Cold War Relics

[Litvyak]

Thanks for sharing.

Are they going to keep any of it? At the very, very least I'd hope they keep the A-4 on a stick with the flagpole...

[11bee]

Thanks for sharing.

Are they going to keep any of it? At the very, very least I'd hope they keep the A-4 on a stick with the flagpole...

The A-4 and the surrounding park are tended to by some great volunteers (I believe at least one of them is a frequent poster on ARC). I don't anticipate anything changing in that area. Hopefully the incoming residents will treat it with respect.

[82Whitey51]

Thanks for sharing the NAS SoWey pics. I too went to tons of airshows out there way back when...

Can certainly add NAS Brunswick to the list of former Cold War sites. They still have a P-3 and P-2 on display up there but I think their days are numbered. They are also trying to establish a museum in the site of the old base chapel.

[viking73]

Cool pictures and topic. I've been to many Cold War sites here in Texas. It's hard to pick a few shots, but here goes.

The 578th SMS had 12 Atlas F sites around Dyess AFB (Abilene, Texas). All have long since been decommissioned, but most are still there in various states of decay. Most of the 185 foot deep silos have had their crib structure scrapped when they closed. Here's some shots of one of them:

entry portal:

Top of silo:

Looking back up towards the entrance:

Stairs to LCC and silo:

One of the blast doors:

Silo doors from inside inside the silo, looking up:

Looking out to the abyss:

-Derek

[viking73]

Here's another spot.

Near Mineral Wells, Texas, the grounds of the former Camp/Fort Wolters is still there moldering away. Camp Wolters was a large infantry replacement training center. After WWII, the post was the army's primary helicopter training post up until its closure in 1973. Hard to imagine all of the pilots that trained here and went to Vietnam...

Today, there are many businesses on the grounds of the former post. Some buildings used as a college, some former barracks are used as a private run jail facility, and the Texas National Guard has a firing and maneuvering range there. Also, some former barracks are used as private home. Other buildings are abandoned.

The city has redone the arch at entrance which is good to see:

The former Beach Army Hospital is abandoned. The three story building was built is the 1950s and is now just rotting away:

Some of the old barracks look like they are right out of the 1940s. Some in okay shape, some not:

The metal shell of the former control tower is still visible on top of the hill. This overlooked the large helipad:

The old post theater:

And the Texas Army National Guard firing range:

I'll post another one in a bit.

-Derek

[viking73]

Well, I have some more pictures of a N-I-K-E-HERCULES site to post also but Photobucket isn't cooperating at the moment... I'll see what I can do to fix the problem.

Sorry to spell it N-I-K-E-HERCULES but it posts I'm a spammer when I don't! Very strange...

-Derek

Edited June 4, 2014 by viking73

[nspreitler]

I wish I had pictures from the Cold War relics from my time stationed in Greenland. I worked at the BMEWS phased array radar site which was connected to the tunnel system for the old radar system. All the old buildings were still there including bunk rooms, the mess kitchen, and others. There was still a Playboy centerfold poster from the 60s in one room and I was stationed there in 04-05.

[Don]

Spooky and creepy looking stuff :unsure: ! If only walls could talk....

[Litvyak]

Great photos from Fort Wolters, too!

I like that they preserved the arch. Whether it's something like that, or something as simple as naming a baseball stadium after the rail yard that used to be there (I'm thinking of Camden Yard in Baltimore), it's always good to see bits of history being preserved. It's important to know where we came from and how we got here.

[ThePhantomTwo]

I remember the off base sites around Dyess,there several of the beaten track.If you go across the runway at Dyess and past the C-130 assault strip,you can still make out the

foundations of the buildings of the old WW II Tye AFF/Abilene AFF,we did roving patrol back there countless times and it was neat to kind of make out how the old base was laid out.

The only cold war relics we have here are the old ADC alert barns that housed 94th FIS Detachment 2 F-106's from Selfridge/Wurtsmith,the detachment had the barns and a three story building with a two level basement that housed the officers and enlisted,it had most everything you would need into one building.After they left,the building was used as a BOQ for mainly pilots and housed Security and Comms,where it stood(tore down in the mid-90's) is now a partial open field/parking lot for our Intel building(formally our Operations building) and the alert barns are used for storage.

[Jinxter13]

Anyone near San Antonio...should go out to the west side of Lackland to what was called Medina base. Part of it was used at one time, not sure about now; for training K-9's....out there; they have some bunkers that at one time was used to store or house "special weapons" or for stuff that was highly volatile. One such bunker is gone and all that was left was a rather large hole in the ground. The story I got is that something went boom, well it must have been a very BIG boom, as again I was told they never found the doors, these doors are/were about 10' high X 5' wide and looked very heavy. What amazed me is that why would "special weapons" be stored on or near a training base. I can say they had the old style Nuclear material signs on some of the bunkers; the circle with alternating black and yellow panels 3 each.

[ikar]

I was Dover A.F.B. in 1973 and while attending the Leadership School we had there we went for a get together a bit south along the coast.

I think it was an old coastal defense site. We drove to the beach on the runway and they had several of these towers scattered around along with a couple small concrete structures very near the water that might have been lookout points.

[11bee]

Here's another spot.

Near Mineral Wells, Texas, the grounds of the former Camp/Fort Wolters is still there moldering away. Camp Wolters was a large infantry replacement training center. After WWII, the post was the army's primary helicopter training post up until its closure in 1973. Hard to imagine all of the pilots that trained here and went to Vietnam...

