The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Legion Hall Okinawa military alumni

Another thread had me wondering just how many Kadena AFB Okinawa alumni we have here on Stovebolt. So, if you (not your kin or friends) were stationed at Kadena please chime in and post your on island dates. Mine was December 1967 to mid June 1969.

If you were at one of the other numerous military bases on Okinawa, post what base and your service branch.

I bet there are more of us than you would think.

Martin,

We were there and I'll let John respond. I'm thinking he'll have a different take than I have. But I really really REALLY liked it. And so did the girls!

While not *quite* Kadena alumni, we're close -- We lived at Camp Foster from Jan '90 to Dec '92. Spent a lot of time over at Kadena for a lot of reasons, both personal and professional. Flew in and out of Kadena for exercises in Korea, Thailand, Guam, Philippines etc. Preferred "Build Your Own Pizza" Wednesdays at the Futenma O-Club (sorry, but we preferred being around Marines ...) to anything at Kadena, but we did shop the exchange at Kadena ...

The III MEF Commanding General wanted me to go over and become the OIC of the AFRTS station (Far East Network TV station) but the Air Force blocked it to retain control... Interservice rivalry. Oh well. No hard feelings -- knew it to be a long shot at the time.

Saw the last of the Habu missions while we were there (SR-71).

LOVED our Oki tour!!

Semper Fi,
J&P

Was at Kadena on a 179 day TDY with SAC from March to October 1968, turning wrenches on B-52s and KC-135s that were flying missions to Vietnam.

My brother was a lifer for 23 years in the Air Force retired E8 then went to work at Wright Patterson. I remember him mentioning Kadena but his time might have been TDY. he was in Japan in 1968 because I visited him from Viet Nam, He would take payroll to different bases, and he even came to Viet Nam.

Add pictures!!

Here's a couple to show our tour highlights:

The one of Peggy at the '91 Birthday Ball ... she went as my boss' date...The Marine on the far right -- One of the finest Marines I ever had the privilege and honor of knowing -- Capt/CWO-4 Dave Simon, USMC. Whatever success I had as a Public Affairs Officer, purveyor/sharer of knowledge, I owe to him.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Martin!

Kadena, 1970-72, working on autopilot and compass systems and occasionally flying on B-52's. My daughter was born in the Army hospital there- - - -Ft. Buckner, I believe? Then two months later I was an outpatient in the same facility, after crashing a Mazda RX-2 in an Okinawa Sports Car Club hill climb and breaking it in half. That's what ended my race driving career- - - -three days later during a followup visit and some more X-rays they discovered a broken vertebra in my neck. I decided I'd rather watch my kids grow up than "go around in circles and feel like a big wheel"!
Jerry

Jerry: I was a 32550 too! Sperry (B-52) and Kearfott (KC-135) autopilots, MD-1 AstroTrackers, N-1 and J-4 compass systems.

Jerry,

You need to rummage up some images!! John went here and there to dig these up and scan them. (We had been organized once. Of course, we hadn't done much .... yet!!)

Unfortunately, all those pictures, including the ones of the wrecked Mazda, went up in smoke in a big bonfire in the back yard, along with my boots, uniforms, and a lot of other memorabilia, when my ex moved in with her girlfriend! That was the final blow after I refused to re-enlist and take an assignment on the east coast, trying to keep that relationship together. All of that was planned while I was on a 1 year unaccompanied tour in Thailand and the Philippines. The next 4 years were spent in a big child custody battle, which I eventually won.


Bill, when I worked on the KC-135's and the RC-135 "Hognose" they had Lear autopilot systems. The RC's also had a SIDS system that combined stellar, inertial and doppler info with an autopilot interface. That system could fly an 18 hour electronic snooping mission completely hands-off, except for takeoff, refueling, and landing.
Jerry

I was not at Kadena, but I did spend 15 months on the Rock with the Army from late '70 till January of '72. I was in the 895th MP Co. which, if I recall correctly, was not that far from Camp Foster. It wasn't too long after I left that they turned the place back over to Japan.
When we left to go home we flew out of Kadena. When the wheels of the plane left the ground, The whole place erupted in a huge cheer! Likewise, when they touched the ground again in California, we all cheered again!

