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Alaska, 1977-1978
Click on the photos for a larger view
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Here I am, in 1978, standing in one of my favorite
rooms of an un-remembered station. No, we didn’t do laundry here
(which was shipped to offsite processing facilities), only deposited
it in the bin. The room doubled as my weight training/exercise area.
You can’t see it, but the weight bench and bar bell I used are
just behind me. |
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Caribou were frequent visitors throughout the year. |
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POW 2, 1978. My colleagues erected this apparition
on the banks of the Kuk River to scare who knows what. Crows
didn't venture that far north. Ravens preferred more populated
areas. I think this was more for fun than anything. |
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Here's another view of Mr. Scarecrow. The station pick up
truck, seen in the background, got us there and back. |
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This is POW 2 in 1978, as seen from perhaps half a
mile away from out on the tundra. |
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This also is POW 2, seen from farther away. |
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A close-up of the POW 2 radome, living quarters &
lateral communications antennae. |
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POW 2 close-up. |
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POW 2 living quarters. |
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We enjoyed all of the necessities of life. This
is an 'incinerator' toilet. Before you did your business, you
placed a bag that resembled a drip coffee filter inside the bowl.
To flush, you stood (a very important detail!) then depressed an electric
switch on the floor. These contraptions replaced Navy-style
pump-flush commodes which, to evacuate, required several pulls on
on a slot-machine-style lever. They were hardy & perfectly
satisfactory. We never knew why the Air Force specified such
a strange replacement. I also remember when the Air Force required
our employer, FSI, to replace old septic out-flow lines with PVC pipe.
The installers tried unsuccessfully to bury the pipe before the trundra
thawed, then watched when the next hard freeze of -20 degrees (F)
or so shattered the brittle plastic. Pentagon procurement at
its best! |
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Good old Air Force waste. Our military has never done a great
job of cleaning up after itself. |
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