannikin nuclear test. At five megatons, Cannikin was to be the biggest underground nuclear explosion ever conducted by the United States. The blast would be 385 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Cannikin became a rallying point for native groups, anti-war and anti-nuke activists, and the nascent environmental movement. Indeed, it was opposition to Cannikin by Canadian and American greens, who tried to disrupt the test by taking boats near the island, that sparked the birth of Greenpeace.

A lawsuit was filed in federal court, charging that the test violated the Limited Test Ban Treaty and the newly enacted National Environmental Policy Act. In a 4 to 3 decision, the Supreme Court refused to halt the test. What the Court didn't know, however, was that six federal agencies, including the departments of State and Interior, and the fledgling EPA, had lodged serious objections to the Cannikin test, ranging from environmental and health concerns to legal and diplomatic problems. Nixon issued an executive order to keep the comments from being released. These documents, known as the Cannikin Papers, came to symbolize the continuing pattern of secrecy and cover-up that typified the nation's nuclear testing program. Even so, five hours after the ruling was handed down on Nov. 6, 1971, the AEC and the Pentagon pulled the switch, detonating the Cannikin bomb.

In an effort to calm growing public opposition, AEC chief Schlesinger dismissed environmental protesters and the Aleuts as doomsayers, taking his family with him to watch the test. "It's fun for the kids and my wife is delighted to get away from the house for awhile," he quipped.

With the Schlesingers looking on, the Cannikin bomb, a 300-foot-long device implanted in a mile-deep hole under Cannikin lake, exploded with the force of an earthquake registering 7.0 on the Richter Scale. The shock of the blast scooped a mile-wide, 60-foot-deep subsidence crater in the ground over the test site and triggered massive rockfalls.

The immediate ecological damage from the blast was staggering. Nearly 1,000 sea otters, a species once hunted to near extinction, were killed their skulls crushed by the shockwaves of the explosion. Other marine mammals died when their eyes were blown out of their sockets or when their lungs ruptured. Thousands of birds also perished, their spines snapped and their legs pushed through their bodies. (Neither the Pentagon nor the Fish and Wildlife Service has ever studied the long-term ecological consequences of the Amchitka explosions.) Most worrisome was that a large volume of water from White Alice Creek vanished after the blast. The disappearance of the creek was more than a sign of Cannikin's horrific power. It was also an indication that the project had gone terribly wrong; the blast ruptured the crust of the earth, sucking the creek into a brand new aquifer, a radioactive one.

In the months following the explosion, blood and urine samples were taken from Aleuts living in the village of Adak on a nearby island. The samples were shown to have abnormally high levels of tritium and cesium-137, both known carcinogens. Despite these alarming findings, the feds never went back to Adak to conduct follow-up medical studies. The Aleuts, who continue their seafaring lifestyle, are particularly vulnerable to radiation-contaminated fish and marine mammals, and radiation that might spread through the Bering Sea, plants and iceflows.

But the Aleuts weren't the only ones exposed to Cannikin's radioactive wrath. More than 1,500 workers who helped build the test sites, operate the bomb tests and clean up afterward were also put at risk. The AEC never conducted medical studies on any of these laborers. When the Alaska District Council of Laborers of the AFL-CIO, began looking into the matter in the early '90s, the DOE claimed that none of the workers had been exposed to radiation. They later were forced to admit that exposure records and dosimeter badges had been lost.

In June 1996, two Greenpeace researchers, Pam Miller and Norm Buske, returned to Amchitka. Buske, a physicist, collected water and plant samples from various sites on the island. Despite claims by the DOE that the radiation would be contained, the samples taken by Buske revealed the presence of plutonium and americium-241 in freshwater plants at the edge of the Bering Sea. In other words, Cannikin continues to leak. Both of these radioactive elements are extremely toxic and have half-lives of hundreds of years.

In part because of the report issued by Miller and Buske, a new sense of urgency was lent to the claims of laborers who said they had become sick after working at the Amchitka nuclear site. In 1998, the union commissioned a study by Rosalie Bertell, a former consultant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (which replaced the AEC). Bertell found that hundreds of Amchitka workers were exposed to ionizing radiation at five times the level then recognized as hazardous. However, the research is complicated by the fact that many of the records from the Amchitka blast remain classified and others were simply tossed away. "The loss of worker exposure records, or the failure to keep such records, was inexcusable," Bertell says.

One of the driving forces behind the effort to seek justice for the Amchitka workers and the Aleuts is Beverley Aleck. Her husband Nick helped drill the mile-deep pit for the Cannikin test; four years later, he died of myelogenous leukemia, a type of cancer associated with radiation exposure. Aleck, an Aleut, has waged a multi-year battle with the DOE to open the records and to begin a health monitoring program for the Amchitka workers. In April of this year, the Clinton administration finally agreed to begin the first health survey of the Amchitka workers. The study was supposed to begin this summer, but it is languishing without funding.

Will the victims of the Amchitka blasts ever get justice? Don't count on it. For starters, the Aleuts and Amchitka workers are specifically excluded by the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act from receiving medical assistance, death benefits or financial compensation. There is move to amend this legal loophole, but even that wouldn't mean the workers and Aleuts would be treated fairly. The DOE has tried repeatedly to stiff arm other cases by either dismissing the link between radiation exposure and cancer or, when that fails, invoking a "sovereignty" doctrine, which claims the agency is immune from civil lawsuits.

Dr. Paul Seligman, deputy assistant secretary of the DOE's Office of Health Studies, writes it off as the price of the Cold War. "These were hazardous operations," Seligman says. "The hazards were well understood, but the priorities at the time were weapons production and the defense of the nation."

At a time when the mainstream press and Republican politicians are howling over lax security at nuclear weapons sites and Chinese espionage, a more dangerous betrayal of trust is the withholding of test data from the American public. China may use the Los Alamos secrets to upgrade its tiny nuclear arsenal, but the Amchitka explosions already have imperiled a thriving marine ecosystem and caused dozens of lethal cancers.

The continuing cover-up and manipulation of information by the DOE not only denies justice to the victims of Amchitka, but indicates that those living near other DOE sites may be at great risk. "DOE management of the U.S. nuclear weapons complex is of the old school in which bad news is hidden," says Pamela Miller, now executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics. "This conflicts with sound risk management and makes the entire system inherently risky. The overwhelming threat is of an unanticipated catastrophe."

Jeffrey St. Clair is a contributing editor of In These Times.

A WWII document submitted by Robert J. Pearsall

2007-03-20T17:57:00.000-08:00

Hi Bob: Attached is a WWII Ops report. When I first got on ADAK in 1972 a bunch of the Bees were over on Amchita Island removing the buildings from the last underground nuke test. As they were moving a file cabinet, the attached document was found.
It is pretty interesting reading. Please share on your website.
Bob

Thanks so much Bob for sharing these documents with us. I've posted 4 of the 17 pages.

