Nostalgia
Miller, Gerald S.
Before going to Aviation Cadets in 1960 I had been stationed at AC&W sites in Finland and Willmar, MN and Antigo, WI. This was posted on the Radar vets site and I thought it was worth a read for all of us.
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Nostalgia for all USAF Radar Station Veterans.
Frequently, I venture back to one or another Air Force Base, where I'm greeted by an imposing security guard who looks carefully at my identification card, hands it back and says, "Have A Good Day, Chief.
Every time I go to any Air Force Base it feels good to be called by my previous rank, but odd to be in civilian clothes, walking among the servicemen and servicewomen going about their duties as I once did, many years ago.
The Air Force Base is a comfort zone for anyone who has ever worn the USAF uniform. It's a place where you know the rules and know they are enforced -- a place where everybody is busy, but not too busy to take care of business.
Because there exists behind the base gates of every Air Force facility an institutional understanding of respect, order, uniformity, accountability and dedication that becomes part of your marrow and never ever leaves you.
Personally, I miss the fact that you always knew where you stood in the military, and who you were dealing with. That's because you could read somebody's uniform from 20 feet away and know the score. It is quite different in the civilian world.
Service personnel wear their careers on their uniforms. When you approach each other, you can read their nametag, note their rank and, if they are wearing their service awards and decorations, read their ribbons and know where and how they've served in many cases.
I miss all those little things you take for granted when you're in the ranks, like breaking starch on a set of fatigues fresh from the laundry and standing in a perfectly straight line military formation that looks like a mirror as it stretches to the endless horizon.
I miss the sight of troops marching during basic training and at the technical school bases in the early morning mist, the sound of boot heels thumping in unison on the street, the bark of drill instructors and the singsong answers from the four squads in the formation as they pass by.
To romanticize military service is to be far removed from its reality, because it's very serious business -- especially in times of war, as we are in one now. But I miss the salutes I'd give to officers and the salute returns as we crisscrossed on our ways. I miss the smell of jet fuel hanging heavily in the night air and the sound of engines roaring down runways and disappearing into the clouds when I was assigned on Air Force Bases. I miss the sound of diesel engines humming away day and night and the buzz of a radar antenna turning the six revolutions a minute. I miss the clanking of the gate into the radar site as it is closed upon entries and departures. I even miss the crew briefings prior to the crew assuming the responsibility of providing Air Defense Operations for the assigned responsibility. The crew team work and the rapport which exists day-by-day are some things one always remember. Some members who were coffee
drinkers must remember the coffee which was available around the clock each day, some fresh and some very old. The mid-shift seemed to be very long, but there were many happy moments experienced during these shifts when activities were reduced. These are the things I missed from being assigned on a radar site or in the New York Sector SAGE Direction Center. I even miss the hurry-up-and-wait mentality that enlisted men and women gripe about constantly, a masterful discovery that bonded people more than we will ever know or admit. There is some truth to the expression that a happy airman is a complaining one.
I miss people taking off their hats when they enter a building, speaking directly and clearly to others and never showing disrespect for rank, race, religion or gender. The common thread of respect among all officers and enlisted personnel is something that one misses and never forgets.
I miss being a very small cog in a machine so big and complex that it constantly circumnavigates the Earth and so simple it feeds everyone on time, three times a day, on the ground, in the air and at sea day after day without fail.
I don't know anyone who has served in the Air Force who regrets it, and doesn't feel a sense of pride when they pass through those Air Force gates and reenter the world they left behind with their youth or upon retirement.
Face it, all veterans miss it, whether you had one tour or a career, it shaped your life. There isn't a single day that goes by that you never use some of the experiences you gained while serving your country with honor which aids you in successful accomplishing your civilian job or achieving your goal in life.
Vaughn A. Rogers (Buck)
CMSGT USAF RET
Judge Brown,Veteran
Thanks
Veteran
From: "Gerald S. Miller" <MILL...@uwec.edu>
To: 46th307th-air-re...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 7:11:49 AM
Subject: Nostalgia
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