This will appear to be a very disjointed series of tales which it is .
The general concensus is that my links can fill everyone in in our modern Coast Guard Air,
and that I should just tell Sea Stories about the olden days. I guess I have been out of the
loop for a long time. As a matter of fact I have had another whole career since I retired.If
anyone more recent to CG Air wants to throw anything in here I would be more than glad
to give you some space.
If someone had told me I was going to be doing this someday I would have kept notes.
The Navy fulfilled my needs to sail the seven seas but trying to get to fly wasn't in the cards.I ended up in an F6F squadron which got F9F's shortly after I arrived.
Carrier duty was exciting and seeing the world was a bonus.BUT!!
I wanted to fly.By begging and whining I did get to fly in
several aircraft but only as baggage.I did get to fly in the back
of a jet trainer a couple of times which was one of my thrills of
a lifetime.I had been filled in on the really good possibilities
of being able to fly in the Coast Guard so needless to say I
sewed a shield on my sailor suit and there I was.
As far as sea duty on a carrier goes don't ever let anyone tell you it was always smooth sailing.We hit several good storms and we rocked and rolled baby!!!!!!!!waves so high they came over the flight deck and water showered down from the elevator shaft.I will say it was better than being on the tin cans that were following in our wake, that were under more than they were over.
Red sky in the morning,sailor take warning.Red sky at night,sailors delight.(I just threw that in because of my background)
CGAS Salem Was my first introduction to the air arm.Until my aviation rating was approved I worked on the boat crew.
The biggest part of our job was sweeping
the sea lane so our planes could make water takeoffs and landings
also putting lighted buoys out for night operations.We also did a
little patroling and rescue work.It was fun but still not flying.In
due time my approval came and I was officially an airdale.
Salem Air Station was on a small piece of land named Winter Island.It was particularly fun in the winter as you can see by the picture of the men digging out from one of the frequent winter storms.The helos could take off from the ramp, but all the aircraft needed to be launched from the ramp to the water.
Air Detachment Quonset Point RI was rhe
answer to some of these problems and later on I will tell you
about my second tour at Salem and our early,early morning trips
to Beverly airport.
Well my tour at Salem was short lived and I went to AR&SB(now AR&SC) in Elizabeth City NC.This was where we overhauled,repaired and retrofitted our aircraft.
While there I worked in the fabrication shop and the hull crew(it was called hull crew from the seaplanes)
Getting to fly was still a problem as
the repair base was not an operational unit but between flights
there and at the air station across the fence I managed to get in
some flying.I even went down the road to Weeksville to the blimp
base and got some flights there.(Un Der Gassenbag).
Do you know blimp hangars were so large it could rain inside?Yep!!
There isn't a lot to say about being at the Repair Base except that the work I did there put me in good shape to do a better job at my next unit.Knowing how to field strip an airplane comes in handy.
There is one thing I would like to say on second thought.
The quality of the maintenance at
AR&SB was excellant.Both Coast Guard personel and the
civilian workers there took great pride in their work.The
information and skills passed on to us by those folks helped turn
out quality maintenance men for the field.
If the part about sewing a shield on my sailor suit is confusing,at the time I went into the Coast Guard the only way you could tell CG from Navy was a shield on the sleeve of our uniform.
At times it was really disheartining to
have folks ask"hey sailor whats the thing on your sleeve
mean?"Depending on our moods many replies were given.Not all
proper.
My best one was to tell folks I was crew on the Presidential Yatch the Williamsburg.
Before I leave here,talking about Salem .1952 UFO sighting at CGAS Salem Mass. Beam me up Scotty!!!!!!!!!!
Bad enough that you have to worry about colliding with one of those Salem Witches zooming around.Now we have little green men invadeing our airspace.
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