The Dogs of H-3

Dogs were a permanent part of the morale builders at H-3.  While I was stationed there, there were four dogs .  Pictured above is Friskie, He was most definitely the "King of H-3".  He could go most anywhere he wanted and one of his loyal "subjects" would always be available to hold the door open or to get "King Friskie" some delicious snack.  "The King" could also take a rest and survey his kingdom as is shown here.

Late update:  From our lone Navy representative, Paul James, I have received news and pictures to let me know that there were a few pups born at H-3 in our time there.  The  pictures on the second row are courtesy of Paul.

H-3 also had the two site cats. Fred was the secretive female. A small tiger cat, she could only be coaxed out from under the tower or from the ceilings when you opened a can of sardines. If you put the can down and stepped away, she would come a grab a piece and then go back in hiding.

Judy, the male, (Yes, we were getting a little bit weird here.) was a friendly black tom. He would visit you whenever he felt like it. He was especially social on the mid-shift.  He would sometimes lay atop the dummy load for the standby search radar channel.  This dummy load took the place of an antenna and dissipated the power being generated while the standby channel was undergoing tests or just idling.  It made for a nice warm location up high from which Judy could survey his "kingdom".

Courtesy of Barry Aistop we have a video of the "Dogs of H-3"  Note: Some web browsers do not handle this file format very well.  I suggest saving the download and then using VLC player to view the video.  I will be trying to make this file more adaptable to multiple browsers but till then......(VLC Player is available as a free download from http://www.videolan.org/index.html 

Dogs of H-3

Paul also gave us some updated info about the names that were used by the Navy and Air Force guys for the dogs:

Looks like the Navy & Air Force gave different names to the same dogs.
Fritters & Brownie had two offspring which the AF guys named Blackie and Queen.  The Navy guys called these same dogs GJ (aka Blackie) and Ginger (aka Queen).  GJ was named by someone that lived in Grand Junction and he was the dog in the back seat of the truck.  GJ (aka Blackie} was a shy/friendly dog that mostly hung out in the Navy barracks.   The things that I remember most about GJ & Ginger was that if you went for a walk they would always appear from out of nowhere and walk with you.  It was also amazing how GJ was able to jump up and catch a low flying bird right out of the air.

Hope I didn't confuse you with the names.

Paul James

Video of the Dogs of H-3

Someone had taken the time to "potty train" Brownie. She would climb up on a toilet and "do her thing". She never did get the hang of flushing after she was done.

Here Friskie was visiting my room.

Friskie was Marty Chevian's constant companion. Here he waits for Marty so they can make the garbage run together.

Here is "Ginger. She was a daughter of "Friskie" and "Brownie". She was adopted by the fifteen or so Navy troops who manned the Comm Station at Hofn. Although she was a "Navy Dog", she still felt free to visit anywhere on the site that she wanted.

This is Samantha (Sammy for short). She is one of Brownie's pups that the Navy guys adopted. She spent a lot of time in the Navy barracks mooching food. P. James

"Blackie was the son of "Frisky" and "Brownie". He was the least dominant of the four dogs but he was a very friendly little pooch once he got to know and trust you.

Frank Scariano, Commanding Officer of H-3 from June 66 to June 67 sent along this picture titled, "Mojo & Me".

Thanks to Marty Chevian, we now have a picture of the fourth dog of H-3. Brownie was a small Icelandic sheep dog who was near and dear to all the Airmen at H-3. Brownie was the mother of both Ginger and Blackie. One day Brownie vanished. In spite of a search party which looked along the sea coast and searched the entire site, Brownie was never seen . To this day I still have no idea of what happened to Brownie.

From Paul James, This is Bessie. She is Gingers first born. I took care of her the last couple of months that I was at H3 so she spent a lot of time in my room. I wanted to bring her home with me but the Navy wouldn't allow it.

Friskie and Blackie, a father and son, were the two male dogs of H-3. Friskie was in charge and he made sure that Blackie knew it.

Here he found a stick! He would "pay" for the treats that he received by going outside and bringing back a stick. Who ever was in the Day Room then bought him a "Slim Jim" sausage or such.

"Major Frisky Fritters", The "Top Dog" of the site when I was stationed at H-3. He was the undisputed Alpha Dog. His mate was "Brownie", a little Icelandic Sheepdog. Brownie vanished one day and we never did see her again.

This is another photo of Ginger. She used to like to take walks with just about anyone. This photo was taken at H3 at the rocky cliffs near the lighthouse. P. James