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Alumni Memories of Peshawar Air Station To have your special memory and photo of your days at PAS included in this page, please send via e-mail to the Webmaster |
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Alumni Memories of Peshawar Air Station To have your special memory and photo of your days at PAS included in this page, please send via e-mail to the Webmaster |
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 Gary
Rutledge, Able Flight, 292x1, 7/66 - 10/67
. . . . . . Arriving in Pakistan in mid
July from Alaska (where my blood had significantly thickened) was a real
shock on the system in more ways than one. The C-141 departed
Charleston AFB and, after layovers at Torrejon and Dhahran, deposited us
for 3-4 days in Karachi where we had a chance to 'enjoy' the local economy
before boarding our PIA flight to Peshawar. Within days, while
confined to temporary quarters with other new arrivals similarly stricken
with dysentery, I laid in this hot, dusty open barracks, too weak to eat
or even go to the dispensary to get my ration of 'break fluid' -
which, fortunately, finally did the trick. Upon recovery, I was
assigned to Able Flight and quickly got back to 'pounding dits'. The
daily work assignment and hanging out at the pool, the club, playing
softball for the Able Animals, and an occasional venture to Peshawar,
Kabul, The Pass and Swat soon became part of the routine.
Numerous improvements took place during my tour beginning with the opening of a new 10 lane (maybe 12) air conditioned bowling alley. Able was working the day shift when we transitioned into the new Ops building in early 1967 - man, that place was cold - we kept our field jackets at work. We also moved into new dorms in '67. The quarters were actually quite nice and were appropriately christened when the first floor sewers (my floor) backed up after the first week. Seems the Pak workers didn't know the effects of discarding construction debris in to the sewer system. Curiously, from that day on, our dorms took on an aroma similar to that which was found on a trip to downtown Peshawar. Overall, a memorable place that was made tolerable thanks to the importance of the mission and the friendship of a great bunch of guys. (Send e-mail) |
 Dave
Dillon, 2008th Comm. Squadron, 291x0, 02/67 - 03/68
. . . . . . . I remember happy hour at
the enlisted men's club. I can't remember the hour but, I do
remember it was free! There was one helluva lot of drinking at good
old PAS. I remember receiving my ration card and, because I was only
18, they used to snip the alcohol portion off! But, I was able to be
served at the club. I remember the cheap cigarettes. That was
when I really started to smoke. (Now a total abstainer of tobacco) I
remember walking across the street to go to work and seeing beggars and
snake charmers with the cobras coming up out of the baskets. I
remember the house boys that we had in the barracks. They were
pretty decent, only expecting extra money for extra things that they did,
like shining shoes. I remember the Consolidated Mail Room and the
days that mail would come in. It used to get pretty crowded. I
sure remember the scenery. It seemed as though we were completely
surrounded by mountains. It sure got hot in the summer and pretty
cold, too, in the winter time. I remember leaving Peshawar and
seeing the mountains for the last time. I was ready to go! |
 Milt
Fulghum, Able Flight, 294x0, 12/67 - 02/69
. . . . . . . The odor that hit as soon
as we landed in Karachi; The kids begging along the streets; The embassy
forgetting that we had arrived and were waiting for transport; The itty
bitty site in the middle of nowhere; The very interesting work; The very
boring off duty time; Writing long letters home; Trips to the Khyber Pass;
Great fun during shift breaks; Viewing a solar eclipse; Mill worms in the
grits one night; Powdered eggs when the weather kept the C-141 from
landing; Nightmares about Pak riots; Having to lay over in Lahore when
shipping out because the nightmare came true. (Send
e-mail) |
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I remember the yellow flag flying when mail was received, sometimes we would go weeks without receiving mail, but it sure was a lot of fun reading a bunch of letters all at once. The IHTFP (I have truly found paradise) incident happened in July 1962, cause my roommate Jimmy Cooper & I had taken a picture of each other holding a sign that had IHTFP written on it & the date on the picture was July 1962 & the incident happened a couple of weeks after that. (We didn’t do it). As I remember there was a period of time (not sure how long) that the American Flag wasn’t flown, but I remember the Pak Flag flying, and once a marching band with bagpipes came to the station & we gathered at the football field and they had the American Flag covered with brown paper & when the band started marching & playing the brown paper was removed & everyone went completely wild – not many dry eyes in the crowd. Remember one shift when a lot of things were happening & we had a new Lt. Flight Commander that had just arrived & he was getting in everyone’s way & got his feet tangled in cords & fell to floor & “Luke” Lucarelli (best 202 ever) got a chair, brought it over & asked (told) him to sit down & stay out of the way. – he did. Remember burn detail on mid shift & Lt. wanted us to move the wire container that coke cans were in, because he thought a piece of paper might be in it. No one wanted to do it & finally he moved it himself & we were holding flashlight so he could see & the biggest Cobra snake ever was underneath. We got the sawed off shotgun from the AP at guard gate & I got to shoot it. Remember when the Paks were rioting against us with axes, shovels, picks, sticks & anything else they could get their hands on. I think it was over a movie being made about the Moslem Religion & they thought were had something to do with it. Remember that the Pak that took care of our room, shined our shoes, etc. told Cooper & myself on day that he had now become a Christian & the next day the AP’s coming to the swimming pool & getting Cooper & myself because they had stopped him at the guard gate & he had a sack filled with our stuff from the room (record player, clock, cigarettes, etc). |
 Kenneth J.
