Arrival at
the Location Airfield of
Operations
Departure
from the Location
ORIGINATE
HOME
IN OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON,
USA 09/1630ZSEP82 09/0930L
09/1745ZSEP82
09/1045L KSEA:
SEATTLE-TACOMA IAP,
WA.
09/2000ZSEP82 09/1300L
09/2145ZSEP82
09/1445L KSFO: SAN
FRANCISCO IAP,
CA.
09/2300ZSEP82 09/1600L
10/1600ZSEP82
10/0900L KSUU: TRAVIS AIR
FORCE BASE, CA. 10/1730ZSEP82
10/1030L
10/2300ZSEP82
10/1300L PHIK: HICKAM AFB,
HAWAII
12/0335ZSEP82 11/1735L
12/1205ZSEP82
12/2205L PGUA: ANDERSON
AFB,
GUAM
12/1430ZSEP82 13/0030L
12/1835ZSEP82
13/0235L RPMK: CLARK AB,
PHILIPPINES
14/0450ZSEP82 14/1250L
14/1250ZSEP82
14/1750L FJDG: DIEGO
GARCIA NAF,
BIOT
15/0615ZOCT82 15/1115L
15/1725ZOCT82
15/1425L HKNA: NIAROBI
IAP,
KENYA
15/1445ZOCT82 15/1745L
15/1815ZOCT82
15/2015L LICZ: SIGONELLA
NAS,
SICILY
15/2340ZOCT82 16/0140L
16/0315ZOCT82
160415L LETO:
TORREJON AB,
SPAIN
18/0100ZOCT82 18/0200L
18/0800ZOCT82
18/0400L KDOV: DOVER AFB,
DELAWARE
18/2130ZOCT82 18/1730L
19/0315ZOCT82
18/2015L KSUU: TRAVIS AIR
FORCE BASE, CA
19/0515ZOCT82 18/2215L
19/0715ZOCT82
19/0015L KTCM: MCCHORD
AFB,
WASHINGTON
19/0815ZOCT82 19/0115L
19/0915ZOCT82
19/0215L HOME IN OLYMPIA,
WASHINGTON, USA END OF
MISSION
8 Sep 82, OLYMPIA WA
Tomorrow I leave for 30
days TDY to Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean
Territory, with 5-6 days travel time out and the
same back. I've got TDY
orders for traveling out and also Auxiliary
Crew Orders which Lt. Col. Dausel (Ops Officer) had
the squadron cut for me so I don't have to travel
via MAC passenger service, which is the worst in the
world. The most interesting thing about the
orders is they tell me I can't take bottled beer out
to Diego!
Here's what I'll take with me, in two B-4 bags:
This book
Paper, envelopes, and stamps
Pens and pencils
3 fatigue shirts
2 fatigue pants
1 set short blue uniform
1 pair combat boots
1 flight suit
3 OD T-shirts
2 white T-shirts
6 pair underwear
3 pair white socks
3 pair black boot socks
Fatigue belt
Blue's belt
Hangers
Rain coat
Various T-shirts and ones with collars
Shorts/swim suit (only one I've got - buy more)
2 pair sneakers (one old, one new)
1 pair blue jeans
1 pair slacks
Belt
Shoe shine stuff
Towel
Swim masks
Cigarettes
Some books to read
"MAC Purse" w/check book
$300.00 cash
Shaving kit
Orders
Glasses
Airline ticket (to SF Intl)
Knife and stone and oil
Camera/film/telephoto lens
Today Cathy and I hauled about 4
cords of wood down to the side of the house for me to
split when I get home. Tonight she's having a
Tupperware party. The kids and I will stay out
of the way downstairs.
Incidentally, DG is about as
far from here as I can go - 12 hour time
difference. Its also 7 degrees south of the
equator.
Books I'm taking - "Letters
from the Earth" by Mark Twain, "Celtic Myth and
Legend" by Charles Squire, copyright 1905, and
"Ecotopia" by Callenbach, to which I want to write a
"rebuttal novel" someday.
$284.00
-10.50
Dinner PHIK
- 4.50
Room PHIK
- 3.50
Meal PHIK
- 3.00
Meal PGUA
- 3.00
Meal RPMK
- 13.00
Pants RPMK
246.50
-
3.00 Misc. Coffee, etc.
243.50
- 3.00
Beer
-
3.00 B'fast RPMK
237.50
+100.00
O'Club RPMK
337.50
- 36.50
Jacket-2 shirts-gym shorts at Diego
- 12.35
Detergent, cookies, solarcaine, cigarettes
- 27.75 4
T-shirts, film
Jacket
for me and Cathy
Shirt
for Dad
Shirts
for kids
384.00 total
brought with me.
10 SEP 82 Hickam AFB,
Hawaii
Flew to SF International
on United AL and called Stan Nowak at work to come
pick me up. We went directly (through town,
across the Golden Gate Bridge and up the freeway) to
his house in Marin Co. Barb met us with a
pitcher of margaritas. Their baby girl Alexis
is really cute and looks alot like Stan with blond
hair. Their house is about 1500 sq. feet with
a small 20' X 10' pool and about 20 years old.
The freeway is right behind them but not as loud as
I thought it would be. However, the cars and
bikes can look down into the back yard. The
house basically requires lots of fixing up,
painting, etc. The front of the house is
nicely fixed up for street side "sales appeal," but,
for example, the gas furnace needs replacing, as
does the hot water heater, etc. Also, the pool
has a solar heater that's pretty primitive and takes
several hours to heat up. Considering the
house cost $150,000, I was shocked at how closely
the house compared to the one I owned in Sacramento
(that cost $30,000 in 1977 and was sold in '79 for
$45,000). They have 4 separate mortgages and a
$7,000 loan to repay to Chase Manhattan bank.
Their payments are $2,500.00 per month until
November when the bank loan is paid off, then its
only $1,500/mo. forever! Although salaries are
higher in the bay area, I can't believe they're
significantly higher than the Puget Sound and the
benefits of living near SF significantly better than
living near Seattle. I think he's crazy to
live there. Barb has to work on call as a
nurse at night, and they are working their fingers
to the bone to pay for the house, etc.
Cathy called shortly
after I arrived. It sure was good to talk to
her. I'll miss not being able to from Diego,
as they only have one AUTOVON line to service the
whole island. She said Gregory cried when I
left and was still upset at 5 p.m. First time
one of my kids cried at my departure. I really
miss them all.
Barb and Alexis drove me
over to Travis and I caught the 807 mission to
here. I checked in to the BOQ and went over
the PALCC (Pacific Airlift Control Center) to get my
scheduled briefing. What a waste. Maj.
Bishop showed me the operation and exhorted me to
make sure I communicated with them and added
explanatory notes to any delay codes crews might
incur in Singapore, Masirah, Diego, etc. About
2 minutes of information in 30. I also saw
Capt. Ammons, who I first met at Altus who
subsequently went to C-9s at Clark and to the
Command Post there and is now here. There is
an alternative to an Altus tour for career
progression after all. However, all I really
want to do is homestead at McChord by going remote
and returning. I wouldn’t want to beat myself
bloody in the fight to become a Colonel. My
ambition is gone I guess.
I would like to build a
hot tub at the house.
I wrote the above about
1700, then took a nap. The time difference
here is 3 hours, plus having stayed up late talking
with Stan and Barb, made me very tired. I got
up about 1930 and went over the club where they were
having a seafood buffet -- all you could eat for
$10.50. There was Mahi-Mahi (dolphin fish),
king crab legs, oysters (which I don't care for),
shrimp, scallops (there were obviously ray wings),
and a shellfish chowder. It was
delicious. However as I am trying to loose
weight, I only stuffed myself to the gills, instead
of to overflowing. It was the only meal and
only expense I had today. I need to watch the
expenditures closely as the per diem rate at Diego
is very low and all will be spent on food
there. Its the same situation as at Squadron
Officers' School.
