From Gerry Weiss,
June 18th, 2015
Greetings fellow inhabitants of 667 ac&w squadron. I am Sgt Gerry Wiess, USAF stationed there from December 2nd 1969 thru December 1st 1970. I was transferred there from Shaw AFB, S.C.
I relieved Tech Sgt. Bobby Nix I believe. I was in teletype, and crypto. Major Mussman was commander then, when I arrived that cold December night, after that c-47 flight from Rejkavik.
I was processed in very fast. Landed at 730 am, on the 1st, processed in at Keflavik, rushed over to Reykavik airport, and landed at that air strip 10 miles from Hofn.
I got there about a half an hour after chow hall closed, but they knew I was coming, and fed me, rushed me into the NCO club, and since I had my ball cap on, the MA rang the bell, and I had to buy for everyone. Wasn't so bad. they had a few slots, and I hit for 125 bucks on the quarter machine.
They put me in the Naval barracks that night. No room in the Airmans barracks. this senior chief greeted me, called me a zoomy ( which I had never been called), and welcomed me.
He was a great guy, when he was sober. But man he hated the Air Force after about 5 beers.
They had a black lab there then, but his name was fritters, not Friskie. Over time before they shipped him along with the Navy guys, he became my best friend. They also had that collie mix too. I arrived an A1c, and got my e-4 stripes ( then called buck Sgt) in April 70.
Lt. Guymond Pinix relieved the major in February of 70.
That radio station you had, I believe a 10kilowatt station, serving pretty much only the radar site, was not being used when I arrived. I spent many hours rearranging the records from AFRTS , then started my own DJ show, and called my self GERRY G, AND THE G STOOD FOR GO WITH MORE MUSIC.
Also I relieved a Staff Sgt I cannot remember his name either. but Bobby Nix was one of my nco's at Shaw AFB too.
He left not long after I got there along with that staff Sgt who broke me in, and derosed in January. We then got 4 more teletype operators in the next 4 months. Randy Christensen was my good friend from Chicago. We got an Article 15 when we got drunk at the club one night, and since we were the operators , we originated our own message to Randolph AFB, around October I think, maybe earlier, requesting to be assigned together at Chanute I believe , get discharged together, ( we were a month apart in svc), and we were going to buy a bar, I would send for my wife I married just before I got there, and I would bartend ( I was the talker and comedian), and he would manage the money. Unfortunately, we skipped a lot of important routing indicators/bases, and got woke up early one morning, and the colonel, reprimanded us together, and written up for illegal use of government equipment. We were so hung over. I think we snickered thru the whole ass chewing. But that was the worst of it.
I tell a lot of people, NO I DID NOT SERVE IN VIET NAM, I protected the whole norther hemisphere from a Russian Bear takeover. I tell people who might ask, what was the hardest thing I did up there? I tell em dodging sea gull crap going from barracks to barracks or the gym.
They had just put in a 2 lane bowling alley there, called HAWKINS LANES, which I learned were disassembled from another radar site they shut down up in Aquarrie ( sp ?) So Sgt Hawkins and a lot of guys helped build it. I loved it. If I wasn't in a league, I was setting the semi automatic pin setters.
Got hit a few times by drunken officers, believe it or not.
We had another Airman1st that came up there from Wyoming or Montana, named Gary Pippiin. He drove the truck to Hofn on the milk runs, and brought the Icelandics? mojacks back and forth to man the boilers and heating systems. they loved him, and nicknamed him PIPPY.
He is the only guy I knew, who re-enlisted for 4 more years THERE IN HOFN. He was a gomer pyle type guy, everyone loved him. The friendliest man I knew. Hated to say goodbye to him around Thanksgiving of 70. when they sent you back to Keflavik a week early to deros. I went to the Pentagon from there, and discharged July 22nd 72. I became NCOIC of the crypto vault in the com center at the 2044th com Gp. My wife and I lived in Arlington, had our daughter delivered at Ft. Belvoir, at Dewitt Army Hospital, and then got out 3 months later.
I have a lot of fond memories of Iceland. I volunteered there. How I got interested in Hofn again, was I saw the air forces Iceland ADC patch on ebay.
' I went to my closet, and dug out my diploma they gave you at your DEROS party, which I kept in that tube. I looked at it today. I could not find the patch we wore on our fatigues with the mountain and lightning bolt going thru it, but I kept the pic of the Tiger at the entrance holding a Russian bear.
I remember the July 4th 24 hour softball game. It got up to a whopping 54 degrees, and we wore shorts!!!!!!!!!! I remember the 24 hours of darkness, the northern lights, oh and the BUBBLE CHECKS when the F101 's or F102 Delta Daggers came bellyrolling in off the ocean and splitting the two golf ball scope domes. they would blow a horn, announce they were 10 miles out, and man we would wave as they came thru. Sometimes they would fly around a 2nd time, and come past us at supersonic speeds, UPSIDE DOWN AND give us the finger.