Scobel, 2008 Comm.
Squadron, 30434, 12/66 - 03/68 .
. . . . . . I left the States on December 23rd 1966, and had to spend
Christmas in Karachi. That was probably the worst Christmas in my life! Within
the next couple days I was at Peshawar. Talk about culture
shock! Karachi was bad enough, but when I saw the town of Peshawar, I was
really aghast at how people lived there. The first thing that hit you was the smell, and then the sights around town such as the
open meat markets, complete with flies. I had never seen such conditions, it
made me glad I was born in America.
I was assigned to the 2008 Communication Squadron, my PAFSC was 30434 Ground Radio Repair. I worked at the Receiver Site located some distance from the Base, I don't remember how far. We had to take a bus, typically driven by one of the locals, out to the site every day. Most days were uneventful, but some scared the crap out of everybody. One time we passed an oncoming vehicle so close that the side view mirrors hit, destroying them. We also had to cross a dry river bed to get to the site. In the Spring when the rainy season hit, that river bed could become a raging torrent, sometimes stranding us at the site for a couple days. We tried to cross one time, and the bus stalled in the middle of the river. Everybody stripped to there underwear and managed to get safely to dry land. I don't remember how we got back to the base, we must have had a radio. During my "off" time, I would help out at the Motor Pool, sometimes delivering water to the transmitter and receiver sites, I loved that big yellow truck. I also remember driving people to Dean's Hotel and/or the airport in town. It was interesting driving on the wrong side of the road. It was even more interesting driving a right hand drive vehicle with a floor shift. I could never get used to shifting with my left hand, but I managed somehow. I remember the many power outages, during which some guys would sit in the showers to cool off in the summer. I remember card games till dawn, scorpions, cobras, the Khyber Pass, "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", and "My Baby, Sent Me A Letter", the most favorite songs. Does anyone remember "Nature Boy"?? He was a Pak in town who used to run around town naked, dragging his cloak behind him. About 5 years ago, I ran across a Retired Air Force Colonel, I forget his name, but he was one of the people responsible for setting up the Base in the early 60's. He is the only person I have met since my duty there who was actually knowledgeable of it. We had some interesting conversation during the three days we were working together. All in all, it was good duty, except for the long time away from home. |
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When I left, I thought I would be returning after a short stay in Madrid, Spain at the hospital. That wasn't the case as I was shipped to Wiesbaden Germany from Madrid, then on to Andrews AFB in the states. I only regret that I didn't get to say goodbye to the guys who made my short stay more pleasant. I made some good friends, but now can't remember any names, other than Gary Rutledge. If anyone remembers me, I would like to hear from you. I had two really good roommates, but to this day, can't remember their names. Both were 2T Staffs and were great guys. I also roomed with Terry Pollitt, whom I don't remember, but was reminded by him, that I did. ha ha I look back on the experience as one of humility and only have to say one thing about the guys who stayed their full tour and that is I take my hat off to you guys, as that had to be one of God's biggest mistakes!! (Send e-mail)
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My
first assignment there was at the Receiver Site. For all the people at the Main Site that never got to ride
the bus there/back daily, you never saw dust boiling up through every door and
window crack and into your nostrils like that trip. Luckily for me, I was fresh out of Tech School as a
re-trained 30430 (SSgt) and they couldn’t really give me 5 level training, so
after a week or so I returned to the Main Site (Allah Akbar!). It was a little interesting at the receiver site though,
there were camel caravans going by occasionally, w/ lots of guys in their 7 day
shitters w/full bandoliers, and long rifles.
HERDS! of those heavy and long-tailed sheep. My
buddy (from first paragraph) and I kept in touch,
though he was in 6937th.