Over at the club I
noticed what must be retired Colonels. They
were pushy and obnoxious and ordered the wine
steward, waitresses and barmaids around. I
guess if you're used to ordering people around and
dispensing summary judgment and punishment, you
never stop. Although I realize dad must have
had to punish people under the UCMJ, he has never
shown that sort of behavior when I'm around.
When he is dissatisfied with the service in
someplace, he never goes back. Likewise I
don't leave a tip. But to treat "help" as sub
human is disgusting.
Also I noticed alot of
wives who appeared to revel in the social aspects of
the evening out. I'm so happy Cathy is not
pretentious.
I'm watching a movie
called "Gorgo," kind of an English Godzilla. I
remember seeing it when I was younger. It's
fairly good, especially the English Navy vs. the
monster's mother.
I also want to note that
I bought the book "The Origin" by Irving Stone - a
biographical novel about Charles Darwin.
Actually its fairly stilted stuff, but I've never
read a biography of Darwin and am very interested.
13 Sep 82, Clark AB, Republic of
the Philippines. 0400L.
Deadheaded from Hickam
via Anderson AFB, Guam on the 807 mission. The
first leg was with Capt. Kernstead from the 53rd
{Military Airlift} Squadron (also flew the leg from
SUU - HIK; The 807 is flown by crews from Norton
{Air Force Base, California}) He is a former
Army helicopter pilot and knows Dan Frazee, who is
also at Norton now and also a former Army chopper
pilot and also flew T-43s with me at Mather.
Dan's brother Phil Frazee was in the class behind me
at Moody for pilot training.
The second leg was flown
by Capt. Dickensen and a female 1st Lt. copilot
whose name I didn't catch. She's in the 15th
{Military Airlift} Squadron. Dickensen is a
reservist and otherwise unemployed, though he's
trying to get hired by Southwest AL, where almost
all the other T-43 pilots I served with are
working. The lieutenant told me that Maj.
Ernie Skiver, who was a friend of mine at Mather may
be FEB'd {undergo an administrative investigation
called a Flying Evaluation Board, which could remove
him from flying status - what we called "taking his
wings away") at Norton. They were flying SOLL
{Special Operations, Low Level} and on climb out
{after the low level portion of the mission} Ernie
lit a cigar. The jump seat occupant put on his
O2 {oxygen} mask. Skiver reached up and pulled
it away from his face and blew smoke in his
face. Unfortunately, an ember from the cigar
fell inside the mask which started an oxygen fire,
filling the cockpit with smoke and burning up the
mask. The {flight} engineer tried to
depressurize the aircraft to ventilate and managed
to turn off all electrical power (at night - now no
lights for instruments, etc.). They tried to
depressurize using the T-Handle release for the #2
hatch, but that didn't work. They got
emergency vectors to Vance {Air Force Base,
Oklahoma}, which was closed {for the night} and
landed {anyway}. Ernie is a flight examiner as
I guess were several other crew members,
instructors, etc. Ernie was always very
know-it-all and had a superiority complex at Mather,
but we got along OK. I hope he doesn't get
FEB'd. Mistakes caused by clowning around are
almost foregone activities, but he'll never do it
again. FEBs should be reserved for unskilled
or incompetent pilots and for irresponsible aircraft
commanders who don't care for the health and welfare
of their crews or who don't understand their
position in the scheme of things (i.e., worker bees,
not the prima donas of the system).
I believe ACs {Aircraft
Commanders} should be like ship Captains:
Totally responsible and with total authority for the
successful completion of the mission as
assigned. Unfortunately, the authority has
been stripped away but not the responsibility.
Also, planning should not place so many time and
physical restraints on a mission as to make it
impossible to accomplish or beyond the AC's ability
to see the big picture.
A classic example is a
recent attempt to airlift into the Aleutians {an
exercise called BEAD
CRYSTAL}. The weather there is terrible, going
from clear to W0X0F {pronounced walks off, as in
"everyone walks off the flight line because no one
can fly in weather that bad," and meaning the
weather [W] has a ceiling estimated at zero [0]
feet, sky totally obscured [the X], visibility zero
[0], with fog [F]}. But it changes
hourly. Current MAC policy is not to launch to
an objective unless weather is forecast to be at or
above minimums for the approach to be flown.
In this case that meant 3000' and 3 miles or 1500
broken and no more than broken conditions to FL 200
(20,000'). Fuel on board was to be enough to
go to destination at 20,000 and either descend and
land or divert to Adak NAS or Shemya AFB. As a
result, few missions took off and fewer still got to
destination. They could have if crews could
have put on an extra 2 - 3 hours of fuel to hold
over destination and launched regardless of weather
at destination, using weather at the alternates as
the determining factor on whether or not to
launch. Whoever planned the operation
apparently failed to study the history of military
air operations in Alaska, or climatic records
closely. For example, the weather at
destination was historically at the above minimums
18% of the time, but it was intermittent during the
day, not 18% of the days, as is normal in more
temperate climates. The exercise was a total
failure, but could have been totally successful had
crews only been allowed to carry the extra fuel!
This example is typical
of non-standard MAC operations. I don't
believe there is any original strategic thought
going on in the Air Force today and we are not
flexible enough in operations or in the acquisition
of equipment. The Air Force is uncomfortable
with small specialized units, preferring large
numbers of aircraft and personnel all trained to do
some major strategic or tactical task. For
example, instead of creating an elite SOLL (special
operations low level) unit, they have SOLL crews
scattered throughout MAC. Or instead of
stationing a squadron of C-141s in the Pacific to do
the intra-theater large cargo hauls, they spend
millions on per diem and empty cross-Pacific cargo
space in aircraft. Also, instead of buying
some 737-300s (for example) with 6 pallet positions
to fly the FEIT (Far Eastern Intra-Theater) mission,
they use 141s, half empty and costing 2X as much to
operate.
Before leaving Hickam, I
polished my new jungle boots (canvas sides &
steel shanks). Also I unwrapped the poncho I
was issued to find 2 of them there, so I guess I get
one for me for free! To be honest, I should
return them both, but I have too much larceny in my
heart.
I forgot to mention that
before leaving TCM I got the Combat Readiness
Medal. This is a kind of "Perfect Attendance"
award for being qualified in a weapons system for 3
consecutive years. One applies for it with a
form letter and its granted. A medal for
that! Sort of cheapens the whole idea of
awards and decorations.
This deadheading alone is
very lonely stuff. No crew to share BS or
problems with, no situations to resolve. Just
keep out of the way and sit quietly or try to sleep
sitting up. Boy does the old ass get
sore. Aircraft seats have no lumbar or thigh
supports so the entire weight of you body rests on
your butt on a 2" pad of foam over a metal
seat. Why can automotive manufacturers build a
seat you can drive in for days on end without
discomfort, and Lockheed can't?
It's now 0515 and I need
to call and get a briefing this morning after 1000,
so I think I'll take a nap.
15 Sep 82, DIEGO GARCIA
Well, here I am, having
completed my first day here at Diego Garcia British
Indian Ocean Territory. I will try to catch
up.
Went to the briefing,
which I got from Major Tedreaux, CINC CP {chief of
command post, CINC being a generic term for guy in
charge, but actually standing for "commander in
chief"}. It was very thorough and
professional. In fact, at the end, he
mentioned he'd never been here, and I was surprised,
his knowledge is so extensive.
Then I went to visit my
old friend, Dave Wagner, who is acting chief of wing
training. His boss is here now as the mission
CO (I am his deputy). Wags and I sat in his
office and talked for a while and he invited me to
his house for dinner. His roommates are 2
black female nurses and the house is beautiful, in
Carmenville. About 1800 sq. ft, stone floors
(polished), mahogany wall panels, filigree on the
ceiling, etc. About 8 he & I hit the bars
and got drunk and he got me back to the BOQ about 2
am.
