At the beginning of June of 1970, I was transferred to the weather relay station that was situated right next to the flight line. Their main mission was in support of MAC-ACP, or Military Airlift Command - Airlift Command Post. We sent all of the information about equipment and cargo that were loaded on C-130's, and C-141's. In other words big cargo planes. We also supplied the flight plans for fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. No matter if they are military or commercial, all aircraft are required by law to submit a flight plan before they leave for their destination. This flight plan will consist of the time of departure, and the place of departure; as well as it's destination, and the approximate time that the aircraft reaches its destination. It can also have the type of cargo that is on board the aircraft, how many passengers, and any other information that is necessary to insuring that the aircraft reaches its destination safely. We sent flight plans all over the world about the cargo that was being transported on these planes. This information had to be exact; no miscalculations, or the plane could fall out of the sky.
This is the one thing that I couldn't understand about 911. Granted I have never flown a military or commercial jet liner before; but I had to deal with many aspects concerning flight plans, weather conditions, cargo loads, and so forth, involving aircraft. All of these planes that flew into the trade center, Pentagon, and crashed in Pennsylvania; had to each have submit a flight plan. No plane can get off the ground without one. This makes me think that conspiracy theorists; that we all have learned to hate, may actually be telling the truth. The only reason that I can think of why these aircraft didn't submit a flight plan, is because they could have been involved in a Top Secret exercise of some sort. If each had submitted a flight plan; than much could have been learned about those flights, and what had occurred on them. The story that we have been told about 911 I think is phony.
I have been involved with Top Secret equipment, participated in Top Secret exercises, and involved with Top Secret information of all sorts; I know exactly what that means. When I got out of the Air Force, I wasn't even allowed to visit a foreign country; even a friendly foreign country, for three years. There is also a picture of me working at a SEAVOCOM Switchboard (Secure, Encrypted, Active Voice Communication); but this picture is in some Top Secret vault some where. One night when I was working the SEAVOCOM Switchboard a full bird colonel came into the room with a camera. He took my picture as I was working the Switchboard; although this is technically illegal because the switchboard was classified as Top Secret, he told me that the picture was going to be used for training in the use of the SEAVOCOM Switchboard. This means at the Top Secret level, and that is what made it ok for him to take the picture.
I was fortunate to have worked right on the flight line; because I was able to witness flights coming in to, and leaving from Elmendorf; many of those flights were from other countries, such as Norway, Canada, Finland, and Japan. We serviced a wide range of countries, but our primary responsibilities were for our own country and commands. One time I saw an F-106 taking off heading for the mountains, while a C-141 was coming in to make a landing through those same mountains. A collision was inevitable, until the F-106 pilot happen to see the C-141 coming toward him through the mountains. This makes sense since the F-106 is much smaller than the C-141; and the C-141 pilot probably couldn't see him. The F-106 pilot pointed the nose of the fighter straight up in the air, and just climbed. F-106's can climb up to 70,000 feet, and that is just exactly what this pilot did. When he reached that height; he just did a pretty little role, one of the prettiest things I ever saw. Another time I saw a T-38 (Jet trainer that can be armed for combat) take off. Just when it got off the ground; and gained some altitude, it just rolled over on its back. Apparently having a mechanical malfunction; the pilot bailed out, only to almost immediately hit the ground. This was very unfortunate because the pilot had no other choice but to bail out as he did; but his decision cost him his life.
The one thing that was kind of disturbing to me, was when C-130's would come in bringing the dead from Vietnam. Most of the soldiers that went to Vietnam, and came back from Vietnam, came through Elmendorf A.F.B.. The reason is because it was actually shorter to fly directly to Elmendorf AFB Alaska, and than down to the Continental United States; than to go to Hickam AFB Hawaii, Travis AFB California, and then to the Continental United States. Besides, Elmendorf had one of the biggest hospitals, at that time, in our military. I can remember when C-130's would land and stop right near our facility. Army and Marine personnel would surround the C-130, and then the coffins would be taken off the plane. There were times when I would be asked to assist in this museum.
Elmendorf Air Force Base Alaska is the largest American base in area in the world. I guess you can say that Alaska is known for at least two things where the military is concerned. It is the headquarters of the largest command in the world (even to the point that it has a two star general that is the head of A.A.C.- Alaska Air Command, and a three star general that is the head of C.I.N.C.A.L.- Commander and Chief Alaskan Forces), and this command is headquartered at the largest base, in area, in the world. The hospital was five miles a way from the main base, but it was still on the base. This base actually surrounded Anchorage on three sides; of course, Anchorage is right on the Pacific Ocean with Kodiak Island in its bay. However, I have been told that Camp Grayling Michigan (Camp Grayling is a National Guard Base), is now the largest in the United States, and the fifth largest base in the world. However, I believe that Elmendorf surpasses Camp Grayling in size.