He knew the guy that ran the BX TV/radio
repair shop concession and started
working there. His friend left
shortly after we got there, so he took me in as a partner to provide some needed electronics
knowledge. Not long after
that SSgt Tom Kelly came to the 2008th and became the 3rd
partner. He had had TV/radio shops
in the past and became the real electronics brains of the shop.
The 6937th guy
had family troubles back in US and was reassigned back there (or discharged ?)
after about 4-5 months.. Wish I
could remember even part of his
name! There might be a few of
you would remember me from that shop. I
visited Tom and family (they were also in Peshawar, in town)
I visited them at Zweibruecken AB Germany in 1970 while my daughter was
visiting me at Feldberg Radio Relay Site (approx. 25 mi NW of Frankfurt) my last
assgmt. before retiring in Aug 1972.. I remember going to visit the Kellys in Peshawar on the base bus and seeing a horse down on the road, still between the shafts and harness and 2 Paks beating on it. About 2 hrs later bus went by again, and there was the slaughtered horse being sold for meat (there were a couple or so flies around too!). My first impression of the Paks was that I had never seen “dusty” people before. Seems like almost ALL were. I Also remember leaving an inside public latrine in beautiful downtown Peshawar and watching a father show his kid how to pee on the wall (outside!). Along w/Scobel, I also remember seeing “Nature Boy” (several times in fact). I learned how to say “get out of here!” in Urdu and was using it to a bunch of beggar kids outside Dean’s (?) Hotel when a couple men speaking English said I was the one that should “get out”, not the kids and acted threateningly, but the big gate guard came out and broke it up and took me inside (where he told me he didn’t disagree w/the men ….. in fact, I had to agree w/them as to my “getting out”. As the song went, “We got to get out of this place”! I remember the 110+ Summer and having to wear winter parkas inside the site which was kept at (I thing) 68F. Don't know if it was like that where the 6937th personnel were. Didn't ever get into that part. I loved to watch the Paks fixing flats (my own a couple time) outside the base on the public road w/o removing the wheel or tire from the bike, just what was necessary. I
remember a meeting at the base theater w/the base commander telling all us
uncouth unaccompanied swine to stop moaning and groaning and making remarks
about a sexy (for the 1960’s!) scene during a movie, when the dependents were
in attendance. I also remember the
noisy generators running over in the housing area to keep those same dependents
cool, while we did w/o electricity in the barracks.
Like
a couple of the other’s comments that I got the chance to read, over the
years, I too would have liked to see what happened to the Station.
Not any lengthy visit, just see it and get the hell out of there.
My description to one and all I have talked to about there is, “Going out the Base Gate was like going a 1000 years into
the past.” That reminds me,
with all the current fuss about the Burkas, when I think of how the only part
you could see of MOST of the women was their feet, you might not want to see the
rest. I have to admit though that I
saw many good looking women in Karachi w/o burkas (naturally). |
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I’d previously traveled across India, but never got into the really remote areas, so the poverty and filth that presented itself at Peshawar was really an eye-opener. Paid special attention to the Army transportation officer who met us in Karachi, and when he told us to eat only at the Embassy snack bar or the Intercontinental Hotel, I knew well enough to follow his advice to the letter. Still didn’t do any good, because after partying out that first night, I not only had a monstrous hang-over but a good case of the scoots as well. Have to admit that the military aspect of the assignment was a breeze and quite welcome after leaving a spit and polish (read: Chickensh!t) assignment in the States. From this standpoint, PAS was a good way to finish up my hitch as a Blue-suiter. I worked in the Accounting and Finance Office and did some of my time over in the Ops compound where the mainframe computer - The "Mighty Mouse" Burroughs 263 - was located. I took Fred Cox’s place in Accounts Control, which was a pretty hard act to follow. For those who remember the band Six Below Zero, Fred was the lead singer and a pretty popular guy around the station. Along with a few of my cohorts, I tried to help speed up the time by working long hours in an attempt to bring the efficiency rating of the office back up to speed. Drew some satisfaction from reading the circular from the Comptroller of USAFE to the effect- "We are pleased to notice an improvement in the performance of the 6937th". Faint praise perhaps, but better than nothing. We had been rated dead last when I arrived there. Had a great bunch of guys to work with. Capt. Ed Biron was the A&F officer and had been a navigator on a B-52 before he got grounded for some reason. Msgt Leo Carlisle came in shortly after as NCOIC and along with a few other guys like Ron Neisler, Mike DeMarco, and Dwayne Wilkerson, we swung into getting fewer gigs on our work. We didn’t like being in Peshawar, but we didn’t like being in last place