One interesting thing, at
the Port Orient Bar, I met "Tim," who owns that bar,
several others, and the Hotel California where I
usually stay in town with my crews. He is an
ex-GI who took his discharge after Vietnam in
Angeles City and with another ex-GI and an
Englishman has built his little empire of bars,
booze and whores. His plans to retire at age
40 (he's now 36) and travel around the world.
He bought us some drinks, only the second time in my
life a bar owner has bought me a beer.
Here at Diego I spent the
night last night in the aircrew room 203, but now am
moved into the MAC rep room since the guy I replaced
(1Lt Bob Strnad left to go back to Travis via
Nairobi, Kenya. He just decided to go back
that way, an idea I might try if I can get the balls
to do it or to call the squadron for permission.
Today we received 2 C-141
flights and a C-5 with 2 departures of 141s (one of
them the one I rode in on).
I will reserve my
impressions of the people, etc., for later.
Right now I'm kind of burned out, having been up
since 7 or so and only having about 12 hours sleep
in the last 3 days.
16 Sep
82. Diego Garcia
Today Maj. Hill and I
were invited to attend the investiture of Master
Sergeant Du Bose into the Navy Chiefs
organization. The "ceremony" consists of a
Kangaroo Court that fines the jury (the observers)
$2 and up for speaking etc. The inductees have
to wear silly costumes and put up with continuous
indignities. Raw eggs are smashed into their
hair, down their pants and in their mouths.
They are "sentenced" to jail, a tiger cage, to be
hanged, electrocuted, etc. They are, of course
not actually hanged but rather blindfolded, a
substitute noose (unconnected to anything) affixed
to their necks and forced to jump off a chair,
etc. They are also forced to drink "truth
serum" consisting of hot sauce, oil, vinegar, raw
shellfish, etc., and made to eat balut (pronounced
bah-loot) which is a partially developed chick
embryo in the egg, buried for several days to
ferment. I think its all disgusting.
Demeaning another human being even in jest, is wrong
and leads to more serious violations and a numbing
of sensitivity for others feeling, etc. Its
also bad because to succeed in a closed society like
ours in the service, you have to do the socially
acceptable things. If those things consist of
degrading things, then what does the society
become? If you refuse to join in, you are
ostracized and ineffective when dealing with your
contemporaries. For that reason alone, the
service academies should be closed and the ROTC
system expanded to provide intelligent individuals
who are not social robots. But as Ed Brown
says, you've got to be into robotics to be in the
service and succeed {after all the word Robot is
Czech for "worker"}.
At the Chiefs' Club I met
CMDR Libbey, the British Commander of the
Island. He is very proper and "English."
Very formal, tall and thin, balding with carefully
parted hair to cover his head and with a small,
serious mouth and very bright blue eyes. He
did not seem impressed with the proceedings,
although he put up with the abuse and comments about
England and himself that accompanied his men's
initiation. He sort of rose above the
proceedings, very much like innumerable British
commanders in books and films. I'm
impressed. We really do seem like a bunch of
provincial bumpkins compared to his example.
I've also met the
Aussie rep, a young LT (JG) {actually a
sub-leftenant, an officer rank but below our ensign
rank; almost a midshipman}. His name is Steve
Swain and is also tall, thin and very soft
spoken. I gave him a squadron patch sticker in
return for the Australia Day sticker in the front of
this book. He lives in another barracks, but
watches TV in our day room (next door to our room)
and I expect we'll get to know each other better as
the month passes.
Tonight a 141 leaves for
Singapore, so I'll close to get ready to launch it
out of here.
Our Enlisted
Guys had To Live This Way - SEA Huts on Diego
Garcia, 1982. Usually 8 men per hut, but
they could fit 16. These huts are
actually the same size as the Army's "GP
Medium" tents, and today's "Temper-Tents" that
they use in the middle-east.
17 Sep 82.
Today there was a change
of command ceremony for the CO of the Naval Support
Facility, but I begged off & escorted the
enlisted maintenance personnel over to our building
to wash their clothes. They live in a SEA Hut
- a 16’ X 32’ plywood shack. SEA stands for
"South East Asia" because these were what the
SEABEES built in Vietnam. The hootch where
they wash clothes is locked & they don’t have a
key, and the Chief who controls the keys was tied up
for two days with the Chief’s initiation and the
officer, Lt. Cmdr. Schmidt has been busy & is
normally unavailable anyway. Also Maj. Hill
doesn’t seem too interested in the health and
welfare of the enlisted men, so I took over & so
missed the ceremony, which I didn’t want to attend
anyway.
I did, however, see the
major participants, dressed in their whites.
CMDR Libby, RN, was carrying a simple black
cane! The new CO, whose name I didn’t catch,
seems to be a very hard, unforgiving and harsh man.
MSgt. DuBose also
admitted he didn’t eat the balut, but instead hid it
in his palm. I’m even more impressed with his
ingenuity!
BOQ 4 - These
were the Officers' Quarters on Diego Garcia,
1982. Later they became Chiefs' Quarters
after they built new buildings for the Os.
I may as well
describe our quarters. Its an L shaped room with
a bath, and windows at both ends of the room.
Its on the second floor of a 20 room barracks.
The aircrew quarters are identical, but with three
bunk beds & less furniture. C-5 crews (9-15
men) get three of the five rooms we have available for
MAC crews, and C-141 (6-9 men) crews get two
rooms. Women stay in the female quarters.
We eat at the Officers’
Mess. The food is pretty good, and meals cost
$1.80 for Breakfast & $3.75 for dinner and
supper, which includes surcharge for TDY
personnel. Its also all you can eat. I
try to eat lunch only one day, breakfast and supper
the next.
The Ocean-side deck at the
Diego Garcia Officers' Club, 1982
I bought a light
weight jacket and two shirts today (one for dad) and a
pair of shorts at the Ship’s Store.
The weather has been
cloudy and windy all day, and so I did not sit out
in the sun today. I’ve still got white legs
and need to get a tan!
18 Sep 82.
Today Maj. Hill and I are
starting “shift work.” He worked the morning
shift, I’ll take the two airplanes that will arrive
tonight. I slept in ‘till 0700, went to eat,
then came back to the room and slept ‘till
noon. Although the day is again windy and
rainy, there were a couple hours of sunshine, so I
went down to the beach (about 100 yards from the
room) and sunbathed in a deck chair - 20 minutes on
each side. The water in the lagoon is still
too choppy to swim in and too full of suspended
particulates to see the reef with my face
mask. Lying there, I noticed there were dozens
of hermit crabs all around. They are obvious
if you look because they have appropriated undamaged
shells for their homes. All the other shells
on the beach are damaged with holes or broken.
The little crabs were up in the sand and mangrove
and what looks like morning glory flowers but is
something else, above the high water mark.
As for other natural
things here, I’ve seen frigate birds, egrets, a
sparrow that is bright red in the body
(males). Females are typically sparrow
colored. Also there are terns that appear pure
white and half way in size between fairy and common
terns. They sit in trees, particularly the
Australian Pines. This is very strange as I’ve
never seen sea birds sit in trees. They also
fly about the area of the tree at night. There
are also small doves that appear identical to the
ones in Hawaii. Also I’ve seen pictures of
“Hector” - a 20’ hammer head shark that hangs out
around the mouth of the lagoon and also
inside. I’ve also seen a bee that resembles
the honey bee, but is almost black. Also tiny
ants. Unfortunately there are no books on
fauna or flora of the island in the bookstore.
Despite the lack of
entertainment here, my depression on the trip out
has passed and I feel pretty good. I do wish I
could loose some weight and motivate myself to
physical exercise, but I can’t. I sure do miss
Cathy and the boys. It would be so nice to sit
on the beach with Cathy and watch the boys playing
in the surf.