You know, for someone, who hadn't a clue where ICELAND was, at 21 years old, after seeing it on the GLOBE, I couldn't believe how far up north it was.
I told my family during MARS CALLS ( say over Mom), that Santa lived somewhere near to there.
My mother had such a hard time remembering to say OVER.
The fondest memory though, was as a DJ I got a few interested to run the studio too, and over a period of time, our medic, a Master Sgt.would go and do a 4-5 hour show of EASY LISTENING. A captain BELL would participate and play the classical stuff. I played rocknroll and oldies, a Puerto Rican we had played LATIN, another played country and western.
I was in charge of the whole thing. Well one night the reception was SO CRYSTAL CLEAR, SKIES AND AIRWAVES FLAWLESS, we did a 72 hour marathon over July 4th weekend, starting Friday at noon, and played thru Monday at 7.
Everyone loved it. We played it out over the site. Well unknown to us, I WAS WORKING THE COMM CENTER WHEN we got a message from some base IN FREEKING GERMANY, from their commander congratulating the 667th for a very entertaining weekend. Followed by the commander of Air Forces Iceland at Keflavik, thanking us also for an outstanding job. We had a never again window of clarity, and broadcast across the globe.
Colonel Pinix had a commanders call, to thank us all.
So should you like to contact me, go ahead. I have so old Polaroid instants of a lot of shots I have seen from your web site. I do hope you can add these memories to your site. over and out.
[email protected]
June 30, 2015
Hi Joe. thanks for your feed back. maybe it was a 10 watt, v.s. kilowatt, but I loved it in there. the pics I have are Polaroids, and I am not computer savvy. If I can find someone in my family who can get them sent to you, I will. You know I have looked on line, and found an ADC patch, but could not find a 667 patch we wore.
It was over the post office/commanders office/medics office. Some mountains with a lightning bolt thru it.
You know buck Sgt. is no longer. 3 stripers are now Senior Airman. Not a Sgt until 4 stripes. I found my e5 staff stripes in my dress blues. I was suppose to sew them on September 72, when my line number E-5/5level would have come around. You know while up there, we received 1 Presidential unit citation at 2 Outstanding Unit awards.
Not sure what else I can say. Glad I was able to join in. If I figure out how to send em, I will to your email directly. Always wondered what ever happened to ole PIPPY. Heard he married an Icelandic girl.
Gerry Weiss
June 18th, 2015
Greetings fellow inhabitants of 667 ac&w squadron. I am Sgt Gerry Wiess, USAF stationed there from December 2nd 1969 thru December 1st 1970. I was transferred there from Shaw AFB, S.C.
I relieved Tech Sgt. Bobby Nix I believe. I was in teletype, and crypto. Major Mussman was commander then, when I arrived that cold December night, after that c-47 flight from Rejkavik.
I was processed in very fast. Landed at 730 am, on the 1st, processed in at Keflavik, rushed over to Reykavik airport, and landed at that air strip 10 miles from Hofn.
I got there about a half an hour after chow hall closed, but they knew I was coming, and fed me, rushed me into the NCO club, and since I had my ball cap on, the MA rang the bell, and I had to buy for everyone. Wasn't so bad. they had a few slots, and I hit for 125 bucks on the quarter machine.
They put me in the Naval barracks that night. No room in the Airmans barracks. this senior chief greeted me, called me a zoomy ( which I had never been called), and welcomed me.
He was a great guy, when he was sober. But man he hated the Air Force after about 5 beers.
They had a black lab there then, but his name was fritters, not Friskie. Over time before they shipped him along with the Navy guys, he became my best friend. They also had that collie mix too. I arrived an A1c, and got my e-4 stripes ( then called buck Sgt) in April 70.
Lt. Guymond Pinix relieved the major in February of 70.
That radio station you had, I believe a 10kilowatt station, serving pretty much only the radar site, was not being used when I arrived. I spent many hours rearranging the records from AFRTS , then started my own DJ show, and called my self GERRY G, AND THE G STOOD FOR GO WITH MORE MUSIC.
Also I relieved a Staff Sgt I cannot remember his name either. but Bobby Nix was one of my nco's at Shaw AFB too.
He left not long after I got there along with that staff Sgt who broke me in, and derosed in January. We then got 4 more teletype operators in the next 4 months. Randy Christensen was my good friend from Chicago. We got an Article 15 when we got drunk at the club one night, and since we were the operators , we originated our own message to Randolph AFB, around October I think, maybe earlier, requesting to be assigned together at Chanute I believe , get discharged together, ( we were a month apart in svc), and we were going to buy a bar, I would send for my wife I married just before I got there, and I would bartend ( I was the talker and comedian), and he would manage the money. Unfortunately, we skipped a lot of important routing indicators/bases, and got woke up early one morning, and the colonel, reprimanded us together, and written up for illegal use of government equipment. We were so hung over. I think we snickered thru the whole ass chewing. But that was the worst of it.