either. Have to thank my computer operators, Mike Mulloy and Jim Matter, for helping improve our data accuracy and showing me how to do a few things besides run a key-punch. Came in handy down the line. Apart from work, I also put in long hours at the NCO Annex, where I did my best to run up the price of Jack Daniels stock. Man, there was a lot of drinking went on at that place, and if I’d continued that life-style much longer I would have had a serious problem. I did do most of the outside trips to Landi Kotal, Old City Peshawar, Kabul, etc. But once I’d been there it was pretty much of a bore and hardly worth the trip back. Looking back, I do get a laugh about some of the features of daily life - seeing Nature Boy on the trips into town, watching the various Snake charmers, bear trainers and other animal acts outside the main gate. I particularly remember one guy who had just bought a new camera and was using it to film Sahib handle his cobra. Sahib had the snake wrapped around his neck, and when the guy started loading up film, Sahib stepped up for a closer look. The GI looked up and found himself eye-ball to eye-ball with a cobra less than a foot away. The film and the brand new Asahi Pentax went flying. I don’t think Sahib got much of a fee for his performance that day. All in all, a very interesting experience. As one guy put it, "it was worth a million bucks, but I wouldn’t want another nickel of it". I still have a little GI distress from time to time to remind me of my tour of duty. My Dad caught dysentery in Burma in WW II and it haunted him for the rest of his life, so I might have to put up with it as well. I did have one recurring dream for the next 25 years, especially around the anniversary of my discharge date. In this dream, I’m still in Peshawar, still a GI, and still waiting for my walking papers. I keep explaining that my hitch was up years ago, but I’m told that I’ll have to wait here until it gets straightened out. Haven’t had that one in a few years. Not sure if that means anything or not. |
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I remember the Charlie Flight Coffee club in our barracks day room. We had a party just about every night after swings, we even had a roster on who would leave ops early and get Ice from the Chow Hall for the Beer. I remember Operations and hangovers--one burn bag for classified and one for emergency upchucking . . . I swore so many times as the dits and dahs were blasting my aching brain a result from to much Purple Jesus, or cold beer, that I would never have another drink again, that thought diminished as soon as I hit the barracks. I remember the Earthquake . . . . I was on burn detail and the whole darn burn oven jumped up and down . . . . that was the big one in 1962 ( or one of the big ones) all the guys that had been stationed in Misawa knew what was going on, they came out of ops in a real big hurry. Oh yea remember the bottle of Jim Beam in the toilet in the ops building ? I do, there for clearing the mind I guess. The one eyed houseboy PUNDAT --what a scary looking guy he was---but he could really put a shine on my shoes, one of the houseboys were stealing our cig's so we packed a cig with toenails and fingernails, and put it on the table in our room, it went missing later in the day------funny no cigs were ever taken from our room again. I remember my roommate Norman Jamieson falling asleep at the pool during a last mid beer bust--he was burned to a crisp, and we all know what would have happened if he reported to the dispensary---we soaked that guy in the shower room for hours--getting his body temp down--that poor guy went to work and suffered for weeks, but he made it and kept his stripe . . . . . . Norm where in the heck are you anyway?? I remember my roommates Norman Jamieson, Larry Mayes both great guys and I have been trying to locate these guys for many years. Trips to Rawalpindi, Khyber Pass, Thieves Den, Lahore, but most of all I just remember the people I served with, we were a mixture of young and older Air Force enlisted and Officers, assigned to a God forsaken part of the world, there to do a job, a job that was important to the security of our homeland. Every person there was a 100 percent dedicated to the MISSION. Hours of getting our brains busted by those never ending dits and dah's. . . . . I can still hear them. The 202's, the 203', the 292x2's, we all did our best and we were the best. Whoever reads this, I just want to say to all those guys that were sent to the 6937th regardless of what years, BROTHER YOU DID YOUR DUTY AND YOU DID IT WELL. GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU. |
Robert
Johnston, Baker Trick, Radio Op., 03/63 - 06/64 . . . . . . . . I
was there from '63 to '64 as a member of "Baker" trick. I
was a radio operator in the compound.
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 Ned
Bohach, 292x2, Oct 59 - Sep 60 . . . . . . . Wow
after 45 years one's mind is clouded to say the least. I was there
from Fall of 59 to Fall of 60. A very primitive place when we
arrived but it was fun watching it grow. Pool and gym were being
built but not completed while I was there. I recall the softball
leagues we had, the outdoor basketball pick-up games we had and the
bowling alley. Many trips to Peshawar and the damn site for
swimming. Also a trek to Khyber Pass which I have many photos of.