19 Sep 82. 2200L
Last night I took the
late launches so Maj. Hill could go to the Hail and
Farewell for the departing Captain of the NSF and
this morning took the morning launches so I could
have the afternoon off and so Maj. Hill could
supervise the launch of a C-141 taking Cmdr. Robb,
the departing NAF CO and a Rear Admiral to
Clark. Maj. Hill is intensely political and
enjoys the social and formal part of the service.
I slept for four hours
this afternoon. The weather is still cloudy
and rainy. I have a slight sunburn from
yesterday - after only 20 minutes on each
side! Tomorrow I’ll go out if the sun is
shining, but will use suntan lotion. Sent a
letter to Cathy today.
I went down to Ops
tonight to run out a fuel plan for a mission
tomorrow and the duty NCO, AC1 Cartwright, told me I
could use the phone for an AUTOVON call to the
states, so I called Cathy. It was 8:00 a.m.
Sunday morning McChord time. Everything is
O.K., except Eric is falling behind in school
again. I feel so sorry for him. If he
aspires to follow in my footsteps, it may be denied
him by his disabilities. I hope he doesn’t
turn sour on life.
I finished “The Origin,”
and am now reading “Gorky Park.”
Yesterday morning the
maintenance guys worked their tails off, and so Maj.
Hill bought them a case of beer. That was real
nice of him.
22 Sep 82. 1200L
I haven’t written in a
couple of days as I have been too busy and or tired.
I borrowed a couple of
publications from Ken Gill, the British Executive
Officer, about the flora and fauna here. The
most complete and scholarly is Atoll Research
Bulletin No. 149, August 27, 1971 from the
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, titled
“Geography and Ecology of Diego Garcia Atoll, Chagos
Archipelago” edited by D.R. Stoddart and J.D.
Taylor. It has 237 pages and is very
complete. The second is the Natural Resources
Conservation Land Management Plan prepared by
Pacific Division, Naval Facilities Engineering
Command, December 1973 (USN).
The island’s ecology is
totally changed from its pre-human one. Cats,
rats, and man have destroyed nesting seabird
populations. Donkeys abound on the south and
east parts of the island. All land birds were
probably introduced by man. Great broadleaf
forests were cut down and planted with
coconut. Feral chickens are the most
noticeable bird.
It would be interesting
to come back in five years for my next remote and do
an ecological monologue on the island and the
results of man’s activities. The coral reef
appears untouched and of course, the growing part is
on the seaward side. But the Navy is building
a huge deep water pier out of dredging from the
lagoon (it will be large enough to dock two aircraft
carriers simultaneously) and this may cause some
damage.
Anyway the current
ecology on the land was created by man anyway, and
so its irrelevant what else is done in my
opinion. They could, however, reintroduce the
seabird population if they could kill all the rats
and cats on the east arm and cut a dike or otherwise
build a barrier from the rest of the island - create
a kind of wilderness area, cut down the coconut and
replant with broadleaf woodland. Of course
that costs big bucks, and will never be done.
However, the east arm is
kind of a wilderness area now. The Brits only
allow escorted groups of people over on weekends,
but will make exceptions. We went over
yesterday in a 12 passenger van and a small pickup
truck.
We saw about two
dozen donkeys, the largest group was 12, with one
colt. There is also a donkey named "Missy" who
used to be the base mascot and now has been banished
to the other side and hangs around people who might be
over there. She drinks beer from a can or bottle
and will bother you till you give her some by nudging
you with her head.
There is a “donkey gate”
with cattle guard and fence that runs into the water
a couple miles south of the runway that keeps them
off this end. That was done because they
congregated on the airfield and would sleep on the
runway at night.
The plantation itself is
a wonderful place, with an air of vanished
greatness, like an ante-bellum mansion in
disrepair. I only took a few pictures and plan
to go back before I leave and take some more.
There is a wrecked PBY half buried in sand on the
beach about 100 yards south of the East Point
(plantation) dock, which is also in disrepair.
We went to the “R&R Center” that the Seabees are
building - its an old building with four rooms they
are repairing for a picnic and camping out
area. Its right on a beautiful sand beach with
a nice reef about 50 yards off shore. Four or
five of us went out snorkeling and saw many
beautiful fish and giant clams 12 inches
across. After we returned to shore, a three
foot barracuda jumped three times through the water
about half way out to the reef! The water is
too shallow at that end of the lagoon for big
sharks, and the barracuda have plenty to eat so they
haven’t attacked anybody yet, but it was thought
provoking.
The drive back was
interesting - high tide cut rivulets across the road
in two places and we had to plow through.
24 Sep 82. 0900L
Here’s a list of
positively identified birds: Madagascar Fody
(the red sparrow-type bird), Indian Myna, Barred
Ground Dove, Madagascar (possibly Indian) Turtle
Dove, Common Curlew, Turnstone, Sanderling, Domestic
Fowl, Cattle Egret, Little Green Heron, Sooty Tern,
and White (or Fairy) Tern.
Yesterday was interesting. I wound up
getting up at 0400 to launch a C-5 and C-141.
After they arrived a 707 came in and there was some
confusion on my part about whether we took care of it
since its a MAC Charter, or the Navy because it was
carrying Military Sealift Command replacements.
Anyway, then I went to lunch and Steve Swain and I
decided to go snorkeling.
Maj. Hill was called by
his Wing Commander and told he made Lt. Col., about
3/4 of the way down the list, but decided to hang
around the room and compose some letters and
official letters.
Steve and I picked up the
enlisted maintenance people who followed us in their
truck. After several disappointing attempts at
this side of the island, we went down to the lagoon
side of the south end of the island and found a
beautiful sand beach waist deep for 200 yards
out. There were four inch fish living in holes
dug by shrimp on the bottom and some sea cucumbers
but that was all besides minnows. It was
beautiful, but I got a slight sunburn on my
back. My legs are getting tan so I don’t look
so much like a new guy now.
Anyway we plan to go
there whenever we get a break.
Yesterday was the weekly
officers’ picnic over at the head honcho’s
BOQ. Three officers are selected to buy the
food and beer and supervise the operation.
Maj. Hill presented Captain Biliki a plaque for
assistance and announced his promotion and that he
would buy everybody drinks at the club later.
Over at the club I started playing darts with a guy
I pictured as a terminal Major - suntan, gold
bracelet and necklace, cigarette smoker, grayish
hair and glasses. Very lively and easy going
and an excellent dart shooter and pool player.
Turns out he’s a Navy Captain on the Admiral’s staff
at Cubi NAS. He seemed so human, compared to
the roboticized Colonels the AF has. It really
surprised me. His name was Harry
something. He’s a good character to put in my
book about this place.
Steve Swain plays pool
& darts, etc., by Australian rules - for
example, a scratch by me gives him two shots.
Makes you realize the rules are not universally
necessary to the enjoyment or orderly progression of
the game.
I would have enjoyed an
assignment here.
I really wish Cathy was
here to enjoy this with me. The boys would
have a blast, but Christopher would require watching
- he’d probably try to swim to a ship or play with a
coconut crab!
I though I’d have more to
say in this book - concepts, ideas, etc., but I find
I slip into an existential type existence when I’m
TDY and have a hard time concentrating on
anything. I just enjoy sitting and feeling the
breeze and the heat and seeing the lagoon and
sand. I doubt I’ll ever write much worth
anything.
Once I started writing a
series of essays on what I believed and how things
should be done. Maybe one day.
26 Sep 82. 1320L.
Sunday.
Yesterday about 2100 got
interrupted by our enlisted troops who came over to
use the laundry room in our building. They
have a laundry over in Splinterville, but it has a
padlock and they don’t have a key. They are
justifiably pissed off as they see Filipino
civilians using it all the time. Maj. Hill has
tried to get them a key for the last eight or nine
days to no avail. It seems incredible to me
that they are authorized to use a facility but
denied the means of access. It shouldn’t take
Maj. Hill’s intervention to obtain a key for them.