I tell a lot of people, NO I DID NOT SERVE IN VIET NAM, I protected the whole norther hemisphere from a Russian Bear takeover. I tell people who might ask, what was the hardest thing I did up there? I tell em dodging sea gull crap going from barracks to barracks or the gym.
They had just put in a 2 lane bowling alley there, called HAWKINS LANES, which I learned were disassembled from another radar site they shut down up in Aquarrie ( sp ?) So Sgt Hawkins and a lot of guys helped build it. I loved it. If I wasn't in a league, I was setting the semi automatic pin setters.
Got hit a few times by drunken officers, believe it or not.
We had another Airman1st that came up there from Wyoming or Montana, named Gary Pippiin. He drove the truck to Hofn on the milk runs, and brought the Icelandics? mojacks back and forth to man the boilers and heating systems. they loved him, and nicknamed him PIPPY.
He is the only guy I knew, who re-enlisted for 4 more years THERE IN HOFN. He was a gomer pyle type guy, everyone loved him. The friendliest man I knew. Hated to say goodbye to him around Thanksgiving of 70. when they sent you back to Keflavik a week early to deros. I went to the Pentagon from there, and discharged July 22nd 72. I became NCOIC of the crypto vault in the com center at the 2044th com Gp. My wife and I lived in Arlington, had our daughter delivered at Ft. Belvoir, at Dewitt Army Hospital, and then got out 3 months later.
I have a lot of fond memories of Iceland. I volunteered there. How I got interested in Hofn again, was I saw the air forces Iceland ADC patch on ebay.
' I went to my closet, and dug out my diploma they gave you at your DEROS party, which I kept in that tube. I looked at it today. I could not find the patch we wore on our fatigues with the mountain and lightning bolt going thru it, but I kept the pic of the Tiger at the entrance holding a Russian bear.
I remember the July 4th 24 hour softball game. It got up to a whopping 54 degrees, and we wore shorts!!!!!!!!!! I remember the 24 hours of darkness, the northern lights, oh and the BUBBLE CHECKS when the F101 's or F102 Delta Daggers came bellyrolling in off the ocean and splitting the two golf ball scope domes. they would blow a horn, announce they were 10 miles out, and man we would wave as they came thru. Sometimes they would fly around a 2nd time, and come past us at supersonic speeds, UPSIDE DOWN AND give us the finger.
You know, for someone, who hadn't a clue where ICELAND was, at 21 years old, after seeing it on the GLOBE, I couldn't believe how far up north it was.
I told my family during MARS CALLS ( say over Mom), that Santa lived somewhere near to there.
My mother had such a hard time remembering to say OVER.
The fondest memory though, was as a DJ I got a few interested to run the studio too, and over a period of time, our medic, a Master Sgt.would go and do a 4-5 hour show of EASY LISTENING. A captain BELL would participate and play the classical stuff. I played rocknroll and oldies, a Puerto Rican we had played LATIN, another played country and western.
I was in charge of the whole thing. Well one night the reception was SO CRYSTAL CLEAR, SKIES AND AIRWAVES FLAWLESS, we did a 72 hour marathon over July 4th weekend, starting Friday at noon, and played thru Monday at 7.
Everyone loved it. We played it out over the site. Well unknown to us, I WAS WORKING THE COMM CENTER WHEN we got a message from some base IN FREEKING GERMANY, from their commander congratulating the 667th for a very entertaining weekend. Followed by the commander of Air Forces Iceland at Keflavik, thanking us also for an outstanding job. We had a never again window of clarity, and broadcast across the globe.
Colonel Pinix had a commanders call, to thank us all.
So should you like to contact me, go ahead. I have so old Polaroid instants of a lot of shots I have seen from your web site. I do hope you can add these memories to your site. over and out.
[email protected]
June 30, 2015
Hi Joe. thanks for your feed back. maybe it was a 10 watt, v.s. kilowatt, but I loved it in there. the pics I have are Polaroids, and I am not computer savvy. If I can find someone in my family who can get them sent to you, I will. You know I have looked on line, and found an ADC patch, but could not find a 667 patch we wore.
It was over the post office/commanders office/medics office. Some mountains with a lightning bolt thru it.
You know buck Sgt. is no longer. 3 stripers are now Senior Airman. Not a Sgt until 4 stripes. I found my e5 staff stripes in my dress blues. I was suppose to sew them on September 72, when my line number E-5/5level would have come around. You know while up there, we received 1 Presidential unit citation at 2 Outstanding Unit awards.
Not sure what else I can say. Glad I was able to join in. If I figure out how to send em, I will to your email directly. Always wondered what ever happened to ole PIPPY. Heard he married an Icelandic girl.
Gerry Weiss