A Trip Back in Time

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You dear myLotters have been so gracious to accompany me on this vacation. I beg your indulgence for a few moments. I’ll make it up to you with the next discussion. Today I went back where it all started, “it” being my Navy career. After I graduated from boot camp I was given my first duty station at Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida. I arrived at the base about 36 hours before Hurricane David did in 1979. The top left photo is good ol’ building 1050, the base check-in/security office. That’s where I was assigned. I was pleasantly surprised to see the old building is still standing. It’s now a USO center. While it was closed when I was there, I did peek through the front door. To my amusement, there’s still a desk sitting where my desk had been way back when. The gravel field (top right) is where 6A once stood. That was the enlisted women’s barracks. Back then it was called the BEQ (Bachelor Enlisted Quarters). Now it’s “Unaccompanied Enlisted Personnel Housing.” (And that pretty much explains why there are so many acronyms in the government. “UH” [Unaccompanied Housing] is so much easier to say! ) Shortly before I was transferred they moved us out of those barracks (you can still see 6F standing in the far background) and to more “modern” facilities. I drove past them, and it looks like any apartment complex you’d see in the civilian world. The bottom two photos are old and new. The “Naval Air Station Jacksonville“ sign was there when I was, and probably was the first thing put on the base back in 1940. The display of aircraft behind it, called Heritage Park, was NOT there when I was. That was a very cool area that replaced old buildings with green space. “Patriot’s Park” is a wooded area with trees dedicated to Medal of Honor recipients from the Navy throughout the various wars. Next to it is the Heritage Park area, with a lot of old Navy aircraft on display. Most of them are planes, but there were a couple of helicopters. (There used to be a helicopter squadron not too far from our barracks.) The one thing that shocked me, in a good way, was the Navy Exchange store. When I was in those were tiny, featuring mostly uniforms and a few other items for recreation. Now? Sheesh, that sucker was bigger than any Target store I’ve been in. (Better stocked, too!). And that was JUST the Exchange, NOT the Commissary (the grocery store). It was very enjoyable (despite the wind making 60 degrees feel a little colder) trip back in time for me. Thanks for indulging me. PHOTO COLLAGE OF NAS JACKSONVILLE: *USO building that was the security office when I was stationed there *Where the enlisted barracks were *NAS sign *Heritage Park, showing old military aircraft