It's a sad day for me...

Today I read that my home base in West Germany, Spangdahlem AB, will cease operations soon...Spang has been home to a number of fighter units beginning in 1953 with a squadron of RF-80's, and currently the F-16's of the host unit, the 52nd Fighter Wing...My experience as most here know was with the F-105's and F-4's of the 49th TFW...The 52nd will now move to Aviano AB in Italy...

The runway is currently listed as 10,023 feet of asphalt, but I remember 13,000 feet of reinforced concrete 36" deep, making it the longest runway in Europe, and capable of landing the biggest and heaviest aircraft of that time...Dave may be interested to know that a number of Tactical Recon Squadrons also nested at Spang flying R, E and W variants of the Douglas B-66 upon which he logged much airtime toward the end of his US Army service...

There were many locals in the surrounding economy who were not friendly toward our presence, nor our mission, but on the whole they benefited from the influx of employment and trade, as well as the protection from the Soviet menace...I have many memories of Spang, both of work and off-duty hours, mostly good, but there were some I was not quite as proud of...Still I wouldn't trade the experience for anything...I'm saddened that changing mission requirements call for a change in locale, but I'm confident the tradition of service will continue...:salute:...Ben

Thanks for the memories Ben.

I saw that in the paper a few days ago. Time marches on :shrug:

On another note---and seen last night in the local paper in a feature of historical happenings--- The crash of a B-25 into the Empire State Building--after it narrowly missed the Chrysler building in heavy fog.

I remember reading about the B-25 crash into the Empire State Building several times after the 9/11 attacks, but somehow I missed the story of the elevator operator surviving her 80 floor fall in the elevator shaft...But only after being rescued from her own burning elevator with injuries from that!...Tough girl...:bigboy:...Ben

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Originally Posted by FredK

Thanks for the memories Ben.

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Atcher service, Fred...:hatoff:...Ben

I feel your pain.. all, 100% every unit that I was a member of during my Navy career has been “disestablished “.. the majority of physicians bases or stations have been closed.. the remaining physical bases have been modified so extensively that there is no longer anything, except the actual ground, that I may point at and say, I was there..

Time rolls on

Thinking triggers odd memories...I'm now wondering how the hole got eventually filled in from the late 1966 event in which an F-105D augered in near the fuel dumps after the pilot ejected...All I remember now is that it was on one of the countless training missions we endured...:boom:...Ben

Past time to let the Euros defend themselves from a threat that does not exist.

I occasionally reflect on my own history---although normally not related to the military. Of the four major nuclear plants I worked on, only one remains in operation---and that is scheduled to shut down in the near future. Makes me think I have to be old! Another major project, the assembly building at the Cape remains in operation although altered and enlarged.

Of my military bases:

Fort Dix is now Joint Base McGuire, Ft Devens Mass, which was the primary school for the Army Security Agency is now inactive.
Fort Geo G Meade where I went to school at the NSA is still going strong and core to our intelligence branches.

As for overseas---obviously where I was in Vietnam is gone and I have no good idea of the multiple bases (camps) where I served while in Korea.

I hear ya Ben, not to the same extent but I kinda felt like that when my high school was burned down in a riot (aka peaceful protest).

Nostalgia does not have a place in foreign affairs decisions. Why have we been dumping ten$ of billion$ into Germany since the Commies imploded only to feel the Germans pissing on our legs? Kurt Schlichter hits it out of the park from my standpoint in this piece —

https://townhall.com/columnists/kurt...enies-n2573540

Btw, isn’t Schlichter a German name?

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Originally Posted by wacojoe

Nostalgia does not have a place in foreign affairs decisions.

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Nostalgia's only value is in memory...Memory's value is in it's application to current decisions...I agree with this quote cherry-picked from the article:

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...Jacksonian perspective that holds that the purpose of our diplomacy and our military power is to promote America’s interests.

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Such efforts can only have value in cyclic waves...If the author is suggesting a movement toward isolationism while still maintaining the power of our military with training and technological advancement with the expectation that it will again be called upon to pull foreign bacon out of the flames of totalitarianism, then I agree with his premise...:2cents:...Ben

Expect the issue to come up if Trump and Biden ever get to debate approaches. There is a decided dichotomy between the two on foreign affairs.

Biden appears to be doing well in the polls when he does not speak. Trump, just the opposite. Maybe Joe should continue to lay low?

Hunter