Yesterday, Steve, who’s
last name is spelled Swayne, and I went snorkeling
out behind the barracks. The wind was almost
calm, and there was no turgidity in the water.
The reef here is perhaps 20 yards out from the high
tide line, and at low tide, as it was yesterday, the
sand outside the reef is about fifteen feet
deep. Its a large and beautiful reef with many
kinds of coral and dozens of kinds of fish.
The most beautiful was an angel fish about nine
inches in diameter with about a 12 inch top
fin. It was black and electric blue and
yellow. We also saw three 40-50 pound jacks,
each about three feet long, as well as lots of other
reef fish and parrot fish and snapper. We have
not seen any sharks, rays or barracuda in the water.
I used suntan lotion and lay on my back for
40 minutes. We were snorkeling for maybe 30
minutes. I burned my back and the back of my
legs fairly well. However, it doesn’t hurt too
bad now, and I should be able to get back out in the
sun day after tomorrow.
Maj. Hill and I have
worked out an unspoken contract on duty
schedules. He likes (and it is his
responsibility) to make all the decisions, interpret
all the messages, make all the phone calls,
etc. So, he works the morning and sometimes
early afternoon shift so he can talk to Clark, and I
work the evening and any late night, early AM
launches and recoveries. For example, two
nights ago there was a C-5 that arrived at midnight
and a 141 departed for Nairobi at 0345. So I
took those. Today however, the ex-Captain of
the NSF left late due to the late arrival of the
aircraft from Nairobi and another Navy Captain
unexpectedly arrived on the 1530 flight from Clark,
so Maj. Hill wanted to supervise those
flights. He always does that sort of thing and
I don’t mind, not being too political myself.
So I think tomorrow I’ll take the whole day in
exchange.
The "QUARTERDECK" in 1982 -
Headquarters for both the British Naval Party 1002
and US Navy Support Facility.
There is an
interesting situation developing here. The
island country of Mauritius claims these
islands. The former residents here, mostly the
descendants of slave brought over from Madagascar and
Mauritius by the French in the late 1700's, were
rounded up and shipped back to Mauritius in 1971 and
have been paid almost five million English Pounds in
compensation. However, they are dissatisfied and
have a flotilla of small boats and are preparing to
come back. There are a couple hundred Mauritians
here as construction workers. Three or four days
ago several of them got drunk and tore something up
and were arrested by the Brits and transported off the
island to Nairobi on our 141 flight. The rest of
the Mauritians went on strike. Three negotiators
flew in from Nairobi today to talk things out and the
situation has heavy political overtones and continues.
I wrote a letter to Cathy
today and will mail it tomorrow.
28 Sep 82. Tuesday.
Yesterday I worked all
day in exchange for Maj. Hill working all day the
day before. We went to the movie last night
and saw Coast to Coast and Sharkees Machine, both of
which weren’t very good.
Today Steve Swayne got a
truck, so he and I and the maintenance troops went
to the other side of the lagoon, but the wind has
shifted 90 degrees and so the water was choppy and
murky. So we played Frisbee 500 and I believe
I got a sunburn on my chest. So I just went to
the Ship’s Store (the little store they’ve got here)
and bought some solarcaine if it gets too bad.
I also got some laundry detergent and a box of
cookies to replace what I’ve used. Tomorrow I
have to pick up a case of beer and one of cokes
since its my turn (although I haven’t drank that
much yet).
A sailor died on the USS
FORRESTALL about a week ago. Nobody
seems to know exactly what to do with the body
except eventually to get it to the Naval Medical
Center at Subic Bay. The Navy had planned to
just throw it on the Oman flight [the C-141 Diego -
Masirah Island, Oman - Diego mission supporting
fleet operations in the Arabian Sea] a couple days
ago, but when they found out he had to be in a
coffin or box, they flew him down in the bomb-bay of
an S-3 (sub hunter aircraft) in a body bag.
Since we [MAC] have such stringent rules about
carrying human remains, the Navy now intends to send
him to Cubi Pt. NAS in a P-3. A Lt. Cmdr. Bock
just called asking how to transport the body.
I told him about how it has to be loaded ahead of
any cargo with the head at the most forward point of
the aircraft possible and how it must be accompanied
by a courier. But to the best of my knowledge
those are MAC rules and he can continue to carry it
in the bomb bay in a body bag for all I know.
I think they are taking him to the hospital for an
autopsy since the circumstances surrounding his
death were mysterious.
29 Sep 82. 0940.
Wednesday.
I spoke with the senior
medical officer last night at dinner about the
body. The man fell five stories to the hangar
deck and landed on his head. His co-workers
said there was the smell of strange gases where they
were working and so that may have caused dizziness,
etc. The medical officer though has another
worry. The man has been dead for eight days
and his next of kin have written their Senator to
find out why his body is not yet home. The
delay was, of course, with the Forestall, but now he
has to answer the Senator’s queries.
My sunburn is not very
bad. Steve was pretty humorous trying to drive
the truck they issued to him. He’s used to
Australian vehicles with the steering wheel on the
right and the gear shift on the left of the
column. Also he hasn’t driven a manual
transmission for several years, so he popped the
clutch and had trouble judging stopping distances,
etc.
Today, we have held two
crews and aircraft here awaiting developments in the
Mauritius affair. At least some of the
Mauritians will leave, possibly all of them, and a
141 will carry them. So we have a Travis crew
who has to fly a McChord airplane (because its
painted white & gray and the Mauritians won’t
allow a camouflaged aircraft in country) waiting to
start the movement at 0800Z (1200L). Pacific
Airlift Control Center (PALCC) just called and
directed the operation.
The thing is, in this
situation, that this is the perfect pretext for
Mauritius to attempt a Falkland Island
Operation. After the Falklands War was started
over the removal by the Brits of an Argentinean Flag
raised over the South Sandwich Island by some
Argentine workers. Yesterday the Brits were in
battle dress during the morning and practicing
pistol shooting at the range. I just wonder if
we (the U.S.) would assist in a repulsion of an
invasion force.
6 Oct 82. 1030.
Wednesday.
I haven’t written because
so much has been going on. Of course, that’s
precisely when I should write, to ensure the details
and chronology are fresh in my mind.
We ended up providing the
aircraft that took the Mauritians - 69 of them - to
Mauritius with the Travis crew in the McChord
aircraft. The AC was extremely helpful and
positive in his approach to things and Maj. Hill
sent a message of commendation about him to Major
General Bennet, the 22AF CO.
Maj. Hill’s
replacement arrived on 30 Sept. after the inbound C-5
air aborted back to Clark on the 29th. At first
he seemed very staid and professional, but has proven
to be a good guy and easy to work for. He’s Maj.
Ed McClure, a C-130 pilot from Clark. He was
stationed at McChord once in C-130s and was promoted
to Major two years below the zone and went to work at
the Military Personnel Center. He then got out
and worked as a simulator instructor for Texas
International Airlines and is now back on active duty
after two years with them. He has a professional
dedicated air about him, and if he can survive the two
years out of the service being on his record, should
go far in the AF.
Maj. Hill left on the 2nd
after giving Ed the basic incoming tour and show and
tell and rounds of introduction. Maj. Hill was
easy enough to work for, but continually lost track
of time - worked too long, made three phone calls in
half an hour when one with three questions at the
end of the half hour would have sufficed, etc.
Of course it could have been your basic navigator
syndrome - unable to make decisions and organize
work after 16 years of being told what to do and
when to do it. He also had basic problems at
home, with discouraging letters and problems he
could not resolve being here. I sure am glad
Cathy doesn’t do that to me.
Friday, Ed and Jim
decided to work the afternoon shift and so Steve,
Sam, Jeff (the MX guy) and I went to Four Corners
and on down the road to what I call Seabee
Point. The water was smooth and high
tide. I’ll write more after lunch.