When I was transferred to the Weather Relay Center; I realized that the Vietnam War was essentially over. Granted there was still some fighting, but it was the summer of 1970 that Elmendorf AFB Alaska was changed from overseas duty to state side duty. When this happened, I new that it was just a matter of time when the United States would bring the Vietnamese to the peace table. Also, more and more soldiers were coming back from Vietnam; and many in body bags. It wasn't unusual to drive to the hospital, or near the hospital, and not follow a truck that was loaded with coffins.
Most of my time was actually spent on the base itself, and the reason is very simple; my work schedule wouldn't allow me to venture into Anchorage to investigate the sites, or to do any partying. When I was permitted to go into the city; I had to go with at least one other person, and generally I went with several. It was to dangerous for me to go in to Anchorage alone mainly because of the homosexuals. Every soldier that starts their tour at any base, has to go through a briefing that involves the history, the law, the regulations, and basically what they can do or cannot do. There is a large population of homosexuals in Anchorage. At that time; I don't know about now, Anchorage had the second largest population of homosexuals in the United States. They were second to San Francisco. However, as I said previously, Alaska was considered overseas for the first year and a half that I was there.
One thing I was told to avoid were,"C" street, "D" street, and fourth and fifth streets; and the reason was because this is where the homosexuals would always conjugate; and they would conjugate in numbers of 15 to 30, or more at a time. We were told to be careful of the homosexuals because they were known to attack servicemen; physically and sexually. If we were ever approached by a homosexual, or a group of homosexuals; we were told to hit the closest one as hard as we could with our fist and then run. We had permission to physically defend ourselves, something that most people are not allowed to do today. I wasn't saved at this time. What I mean is that I didn't know Jesus Christ or had a relationship with God at this time. I took these orders to heart, and was pretty cautious of what I did. However, I did go out drinking, and I did the drug scene when I could; but homosexuality, I went out of my way to avoid because instinctively I knew that homosexuality was a sin. Going out with the crowd and partying is something that I did. When your in the military; it seems to be something that was expected of you.
All the units at Elmendorf had a cabin in the forested area's of the military reservation. Once a year; usually in the fall, we would hold a unit party, on some occasions squad level parties. Just to give you an idea of what not to do when dealing with animals of the forest; one late after noon a member of another unit was going up to his units cabin to prepare for his units gathering. He was confronted by a moose that was blocking the road way. If you have ever seen a moose up close like I have; you know that wild life pictures don't do the animal much justice. When we played football or baseball; we had to be very careful with retrieving the ball from any wooded area. Many times a soldier; who had retrieved the ball, would run out of the woods with a moose close behind him. Generally the moose was female; and she would be charging out of the woods because the soldier inadvertently disturbed her young. In other words, moose are, and can be dangerous. It is best to let them do what they want to do, your not big enough to tell them otherwise.
In this case, the soldier driving up to the cabin honked his horn at the moose. Of course, the moose just looked at him, not bothering to get out of the way. The driver thought that maybe he could run the moose over. What, are you nuts? Not a very smart thing to do, especially when moose are not easily intimidated. All the moose did was to drop his head down, and literally stopped the Volkswagen with its antlers. The Volkswagen was spinning its wheels. Eventually other members of his unit drove up this road to get to their cabin. What they saw was something pretty spectacular. The moose had totally destroyed the Volkswagen; and was standing on top of it with the driver trapped inside.
I was in a communications unit; I had a Top Secret/Crypto clearance, yet drugs flowed freely in the barracks. Our commander had an inkling of this when, during an inspection, he walked into one of the rooms in the barracks and turned on the light. He was met with a black light, a strobe light, and fluorescent paintings on the walls. After looking around for a few minutes; getting stoned on the strobe light, he realized that the walls were also painted black. To no surprise to me, he ordered the rooms to be painted light green from the ceiling to the middle of the wall, and dark green from the middle of the wall down to the floor board. Typical military colors. A lot of soldiers complained; and I told them, why complain? you all should have known better.
This was the time when drug shops of the most exotic type started to open up all over the country, and also the world. These drug shops would sold anything that you wanted; no matter if you were smoking, blowing, or injecting. What was interesting is the most of items that were stocked in these shops, and the innovative ways in which they were used. Many of the soldiers found that they had to hide their paraphernalia on a constant basis; because our command suspected the drugs were being used, and would inspect the barracks. One item that I found was interesting was the type of water pipers that were used. The water piper that I had was only about 20 bucks, and it easily passed for a tobacco pipe. Granted; it looked different, but no one questioned it.
There were some water pipers that were very large and beautiful, with ornate carvings on them; sort of like the one's that I saw in Saudi Arabia. However, in Saudi Arabia smoking dope is legal; and in fact, there are large buildings that look like castle's that are used for that purpose.
These water pipers can range from $15 dollars to as high as $250 dollars or more. Some can stand as high as 2 to 4 feet; and have several hoses coming out of them, so four or five people could smoke marijuana, hash, or what ever your smoking at the same time. So what do you do to hide this monstrosity to avoid being court marshalled and drummed out of the service? I will give you an example of innovation, which I had seen on several occasions.
One time our commander had one of his surprise inspection. I didn't have to worry because I had nothing to hide; however, I knew that other soldiers did.