Were you there for the riots in Koza, when dozens of GI cars were burned? Anything with a yellow license plate got torched that night- - - -and my friend who ran the USAF security police arms room "lost" a couple of thousand rounds of .45 ACP ammo left over from Korea that didn't show up on his inventory. I thing most of it went to the Army MP's since the Sky Cops carried S&W revolvers in .38 Special.
Jerry

The other big American Air Force base on Okinawa was Naha, AFB. About 12 miles south down the coastline from Kadena. The base at Kadena was noted for
B-52 operations to SE Asia. Also, the SR71 and U2 programs were based out of Kadena. It was quite the sight to see back in the day. I worked 95% of the time at night and my office (AFSC 25251) (code no longer in use) was just below the top level of the Control Tower. I was a Weather Observation Technician.

I worked the 7p to 7a shift the whole time I was at Kadena. When we first arrived it was 6 days on, one off. As we got better and more efficient we changed to 5 on, 1 off, then 4 on 1 off and finally 3 on, 1 off. But it was really a 14 hour day when working because the bus that picked us up to go to work only ran once per hour so we left the barracks at 1800 and arrived back at 0800.

Watching the SR-71s kick in the afterburners during their take off roll at night was awe inspiring. Only thing more fun was the dual Buick 401 V8 engines (later replaced by Chevy 454 V8s) start carts for the SR's engines. Engines were stock, but un-muffled.

I had heard that those Habu engine start carts were powered by Pontiac engines built by Mickey Thompson. Whatever they were, they sounded sweet. The 376th. AMS electronics squadron was right across the street from the Habu hangar.
Jerry

Our shop was about 300 yards NE of the Blackbird/Habu hanger.

Here is irreputable proof [ ] that they were Buick engines, however some artistic license has been taken with the induction systems.

I was. We got jolted awake in the middle of the night and hauled over there in a deuce and a half. Spent the rest of the night in full riot gear standing in a line. We were far enough back from all the action, thankfully, and no one in our group got hurt. Sometimes I wondered what we actually accomplished, being back where we were, but we did what we were told. If I remember right, I think around 80 or so cars got torched that night.

My family and I were in an off base apartment complex close to the back gate of Kadena, far enough away from the heavy duty action that all we heard were sirens blaring all night long. The three other families living there were all sky cops, so we would have been pretty secure if things had gotten frisky in our neighborhood. I had a two year old son and a newborn daughter at the time. A few days before, or maybe after that incident, the base commander at Kadena manned a 2 inch hose along with the base firefighters to clear a path through a line of demonstrators who were attempting to block Gate 1.
Jerry

Wow. Fun times back then. When we were there in the early '90's, about the worst we had to deal with were the annual Union picket lines -- About once a year, for a couple of days, the union that most of our Okinawan civilian base employees belonged to were directed by their leadership to picket outside the Camp Foster Gate -- the main gate for the IIIMEF HQ (where my office was). My ComRel officer, Hiroshi, had to go out and spend a couple hours carrying a sign. He didn't want to but the union said ... The funny thing about the "Demonstration" picket line was if a car needed to enter or exit the gate, the "protestors" would clear the opening and hold traffick so the car could enter or leave safely. They were very polite and courteous. It was all just a big show, but the Japanese media treated it like it was some sort of riot like you guys were talking about. When Hiroshi returned, he'd bow and apologize profusely for being away for so long (two hours tops).

I was in a real riot when I deployed to Thailand for Cobra Gold '92. That was a coup against the Suchinda government. I had been out in town (Korat) with the SJA (Attorney) on official business when they riots broke out. We were caught in an angry mob that was turning cars over and burning them, smashing stuff and being violent. When they came to our van and saw two VERY wide eyed caucasian U.S. Marines in Uniform, they paused for a moment and then went on their way. THAT was a gut check. Thankfully, we weren't the 'droids they were looking for ... They probably *didn't* know that we were not armed ...