1700L. The area has
a barachois (a French word, and who knows how to
pronounce them) which we call Shark Cove of several
acres with a narrow outlet to the lagoon, about 20
feet across. At high tide the barachois is
completely under water, and at low tide, completely
dry. We played more Frisbee in the shallows on
the beach as the tide went out, the water, which had
heated up in the barachois for several hours, was
about 95 degrees. Standing in the gap was like
standing in a hot river, or a flowing hot
bath. I took some pictures of some small terns
which I think are fairy terns, but might not
be. We also watched a two foot sand shark come
swimming out of the barachois.
HMNZS WAIKATO and HMS
ALACRITY, Diego Garcia Lagoon, September, 1982
Saturday two
British ships, the H.M.S. ALACRITY, a Type 21
Frigate, and the MV GRAY ROVER, a contract
ship for support, and a Royal New Zealand Navy
Frigate, the H.M.N.Z.S. WAIKATO,
arrived. Ed and I dressed up in our blues and
went to the welcoming party at the officers’
club. We started drinking lots of beer.
The RN and RNZN know how to enjoy themselves.
None of this boring shop talk, etc. When things
began to wind down, we were invited to go to the Brit
Club to continue the party. We were invited
primarily because we had our truck and could give a
bunch of guys a ride. The rest of the evening is
lost in an alcoholic haze, except for vivid memories
of Zulu Warrior. This is a game engaged in
primarily (possibly exclusively) by the enlisted
ratings. It consists of the crowd starting to
chant “Hey you, you Zulu Warrior, Hey you, you Zulu
Chief, Chief, Chief, Chief,” then the chorus of the
word Zumba repeated eight times and preceded and
followed by the word Hey. They then point to
someone and chant all the while. The victim has
to climb on a table and do a strip tease and moon the
crowd. The Brits seem to be very sexual, almost
homosexual. They piss in front of each other and
expose their genitals and dance around naked.
The New Zealanders on the other hand are very macho
and just get drunk and fall down. Ed lost one of
his epaulets from his shirt to some fast talking
sailor.
Sunday night I worked the
night shift to recover the Masirah flight.
Just before the aircraft arrived I got a call from
the Security Police that TSgt. XXXXX had been picked
up for driving while intoxicated. XXXXXX is
here to maintain SAC’s equipment, their trucks and
aircraft support equipment. So after the
aircraft arrived and I got the crew taken care of, I
went and got him out of detention. I tried to
get the ticket pulled, but the 2nd Class Petty
Officer in charge wouldn’t take the
responsibility. I put him to bed and he was
fairly drunk, but not too bad. He was effusive
in his thanks and promised anything if I could get
him off. It was embarrassing. I was
trying to get him off the charge because of the
special circumstances of merely being on the
island. He’s here monitoring equipment that’s
not in current use, there’s no children or old
people or anybody else to hit. He wasn’t
speeding or driving recklessly and was driving about
six blocks back to his hootch. If this were to
occur in the States I would want his license taken
away for a year and throw him in jail for a couple
of weeks to teach him a lesson, regardless of the
effect on his career, etc. There are 25,000
Americans killed by drunk drivers each year and
there’s no excuse for it. But here, the
circumstances are different, to my mind. Also
I’m trusting him to not do it again. So,
Monday morning I went over to talk to the Warrant
Office in charge of security, a Mr. Monasala (a
Filipino). He explained the report would not
go off island, but that he might loose his driving
privileges completely. I asked he be allowed
to continue to drive in performance of his duties,
since he would have to be replaced and his career
ruined if he were not allowed to drive (he would be
sent home to a very unwelcome reception).
Manasala said the XO would help make the decision,
so I went over and briefly stated my case to
him. Traffic court is tomorrow, so we’ll see
what happens.
Tuesday we went down to
the seabee Point and the tide was out. It was
also overcast and intermittently rained
heavily. We waded in the water and played some
Frisbee and walked down along a coral conglomerate
ledge which is about three feet above the surface of
the sand and underwater at high tide. We found
two dead baby sharks (about two feet long).
While wading along the outside of the ledge, I
almost stepped on a six foot shark resting on the
bottom in waist deep water. I realize sharKs
aren’t supposed to sleep, but I believe this one
was. We got out of the water fast.
Hawksbill Turtle, Diego Garcia,
1982
Then we saw
Hawksbill Turtles swimming along the edge of the
ledge. Ed counted seven. They seemed
entirely oblivious of us. Eventually we all were
there and on the way back we watched a large shark
(maybe four or five feet) swim into the gap and we
lost sight of him. Steve and I put on our masks
and lay down in the shallows and tried to see where he
went, but the water was too murky. So we bunched
up in a group, and screaming and yelling, ran across
the chest deep water in a group. It was
exhilarating.
Then, Tuesday evening we
went to the Brit Club again. Ed had bought a
chit for $10 that was good for 20 drinks, and had
only used three of them. Steve told us while
we were swimming that the chit was only good for the
period while the Brit ships were at anchorage.
Anyway, it was my turn to stay sober, more or
less. We were in our fatigues and were quickly
besieged by British and New Zealand sailors wanting
to trade tee-shirts for our fatigue shirts.
Leading Surgeon’s Mate Bren Coulton promised a Union
Jack for the Major’s shirt. Leading Steward
Harry Holmes promised me a white ensign for
mine. The basic difference was that Ed gave
his shirt to Bren, while I promised to bring mine
out to the ship in the morning. Things were
much more reserved Tuesday. I guess a couple
days of hard drinking calmed everything down.
Just before leaving I ran into Leftenant Simon
Howard, whom I’d met Saturday. He’s the
navigation officer on the Alacrity and all the flags
are signed on his chit. He also wanted a shirt
so I promised to bring one out in exchange for a
Union Jack. We then ran a shuttle service back
and forth to Harbor Ops for drunken New Zealanders
and Brits. Cmdr. Craig was there in just his
blue jeans and sneakers. He’d traded his shirt
for a song from the Brit helicopter pilot. He
was standing drinking a beer with Mr. Blankenship,
the Weather W.O. A fight developed between
Kiwis and British Police. Cmdr. Craig just
looked disappointed and said “Isn’t that a
shame. Those guys will get a Captain’s Mast
because they’ll miss the boat because they’ll be in
jail, or possibly a General Court Martial.”
The next morning I went
over to Harbor Ops and stood around in the rain for
an hour and caught a boat out to the Alacrity with a
couple of shirts in a bag. Simon met me and
gave me the Jack in a plastic bag. After
hanging around for a while, during which I gave my
hat to Bren and got some stuff for Ed from him, but
of course, no flag, I went up to the helicopter deck
and was shown around by P.O. Reed, the weapons and
electronics technician. They have a Lynx
Helicopter they use for anti-ship warfare.
Then I caught the boat back to the shore. The
flag is 12’ X 6’ and still has the brass cleats for
attaching it to the bow flagstaff.
The Alacrity was the
first ship to reach the Falklands. She sank an
Argentine supply ship, and was under air attack 10
times! Bren showed me his war diary.
That kid is from Lancastershire, and he is
smart. He’s really wasting his time as an
enlisted man.
I’m using the Jack,
folded in half the long way as a bed spread.
Its easily worth a couple hundred dollars.
Lt. Col. Cordera (from
the 8th MAS, my squadron) and crew went to Oman
yesterday. Of all the crews we’ve had, they
were the most uncooperative, particularly Harris,
the loadmaster. I am embarrassed for them as
everyone here noticed it.
Ed says he heard Jim Hill
was chewed out at Clark by the Assistant DO for
leaving too soon after Ed got here. Jim did
have get-home-itis pretty bad.
Our position here has
been hurt by a Maj. Hansen, a C-9 pilot from Clark,
who Maj. Hill replaced. Hansen provided the
crews with very personal service and spent the rest
of the time on the beach. He then stayed about
four days to provide an “changeover continuity,” but
in reality did nothing. All he did was look
good. There was no substance to his work and
no progress in the other duties of providing
training and instruction for the Navy. His
accomplishments were shallow, but looked very good
on the surface.
