Pete Azzole's On-line Library

AFTERTHOUGHTS
LIVING ON A ROCK
The Azores, Portugal

 ��Only those who have �been there and done that� can fully appreciate how delicious SOS is on toasted Portuguese bread.��

In the summer of 1966, I transferred from Naval Security Group Activity (NSGA), Winter Harbor, Maine as a brand-spanking new Chief Petty Officer (CTRC) with less then a week time in rate. Memories of my CPO initiation, only a few days earlier, still found their way into my consciousness, but that�s a story unto itself. After taking a few weeks leave in my home town in New Jersey, I put on my dress khakis for the second time in my career and traveled to McGuire AFB, New Jersey. I boarded a Military Airlift Command (MAC), as it was known at that time, Lockheed Super Constellation (aka C-121) and began a 12 hour flight to my next duty station. I remember waking up from one of several naps when the loud, constant, droning of the plane�s four mighty engines subsided as the pilot began his descent for landing. Soon, I was treated to a breathtaking view of an island with rich tapestries of colors amidst volcanic rock, farms and villages, towering shoreline cliffs and turquoise shoals. The central peak of the island towered up into white puffy clouds hovering over the island. Small fishing boats dotted the shoreline. I noted as we came over them on landing, that most were powered by AN/OARS. I couldn�t help but wonder what majestic denizens lurked in the stunningly clear waters below. I was excited about my new home for the next three years - Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal. The Azorean islands are a beautiful, unspoiled group of nine islands and several islets that fly the flag of Portugal. They lie about 900 miles off the coast of the Portuguese mainland. The islands are volcanic peaks of the mid-Atlantic range, that lie along a line extending about 400 miles. The island of Terceira had been the location of modest but strategically important U.S. Air Force and Navy facilities from 1943 until recent times, when the U.S. presence was transferred to NATO. The next morning CTRC �C.M.� Smith picked me up at the senior enlisted quarters. We went to the NCO Club for breakfast. His �car� was one of those that had been handed down many times from one to another as people transferred. Such cars were advertised on bulletin boards as reliable on-base transportation. It is hard to believe anything with so much interior and exterior rust, so many dings, that burned so much oil, and ran so rough could possibly be reliable. However, we arrived at the NCO Club without incident. Only those who have �been there and done that� can fully appreciate how delicious SOS is on toasted Portuguese bread. Thanks to the presence of slot machines in the Club, meals were dirt cheap. Our full breakfast for two cost less than $2. After breakfast, we stopped by the BX gas station before beginning our trek to the operations site. Another surprise � gas was $.12 per gallon! Even then, the state and federal taxes on gasoline more than doubled the price of gasoline in the States. I will never forget the ride out to NSGA Azores. I recall saying to �CM� that I didn�t see the AN/GRD-6 U-Adcock array from the air when we were approaching the island. He told me that it was not located near the AFB. That was an understatement. It was a 20-30 minute ride out from the base, over winding dirt roads, correction, paths, complete with extensive pot-holing, through farmland where fields lie behind walls of volcanic rocks piled up four to six feet high. Cattle, pigs and ox carts were encountered routinely making travel slow and cautious due to the multitude of blind turns. The Portuguese farmers cleared their farm land by using the rocks as fences and to build their houses. We finally came into the village of Agualva. We looped around the city square that was full of curious little Portuguese kids with wide smiles yelling �Hey Joe gum.� My curiosity about reversing our direction was satisfied quickly. CM turned left onto a very narrow descending path down through austere, white-washed homes with flowered fronts. The yards were bustling with children and chickens. The angle of this path to the road was such that one couldn�t make a direct right turn onto it coming from the base. Thus, the loop around the town square. There it was, NSGA Azores, a couple smallish frame buildings, settled in the middle of farmland, complete with a rock wall fence around the operations building. A goat tethered to a post was merrily �mowing� the lawn. (to be continued)