I recall the haircuts outside, taking our chairs on top the barracks to
sun tan. Walking across the road at night to the compound with Packie
guards on duty. Watching the Pak army camped outside our site, as
they did cal every day and slept in tents, while we drank beer in our
barracks, kept it cold by wiring up the grate in front of the air
conditioner and setting our beer in front of it. The Packies who
worked in our barracks loved our booze and we used to get them drunk and
see which one would fall of his bike first. I recall the first
time I exchanged money on the black market, jez it was about 10/1
instead of 4/1, was a scary ordeal but became commonplace after that.
We rode a tonga all the way from town back to the base one day, whatta
trip that was. Great experiences, life long in nature, not one I'd
want to do again, but is priceless.
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 Dick
Gubala, 292x1, Jan. 67 - Apr 68 . . . . . . .
Upon notification of my upcoming fifteen
month remote tour of duty as a Morse Intercept Operator with the U.S.
Air force in Peshawar, Pakistan, I tried to find out what this country
was all about: Books were obtained which strengthened my belief
that the people were poor, sickly, and favored the Chinese and Russians
but could tolerate "rich Americans". The trip from the U.S. to
Saudi Arabia to Karachi, Pakistan to Peshawar was uneventful but did
result in a very unpleasant weeklong bout with dysentery after ignoring
warnings not to eat or drink anything outside of the U.S. Embassies
during the trip.In an effort to learn more about the country and it's people, I made contact with a local bus-tour service and proceeded to set up trips to Khyber Pass, museums, mosques, resorts, etc., for anyone who wanted to go off-base and avoid boredom. The first trip to the Pass was a shock, with the bus driver reciting a list of don'ts" which lasted ten minutes. Once we arrived, I could ss why he was so strong with his warnings. Every native carried a firearm and watched every move we made. As far as I was concerned, they could have this barren, hilly, drab, dry country. Our first friendly encounter with the local natives followed at a picture-taking session at the border crossing of Pakistan and Afghanistan. We finally talked the border guards from each country into a posing forr picture, even though two guards were shot a few days earlier in a border skirmish. Some of the things that I can still remember are:
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Don
Barbee, Dog Flight, 292x1, 12/61 - 03/63 . . . . . . . . Just watched
the movie “Thirteen Days” about the Cuban Missile Crisis and it sure
brought back a lot of memories of October 1962 at Peshawar.
Mike
Jones (Jonsey), Able Flight, 292x1, 2/67 - 5/67
. . . . . . . As
I arrived in Pakistan all I could think of was, why me! I had heard some
pretty bad things from other guys who had come from Pakistan, and I was expecting
to see the worst. I got what I was expecting, and then some. Although
my stay in Pak. was a short lived one, due to an illness, I was very much glad
to leave. I was there from Feb. 67 to May 67. I remember playing softball with
Gary Rutledge on the Able Flight team. We also went to Swat for a fishing
trip, we thought. Not long after we arrived, a bunch of the local militia
confiscated all our gear, food, and most everything that was of any value, took
a couple guys away to see someone, can't remember who, we thought they were
going to kill us, then made us leave. The best I can remember, we did get to
stay a little while, but it was not the vacation trip we had planned on having.
I believe our guide did some tall talking to get us away.
Mike
Yoder, Accounting and Finance Office, 67151, 12/67 - 03/69.
. . . . . . . What can one say about Peshawar
and our little oasis in the Northwest Frontier Province? Probably not much which
can be repeated in polite company. I’d done a stint overseas before - spent
two years in Bangkok as a teen-age dependent in the late 50’s, so I thought I
was prepared for coping with conditions something less than sanitary. Boy, did I
have a lot to learn.
Dennis
(Mike) Stamp, Charlie Flight, 292x1, 12/61 - 03/63
. . . . . . . . I was a youngster of 18 fresh out of Kessler Tech School, ready
to GO. I remember seeing the assignment roster posted after class at Kessler,
our whole dang class was going to where?? Pakistan, where in the Hell is
Pakistan ! As we were waiting to get on the plane in
Charleston S.C. guys were getting off the plane and they said, "hey, were
you guys going?" We replied, "Pakistan". They replied,
"OH MAN are you going to be sorry", as they hit the ground and kissed
the runway. Man what have we got ourselves into I thought. Madrid
Spain, oh yea . . . .Rest Over Night . . . . last night for seeing the real
world . . . . need to say no more on this subject.