I was very surprised to
learn the RNZN is about 1/3 Maori, the original
Polynesian inhabitants of the islands, even though
they are less than 5% of the general
population. Also they only have four ships
(they do have gunboats, etc.) in their Navy.
The Kiwi Captain was the senior officer in the task
force, and so led the task force, very much to the
chagrin of the British Captain, who looked about 30
years old, but was certainly much older.
8 Oct 82. Friday.
1100L.
I did absolutely nothing
constructive yesterday as the C-5 arrival in the
afternoon was canceled. It rained miserably
all day so I was unable to get any sun or do any
snorkeling (without sunlight the turgidity of the
water makes it difficult to see beyond six feet or
so). Yesterday afternoon was the weekly
picnic. It was poorly done, with little beer
and poorly attended. The Southern Baptist
Chaplain was in charge - I guess that explains the
lack of booze.
Today I laid out in the
sun for an hour and 15 minutes and finished reading
a book. This afternoon I get to work!
The Nairobi bird is four hours late so everything
will be happening this afternoon - three aircraft on
the ground within 45 minutes of each other.
10 Oct 82. 2100L.
Sunday.
Yesterday I saw a bird
that looked like a frigate bird, but instead of a
red chest, it was white and much bigger than frigate
birds I remember.
Yesterday, Maj. McClure
went up to Oman on the last flight for this battle
group (headed by the Forestall - TG 70.8).
Last night after dinner, Jim Dufus, the Captain in
the Royal Engineers, Captain Ken Gill, and Steve
invited me over to the Brit Club for a couple of
beers while I awaited the return of the Masirah
flight. Ken is the XO here. He’s been in
the Royal Marines for 21 years, 15 as a warrant
officer (possibly as an enlisted man). He
drinks alot when he decides to, and he decided to
last night. He is the first person I’ve seen
who can slap box without flinching or
blinking. Of course, in the Air Force, if
someone got as “pissed” (as the Brits call getting
drunk) as he did, he winds up in alcohol abuse
programs. I spoke with Cmdr. Libby for a half
an hour. He is also a pilot and flew
Buccaneers, A-6s and F-4s. I asked him about
recent court actions. He is the BIOT judge and
jury here. He recently sentenced several
sailors and WAVES to 100-200 pound fines for smoking
marijuana. What is truly incredible is that
they were convicted based on accusations and signed
confessions of events that happened last
April! He readily admits the convictions would
never have stood up in any court in the UK or the
US. What I couldn’t get from him was why did
they bring the cases to court, etc.? It would
seem to me that unjust verdicts are as prejudicial
to good order and discipline as the need to stop
undesirable behaviors.
Last night a
two-masted Norwegian yacht anchored out behind the BOQ
here. This morning the Brits woke up and
discovered it there and went ballistic. They
commandeered the American yatch in the small boat
basin and went out to check to see if they needed food
or water and gave them ‘till night fall to clear the
area, as this is a restricted area on current charts
and in the Notice to Mariners. I took some
pictures of the boat.
Today I laid out in the
sun for two hours.
Tonight there was a DOD
show (since USO no longer puts on shows), the
Moonlight Bay Company Band. The crowd response
was nowhere near as enthusiastic as the show I saw
here two years or so ago. Now that there’s
women on the island, the sexual innuendoes weren’t
that meaningful. Half the crowd were Filipino
and a quarter of them were merchant mariners or
seamen from the Military Sealift Command. The
jokes and audience participation stuff just didn’t
go over.
This place is just
getting too civilized.
Steve and I almost beat
some Brits at darts.
12 Oct 82. Tuesday.
1130L.
Today is really Columbus
Day, but yesterday was a legal holiday.
However, work here went on as normal. The only
holiday reminders were that the EDF (enlisted dining
facility) and Ship’s Store, etc. (i.e., all the
conveniences) were on holiday hours. Ed got up
early yesterday and launched the C-5 at 0445L, then
came back and went to sleep. We got up about
0900 and got ready and went to the plantation (I
went over and got a permit from Ken Gill). Ed
dropped the truck off for periodic maintenance at I
Site South (and naturally it wasn’t ready when we
stopped to pick it up on our return from the
plantation and has to go back today). We
wandered around the plantation for a while, then
went back to the R&R center. The water was
smooth and crystal clear - at least 30-40 feet
visibility. Steve, one of the MX guys and I
went out snorkeling to the reef which is a hundred
yards off shore. It was certainly the most
wonderful day of snorkeling yet. It is a much
more complete and beautiful and lively reef than the
one out back of the BOQ. There were fish of
every color and description, dozens of
species. The giant clams - 12-14 inches across
were extruded and looked like lovely purple
flowers. We saw no dangerous fish. The
Seabees who are working the area, preparing it as an
on-island R&R site, have a big Styrofoam ball
anchored to a concrete block at the outer edge of
the reef and attached to shore by a long steel
cable. Its their bobber for fishing for
sharks. They kill a chicken and use a huge
hook and the biggest they’ve caught is about five
feet. Missy the beer drinking donkey is still
there and some of the guys took several pictures of
her swigging cans of beer.
I took several more
pictures of the plantation - of the church and jail,
etc. The church still has the old confession
box in it, and the receptacles for the holy water
are old clam shells, now filled with rain water and
mosquito larvae. It was too dark inside the
church to take photos. The jail was apparently
two separate buildings - one a three cell building,
the other a large holding cell type building.
We also stopped by the old cemetery. Again,
the thing that was most disturbing was the number of
children’s graves.
On the way out to
the plantation I saw a bird the size and coloration of
an immature Redtail hawk, but with a shorter head and
tail. It was in the company of a bunch of terns
and was flying through the trees in one of the
barachois.
I spoke Sunday night with
Cmdr. Libby about the ecology of the island.
He more than welcomes, he practically encourages the
introduction of plants to the island, particularly
flowering plants. He opposes the importation
of animals, however. I believe insectivorous
reptiles and birds should be welcome. I also
think the introduction of certain species of
threatened or endangered animals should be welcome,
for example primates or reptiles (giant tortoises).
Steve and I went down to
go snorkeling behind the BOQ and the water was full
of tiny (no bigger than this X) jelly fish which
stung us all over.
My replacement is at
Clark right now and plans to come out on the
Singapore bird tomorrow. His wing (where else
but the 63rd at Norton) failed to request an area
clearance for him so I did it all over the phone
today. With his arrival, I plan to leave
Friday the 15th for Nairobi and on around the world.
Oh, yea, the other day,
Ron Troutman who was an IP for the other section of
our class in T-37s at Moody came through. He
got an uncontrolled 2 on an OER and so is getting
out with 10 1/2 years service. He said Micky
Tramontana got an Article 15 and got out and is now
flying for People’s Express. Seems he was an
IP in 135s at Wright Patterson and while taking off
with the wing commander, they rejected the take off
because they left the pitot covers on. The
airplane ran off the runway and Micky got out and
took the pitot covers off and was given the Article
15 for altering the scene of the accident by the
wing CO who had run off the runway.
13 Oct 82. Wednesday.
1630L.
Today my replacement
arrived - a 1st Lt. from Norton. Four months
ago, Clark sent a message requesting Captains and
Majors only. Naturally, Norton never got the
word. They are absolutely the least dependable
wing in MAC.
I ran around and took
pictures of various people today. I also
bought Cathy and the boys T-shirts. I had
hoped to get Cathy a windbreaker, but they had only
Extra-large.
  
Left to Right - Captain Jim
Dufus, Royal Engineers; Color Sergeant Terry
Crown, Royal Marines; Sam Moore, Contractor for
NCS.