We all had to bug out on that one as they terminated the exercise and it was pretty much a free for all to get the heck out of there and back to Oki. The funny thing was, my crew and I had been out in the field and got back to Korat too late to catch the C-141 going to Kadena. BUT .... if we could get to Utapao in 4 hours, we could catch a Navy KC-130 ... So there we were, running across the tarmac at Utapao...the Squids had the engines running and were about to pull chocks but we caught them in time, jumped on the ramp as the Herc started to taxi. When we got to Kadena, the guys in the C-141 were still stting there next to the airplane ... someone had called them in on a drug smuggling thing, so they held them all while the dogs worked the plane over. They left Korat 4 hours before we left Utapao ... in a C-130 ... and they were still sitting there when Peggy came with the van to get me at Kadena. I waved to the other members of the IIIMEF PAO (including my Colonel ... ) staff baking in the sun while I drove off, headed for my quarters. Their response wasn't as friendly ...

The slow bird to Kadena wasn't such a bad deal afterall ...

One of the young troops in my shop at Korat was probably the unluckiest (or dumbest) Wing Nut in the USAF! As he got off the plane for a 1-year tour of duty in the autopilot shop, the sniffer dogs were checking out the luggage that was about to be loaded on the same plane they arrived on, ferrying the short timers back to the free world. One of the dogs broke ranks and alerted on the bag he was carrying. Yep- - - - -he had a stash of weed hidden away! Taking Goncha to Thailand- - - - - -that's roughly akin to taking a sandwich to a 7-course catered meal! He stayed "under investigation pending court martial" for months, and finally got drummed out of the service, I believe! Several years later, I worked with his uncle in California, who had no idea why his nephew didn't complete his enlistment!
Jerry

I was stationed at MCAS Futenma September 1973 - September 1974. USMC, H&MS-36 MAG-36 1st MAW, worked in Avionics, aviation electronics & board level repair, ASN-70 , AJB-7, MA-1 Compass other assorted components and systems. Since we worked in air conditioned trailers were were the "envy" of many other Marines. Seems we spent most of our off time at one of the many bars just outside the gate and at the Enlisted Club on base. Semper Fi !

I was lucky enough to "deploy", I mean go on vacation to Camp Schwab twice, 92 and 94, with an AAV Company. Fun times, mostly.

Dusty, I believe Futenma had its own compass calibration area, right? I was involved in getting one set up there as a joint Marine/USAF effort in 1971, or somewhere around that time. It involved doing a survey of the area to avoid magnetic anomalies created by buried steel leftovers from the WW II invasion. My grandfather's younger brother died on the beach there in 1945 when he caught a piece of shrapnel in the forehead.

Clark AFB did not have any area magnetically stable enough to do a compass swing, due to buried debris under the ramp.
Jerry

Jerry, I wish I had your exacting memory skills. That part of my comment ( MA-1 Compass) was relative to overall systems "work". By the time I got to Oki I was strictly doing board level repair. I do remember a month at Subic Bay, Philippine's for additional training. Semper Fi !

Rusty ... Have we talked about this??? Being on Oki at the same time?? I spent some time at Schwab ... as I recall, that's where I took my HUMVEE training to get my license and had to do the off-road confidence course there. Fun fun fun!!! The Dragon Wagon guys were doing their training, too, and it was amazing to see those vehicles doing the off-road course!

I spent a lot of time next door at Camp Courtney (9th MEB and 3rdMarDiv HQs -- I was PAO for both... at the same time)

S/F
Grizz

I'm mistaken -- the tactical vehicle licensing courses weren't at Schwab. They were that land locked camp next to Courtney ... I didn't get up to Schwab much ...

Captains are never "wrong"... but occasionally mistaken

Speaking of Oki tour, January 3, 1990 was the start of that tour. Gosh, it was all so thrilling. It was one thing to leave a state but another country? Never ever thought of such things. What a world there is out there. (Or, I should say WAS ... not sure I'd want to venture far from home any more. )

I got there almost exactly 20 years earlier, late December 1969. The SAC detachment at Kadena was launching three B-52's every four hours, 24/7 every day. The usual bomb load was 34 750 pounders in the bomb bay, and 24 500's on the wing pylons. I was on flying status for electronic maintenance, so on occasion, I got to climb aboard and fix the compass system or maybe the autopilot en route to the target. Then we got to come back and check out how many extra holes the plane had. We got lucky- - - -some guys didn't make it back home! The B-52D that's on display at the Air Force Museum in Ohio is one I worked on back then- - - -don't remember if I flew on it, but I watched some of those battle damage patches getting installed!
Jerry

In mid '68 we were launching six B-52D models twice a day a similar bomb load. Plus we had around 60 KC-135 tankers that were re-fueling our B-52s as well as the ones from Guam. We also took care of the autopilots and compass gear on the "Chipmunk", "Hog Nose", the Q model tankers that refueled the SR-71s and other "special" model 135's. Busy place.

