GEEIA

LeMaster, Arby · May 20, 2007 14:37:43

Hey Polecat; I think I remember ya'll saying that you got to Chanute in 1963. I didn't leave there until sometime in August 1963. They evidently thought my services would be better utilized in Thule, Greenland, and a lousy com. sqdn to boot. I don't think the "first shirt" had a grudge against me or anything like that, because when I went to clear base, and get his signature, he said that this was the first time he remembered seeing me! I had been in the squadron for 20 months!. I think he spent most of his time at "Jim"s Bar", right outside the main gate in Rantoul. They said he tried to get roll call @ 0800 at the bar each day but the "old man" put the nix to that. He then started checking each room every morning for roll call and when the "old man" found out he said that he had to at least get us out of bed and have roll call in the day room. A lot of extra effort for an overworked "first shirt". Arby

Hansen, Len · May 20, 2007 20:16:49

Hey Arby, I got to chanute july'63,and the 1st person I met was Maj. jewel,and we became real good friends. Maybe tht's why the 1st shirt didn't like me. But that's another story. We used to go to Paxton and drink, and party. The other place we went was the "beacon" on Rt.45 1/2 way to Urbana/Champ. Remember those places?

LeMaster, Arby · May 21, 2007 19:49:10

Hey Polecat; If you got there in July '63, you must have been my replacement! I got my orders for Greenland in July. Got them while I was out on a job at some Godforsaken remote A.F.S. Yes, I remember Maj. Jewell. She was a captain when I got there. She was in charge of admin. We all just assumed that she preferred female companionship. I don't remember hearing of any of her social life. I did a small "phone job" for her at her home, on my own time, She lived, at the time, in a mobile home park about half way to Urbana on rte.45 I don't remember the names of all the "watering holes", but I was buddies with a 2nd Lt. from admin. and he liked Paxton and its only bar. Drove a Corvette. I started dating a non-drinker and she eventually kept me out of those dens of iniquity and I wound up, when not with her, doing my daily elbow bending with my barrack buddies at the P.X. cafeteria. Pitchers of rotgut draft beer. Remember the B-36H ( the one with the props on the back of the wings) The P.X. sat right next to it. Chanute sure had a good display of WWII fighter/bombers on display. I tried to visit them all while I was there. I remember the WB-47 sat in front of the hospital, right across from our barracks. I'll write more as I remember other Chanute tales. Arby

Beran, Chuck · September 21, 2007 13:13:24

MY NAME IS CHUCK BERAN. I SERVED WITH THE 2865TH G.E.E.I.A. SQUADRON FROM 1960 THRU 1962 AND THEN WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE 2868TH IN ALASKA FROM 1962 THRU 1964. ANYONE FROM THAT ERA THAT WOULD LIKE TO CONVERSE WITH ME WOULD BE SURELY APPRECIATED. MY PHONE # IS 412-977-1626 AND MY E-MAIL IS cberantroyhill@msn.com. THIS SITE REALLY BRINGS BACK SOME VERY PLEASANT MEMORIES OF G.E.E.I.A. WOW! WHAT MEMORIES...IT SEEMS LIKE YESTERDAY AND IT'S BEEN 47 YEARS SINCE I FIRST WAS SENT TO CHANUTE A.F.B. AND ASSIGNED TO THE 2865TH G.E.E.I.A. SQUADRON.

P.S. I THINK I HAVE MY OFF-SET GAFFS SOMEWHERE AT HOME.

Last edited by cberan (September 27, 2007 16:20:05)

Smith, Ray · January 05, 2008 14:54:11

My name is Ray Smith, I was in Chanute from 1961 through 1964. I spent most of my time TDY somewhere. When I was in Rantoul we used to go to a bar located halfway to Champaign....I think it was in Thomasboro or something like that. On weekends we would hit Two Brothers in Springfield. I still have the two dollar bill they gave in change. I spent a lot of time in North and South Dakota as well as Texas, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.

Hansen, Len · January 05, 2008 17:31:42

Hey Ray, my name is Len Hansen, and I was at the 2865th from 1963 to 1965 and later. Spent alot of time in N. Dakota at Minot. Worked with a Sgt. Robert Parker and A1C Ron [red] Stanton, then worked with SGt. McDonald and went to Panama CZ. Had a accident, and that was the end of climbing for me. Spent the rest of my time in various hospitals. I was a pole jock [3610X0] Your name sounds familiar, but having a hard time placing it. The name of that bar 1/2 way to Champain was called the "beacon Tap".

Smith, Ray · February 16, 2008 18:18:21

Hi Len, I used to hang with Andy Goodson (spelling?) or AKA Goody. He worked for Major Jewell in Admin. Some of the other cronies were Al Lis and Rich from Staten Island. I had two great 1st shirts, but I cannot remember their names...one might have been Agee or something like that. The other was a tall African American..super guy, but I cannot remember his name.
I am thinking about passing through Rantoul and U of I on my return trip from Florida. Is there anything to see in Rantoul?
Has anyone thought about creating t-shirts and hats for the 2865th?