1970-71 Nuclear Blast in Amchitka

2007-03-13T14:46:00.001-08:00

A new contact from CT, Dave Guerra

I'm new to flickr and don't really know yet how to email from there....I got your email from your blog. Feel free to email me here at guerradj@yahoo.com. I was there around 1970-71. I was a communications technician there and worked in the center of the large circular antennae not far from the barracks. Had a lot of good memories from there even though a lot of guys hated the place...I only wish I had a better camera at the time! -Dave

Hi

Here are a couple of Adak pictures. I used to work in communications within the round antenna. I included another of me around 1969 or 70 when I was on a ship. I get a kick out of all the discussion of the 7 doors of doom as we would call them. I though it was common knowledge that they were nuke missles aimed at Russia. The two things I remember most was the big quake...I believe over 7 on the scale when I awoke just in time to catch my 50 lb sansui speaker above my bunk....then running out of the building because of a tidal wave scare which never materialized. The other was feeling the blast wave from an underground nuclear test in Amchitka. The blast took a minute or two (if I remember correctly) to reach us and I was visiting at a chief's house listening to the radio count down when the blast would hit us. At that exact moment, the house across the street at the edge of the window view actually moved in and out of view from side to side. We all got a kick out of hearing later on that no blast was felt (officially from the atomic energy commision). Guess they didn't want anyone to know the power of the blast. It probably depended on what type of ground you were on as well. Anyway I remember lots of other things I can share at a later date. -Dave

Marvin Arnoid on Adak Nukes

2007-03-01T17:37:00.001-09:00

Marvin somehow found this blog and emailed me today. It's my first contact from a Marine who was stationed on Adak. The Marines lived across the street from the Seabees, and would come and visit us when they wanted to kick back and have a few beers. Marvin has insight into the secret places that we were instructed not to even look at! Great to hear from you Marvin, and thank you for your service to our country. ~Bob

I am a retired Marine who was stationed on Adak in 1985. I was curious, did you have Marines stationed there when you were on island? When I was there, it was common knowledge that "the pound" existed and what was stored there. No one would officially confirm it, but it was probably the worst kept secret on a island of no secrets. Matter of fact, from the only clump of trees on the island, if you looked over your shoulder you could see the compound as plain as day. Of course, the old saying, "the best place to hide something is right in plain sight" worked out perfect there, because from what I understand, no one ever found it that wasn't supposed to know where it was in the first place. Everyone who visited the Adak Forest, was watched quite extensively, for just that purpose. I'll never forget the mushroom cloud the nuke guys painted on the wall of their work area. Well, I enjoyed your blog and like all Adak veterans, I have very found memories of that place. After 22 years, if I had to pick one duty station over again, it would definitely be Adak. Take care.

I didn't take these. I found them on a website by Paul Roberts*. He took a trip there in 2000 and took those and a whole lot of other photos. I guess being one of the few Marines that don't drink, I never experienced that side of the island, even though I helped a lot of those who did. On his site he has the pound listed as the Seven doors of doom. That must have been a nickname that came along later, for we never called it that. When I fist saw those photos, I about fell out of my chair. I thought I'd never see that place again. Everyone treated it Sooo top secret. All of us Marines were so young and motivated, we were ready to go to Moscow and take on the bear ourselves. Not a day went by that their weren't stories about soviet fishing trawlers spying on us or reconnaissance aircraft flying around. It's really sad to see it laying wide open like that. We kept that place locked up tighter than Fort Knox. I am sending you a link to his website and a few others I found. You can use anything I type on your blog, but if you are going to use his photos you might want to ask Paul if he doesn't mind. I'm using the photos strictly for personal use.

*Bob, I was looking at Adak sites on the internet when I found your blog. Of course you are welcome to use the picture of the Seven Doors of Doom. Like you when you saw the picture, I was excited to be able to walk into the facility that had been sooo off limits. Paul Roberts 9-11-08

TProphet & Brandon Creighton's 2006 Trip to Adak

2007-02-20T10:01:00.000-09:00

2/20/07
Hi Bob,

Great to hear from you, although you must be a masochist to look at so many of my pictures! Cstone also took a bunch, and he has a better camera so you might like his more. They're here: http://unsynchronized.org/200608-adak/

I don't recognize the water tower building, but we explored so many abandoned buildings they all started to run together. Cstone, do you remember whether we saw that one?

The best way to go is with frequent flier miles... it'd be much too expensive for mere mortals to buy a ticket. Either that, or get a job with Boeing working on whatever it is they do up there. The Boeing folks are really nice and will gladly talk about anything except that one extremely sensitive topic.

-TProphet

2/22/07
I don't think they'll be opening the base again. There really isn't much of a base left to open, nor does the federal government own the property anymore anyway (it's all owned by the Aleut Corporation).

I'm not sure if you've heard much about how that deal was structured, but it's pretty shady. The Aleuts never lived on Adak--it's a pretty inhospitable place, after all. They didn't even bother to build fishing camps because they didn't have construction techniques to deal with the high winds there. However, they were the only suckers the feds could find who would take a toxic waste dump. Or so the feds thought, anyway.

See, the Aleuts are smart. They own a spooky defense contracting firm in Boulder that uses Aleut ownership bidding preference on contracts. They agreed to take Adak, but only if they could book it at the full multi-billion dollar "value" (as a going concern) and depreciate it over the next 50 (I think it's 50, could be wrong) years.

So they're just letting the place rot. The worse the damage, the bigger the tax write-off. There is no incentive to protect anything which is why it's gone entirely to vandalism and waste. They're keeping some of the housing livable so they can claim that they're trying to make a go of it, not to mention there is all manner of federal assistance available (for an example of this, see my article on Adak telecommunications in the most recent article of 2600 The Hacker Quarterly - you can buy it at Barnes and Noble).

Anyway... I'm pretty disgusted as a taxpayer about what's happened. Check out http://www.tprophet.org/dprk2005 for a prime example of why I think Adak should never, ever, ever have been closed. The USS Pueblo veterans, incidentally, were pretty happy to see the pictures I took of the "old girl" as they put it.

-TProphet

Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 3:33 PM
To: Bob Rich
Subject: Re: Adak blog

(sorry for taking so long to reply, this got caught in my spam filter accidentally)
i'm glad you liked the pictures! adak's an amazing place. even though i took a whole lot of pictures, there's a whole lot we didn't see, since we confined our exploration to wide-open buildings only. because of that, i don't think we ever saw the really high-security
stuff. your blog is neat, too -- since i went to adak, i've been following news on the navy's cleanup efforts (the adakupdate.com docs, etc.); but it's great to see stories from people who actually spent a significant amount of time there.

Brandon Creighton

2007-02-08T11:06:00.000-09:00

A letter from Jim Drescher

2007-02-06T17:32:00.000-09:00

Bob,

(RE: The identity of the girls in the telephone exchange - BR) Debbie was the blonde, not sure who the black girl was but I do know that some of the high school girls were hired to learn something about being a phone operator. In fact, there was one, named Sherry Jeffries, who's dad worked something having to do with power or heat or something, don't remember which. Kinda took a 'likin' to that girl. Later to find out she was 'almost 15' as we snuggled at the movie theater in the Bering Building! I sat a little straighter during the show after learning that, can tell ya. She was pretty nice looking, tho. LOL

Debbie was from Bucyrus, Ohio, I think. I'm near Youngstown here. Little place called Leavittsburg. Life long resident. Born and bred. You CAN come back home, no matter what they say. Linda was the tall drink of water with the long hair. And of course, we remember Ina!

Not sure if Carol would remember me, tho. I'm thinking she was just rolling in as I was rolling out. Time lines have blurred over the years. I hunt and fish too so would remember the story about that muley.