Jerry: I went back and looked at the resume I wrote just after getting out in February of 69. You were right, Lear did make the KC-135 autopilot. Kearfott made the N-1 compass system and Kollsman made the AstroTracker.

I thought that was Warrant Officers???

So my boss in Okinawa was really a CWO-4 but had been made a Captain. When I made Captain (REAL), he reverted to CWO-4 so, as a Field Grade equivalent, he didn't have to stand CDO duty at Camp Foster any more -- I could take his place on the roster ... Verifying those Pachencko (Japanese slot machines on base) machines every month sucked.

So as a REAL Captain, he then worked for me (sortta...not really) and I threatened to ding him on his fitness reports. He said go ahead, he would just retire that much earlier and I would have to do *everything* ...

Warrant Officers ... they get you every time.

I dealt with a lot of them in Viet Nam, we had a helicopter unit with us and when off duty I work at the Officers club. Ours were easy to get along with they could not party too late because of early morning sorties

Ron -- Not all Warrant Officers are created equal -- Army warrants and Marine Corps Warrant Officers are two *very* different officers. My cousin is a retired Army CWO-5 and served two combat tours in SEA flying Little Birds (he's never been a terribly sane man ... Most pilots try to *avoid* trees ... ). He then flew in the AL National Guard while being a civilian helo instructor pilot at Ft Rucker.

From my understanding, Army warrants usually have an associate degree and then go to Mother Rucker for their training. And then ALL they do is fly. Just get in the seat and wiggle the sticks for 20 years. Day in and day out. Fly, fly, fly. Nothing else. No "shore" tours (away from flying). Not many collateral duties. Just fly. And then go fly some more. Did you ever meet an Army CWO who *wasn't* a pilot? Do they even exist?

Marine Corps *Chief* Warrant Officers (if you want to believe Rusty or NAPCOMan...) are Deities (Just plain Warrant officers, WO-1s, are slime like the rest of us). We all bow in reverence when one passes. They are (usually...) Staff Sergeants (E-6) or SSgt Selectees (on the promotion list but not yet promoted) before they can be selected for Warrant Officer (and earned their chops in their MOS). And out in the Fleet, USMC Chief Warrant Officers usually hold Company Grade Officer positions (lt/Capt) positions in which you want someone with a lot of experience and skill that a Lt or Capt will not have, but the position does not require a Field Grade officer (Maj/LtCol/Col -- i.e., a lobotomized officer). In the Marine Corps, I have always found Chief Warrant Officers to be real Leadership "force multipliers/torque amplifiers" ... IF one could tolerate their "saltiness" ... .

Thus I thought it a shame when HQMC, in it's "infinite wisdom" disestablished the CWO rank in a lot of MOS's, including mine -- it denied us the ability to put very talented and experienced Marines out in the field in jobs like leading MEU PA detachments, Combat Camera crews, etc. Instead they had to do that with Marines like myself -- exceptionally talented and ruggedly handsome, just lacking the experience ... . Maybe it was just me, but I seemed to detect an absence of awe and reverence when my Marines would address me as "Lt ..." as compared to when they said "Chief Warrant Officer ..."

I would tell you more about the ordinance CWO's (the ones who wear the bursting bomb on their one collar instead of a rank insignia) -- They are called "Gunner." ... but ... NAPCOMan is probably monitoring this thread and today would be a rather inconvenient day for me to spend the rest of it in the ICU ... Suffice it to say that some/a lot of Marines mistakenly call all CWO's "Gunners." The non ordy CWOs will not correct you and just accept the compliment. The REAL Gunners will drop you in your tracks (instead of politely correcting you ...) if they catch you making that faux pas.

