Blue Angels, I'll Miss You . . . .

NAS Brunswick -- I remember loading about 4 dozen lobsters into a cargo-converted drop tank on an A-6 in 1974 there and hauling them back to Whidbey Island WA for a squadron lobsterfest.

Are they closing the place completely, or will it, like nearby Pease AFB, be turned into a civilian facility?
 
Ron Levy said:
NAS Brunswick -- I remember loading about 4 dozen lobsters into a cargo-converted drop tank on an A-6 in 1974 there and hauling them back to Whidbey Island WA for a squadron lobsterfest.

Are they closing the place completely, or will it, like nearby Pease AFB, be turned into a civilian facility?
Click to expand...

Although many changes/additions re other industry etc. haven't been decided --
still in planning and development stages -- the airfield has been designated to become a General Aviation airport. No commercial activity as in commuter airlines; but that doesn't rule out the possibility of UPS or FedEx operations. Embry-Riddle will expand its operation; Bowdoin College and U. of Southern Maine(USM) will expand. The Base Realignment Planning Commission (or whatever the local group is called) has been hard at work for several years.

The last squadron to leave for Jacksonville will be in December of 2009. Then the closing procedure shall continue through 2011. It'll certainly sting, but this is a resilient area with Bowdoin College, Bath Iron Works and other attributes.

HR(will probably be in the queue to land on the 8000' #18)

EDIT: I forgot the other Link:
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=208042&ac=PHnws
 
When I was trying to get into a P-3 squadron after my dad died, the only billet available for an AT was at NAS Brunswick. There was six inches of snow on the ground in St. Louis. I learned there were three feet of snow in Brunswick. So, I took a billet at NAS Cecil Field to work on Vikings. ;)

I find it odd that one base is closed and the other is soon to follow. It's kind of sad with all the history at these places... sort of like forgotten heroes.

San Marcos Airport is the old Gary AFB. It's kind of funny to look at the side of the airport and see the remnants of what looks like this tiny town nestled in the corner of the runways. It was a major pilot training center during WWII and the Korean War. A lot of heroes to be came from there. Like I said, a lot of history forgotten...

04284
 
KennyFlys said:
I find it odd that one base is closed and the other is soon to follow. It's kind of sad with all the history at these places... sort of like forgotten heroes.

San Marcos Airport is the old Gary AFB. It's kind of funny to look at the side of the airport and see the remnants of what looks like this tiny town nestled in the corner of the runways. It was a major pilot training center during WWII and the Korean War. A lot of heroes to be came from there. Like I said, a lot of history forgotten...
Click to expand...

I stopped at Fairmont, NE on the way back from the west coast and saw a pair of large hangars, and the ramp was HUGE. Inside, they had pictures of when it was an air base back in WWII, with pictures from the same perspective then and now - The whole thing was some kid's Eagle Scout project. Good on him!

On the way out, I noticed some old cement slabs where buildings used to be, and knew that the big candy cane was really the old water tower.

I've also been to a place in Texas - Odessa or Big Spring or somewhere in that zone - That was an old air base. Part of it had been converted to a GA airport, but the old hangars had been converted to warehouses and the ramp was a giant parking lot.

At least they're getting used for something, and kind of still there.
 
Ghery said:
Look them up here - http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/index.htm

Actually, this web site is rather depressing with all the closed airports it lists. Many make sense, but some just hurt.
Click to expand...

There's a LOT of New Mexico airports on the list, and while it is often sad to read, some are actually happy stories, like the removal of the old Albuquerque Municipal Airport in place of the newly build Albuquerque International Airport (now the Sunport).
 
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