Would some more pics help? Just for you tho. I was there when Mt Sitkin (sp?) burped and a big cloud of ash came up. Think that was in March. Will have to get out the old pics. Your pictures are great and the blog is a very good job. You certainly are much better than me at this computer stuff. I know, shake the mouse, it wakes up. If it don't, you call the kids to fix it. Will have to get a new scanner to send pics tho. Last one bit the dust. They seem to do that on a fairly regular basis. Any suggestions on how to help?

As far as a letter for posting, that can be arranged, am sure. Have any ideas of what to write? Your memoirs and mine might be interesting, to be able to follow the time line right after you left.

The riot was right in front of the Bering Building. At the time, 'narcs' were real big and seems someone 'out there' decided to send one in and try to get us little SeaBees in a little trouble. He was found out and somehow was cornered (met) on the steps. Problem was all the officers and upper NCO's could gamble at the Acey Ducey club, which was just as ILLEGAL, but no one had a problem with that. Hmm, double standard?? Ol' scenario of drunks against the druggies. We werent' hurting anything, other than ourselves, can say for sure. When they had the barracks inspections, we'd get tundra weeds, dry 'em, and stash 'em all over the compartments so NIS would have something to find. Was a hoot! Pepper on the floor to the rooms, that sort of thing. For the drug dogs to sniff. Don't know if it worked but we had fun.
Anyway, this narc was cornered, name was 'Cowboy' or something. The Marines were in on it too. They were just as much wanting to get a buzz as we were. I remember seeing one Marine with his cleaning rod put together from his gear, ready to whip this guy into shape.
The 'crazies', us in upper 4, were the ring leaders, seems. You're not gonna turn us in after all this time, are ya??!! LOL Don't matter, the matter was and is closed, far as the Nav is concerned. Wish I could find the copy of Stars and Stripes that did the article. We had it taped on the door to our room for along time! Tried to find some back issues but no luck. You might be able to help?? Was in like July, I think, not sure.

Enuff rambling tho. Hope this finds you in good health and spirits. Look forward to 'chatting' more on the subject and reading the blog a little more in depth.
Later
Jim~

My friend Carol Hunter

2007-02-04T23:54:00.000-09:00

Carol and her husband were stationed on Adak about the same time as I, yet we don't believe we've ever met. Carol and I met via the Internet and Bob Paulsen. She and her family recently returned from a fantastic European Vacation which included Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur in Paris! The photo below was taken at the Thames River in London. Carol said that she's scanning some slides from Adak. I hope I can talk her into writing down her memories. Carol is a wonderful lady. The black and white is a photo of Carol on Adak (1974).

"That gentleman's name is Edgar. He hails from India and is 85 yrs. old. We had a great conversation while the groups were performing at the Embankment Gardens on the Thames River in London. He shared his chocolate bar with Scotty and I, and asked if he could have pictures, too. I need to get them printed and mailed. At 85 yrs., he may not be there the next time I journey to that part of the world. He made sure we understood that we were to stay with him and his wife the next time we are in London. He said she is a marvelous cook and would make us comfortable. What a sweetheart he was! It's things like that that make traveling and meeting new people so very special to me."

Adak 2006 - A Must See

2007-02-02T20:59:00.000-09:00

Thanks so much Carol. It's really sad to see this place getting old with me. The man-made things are really falling apart, but the God-made things are more beautiful than I remembered. Click the link and enjoy.

-Bob

Hey Guys,

My friend LaVern,( who was stationed with my husband out at CommSta 73-76, and went back again a few years late) sent me this essay. It has some good pictures and an update on conditions on Adak these days. I am so glad I was part of what it once was. I have some memories that nothing can take away, and I am sorry to see things falling down, but as the author says, "To every thing there is a season". Bob P. and Bob R. I appreciate your efforts in keeping the old days alive for those of us who are not so computer literate! I really enjoy your pictures and stories. God Bless. Carol H

http://www.navycthistory.com/adakhoyt01.html

A letter from Robert J. Pearsall

2007-01-28T15:35:00.000-09:00

Re: Adak Alaska - Name of OLD MAN in your pictures

The 3 guys on the right look VERY familiar. -Bob

His name was Cappy. He was older than time. As I remember he told me he had been there since the 50s. I was stationed at ADAK from August 72 to August 73. My rate was EA, but had been a CT until they converted a bunch of us as NAM finished up. Had a security clearance, so I worked for the civilian who did the base alarms. Used to run out a lot of telephone pairs with him for the fire and intrusion alarms. Remember going down into the tunnels under the barracks? Just you and the roaches. I also worked as the movie theater projectionist to earn extra money.

Take care, Bob

Hi Bob: I am sure our paths did cross. Thirty-three years is a long time, but your pictures and blog are bringing back memories. I do have some things written up. Will dig them out and pass them along to you.

My barracks room was first on the left in our wing. My roommate, also another EA, was named Rex. We were both guitar players along with another guy named Chauncy.

If you go to www.sheckelscreations.com/adak and look at Tom Sheckel's photo collection, I am the one in blues doing the fire watch in his Pool Sharks picture. Did not know that there was a site for Adak or my picture was there until last night.

My wife and I grew up in South Florida, but are living in southwestern Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I work for local government.

"Pool Sharks" copyright Tom Sheckels.

New Hi-Res Images from Google Earth!

2006-11-17T19:38:00.000-09:00

If you haven't checked out Adak from Google Earth in a few months, do it! A large section of Adak has been photographed in hi-resolution and you can see just about everything! It's been a lot of years, but I'm wondering if the 2nd photo is the Telephone Exchange that I used to work in? I love the images of Bering Hill. You can clearly see the theater, the old church and the roads I used to take to work. There's a lot of colorful housing that I don't believe I've ever seen. That doesn't surprise me because what was there was in bad shape and that was many years ago. Check out Adak on Google Earth and you will be amazed!

PS: One thing to be aware of. If you put Adak in the location finder, it will take you to an area far east of Adak. If you look at my photos, some of them show the position which could help you locate the island. Most of you won't need that info anyway. You know where it is. If you haven't been there, go to the center bottom of the chain and you are in the correct area.

My Adak Chow Pass

2006-07-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

WOW!!!! That was so cool to see that chow pass again. I had forgotten all about that until you sent it. But, Like I said, I sometimes remember things about something when I see it. Once I saw it, I remembered. The number itself represents this. I know this because I remember the guy told me this when he issued mine. 4 - 2 - 80. The 4 stands for the barracks number. The 2 stands for the floor number and the 80 was the next number in line in the book issued to you. The next guy would have had 81, etc. So they went by barracks, floor and pass number. I can't believe I remembered that. I saved the pass to my pictures. Bob Paulsen

Jean, the Anchorage Telephone Operator

2006-07-28T16:14:00.000-08:00

This is a letter I received from Jean, one of the telephone operators we talked to every night from the telephone exchange switchboard. Jean and the others were great ladies who kept us smiling and whose flirtation was great for our morale and kept us warm. Each operator had a nick-name given them by the these ladies. Check out the name Jean gave me J She actually sent me a photo and a nice letter (which I’ve posted a bit of). Jean and the other operators in Anchorage, the Philippines and other places around the world were just wonderful to us Seabees. We’d call these telephone exchanges around the world and these ladies would put us through to our families at home free of charge. This was one of the great bennies of working at the telephone exchange. I hope Jean stumbles across this page some day so I can tell her, "Thanks for being so nice to me. You’re the best and I’ll always remember you."