CDR Preston
Moses and ENS Jeff Hebig, TF 70 Beach Det -
they chose what cargo and people flew from
Diego Garcia to the Battle Group off Masirah
Island, Oman.
15 Oct 82. 0630Z. En
route to Nairobi
We took off about 1/2
hour ago from Diego. I’m going home by
completing the circumnavigation of the earth.
Today I’ll go as far as Torrejon, Spain, about 20
hours from now.
Yesterday we spent the
whole day over at the plantation and R&R
Center. Larry Hawkins, my replacement got
badly sunburned, even though we warned him
frequently to cover his back, legs, etc. I got
a little sunburned myself, but its just a tinge
compared to him. We snorkeled extensively at
the R&R Center and at the jetty at the
plantation.
A Navy veterinarian from
Subic Bay was out to give the narcotic sniffing dogs
their annual checkup. He also showed the Brit
medic how to castrate cats, in an attempt to curb
the population. He told us Missy, the beer
drinking donkey, has chronic founder of the hooves,
her liver is broken down and will probably be dead
in a year. She’s only 10 and normally could be
expected to live 30 years. So much for the
good intentions of the Seabees in raising her from a
colt on beer.
I saw a Lion Fish in the
hole just off the beach at the R&R center.
It was easily a foot long.
Leftenant Steve Swayne, Royal
Australian Navy, Diego Garcia, 1982
Steve showed me
the old road, which used to run along the beach on the
lagoon side. Its old and falling apart now, but
there’s a concrete bridge over the entrance to a
barachois and I took numerous pictures there. We
watched lots of small sand sharks (three feet or less)
swimming very close to the shore.
Last night the picnic had
baked potatoes and NY Strip steak! First steak
I’ve seen on the island during this TDY. The
only non-ground meat I’ve seen is pork. Ken
invited us over to the Brit Residence for a couple
beers afterwards. I really like him and Jim
Dufus also.
The Brit Rep's Quarters, 1982.
Oh yes - yesterday
we had to rescue the vet and the Brits he was with
because their starter solenoid failed. Once we
got their truck started, we drove off after them (we
were down a track by the ocean side over by the
plantation) and left two of our guys there. We
didn’t discover they were missing for about five
minutes and finally went back to get them.
They’d wandered off down the beach.
Today I wrote a letter of
observations and recommendations for Ed to send back
on the next Clark flight.
I don’t miss the island,
but I did meet some very interesting and good people
and will miss them.
16 Oct 82. Torrejon
AB, Madrid, Spain. 0600L.
Well, I’m well on my way
now. I’ll catch a C-5 for Dover tomorrow
morning, if it doesn’t break down like they usually
do.
I want to note what I’ve
carried with me from Diego. A jacket and shirt
for me, a shirt each for Cathy and the boys and a
shirt for Dad. My British Flag and finally,
two half gallon Clorox bottles full of beach
sand. I intend to put the sand in a clear
glass lamp.
On the expedition to the
other side of the island, Steve and I and Sgt.
Tanner saw a swallow or a swift, the first noted on
Diego Garcia, but I haven’t got the slightest idea
what species it was.
I would sure like to be
sitting around having a beer with the guys back on
Diego! I really dislike leaving a place I’ve
gotten established in, never to return. By the
time I get back to Diego, most of my friends there
will be gone. That’s why I don’t want to leave
Olympia - I’ve moved around so much in my life, I’d
like to be able to settle down. I know Cathy
feels the same way. I love to travel, but
always to return home. That’s why I like
flying in MAC so much. I like the movement,
but always there’s the return to my loved ones and
home.
Its cold here - about 40
degrees - the coldest I’ve been in months. It
feels very odd to be wearing long pants again after
wearing nothing but shorts at Diego. Also,
I’ve gained some weight, as my flight suit is very
tight around my belly!
I would have liked to
have staged in Nairobi for a few days, but now just
want to get home fast. Also, of the $384 I
started this trip with, I now have only $40 left,
and very little in my checking account, so would
have been strapped for money since the next airplane
doesn’t pass through until Monday.
I slept a little in the
airplane, but its not very restful sleep, so will
probably sleep alot today. I would go into
Madrid, but don’t have anybody to show me around and
so would be lost! Also, I just like the
traveling. Seeing some thing alone is not
enjoyable to me anymore. I’d rather be with
Cathy or friends, preferably Cathy, of course.
18 Oct 82. 0700Z.
Preparing to descent to Dover, DL.
Well, the C-5 finally got
off the ground at Torrejon. A steel pin, about
the size of a CO2 cartridge for an air gun sheared
for the rear doors and had to be replaced - first it
had to be flown in from the States.
I did sleep alot and
watched some TV and talked with various crew members
in the lounge in the Q. I tried to get in
touch with Stan Nowak’s mother, who works at Morale,
Welfare and Recreation there in Torrejon, but it was
the weekend and she wasn’t at work and has no home
phone. There were some photographs on display
at the Officers’ Club of a recent party there and
she was in one of them, which reminded me she was
working there.
Since leaving Diego, I’ve
read the Celtic Myth and Legend Book. Its
quite interesting, but written in late Victorian
English and sometimes difficult to read. The
C-5 is a very comfortable aircraft to fly in, but I
still think its a turkey. Lt. Col. Nelson, who
is the 709 MAS Ops Officer is one of the navigators
and he offered me a job with the reserves there at
Dover! That makes three offers I’ve had in the
last five years - F-100s at Burlington, VT, A-37s at
Youngstown, OH (about four or five years ago when I
was thinking of getting out).
One of the pilots works
for Piedmont Air Lines and knows Mike Crump who is
now flying 737s for them. Also I heard from
Charleston 141 crews that Mike Stampley and Buddy
Gammon (from my UPT class) are both in the reserves
at Charleston.
At Torrejon ACC I met the
duty officer, a Capt. Scott. He was at Osan
with Dave Feigert and we talked for quite some
time. He was just passed over to Major for the
first time and is thinking about going to Air
Saudia. He also showed me a report of a UFO
seen by PAR controllers a couple months ago.
It followed a C-5 through the pattern and final
approach, though no noise was heard and the C-5 crew
saw nothing. I also asked at Base Ops about
Operation Bahari, the falconry program there.
They showed me the log book - the falconer (a
Spaniard) shows up about 0900-1000 each day and goes
out and chases any birds for about an hour. In
the last couple days he killed a magpie each
day. The airfield is virtually bird free
there. I wish I’d been able to see the Spanish
Peregrine in action.
22 Oct 82. Friday.
0630L. Olympia, WA
Got home shortly after
midnight on the 19th and have been spending the last
couple days getting to know the family again.
Of course, I had to go to
a meeting of the squadron yesterday and today have
some BS to take care of and another meeting, this
one an IP and FE meeting at wing.
I got the pictures I took
at Diego back - they are O.K. but I definitely need
my lens cleaned. Also I’m rather embarrassed
about how fat I am as revealed by my photos.
So, I’ve started a weight control program - as best
I can. Cathy and I went to Moctezumas for
dinner Wednesday night and met for lunch at the
Black Angus in Tacoma yesterday.
Everybody here is fine,
except that Chris burned his left hand pretty badly
on the wood stove playing around. Some 6th
grader has been beating up Eric in school, but was
caught and hopefully that’s over. Eric is also
doing much better in school and knows most of his
letters and can add and subtract sticks but not in
his head yet. He really has progressed alot in
the last month and 10 days.
Cathy’s going full bore
with the Campfire Group - has eight kids in it and
has taken them on field trips to the Pioneer Museum
near Eatonville and a fire station. She’s also
done pretty well keeping the house in order and her
mind in one piece.
Greg didn't recognize me
when I got off the plane, but now climbs in my lap
whenever I sit down! He is talking much better
and is playing with his little toys in a complicated
way. It fortunate he and Chris do not share
Eric’s disabilities.
Anyway, it was a good
trip and I’m glad to be home.
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