1990-1991: My Final 7 Months in the Air Force

[WaltB1963]

I was at Sawyer from March 1960 thru Sept 1963 at the ADC SAGE unit.

Lived in New Swanzy across from the IGA store on M-35. Remember loosing my car overnight in a snowdrift. Wish I had a movie camera that I could have recorded some of the sights and people I met there. Never been back nice to see the footage you took. Also lived short time in a trailer in Little Lake. There was at one time a A&W rootbeer with car hops on the left just as you entered Gwinn. Thanks for the memories

[bobdawonderweasel2]

Former KI Sawyer AFB Airman here.

I worked in the 410 OMS from1989 - 1992. Radar, Radio Doppler (32874). Many good memories from that time (my son is a KI brat who is in the AF now stationed at Minot!!).

[scottjohnsonup]

Steve, Scott Johnson here, I worked with you at Sawyer 1988-1990. Good to see Ray, April, Falcon, Bob Laramie, and all the other people whose names I can't remember. Found your video by accident. Good memories of Sawyer but it's currently a major dump. I still live in Marquette. Hope to hear from you, we need to get together and catch up.

[dvecly40]

wow , i remember that air show.. and the parade... wish you had caught the truck hauling all of us who had just returned from deployment. Still nice to see it all again.

thanks i will be sharing.

[robaksha]

Just got back from another snowmobile trip up there - took a bunch of friends again, rode around the base, got shots with the planes, etc. Also want to let everyone know there is a facebook group that is growing quick: I survived KI Sawyer AFB - lots of pix, people, and memories. Sign up! Going back again by motorcycle this summer. Sorry you lost the soundtrack for this vid - it always helped me to remember. :(

[aprox25]

i grew up in Gwinn, i miss the clean air :/

i ended up moving shortly after KI sawyer closed down, my dad worked at 5-52 weapon supplies. (flight simulators). i love gwinn/little lake..... my home :)

[granskare]

you left the UP? Gwinn? Unbelievable :) I was in AF late 50s, born in the UP so a yooper :)

ah, the black flies and noseeums of spring lol :)

we used to go to camp at Shelter Bay and a lot of the Sawyer guys would use Deer Lake a lot...saw several air force days there and fly over of the Blackbird - SR-71 ?

[stevekool19]

Best times of my life spent at KI as a youngster in the early 1990's. Would give anything to get it back again.

Thanks for the video and the great memories.

[meandale]

Thank you Steven! Awesome seeing some of the old sites. Left in 1991 & just got to go back this summer for vacation. I too remember those clearing barrels, peacekeepers, freezing my butt off, etc.!!!1

Greatest time of my life & didn't realize it!

[Cornhusk60]

they reopened it as public houseing. I live on KI Sawyer. its really cool. My G pa was stationed here.

[Retnuh1974]

This was great!

I was stationed there from 92 till 94 right when it closed. I wish I had video taped my time there. Such good times, a great place and wonderful people.

I think it was the only place in America where you could leave your car running all day in the Walmart parking lot and come back and get it at the end of the day.

Great times.

I too was a SP.

Thanks,

Hunter

[arcampbrill]

I did leave my keyes in my car in west wood mall parking lot, summer of 1995, and cam back out and they were still there!

[Jcampbrill]

I did that once, at the west wood mall parkin lot, and came back out and my keyes were still in the ignition and car still there.

[Notjustanothertroll]

Wow just wow this is a effing mind trip down memory lane. The guardmount room and red clearing barrels. I never thought I would see that again. The PK the worst idea that a man ever had. I hate that vehicle and all it stands for. The people made that job some of the craziest people I have ever met in my life. I guess 12 hour shifts with really not much to do makes people demented. I spent a little less than 2 years in the WSA. It left a permanent scar on my mind.

[coinshooter]

Stationed at K.I. twice. I salute my Brothers and Sisters of the Blue Berets, 410th SPS. I was a LE Flight Chief there, 1976 to 1980 when I got out. Been to the base since closing, It is a ghost town...about tore my heart out to see it so dead. Only a few people in housing are and not traffic on the base besides us and the local police from Gwinn at housing.

Sure miss everyone and the base. God bless you all wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

[arcampbrill]

Anyone remember Marvin Campbell 410th sps,also know as "marv" he was LE??? He got out in 1991. Ringing a bell for anyone?

[Jcampbrill]

Any remember ssgt Campbell, also know as "marv",410th sps, he was LE. Am I ringing a bell?

[robaksha]

Posting on this video again - I was there last weekend, took some motorcycle friends up there from Chicago to show them snowmobiling. We stayed at the old BDQ which is now a hotel. O Club is a bar. Took them to the static display aircraft (several now located where the 52 is by BX/Commissary). No words from me can really describe what it was like to them. They were impressed. Miss KI, USAF, SAC, the energy there. Some faces in vid I recognize. 87-94. Your vid is a time machine.