By the way, check out the bear behind her. I don't think I want to cross her husband.

The Party Cabin

2006-07-25T18:18:00.000-08:00

Check out this web page: http://www.alsap.org/Adak/Adak.htm
It's the party cabin that I refer to in my chapter on PARTYING!
Here's an email I received from Tim Kelley 8/4/2005. Thanks Tim!

Bob,
Yep – that must be the mountain and the quonset hut. Would you mind if I cut out the paragraph of your blog that talks about the old ski cabin and put it on the Adak Alaska Lost Ski Areas Project web page (with a link to your blog)?
Thanks,
Tim
http://www.blogger.com/tkelley@alaska.com

Cockroaches of Adak

2006-07-12T03:14:00.000-08:00

Damn cockroaches were everywhere. They really creeped me out when I first got on the island. I remember lying in my rack and sleeping with one eye open as I watched the roaches walking along the wall right next to me. I made real sure that I slept with my mouth closed. This may have felt like home for some of the inner city guys that were there, but it was clearly a new experience for me. They say for every roach you can see, there are how many right inside the wall? I really didn’t want to think about it. But after a while they became like just another part of the decor. I did hate it when they managed to get inside my $500 Pioneer stereo receiver and were magnified behind the glass that covered the radio tuner. I used to spin the big, weighted dial, which made the red needle fly from one end of the tuner to the other. That usually got the roaches to move. Thank god I never found one in my food or I think it would have made my 13 months there quite a bit less enjoyable. Thinking about it now, they had to have been in the food. I guess we were sort of an early version of ‘Fear Factor’. Every few months they would evacuate the barracks and spray the place down. That would lower the population for about a week, but like clockwork they always returned. Now that the barracks have been abandoned, I wonder how the roach population is doing? Did it multiply out of control or did they start dying off when the food disappeared? To tell you the truth, I don’t think I really want to know. I’m creeping myself out writing this. I think I’ll be sleeping with one eye open again tonight. BR

500 Pair Wire Splicing

2006-07-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

A common occurance during construction was to have 500 pair telephone cables sliced in half by trucks that were digging trenches. I spent many hours sitting in muddy ditches in the rain, matching and splicing color-coded pairs of wires and getting zapped by the voltage on a regular basis. Another wonderful memory was when I was splicing those wires when there happened to be a 90 volt ring current passing through them...and me.

Music on Adak

2006-07-05T17:22:00.000-08:00

Music played a big part in my lasting memories of Adak. I can hear a song today from back then and it takes me right back. One of the clearest things I remember about the island was my first evening there. I laid back on my rack, put on a set of headphones that were connected to an 8-track stereo and listened to Deep Purple. The tape may have been ‘Machine Head’. The song was ‘Smoke on the Water’ and I played it over and over. The album was loud and it rocked. I was able to get lost in the music and forget for a little while that I wouldn’t see my family and friends for an entire year. Music connected us all with home.

Later that night I found that the sound level on Bering Hill was almost unbearable. The walls were about a foot short of the ceiling and everyone had a huge stereo system that they played at the same time through huge speakers, as loud as possible. I remember thinking, "How am I going to sleep through this?!" It amazed me that by the end of the first week I could read a book without hearing a single sound. Our brains learned to block out anything but what we wanted to hear.

It wasn’t long before I was moved to a more permanent room which I shared with LeRoy Cox, a very nice kid and a stereo fanatic. There began our competition to see who could put together the most awesome stereo system. I think we were about tie when we left.

My stereo consisted of a Pioneer front amp with beautiful brushed aluminum knobs and panels. A 4-channel decoder / rear amplifier split the signal into 4 speakers and powered the rear set. The sides were wood and everything had needles. No LED’s or plastic in those days. The systems looked impressive. Everything had satin aluminum faces and they were loaded with big aluminum toggle switches. You touched a dial and it spun 360 without a trace of resistance. You can’t buy units like that anymore. The turntable was a Garrard Zero 100 (with zero tracking error). Awesome!

In those days we didn’t record on cassette decks, but instead, LeRoy and I each had major reel-to-reel machines. I had a beautiful Sony with 7" reels that I used to make compilations of my favorite songs, as well as talking/music tapes that I sent home to the family.

My favorite albums on the island were:

Wishbone Ash, ‘Wishbone 4’

Steely Dan, ‘Countdown to Ecstasy’ and ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’ (which I believe are the two best albums they ever made).

Joe Walsh, ‘The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get’ with ‘Rocky Mountain Way’.

Johnny Winter (I had all of his major albums).

Pink Floyd, 'Dark Side of the Moon'

Lead Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy

Poco, 'Crazy Eyes'

Cheech and Chong, ‘Big Bambu’

My return from Adak

2006-07-03T18:08:00.000-08:00

Me at Camp Pendleton, California after returning from Adak.

When I returned from Adak, I was stationed with MCB5 (Mobile Construction Battalion 5) at Port Hueneme, California until we deployed to Guantanimo Bay, Cuba.

Check out Bob Paulsen's new blog

2006-06-02T18:31:00.000-08:00

Bob Paulsen 1990

I'm proud to have Bob Paulson as a friend. He is in the process of putting together a blog and writing an awesome story about his tour of duty on Adak. Read it at http://bobspersonaldiary.blogspot.com/
Here's a teaser...

My Journey to Adak Alaska
"While we were talking, I heard this rumbling sound. I knew it was a quake, but where. We went quiet. I just happened to turn around and look behind us and I saw this long line of ripples coming at us. Might have been 8" to a foot high, and probably about 10 feet thick. Who knows for sure. They were long, across the road, thru the buildings, etc. We couldn't move anywhere. The ripples came up the road, passed under us (we never fell), they went up the road passed the Husky Lodge and into the tundra and disappeared. We both starred at each other for a few seconds and then continued on walking. I said to Al, "There is your first taste of an Adak earthquake" He got used to it after that..."

Stories from News Correspondent Jim Paulin

2006-06-01T17:26:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I spent the afternoon at Submarine Museum in Groton, CT (with USS Nautilus) where I was stopped by Jim Paulin after he spotted my Adak hat. Read below to see Jim's background. He was flown to CT for a medical procedure and thankfully appears to be doing well. I wrote him back to find out why he was treated in Connecticut instead of on the West Coast. Jim was nice enough to send me 4 stories that he had written that I can share with my Aleautian friends on this blog. All of the stories need to be reformatted due to the mess email makes of them, so I'm posting one story today and will add the others over the next week or so. Keep checking back. My hunter friends are going to go nuts when they read the first story. Thanks again Jim. Please stay in touch and our wishes for a speedy recovery. Bob
Jim's letter:

Hi Bob. Nice meeting you at the submarine museum. Here's my Adak stories, written freelance for the Anchorage Daily News back in the 90s. Feel free to post them on your blog. Jim Paulin, paulinjim@yahoo.com, longtime newsman in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, and earlier in Dillngham and Kotzebue, Alaska, originally from Athol, Massachusetts.