Ray

Last edited by RSMITH150 (February 16, 2008 18:20:48)

Pyrdek, Joe · April 28, 2008 10:03:57

Spent 18 months assigned to the 2865th after tech school at Keesler. AFSC 30352 Aircraft Control & Warning Radar Maintenance. Then I got reassigned to the 667th AC&W Sq. in Hofn, Iceland. In my 18 months (1965- 1967) stationed at Chanute I was not involved in a single AC&W active radar. The closest I came was when we had to pull out an old FPS-20 series radar when they finally got the FPS-35 antenna put back on and brought the radar on line at Fortuna AFS North Dakota. Other than that I worked in Minuteman silos at Ellsworth South Dakota and F.E. Warren AFB Cheyenne, Wyoming. After all these 465L SACCS jobs were done, I and another guy who was from TV systems, got sent to Keesler for a four month school on the 465L. Other than that I worked cloud height and thickness radar in Ellsworth (my first REAL job in the AF!), putting up fiberglass radomes in Hutchison (sp?) Kansas in 105 Dg. heat, another radome job somewhere, FPS Weather radar in Scott AFB, a job done at the antenna farm in Blythville Arkansas. We buried a V-17 Line truck in the mud on that one and burned out the clutch on the Dodge Power Wagon trying to help the V-17 out of the gumbo that passed for ground there. It was also the place where we were in the truck stopped just off the end of the runway when there was an ORI scramble of the B-52s and KC-135s lifting off. Impressive to say the least!

I can only recall a very few names, SMS Evans NCOIC of our section, Wallace (from Indiana somewhere) Len Watson from the Cleveland area and SSgt Frank Skryzowski (and I probably butchered the spelling of his name). Its funny how most things vanish after forty years but a few things stick in my mind.

Z# PUCKETTT · September 25, 2008 14:51:44

I was @ 2865th from 6/64 to 7/67. My AFSC was 30454, Heavy Ground Radio. My Team Chief was SSgt Lambert, NCOIC was SMSgt Cook, First Sgt when I arrived was CMSgt. Des Jardins, later was CMSgt Evans from Greenup, Ky. In the past 41 years I've ran into a couple of buddies. Sgt Joe Horn @ 3M Company in Minneapolis and Chuck Walker @ RCA, Indianapolis and later @ a company in Research Triangle Park, Raleigh, NC. I remember A1C Clarence Whipple, Andrew Benjamin from Detroit, Airmen Lumbatitis, Morida, Gene Williams, Sgt Percy Thibadeaux (sic), my roomate for a while. I remember a splicer named Mushinski (Mush), we played a lot of BB when we were @ Chanute.CO was a bird colonel with a Polish name like Kripinski or something like that. Anyway, I really enjoyed GEEIA and all the places I went TDY, like Little Rock & McConnell working on the Titan II sites, NORAD and SAC HQ, The worst TDY was to Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. Yep, an Army base with an airfield where we installed all their weather equipment. One thing about the 2865th you sure got to work outside your AFSC. If they needed a body, it didn't matter what your specialty was. I even worked on 465L @ Grand Forks.

Hope to hear from anyone that @ the 2865th from 64 to 67.

Neubeck, Terry · January 11, 2010 23:28:17

Puckett,
I sure hope you check the 2865 posting. I remember your name and basically what you looked like. Do you remember A2C Jesus Christ and what the Commander did to hem during an inspection. I have written to him several times, that inspection saved myn ass, since it was halted when they draged Christ off.
I was a AIC later they called it Sergeant. I remember many of the names you listed and Morida and Lumbatitis were among my closest friends next to Pat Stasiak and Condell Clements. Now Charlie Walker I hope had a troubled life and lots of pain. That short 5' Bastard from Indiana sold me his car the day he left after he drove it w/o oil and the head was cracked AND he took out the air conditioner and sold it to someone before I got a chance to take position. So I had a smoke machine with a big hole letting in cold air all winter and had to rebuild the head. I also wonder what happened to Ronald Maze. He was full or part Indian and every time he got drunk he wanted to fight. Often looking for me. l also was close to CMSgt Robert O Cook and even pored a pitcher of beer on his head and lived to tell the story. After he retired he went to Hawaii and I talked to him a couple of times. Thanks to the efforts and training I got from SSgt Lambert I aced the SKT test and got promoted and Cook even made me a team Chief for the Titian TPS-39 surveillance and assistant Team Chief of the PAS recorder installations. I really loved GEEIA and the places I went. None were bad. Little Rock (Conway Sersey(sp), boy the stories I could tell about that place, Rapid City (called Speedieville by locals), Whiteman AFB, Frankford & Wiesbaden Germany, Athens Greece, Istanbul & Ismere & Chili AFB Turkey, Yamanlar TROPO install in Turkey, I ended up teaching "BombNav-Flight Sim" after I got out and got my degree in Engineering and BS in Business Administrator and later my MS. When I went back as a GS7 then up to GS-11 all at Chanute. I even married a local girl from Flatville and after 44years we are still married. WRITE if you or anyone else gets a chance. Neubeck@sbcglobal.net

Last edited by Neubeck, Terry (January 14, 2010 00:29:16)

GEEIA

#1 May 20, 2007 14:37:43

Leaving 2865th

#2 May 20, 2007 20:16:49

Re: Leaving 2865th

#3 May 21, 2007 19:49:10

Re: Leaving 2865th

#4 September 21, 2007 13:13:24

Re: Leaving 2865th

#5 January 05, 2008 14:54:11

Re: Leaving 2865th

#6 January 05, 2008 17:31:42

Re: Leaving 2865th

#7 February 16, 2008 18:18:21

Re: Leaving 2865th

#8 April 28, 2008 10:03:57

Re: Leaving 2865th

#9 September 25, 2008 14:51:44

Re: Leaving 2865th

#10 January 11, 2010 23:28:17

Re: Leaving 2865th

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