[stevensinger]

Hey Joel. Wow. Great to hear from you. I searched for the group on Facebook but couldn't find it. Add me as a friend if you like and maybe I can find it there. Search for Steven Singer.

[jscarbro]

Steven,

I've put together a 410 SPS group on facebook (thus far includes Tourchette, Dedecker, Laramie, Miron, Criado, Fouse, Scoles) I just spoke with Luce, Palkon, and Duffield on the phone today. If you have an account, join it. I recommend any other former 410 SPS do the same. I'm trying to see if I can plan getting a bunch of people together this summer. Those people that know me can email me, if you prefer not to get a facebook account.

Joel Scarbrough 89-94

[jscarbro]

Steven Singer...you just made my year! I jsut spoke to Tim Luce today and he asked if I had seen this of which I had not. What a great memory.

Sincerely, Joel Scarbrough

410 SPS 1989 - 1995

[meandale]

Joel - think i remember ya but memory isn't what it used to be. Luce tried to contact me via K.I.Sawyer museum site but he never checked back in. Iffin you talk to him, let him know SSGT Marsee is still waiting on him to report!

[HoosierBikeNhike]

Steve, Great video! Thanks for sharing. I was weapons loading (410MMS) at KIS during the same era.

Your video (and the other comments here) really brought back some great memories.

I haven't been back since the summer of '90.

I couldn't image there not being an alert pad. I only ever knew it as a SAC base.

If you have more footage and wouldn't mind sharing (your time, effort and footage) it sure would be great to see some more of the base or Marquette in the heyday of my memory.

[valleysnow]

I was there the night the B52 crashed doing touch and go's. My shift was on duty but I was off in the dorms. I remember hearing the explosion and being recalled to work.

When CE and the hospital shared a dorm, it was a animal house!

[stevensinger]

Wow, what a memory. I had just gotten off of work when that B52 went down. I had to go back in and secure the perimeter. The ambulances that recovered the crew drove right by post. To this day, the explosion remains the loudest sound I've ever heard. Thanks for that post!

[valleysnow]

Thanks, I was a Firefighter 87 to 89. Being from Cali, it was a major culture shock. Your right, I had one of the greatest times of my life there. We did drink alot though. It actually trained me for my remote tour to Kunsan AB Korea. If any old fire fighters are out there, get a hold of me.

Manuel Perez

[yourdrunkuncle1985]

The guardmount room. I thing I hated most was checking the oil on the PK's on a cold jan or feb night. God that was awful. PK's were so much garbage. unit call signs 13,14,16, during cold periods 15, base unit was 26, what were the fireteams 7 and 17 the tower was wizard. does anyone remember scott lair, donny ellis, Hennessy, Rob Davis, Mark "Sparky" taylor, Ras

[yourdrunkuncle1985]

This brings it back. I was in 410th SPS. Dec 1993-Feb 1995 I worked the last mid shift Dec 16-Dec 17 1994 of the WSA. DOE took the last warhead that morning. Thus bringing to an end a long and cold history poor low ranking airmen walking fence line and standing at the nose of B-52's during base exercises in weather that could dip down to -75 wind chill. I don't miss the weather just the people. And I agree with you it is hard to see what you have until its gone. It's all about people

[sbarbu]

I remember being in the alert facility dining area one clear cold night - those nights when low pressure systems zoomed down north from Canada and drove the wind to 50 mph with the temperature below zero, kicking up the snow on the ground and turning into an instant blizzard, and we saw this SP walking the alert "throat" line rather than being in the little hooch for his own protection, my nav said "that guy is either super dedicated or insane" - I tended to agree with the first option...

[justanotherloser2301]

omg marquette mountain XD i love that place too

[justanotherloser2301]

i live there now...

everythings kinda run down

except for the housing

i live on hustler st.

in a duplex..

i love it up here

[DaveB4529]

Great vid. Arrived AGE mechanic in 3/93, was one of the last 100 or so active duty on base when closed. Spooky to drive to the shoppette from Tarzon in the evening and only see a few lights on through housing. Will never forget picking blueberries on the trail leading to Base Lake, driving a snowmobile to work in the morning, or having some of my troops ring the doorbell at 6 PM asking if I could 'could out and play' (for a evening sled ride...)

[jerrica76]

This was such a great suprised. We were stations at KI twice when I was a kid (1979-1986 and 1990-93) My dad as a with the Security Police (Staff/Tech Sargent)

BTW the soap box derby stuff was cool;) - Shel

[yourdrunkuncle1985]

I was a SP in the 410th from dec 1993 to feb 95. Ask your dad if he remembers Msgt. Duff, Lucus, Whittey. Tgst Fuchs, Col kibby. I just discovered this video. It's incredible.

[stevensinger]

I had a "Tst" Duff. Bald guy, short, very deep booming voice? I wonder if that was the same guy?

[yourdrunkuncle1985]

Yep that was Duff a shiny bald head maybe 5'8 tall. A real by the book type of guy. He was a Msgt by 1994. How about SSgt Nicholes? A real crusty ssgt. Retired as a ssgt in 1995. What flight were you on?