CARIBOU SEASON IS OPEN -- WIDE OPEN -- ON ADAK
By Jim Paulin
Daily News Correspondent
Run Date: 9/6/1999
Day:MONDAY
Edition: Final
Section:METRO
Page: B1

Adak is open for the first time for sport caribou hunting, with no seasons or bag limits on what's described as some of the state's largest caribou. The transplanted herd's size is more than triple what federal managers see as a comfortable number on the Aleutian island.''If you want to go out there and shoot 20 caribou, have at it, as long as you salvage all the meat,'' said Daniel Boone, deputy manager of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Adak caribou run a little larger than other Alaska caribou, weighing more than 500 pounds, he said. ''That's not surprising, considering they were released on an island with a superabundance of food.'' And the island has a mild climate with few insects and no natural predators.

Potential overgrazing is a concern, though not a current problem, he said. But federal managers remain concerned because of the herd's growth and would prefer to see the herd reduced to 300 to 400, down from the present level of 1,000 to 1,200, he said. The island was off-limits to most civilians when it operated as the Adak Naval Air Station, which shut down as an active military base in 1994. But in August, Tim Booch, a commercial guide from Kodiak, took four hunters to the island, 1,200 miles west of Anchorage. Local resident Mike Swetzof transported the hunters by boat to the southern side of the island, about two hours away, Boone said. The hunting party left Adak last Monday, following a successful hunt, said Marie Gill, the office manager at Adak Seafoods, which refrigerated the caribou meat. She said the hunters donated meat to local residents and took the rest with them. She said she saw them with their trophy caribou racks, the antler tips covered with short pieces of hose.''They did nicely,'' Gill said. While Booch needed a federal land-use permit as a guide, individuals don't need them. A guide's service is optional, Boone said. The island is open to anyone with a state hunting license and an island clearance, obtained through Aleut Corp. in Anchorage or from the Navy at Adak, Boone said. The Aleut Enterprise Corp. is leasing the base from the Navy pending a hand-over anticipated in 2001, said company president Sandra Moller. Aleut is looking for viable civilian enterprises for Adak, and Moller said caribou hunters are welcome because they contribute to the island's economic development. The caribou are concentrated on the island's remote southern portion, but sometimes they stray onto the populated northern section.''Occasionally one wanders in, if they're foolish enough, close enough to town so that people can pop them from the road system,'' Boone said. The caribou were transplanted from the Nelchina herd near Glennallen in 1958 and 1959, when 77 were captured, but just 23 survived while being pen-reared at Adak. They were captured as 2- and 3-day-old calves, easier to handle than adults, Boone said. The project was initially proposed for recreational hunting for the naval personnel based on Adak. But the idea was finally backed when it was pointed out that the caribou could be a food source if the USSR cut Adak supply lines, Boone said.''That got everybody's attention. It got the military to participate with their equipment, aircraft particularly,'' Boone said.

My contact with Carrie Johnson from Adak, March '06

2006-03-09T08:44:00.000-09:00

(Above) Island documents sent by Carrie Johnson. Click thumbnail for larger image.

I'd apply for the job but my family would KILL me! :) Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: Carrie Johnson [mailto:cjohnson@adakisland.com]
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2006 1:44 PM
To: Bob Rich
Subject: Re: Adak Info

Good morning Bob, Adak is so special to me it is neat to hear from folks that felt the same way. If you look at the 2004 photos on the Oneveien ite - the pics of the malamute and black dog in the truck are my pups out by the gas station on a sunny day. Only in Adak can you take your dogs to work with you. :)

All the folks I listed would love to have you post their add on your blog - they all work out here and just enjoy snapping photos. They all started recently excepting Cold Rock which has been around for about 7 years or more.

One more name is Tom Wallen, his wife is a school teacher and I know he donated pictures for an Adak school calendar they sold for fund raising. You can reach him through the school number.

Right now Adak has several job offers - Aleutian Housing Authority has a maintenance position posted, Adak Petroleum has a fueler position posted and likely will post another soon. Aleut Enterprise (AEC) is looking for a maintenance person. Adak Marine needs a Harbormaster soon - by May at least and AEC will be looking to replace me by May too. So if you know any folks that really want to come back to Adak...... Ok, have a wonderful day,
Carrie

Hi Bob, Adak kind of gets under your skin somehow. :)
There are several local photographers - Lori Giddings works for the school and all the proceeds from her pics go to the school. Lori makes up picture magnets the size of a business card. Call 907.5923820. Doug Newman prints up his photos on T-Shirts and mugs that are dishwasher safe. His email is jdgreenlable@yahoo.com -or 592.2142. Soon he will have a website up but I don't know the address. Janet and Ed McNall bought the rights to "Cold Rock Cafe" you can call them at AGS at 907.592.8403 for prices and info. The restaurant (Bake and Tackle) also got mugs and I don't know what else 592.2332. Marge Tillion has a cd slide show of caribou pics and she makes 8x10 or larger copies of her photos 592.8657.
Have a wonderful day!
Carrie

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Rich"
To: "'Carrie Johnson'"
Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 5:26 PM
Subject: RE: Adak Info

Thanks so much Carrie for the information. Regarding Paul Roberts' site, I'm posted on that representing 73 or 74. I was a telephone lineman (Seabee) on Adak for 6 months and a telephone operator for another 6. It's funny that while many of us guys where on the island, we couldn't wait for our year to end (I guess because we were 19 and all the girls were home :) But for some strange reason, many of us guys and girls who are now about 50 would love to go back. If I had the money I would return with some of my buddies (but my wife said if I'm going to take her someplace, it had better be warm). Who knows if we'll ever make it back, but it's just nice to make personal contact with someone who's still there. We've been reading about the X-band radar that is or has moved to Adak. I remember when I was there, there was a white ship totally loaded with huge dishes that we'd see from time to time through the fog. We were always told it was listening to the Soviets.

Do you know if there's an online store with items for sale from the island? We almost weekly search eBay for Navsta Adak patches and items. We'd be very interested in anything like that. Has anyone ever though of putting up a cam somewhere pointing toward a Sweepers Cove, Razorback some somewhere? That would be wonderful. What a great school project! Please let me know if anything like that happens and I will forward your letters to my other Adak friends. I also post anything I get from the island on my Adak blog, which is at http://navstaadak.blogspot.com. Again, thanks so much for getting back to me and I look forward to hearing from you again!
Best Regards,
Bob Rich

-----Original Message-----
From: Carrie Johnson [mailto:cjohnson@adakisland.com]
Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 10:03 PM
To: Bob Rich
Subject: Re: Adak Info

Good afternoon Bob. I've attached an Adak Directory to give you an idea what is out here now. Lori Giddings works in the school office - their number is 592-3820 and she can put you in touch with the teachers. I've also attached some other general Adak info. Adak is basically a tiny community of entrepreneurs. We have a year round fish plant, fuel farm and the City. There is a general store, restaurant and bar + VFW. There is an ever increasing number of tourists, birders and hunters that arrive in the spring and fall. A great website to go to if you haven't already is http://www.orneveien.org/adak/contributors/paulroberts/ go to the main website orneveien.org for many more adak photos and stories.

