The last two days have been spent on board Fallon Naval Air Station, located southwest of Fallon, NV.http://www.fallon.navy.mil/
Dan is not exactly sure of the dates but his dad and family were stationed here with the Air Force between 1964 to 1966? Dan Sr’s original orders were to report to Stead AFB outside Reno. After the Ryan family survived a hair-raising flight over the Sierras in a blinding snow storm in a small prop plane, Dan Sr learned the next morning in Reno that he was now to report to Fallon Naval Auxiliary Air Station! This naval outpost was so small that it didn’t even qualify as a full Naval Air Station and hence the “Auxiliary” in its official title.
In fact the personnel on the Air Force side of the base claimed the only reason for NAAS existence was the large Air Force radar installation that was part of the USA early warning system. Even as a kid Dan questioned how a radar located on the east side of the Sierras and over 200 miles from the Pacific Ocean could provide any early warning of value?
Anyway the south side of the base belonged to the Air Force and the north side to the Navy. Most of the facilities were on the Navy side (exchange and commissary), but the Air Force (being the Air Force) had new and better housing, better pool and better rec facilities. Although there never was anything said bad about naval personnel, or not associating with them; Air Force kids pretty much stuck together and there was very little association with Navy kids. Another example of the social discrimination of the day was when the Ryan family moved into AF housing. Turns out there were no enlisted houses available so the family was stuck in officer housing. As soon as the neighbors learned Dan Sr’s rank, the wives no longer talked to Dan’s mom and their kids were told not to play with the Ryan kids. Fortunately after two months the Ryan family was moved into enlisted housing and the social order was restored!
As kids Dan and friends pretty much had free rein around the base and into town. On their bikes they would roam the country side, even using the runways for short cuts and cutting through secure and classified areas without any concern. In fact when the flight line was secured because of classified operations (like the landing of the B70), they would cut through the desert to see what was going on. Sometime they were told to move on by security, but most of the time they were ignored. Back then no one worried that the kids were gone all day, and were out in the desert with snakes and scorpions. Also as Dan remembers it, the runway was used more often for early NHRA drag races, then by military aircraft.
Since 1995 NAS Fallon has been home to the Navy’s Top Gun school. This means that we have been treated to the near continuous sound of high performance jets taking off, landing, and performing high speed/low altitude maneuvers! Dan found this very interesting and entertaining; Corrie didn’t seemed too enthused.
Friday morning Dan took off on his bike from the base RV park on the north side, to the south side of the base. Enroute he found over a dozen jets on display by the flight line. What was different about this display was that a third of the jets were actual MIGs formally tested and evaluated by Top Gun pilots. In addition there were USA fighters (F16s and F18s) that were painted as Communist Russian planes, including the red star on the tail.
On the south side of the base Dan found very little trace of the Air Force’s past presence. The housing, the pool, and the rec facilities were leveled. But since the roads were still there he was able to find the exact location of where the Ryan family lived. To Dan it appears that the Navy is trying to wipe out any trace of previous Air Force occupation by moving all the undesirable facilities to that end of the base like: the brig, the Explosive Ordinance Team, and the fuel farm. Pay backs are hell? The Air Force red and white checkered building that the early warning radar sat on still stands. But now instead of a gigantic radar that almost dwarfed the building, it supports a smaller domed installation. Riding back to the RV camp Dan was battling a stiff head wind. Dan was tempted to take the short cut across the runways, but figured security might not be so tolerant as they were 40 years ago.
That afternoon Dan returned to the location of the Air Force housing with Corrie to get a picture, and then it was into town to locate other past memories. While taking the picture Dan picked up a piece of asphalt from the old driveway as a keepsake. Downtown Fallon is pretty much the same, even the approach roads on US 50 and US 95 have all the typical fast food chains, along with strip malls. Maine Street (that’s right Maine, not Main) is still home to the Fallon Theater, and the Nugget Casino. Dan swears the same old timers are hanging out in the Nugget! The last stop was EC Best Junior High, which is now an Elementary school.
Friday evening we went to the hundred year old Overland Hotel for dinner. This was supposed to be Basque food, but turned out to be American food served Basque “style”. What this meant was almost nothing on the menu that was Basque, but food served in Basque style (ie family style). Dan did try the one Basque item on the menu - Basque chicken (good) and the Pinon Punch (take the enamel off your teeth).
Unfortunately our effort to escape the bad weather has only been partially successful. Thursday afternoon high winds kicked up and we had to pull in all the awnings and Dan’s CG flag. Friday morning was beautiful, but cold winds and rains hit by late afternoon. After the rains cleared we looked to the east and noticed the once clear mountains were now covered in snow!
Trivia: 1) Fallon is famous for its Heart of Gold fruit, what is it? 2) What aircraft first flown in 1955, has flown in more wars than any other (still flown by 30 countries)?
No comments:
Post a Comment