[stevensinger]

I was "C" flight and that is the same "Duff" we knew. We used to mimic his voice and the fact that he would start sentences off with: "Everybody in the whole world KNOWS ...". Chief Hackney was still alive and threatening to rip our heads off. It was crazy and difficult at the time because we were still in the "Cold War" mentality. However, looking back on it ... all good times.

[yourdrunkuncle1985]

Duff was our flight sgt. We used to refer to him as Elmer Fudd. He was so by the book. You were in when things were still hyper-crazy. The quick response area was still up. I forgot what it is called the area where pilots would live and B-52's could be launched in minutes. That was gone when I got there. Real warheads never left the WSA. During base exercises we would use fake ones. SAC was I thing of the past but older NCO's still had the mentality. And Duff was one of those guys.

[stevensinger]

Wow, thanks for that information. I can't imagine what it would have been like without the SAC mentality. I can only imagine what Duff was like running a flight. He was pretty much as you described him but probably a bit more tolerable as he wasn't responsible for a flight. Thanks also for commenting on my video. This makes the world so much smaller. I actually sent some raw footage to a guy who saw himself in the Marquette parade. I never knew the guy but we were both at KI at the same time.

[yourdrunkuncle1985]

I can only imagine what Duff was like running a flight. Paranoid!! Duff was paranoid. But I believe that the whole Squadron was paranoid. It is my believe that the intentions of people in the back office was to make it that way. Our flight NCO's rarely every said anything good about people in the back office. I guess that was well earned they always tried too screw people over. I'm convinced it was in their job description to screw people.

[meandale]

OMG... getting chills. musta served with ya!!!!

SSGT Marsee - left in December 1991

[sbarbu]

oh my god steve! I was up there at the same time (88-92), part of the bomb squadron as a buff edub. Had you photographed the KC-135 that landed 3 days earlier (march 8 91) you would have caught me coming down the ladder - our crew was the one and only sawyer crew to see conflict in "DS" - thanks for the memories! I was known back then as booboo...

[ricks1019]

I was a K.I. brat too! Great to see Marquette. Still looks as cold as I remember. My dad was stationed there from '68-'72. He was squadron gunner for the bomb wing there. I remember playing football with the guys in the neighborhood (we lived at 114 Destroyer St.) in 16 foot snow drifts, all dressed up in ski suits. Great fun! Is Little Trout Lake still there? I hope they didn't fill it in. That's where I learned to fish.

[robaksha]

also a KI brat... your vid brought back some memories... I was up there for the 4th (Dad still lives in Gwinn)... but it just isn't the same. In fact - to drive around the base after so many years, remembering how it was - it just breaks your heart, honestly. :( There is a museum at the base - worth stopping in and taking a look... keep those vids - aside from memories, that's all that's left of that place. Gwinn, KI, Mqt - not at at all what it was.

[atl2015]

I'm an Air Force Brat. We lived on KI from 1984 to 1992 I believe. I had a great time. I forgot about that race on the "hill". Man, all that snow! I too left a lot of friends behind! Great video.

[granskare]

I was born in Mqt and my mom in Gwinn. We would come up from Illinois and chance would have it that Sawyer had an open house so of course we coudn't miss that. Saw demo of loading bombs onto B-52s but the most memorable was the flyover of the Blackbird, flying at 400 I think. Thanks for loading this vid :)

[zzzzman927]

I left about the same time. 88-91 But I came back after the base closed. I now live and work on the base. A lumber mill is where the WASA was. I was AMS/FMS. Worked in PMEL. I remember that air show. It ws my last one too, at least as a active base. They still have them.

[meandale]

zzzzzman - did they rip out the newest bunkers they built??? They built those a few years before I left, (1991)

[mitchman65]

Thanks for the memories,was stationed there from 84-87.

[amaine59guy]

This is great.....I was an SP stationed at KI from 1973-75......I enjoyed seeing some familiar scenes. I noticed the clearing barrels too.....looks like the same building we moved into when it was new around 1974.

[ViceGSXR]

My husband and I are sitting here. First time ever he typed in KI Sawyer! What a blast from the past. I am from MQT... he was stationed at KI when we met. Way back when in 1990! ThHis last week we celebrated his 20 years.... a couple more in the works as we sit here in Italy. Thank you so so much for the memories!! MQT I miss you!!!! Ciao!!! Kristen

[RochesterCycling]

Holy crap! At 3:22 in this video: the red clearing barrels in the guardmount room at the 410 SPS!

Holy....... crap. I never thought I'd see those things again. You can find ANYTHING on YouTube.

And seeing the snow on Washington St in Mqt was awesome. So many times I'd drive back to Mqt in a blinding blizzard cursing life for making me live there. But wishing I still did.

[Goldwing79]

I was a K. I. Sawyer AFB from 85-93 thanks I saw some places and maybe a face or two that I remember. Nice video