X-Band or SBX radar is the newest biggest news in Adak. The military is returning to Adak in some limited fashion but it is exciting for the island. We have about 130 local residents last count and about 30 of them are children. The Navy still sends contractors out to Adak during the summer months for various cleanup projects. Feel free to email if you have more questions.
Have a great day!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Rich"
To: "'Carrie Johnson'"
Cc: ;
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 4:41 PM
Subject: RE: Adak Info

Thank you so much Carrie! We'll all be looking forward to hearing from you. Have a nice weekend.
Regards,

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: Carrie Johnson [mailto:cjohnson@adakisland.com]
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2006 8:22 PM
Subject: Adak Info

Good afternoon, I will be happy to connect you with the school and also send you some information about what is going on in Adak currently. It is incredibly busy this weekend and I may not be able to do anything till Tuesday. Thanks for your patience.
Best regards,

Carrie Johnson, Manager
Adak Commercial Properties, LLC
1441 Seawall Road, Suite 3
Adak, Alaska 99546
907.592.ADAK(2325) Phone
907.592.0168 Fax

A Comeback for Adak

2006-01-04T04:09:00.000-09:00

A new contact, John La Rue.

2005-11-29T16:25:00.001-09:00

The following is an email that I received from John LaRue today. John says he installed the switchboard I operated while on Adak. This is great! John made a return trip recently and says that he will be creating his own web page. I've asked him to send me a couple of paragraphs of text, a photo of him then and now, and another photo he took on his trip. I then hope to post his info here along with a link to his site. I'm looking forward to what John has to share with us. It's really great to hear from you John!

Mr. Rich,

I read your story about your stay at Adak. I spent 3 years at Adak 1968 to 1971 then went to Amchitka for the AEC underground nuclear test in 1971. I was attached to the Public Works, Utilities Division, Telephone Exchange, as you were. I worked with Mr. Calfee the "old man" that you couldn't remember his name. The switchboard that you were operating , I installed. It is now in a museum in Anchorage. I am surprised that, at my age, something that I installed could be in a museum!

You mentioned that you want to return for a visit, you can do just that. In September of this year I went back to Adak for a few days, after being gone for 34 years... Allot has changed, but so much is the same. I took 1,000 photos (maybe 250 are worth while), if you are interested I would be willing to send a copy to you. Would you consider allowing me to use some of the photos and movies that you have on your site, on a new site that I am putting together?

If you are interested in the details of my visit, I am willing to share.

John La Rue

Bob Paulsen's memories of Bering Barracks

2005-10-22T19:08:00.000-08:00

Well, let me see if I can help conjur up some thoughts for you. As you know, the Bering Barracks consisited of several long barracks, 2 story, and a galley in between and they were all connected by a hall. Looking at the building with the Bering Building to your back, at your very far left was the Chapel of course. Then starting at the Bering Barracks, there was lower 3 and upper 3, then lower 4 and upper 4, then there was 5, then 6, then the galley, then it was 7, 8, then 9. All having upper and lower living quarters. If you went out of barracks 4 or 5 and then go across the street, there was Longwood barracks. That was mostly female (WOO HOO) barracks. I don't think you lived there. Unless you were special.------------I am going through this in hopes something will ring a bell in me about the number and maybe give you an idea of where you lived. Did you eat in the Bering galley? Most likely. Sometimes I am good at figuring out things by seeing things. Can you scan me a copy of the galley pass so I can look at it and see it anything rings a bell with me? The only other building I can think of is the Marine Barracks. That was at the other end of the Bering Building. You know, that is providing you lived on Bering Hill! I am going to try and figure this out. Let's work on this mystery together.

Adak vet, Steven Dickson.

2005-10-21T18:19:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Bob Paulsen, we have another Adak contact. Steve Dickson knew my old buddy Larry Brown!

Steven Dickson wrote:
Yep found it, also I knew one guy that Bob Rich had on his pics... Larry Brown.. he lives here or did in Enid, Oklahoma... anyway Larry and I ran into each other in Adak.. we were both there at the same time... in 73... Steven

Bob,
It was great to hear from you and Bob Paulsen this week. As All Adak vet's we all have something that we grasp onto from the Rock... I don't know why but we do.. I know another Guy that used to live her I got to know from the Lounge I work in He was there about 10 years after we were, and always talks about going back to visit.. and I told him I'd go with him...His name is Richard Good, he now lives in Colo.

Anyway.. I just wanted to let you know who I am.. I worked in Vending at first when I got there with a few guys that was in Shipservicemen duty...We actually worked in anything dealing with Retail, Barber, Vending, Liquor for the Clubs, etc. I worked mostly in the Berring Retail Store, for about 9 months... I don't know if you remember there was a really tall guy working there when you got there, his name was Jim, can't remeber his last name.. his wife was Alaskan and she worked in the little reasturant there next to the Store, and there was also a Pizza place right next to the store, and then in about 4 to 5 months I took the store over. this is from Feb when you got there.. then I got there in March.. with Larry... So I Managed the Berring Retail Store, and the last 2 months or less I worked in the Liquor dilivery driving a 5 ton truck to different clubs.. I know I had it made....LOL...

We all stayed in the Berring Barracks,, I'm sure we lived close to each other and didn't even know one another... Send a pic sometime and I'll see if I know you , in your blog I wasn't sure which person you was.. except at the end...and I think I remember you... I'll send you a pic now in Uniform, and one of me now.. and maybe you'll rember me there in the store.. and sometime in the near future I'll scan off some pic's and send those.. also... or to a site...

Great to finally talk to people that have the same feelings as I do... All I can say is someday I'm going to get back there just for the journey of it, and to re-live somethings.. I hope...
Steven

I wrote the following and Steve responded with some interesting info on the layout of Bering Hill where we lived.

I was just looking at my old chow pass from Adak and it has Room C-210 written on it. Does that give anyone an idea of where you here living in relation to me? I don't think this involves Carol :) Bob

Steven Dickson wrote:

Bob, I think I lived in the 3rd or 4th Barracks from the chow hall to the Left if you were facing the Chow hall. I don't remember my room # or even remember having a room # Ha....I do remember always walking into the building or going underground to the building from the Berring Building then turning to the left walking down the hall then turning Right, then making another Left, and walking down about 3 Barracks then turning right into the Barracks, and My room was the first door to the left when you went threw the doors after the Head, and Laundry rooms.

I roomed with Randy Sorrensen,, he was the Barber at the time... There were Navy Exchange people, + a lot of C.B.'s in our Barracks... and I'm not sure what all they did... Had Bruce that worked at the Laundry across from the Berring Hill...He had been there 2 years and was uping for a 3rd,, he loved it there.... Abel Rascon, which worked at the big Exchange...I'll have to get my photos out and see the names of everyone... Chuck Chenoweth, which stayed in Vending the whole Tour. Many more that I can't even remember right now...

Anyway,, that's where I bunked, I don't know if that will help or not to see where we were or how close we lived together for a year... Now who is Carol? I knew a few Waves that were there but seemed to me there were only 2 at that time on ADAK? Can't remember there names either? I don't have a good memory with names at all....

Talk to you soon Steven

Bob Paulsen's Reply to Steve...

I was reading your e-mail on what your duties were on Adak. I'm going to paint a picture for you and correct me if I'm wrong or add to what I am saying.

Okay, someone walks up to the Bering Building, up the steps and into the lobby. Looking at the lobby like a clock.