So, in short, if you want to go somewhere in a helicopter (and actually arrive safely), choose an Army Warrant Officer.
If you need someone with a crapload of broad real world experience, skill and professionalism (and you don't have any PAO Captains handy ... ) And you've turned your BS detector off, go with a Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer.

Semper Fi,
John

And then there were USAF Warrant Officers! Whatever unit they were assigned to, they ran it. Enough said!

The USAF E-9 who ran the 376th. Avionics Maintenance Squadron at Kadena when I was there had an odd habit when he went to the beach- - - - -he would walk around 10 yards offshore without getting his feet wet! He had been an O-4 in WW II, and got caught up in the RIF program- - - -got reassigned as an E-5 and worked his way back up through the enlisted ranks. The Lt Col squadron commander was just a figurehead- - - - -Chief was the guy who kept things running smoothly!
Jerry

We had an E9 like that in the 70AEMS at Clinton Sherman AFB in western Oklahoma. Helluva guy named Fisher. Somewhere around 32 years service when he retired. Officially ran the Bomb-Nav shop, but really ran the whole squadron.

So there I was in Okinawa ... having to supervise mount out for a deployment to Korea .... Me and my Master Sergeant had to go "inspect" our pallets ... at Camp Courtney -- an afternoon trip from Camp Foster .... So I sez to Top .... "Let's take our scuba gear!" He was scuba qual'd. Top sez "Sir, yes Sir!" We load our scuba gear in the van, head to Camp Courtney, spend 15 minutes inspecting our mount out load and then the rest of the day at Onna Point scuba diving.

At the end of the day, back at Camp Foster, Top tells me I would have been a "Helluva Lance Corporal!" I took that as one of the highest compliments of my career.

John,

In all fairness, I have to speak up and say your info seems a bit lacking. "Did you ever meet an Army CWO who *wasn't* a pilot? Do they even exist?" Yes and Yes! In my Army career, I had the great pleasure of working with and for a number of CWOs (from CW2's to CW5's) in a variety of MOS's including aviation, combat arms and combat service support units. I will agree that Army Pilot Warrants are the bulk of the slots, but just to clarify, here is a current list of Army Warrant MOS's and the "enlisted" MOS's that provide the fodder for filling those needs: Army Warrant Specialties

The Army uses a similar program to the Marine Corps, with Staff Sergeants (E-6) or SGT(P) (E-5s on the promotion list but not yet promoted to E-6) that get selected for training and to to fill such positions throughout the Army. I do know this as I was on such a track as a SSG when Desert Storm deployment pulled the rug from under my feet.

Army Warrants also fill similar Company and even Field Grade Officer slots, although seldom in a command position. More often than not, with the exception of Pilots, most Army Warrants are found running technical specialty shops, staffs or other critical highly technical positions. Absolutely considered "force multipliers"! Anyone that chose not to heed (or even ignored) their shared wisdom soon found themselves on the very short end of a one way conversation (often followed by banishment from whatever position they may have been in).

In conclusion, suffice it to say that your very last sentence (less something-something about PAO Captains??? ) applies equally to Marine Corps and Army Chief Warrant Officers!

No arguments to be had here. Just providing some facts that may have been overlooked.

HOOAH
Dan

My Army CWO friend whose funeral my fellow Patriot Guard Riders and I escorted to a National Cemetery down in central Florida a few years ago was also not a pilot. He spent a few tours in the sand box as a civilian contractor after retiring from the Army as a maintenance supervisor for some pretty high tech modified Ma Deuce machine guns. The guy could really make a .50 cal rock and roll!

I saw a cartoon in Stars and Stripes about 40 years ago that showed an old super sergeant and a young recruit talking. The young troop has a shocked expression on his face, and he's pointing to a guy with about a 2" hole through his head just above the ears. The old sarge says "Naw, son- - - -that man ain't wounded- - - -you've just never seen a Lieutenant with his hat off before!"
Jerry

Well ... Learn something new every day. But to be fair, I did know that (about Army WO's) I had just temporarily misfiled that bit of info in my Brain Housing Group.

So ... Back to Aviation Warrant Officers .... Guess where the Army trains its Test Pilots??? Ft Rucker??? Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Semper Fidelis,
John