Today, there are many businesses on the grounds of the former post. Some buildings used as a college, some former barracks are used as a private run jail facility, and the Texas National Guard has a firing and maneuvering range there. Also, some former barracks are used as private home. Other buildings are abandoned.

The city has redone the arch at entrance which is good to see:

I'll post another one in a bit.

-Derek

Nice pictures. I like the fact that they preserved the arch. I think pretty much every Vietnam-era Army helo pilot went through those arches. Wonder how many never came home?

[11bee]

Decided to check out what is left of the ex-NAS South Weymouth (Mass) before everything is turned into condos. NAS SoWey was a victim of one of the BRAC rounds in the late 90's. At one point it was home base for the following reserve units:

VMA-322 (various versions of the A-4, through the M-model)

A USMC UH-1 detachment

VP-92 (P-3C)

HSL-74 (SH-3, then converted to SH-2)

At the end, the base only had the VP-92 and an understrength C-130 unit assigned. VP-92 was transferred to NAS Brunswick, ME where it served for a few more years until that base also fell victim to BRAC, thus ending Naval Aviation's presence in New England.

After sitting idle for years, it looks like construction is moving quickly to turn the base into "Southfield" a large, high-end retail, condo and apartment complex. Sad to see the base being torn down but I suppose it's better than watching it rot away over the years. Despite living nearby, I haven't been through the base in years. I finally took a couple of hours and walked through it with my kids.

On a side note, for anyone interested in the history of NAS South Weymouth, they should check out:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/http://www.lulu.com/shop/marc-frattasio/nas-south-weymouth-the-defender-of-freedom/paperback/product-22622556.html

I just got this book, it's crammed with historical info and hundreds of pics, none of which I'd ever seen before. $60 or so for the hardcover version, I had the book within 3 days of placing the order. Well worth the cost.

Regards,

John

[Slartibartfast]

I'm a Cold War relic. I remember crawling under my desk during "air raid" drills in grades 3 to 5. This was in rural Indiana though the only appreciable airport was in Terre Haute, about fifteen miles away. As if. When I started 6th grade near Johnson Spacecraft Center southeast of Houston, no more drills except for fire. I guess everyone knew we'd be one of many ground zeroes when they started WWIII.

[Winnie]

I work at a Cold War facility.

Google CAM-MAIN, or DEW LINE or North Warning System.

IT is like it was when build in 1958/59. I have frequented almost the entire line (what is in Canada), and all Main sites are still as they were...

[Slartibartfast]

Cool! Pun intended.

[John Tapsell]

They are often closer than you think...

Photo collection of the civil defence bunker constructed under our council HQ - spent many hours filling the (by then decommissioned) rooms with stationery and files (yes, those cabinets in the photos). Although I've moved jobs since then, it's still less than 200 yards from my office.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/stoke/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9051000/9051655.stm

Regards,

John

[Scooby]

Those pictures remind me of CFS Lowther in northern Ontario. Same radar domes as it was also part of the Pine Tree (DEW) line. My family was stationed in Lowther in the 70s but now it looks a lot like those pictures.

David,

We were in CFS Foymount, it is a ghost town now. There is a webpage for the current Foymount.

[archybean]

Here's my best contribution to this thread. Atlas E site just east of Council Grove Kansas.

[Don]

Spooky ruins. When you consider what went on at some of these facilities during their heyday if only those walls could talk.

I often go onto YouTube while at the bench and just have documentaries playing while I work. There are tons of Cold War relic type videos on there:

Interesting stuff.

[Scott Taylor]

I work at a Cold War facility.

Google CAM-MAIN, or DEW LINE or North Warning System.

IT is like it was when build in 1958/59. I have frequented almost the entire line (what is in Canada), and all Main sites are still as they were...

Holy moly! I stayed there for a week in March 2015 (March 9-13), doing science outreach at the local elementary school:

That place felt like a Cold War relic, in the neatest way.

Cheers,

Scott

[Winnie]

That's hilarious... My shift started the 15th of March! I'm Captain on one of the two helicopter crews that rotate there... As a matter of fact, I have 5 days left of this shift!

H.

[Moose135]

Sure looks cold up there!

[jpk]

So Weymouth NAS is rapidly becoming a community called Southfield. The main hangar was supposed to come down a couple of weeks ago, but they ran into a problem. The post chapel, Gymnasium, BX, HQ building, and many more are still intach, but show lack of maintenance. The Coast Guard Bout maintenance facility is still there, and base housing for its employees. The museum is in the Gymnasium bldg, and is open to the public last Saturday of the month from 0900 to 1100.

If you want to see a WWII relic, go to Brant Rock section of Marshfield. There's a 5 story square cement tower there, which had been erectted to spot U-boats off shore. In Hull, the coastal artillery positions are still intact, no guns of course. There's a small museum there, also, but I don't have any details, as it's inaccessible to me. I believe there's another of those Sub towers at the northern end of Humarock, as it's visible from rte 3A on a clear day, distance about a mile. Hal Sr

My dad was stationed at So Wey in the 50's through the early 60's before being X-fered to NAS Olathe. I used to spend the nights there with him when he had watch. The blimp hangar that was such an icon in my memories of the base has been torn down and replaced with that tiny hangar. There was a side building on the tarmac side built into the blimp hangar that had the fuselage of a Tracker and a Neptune on the top of it. I used to play in those when I visited. I also remember seeing the Blue Angels perform when they were flying the Grumman Tigers.