To the right (3:00 position) was the theatre. About 1:00 was the roller skating rink. About 9:00 was the entrance to the Williwaw, snack bar and pizza parlor. (They had a juke box there also, and the one song I can remember them playing a lot was the song, the original Locomotion. It started out with "Ooga chuga, ooga chuga...." ). Sorry about that. Drifting off a little. Anyway, back to the lobby. Looking at the 11:00 position was the stairs going up or down. You go down the steps to the basement. At the bottom of the steps, you look forward and there was the tunnel to the Bering Barracks. You look right, (3:00) there was a hall to some offices and the AFRTS Radio and TV station. Then you look to your far left (9:00) and that was the swimming pool. Go back up the stairs past the main lobby to the second floor and there was the enlisted club E-4 and below.

That's pretty much all I remember about the Bering Building. Was there more to it? And where was the small retail store you spoke of.

Also, did you see the eruption of Mount Sitkin in Feb 1974? I had bought pictures of it because it was before I arrived. But somewhere in time I have lost them. Here is the link to those pictures. http://www.orneveien.org/adak/contributors/roberts/ You have to scroll down a little to see it.

An email from Budd Cowan.

2005-10-16T09:42:00.000-08:00

Bob - I was an Electronics Technician on Adak from October 1970 to June 1973. I got married on one of my leaves and had my wife up there for the last year. We lived and worked in the old wooden hangar in the picture and our paths probably crossed a few times. I believe you are the one that posted this photo of the old guy from the telephone exchange. His name was “dad” Calfee. I worked at the chief’s club in my spare time and he and his wife “ma” Calfee would be in there every night getting sloshed. I recently got in touch with an old buddy from up there and we have talked about maybe going back one day. I don’t know why all of a sudden I am thinking about Adak so much – maybe it is going to be the new center of the world or something or the sight of an alien landing. Your sight brings back a lot of memories. At least we got to sing “Leavin on a Reeves Plane”.
Budd Cowan,Marietta, Georgia (just north of Atlanta)

An eMail letter from Adak!

2005-10-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

Hello,

This is the email address for the city clerk's office. I will forward your message to the Adak residents that I have on my email list for anyone who is interested in replying. As for the internet connections, I believe the school has set up high speed internet for their computer classroom and they also generously set up a computer in the community room for public access. There is no cell phone service in Adak. Although for emergency purposes the city does keep a satellite mobile phone. Most everyone uses the internet quite often. Adak is unique, we hope you can visit our city again sometime.

Sincerely,
Felicity Flensburg, City Clerk
City of Adak
adakcity@corecom.net

Bob Rich 2005 with his new energy efficient vehicle

2005-08-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

Married 20 years as of 2005, my wife Bev and I at the company picnic.

2005-08-03T22:08:00.000-08:00

We had thought that there were nukes on Adak, but were never sure. Now we know:

(S/FRD) The physical security of stored nuclear weapons and other munitions was a matter of continuing study and interest. From 5 to 11 February and IG team visited the U.S. Naval Magazine at Guam. From 6 to 10 June another team, this time supplemented by an officer from CINCPAC's Operations Directorate, inspected the physical security of nuclear weapons stored in Korea at Camp Ames and Kunsan and Osan Air Bases. (As noted in the Operations chapter of this history, the nuclear weapons storage site at Osan was deactivated later in the year.) A third visit, again with Operations Directorate support, was made to two branch facilities of the Naval Magazine at Lualualei, Hawaii, the West Loch and Waikele branches, on Oahu. From 30 October through 3 November an IG team, again with Operations Directorate support, conducted an inspection of the Physical security of nuclear weapons stored at the U.S. Naval Magazine at Adak, Alaska."

http://www.nautilus.org/archives/library/security/foia/nukeorg.html

What's an 'ADAK'?

2005-08-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

Adak Island is located in the Andreanof Island group of the Aleutian Islands, the string of rugged, volcanic islands (archipelago) curving 1,200 mi (1,900 km) west from the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. These islands separate the Bering Sea from the Pacific Ocean. The island lies 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage and 350 miles west of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor. Flight time to Anchorage is three hours. The island's climate is characterized by persistently overcast skies, high winds, and frequent cyclonic storms. Winter squalls produce wind gusts in excess of 100 knots. During the summer, extensive fog forms over the Bering Sea and North Pacific. Average temperatures range from 20 to 60, but wind chill factors can be severe. Total precipitation is 64 inches annually, with an average accumulated snowfall of 100 inches.

The Navy closed its anti-submarine warfare base on Adak Island on 31 March 1997. The lowering of the flag for the last time marked the ending of an era that began with the landing of military forces there on 30 August 1942 to develop a forward base for operations against the Japanese garrisons on Kiska and Attu Islands. The Army turned the base over to the Navy following the war. By the 1980s, there were over 6,000 Navy personnel on Adak.

A Little Adak Trivia

2005-07-14T03:05:00.000-08:00

"Alaska was the only part of the United States that was invaded by the Japanese during WWII. The territory was the island of Adak in the Aleutian Chain."

Aerial of NAVSTA Adak

2005-07-09T05:53:00.000-08:00

Adak from GoogleEarth

2005-01-27T17:22:00.000-09:00

GoogleEarth is an amazing free program that allows you to zoom in on any place on earth. I’ve noticed that the most important locations have the most detail. An example is that you can zoom right down to a car in New York or Baghdad, but when I put my house address in, I can see the pond in my backyard but the resolution isn’t high enough to make out the house. I was amazed at how detailed Adak and some of the other Aleutian Islands were. They don’t have the resolution of NY, but they are still quite clear as you can see from the screen shots I’ve posted. Note that for some reason, when you ask the program to find Adak AK, it takes you to the wrong island. You have to travel west to locate the Adak. Here’s the link to GoogleEarth: http://earth.google.com/ Note that you’d better have a fast computer and a hi-speed connection or forget it. This is a great program. If I had this when I was a kid I would have been an ‘A’ student! Check it out for yourself and have fun!

Memories of Shemya from Robin L. Hinson, MSgt

2004-08-26T18:48:00.001-08:00

Hi Bob,

I received your e-mail that you sent to my father, Bill Bailey. I was stationed at Shemya, not Attu. People stationed on Attu are from the Coast Guard. Shemya is the second to the last island on the Chain.

Some history that I can recall, that may be of interest is:

1) Plans were originally made for the island was to build another facility like Alcatrast, but it was found to be to "in-humane"; so the put the US Military out there instead!

2) the island is very flat in comparison to Attu or Aggetta (sp?). So due to the winds out there, the snow doesn't really accumulate. The standing joke there was that there was a female behind every tree... and during WWII, there were no trees! at least none that grew up...there are some evergreen type bushes that grow close to the ground. (actually there were enough rooms built on the island to room 50 females). At one point in history, I'd guess early 70s, that they actually tried to send out some taller evergreens, but as the plane was getting closer to the island, it crashed, and no tall trees were ever planted. I do have some pictures of Shemya National forest, which consist of about 5-8 young trees with a white picket fence around them. The fence was about 2-4 inches shorter than the tallest tree.

3) In front of the main building, (the one with dormitory rooms, dinning facility, shoppette, medics, etc) there is a hugh ball and chain, the ball is about 4 ft high and part of it is below ground... the chain is portortuate in size to this huge circular item. This was known by all as the "plug" and the saying was the last one off the island was to pull the plug.

4) Island combing was a very common past time. (nothing much else to do), and I learned that during WWII, since they didn't have dumpsters as we know today out there, they would bury soda bottles in massive piles and cover them with sand from the beach. Oddly enough, the sand somehow preserved these soda bottles and I brought a few home in mint condition, and actually never removed the sand from inside the bottles. The 7up bottle had a woman's silhouette reaching up as to hold the Red Dot or Beach ball in place. dates on the bottom of the bottles I found, ranged from 1940-1942.

5) we were all briefed during our initial briefing, that when beach combing, to be aware of climbing in the tundra, as it was quite possible that underground burrows/tunnels could give way, or even possible that UXOs may still be out there.

can tell much more if you’re interested. will search for some pictures to scan next time.

Robin L. Hinson

Bob,
Here are 4 attachments, with a total of 5 pictures.

--Family 05.jpg is as current as I can come up with of me,taken with me and my boys 2 weeks ago.

--Plug.jpg is a photo of the ball and chain I tried to describe in the last e-mail

--Shemya Natl forest.jpg is the best photograph I have of our national forest on the Rock!

--Shemya AK May86 87.jpg is two pictures of me. One with the squadron baseball cap 5073 Air Base Group, Shemya AK & the bottom one was taken on July 4th, 1986, base picnic, on the beach, playing volley ball and BBQing. (Broke my tail bone that day, playing volley ball, in my parka, but saved the ball! sand still frozen 3 feet below... didn't give when my butt hit the sand-ouch!)

I was stationed there from May 86 - May 87, with a follow on assignment to Greece! My name then was (Buck) Sgt Robin "Beetle" Bailey. I started as the Base Commander's secretary, and after I was selected to go to NCO Leadership School, I found someone to fill in while I was at school, and when I returned, she kept the job and I moved to the Transportation Squadron as their Admin Support.

We had three "Smoke Houses" out there (Rosie's, The Den, and The Cliff) for weekend parties by various squadrons, the party would start out being a particular unit's and by the end of the night, most of the base populace would have been through all three locations. We also had the All-Ranks Club. On Saturday afternoons, I would teach Two-Step lessons to anyone that cared to learn. Our civilian contractors loved to hear Country, so I really didn't need to worry if the wrong music was being played; matter of fact during my tour there, the club was being renovated for one reason or another, so they moved our operation over to the recreation center, and the contractors even built a small hardwood dance floor to dance on (4 steps turn, 4 steps turn, 4 steps....)-- it made lessons easier than trying to shuffle sneakers on a carpeted floor. Other things I remember: our bowling alley had 2 lanes. The base theater was free and played the same movie for about a month at a time. TV was controlled by our Security Police Squadron, we watched whatever they popped into the VCR. We worked 0730 to 1700 Mon-Fri, and 8-12 on Saturdays... everyone did. People most remembered there ,that anyone that was stationed there over the span of the base's history, #1 Pops, he was one keen eyed pool player, #2 Crazy Mark, #3 the Viking!, another would be Santa, we all knew that there was a Santa, cuz he worked on the island, and it was well known that the civilian contractors there made some pretty good money, so we also figured out how Santa could afford to deliver all the gifts around the world...I recall waiting at the terminal for someone, but while I was there the contractors mail came in and if anyone remembers playing liar's poker with the serial numbers on dollar bills, well, the played liar's poker with their paychecks! Even though it was only a one-year assignment, we all got 30 days of leave for mental sanity, and while I was on leave in NC, I called back about a week prior to heading back to make sure someone would meet me at the plane etc, and I was notified that I needed to get a shot prior to be allowed back on the Island. An epidemic of Hepatitis (2 people), and no one was allowed back to the rock without the shot, and all people there I assumed were already being immunized. The 2 people were med-evac'd to Anchorage until it was safe to return, so while awaiting for the next Bird to the Rock, I visited one of those bed ridden at Elmendorf. ... We had sweatshirts/T-shirts that read "It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from here." People use to say that if the island sunk, it would be faster to swim to Russia (300 miles) than to main-land Alaska (1500 miles). Umm, people with musical talents had their instruments there and even formed an island band that would meet on Friday nights in the Services Billeting Office waiting area for a few good laughs and sing-a-longs too. Shemya AFB, was of the Air Forces best kept secrets. The day you arrived you were issued a Julian Calendar cuz according to other assignments you were "short" the day after you arrived, cuz you now had less than a year left! Years before I arrived the base commander had a vision to build a base swimming pool, so they had started the project and had the whole dug out and poured with cement, when they realized the pool was located on the San Andreas fault -- so they filled it back in and made a second Base Gym. This was great for Basketball/Volleyball games, roller skating, and cribbage or spade tournaments.... A barge would come out to the island with food and necessities once every 6 months. The first 3 weeks after the barge left the chow hall food was spectacular! Green lettuce on the salad bar, fresh dehydrated milk, meat that didn't have freezer burn, new items to read in the BX, & experation dates that really meant something! We had a beautician (Bev) that would come out for a few days every other month. This was great for the ladies on the island, but the guys loved it too.

In January 1987, the US Navy Seals were sent out to play games in the extreme cold weather etc... and everyone was told in advance about if you were going out to go beach combing or whatever, to make sure you knew the current passwords incase you became captured. If you didn't know the password, then you were going to be treated as a prisoner of war. Now we didn't wear chem gear up there.. this was their game not ours, we were just providing the perfect atmosphere. So things were basically normal, day to day weekend kinda schedules. We've been on the island long enough to know how to walk at a perfect 45 degree angle when the winds blow, we know not to go anywhere without at least one buddy, and anyone under 100 pounds were recommended to put rock in their parka pockets -- just incase the winds picked up when you were on the other side of the island... it's only 2 miles by 4 miles, but you don't want to get stuck without help. Anyway, around 2, the winds picked up...nothing abnormal for us experienced non-special training regular AF folks... I happened to be in side when I heard a call for anyone with active driver's license or access to a vehicle to report in. One of the guys from Services jumped into his ton and a half vehicle and started gathering up the navy seals... he said one guy was sliding along the snow packed road on his butt, feet spread eagle in front of himself... so the services guy passed the Seal, then turned the vehicle so that the wheels would stop the Seal from blowing further down the road... helped him up into the truck and off they went to rescue the rest of the team. The Seal in charge called off the exercise, and they ended up sitting in formation in one of the smoke houses, with blankets and hot food & refreshments, and stayed there watching the Superbowl until they were to leave the island. Gave me a little more pride in my step while leaning into that automatic 45 degree angle we had previously joked about. (Picture on the wall in the Snack bar had cows on it grazing in the grass along side of a mountain, and the legs of the cows we short on one side to prevent them from falling off the hill... kinda reminded us of our own Shemya stance. (this has become very lengthy -- sorry for the overload of memories, hope you found some humor in it.)

All I know about Adak is it was about the half-way point from the end of the world (aka the Rock or Shemya AFB), and it had a McDonald's! Freedom birds that came to and from mainland Alaska to the Rock, would stop at Adak and if you knew someone that was on the plane, they would pick up some burgers and fries for a price. Granted the food was ice cold by the time it got to the Rock, but the microwave in the BX/snack bar could heat the meal, but nuked fries didn't compare to fresh ones back in the lower 48.

Thanks for the link to your Blog! Hope ya enjoyed my memories. Thanks for letting me re-live some too.

Robin L. Hinson, MSgt -- retiring in about a year!
103d Med Group First Sergeant
Bradley ANGB, CT