Former 18 FS Blue Fox, now in California

Let us know what your connection is with the aircraft, tell us where you're from and what you like!
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by EielsonBlueFox96 » 05 Jul 2008, 09:41

Good day/afternoon/evening; whatever it is in your time zone.

I'm brand-new to this forum and I'd like to say "Hi" and introduce myself. I'm a former 18th FS "Blue Fox" from Eielson AFB, Alaska, having crewed the Block 40 F-16C/Ds over there, (specifically, 89-2078, 90-0734, and 89-2074, in that order) from October 1992 til March 1996.

That was the last time I worked on F-16s, or any other type of aircraft. I knew early on (right after tech school) that being a crew chief and aircraft maintenance in general were not for me, so I just did my 4 years and got out. Then I went back into the Air Force in October 1998 with the intention of cross-training into cryptolinguistics.

I was briefly stationed at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho in the 389th FS from October 1998 til June 1999, but I didn't crew any aircraft there. I was in support, pending security clearance and authorization to crosstrain (long story there). Then the cryptolinguistics cross-training thing fell thru (security clearance was denied), so the AF let me get out (honorably) in June 1999, and I've been out ever since.

I'd like to see if I can find any of my old friends from Eielson or Mountain Home who were there at that time. All the best to everyone here. Later
PEACE

18th FS, B section
[serial]89-2078[/serial]
[serial]90-0734[/serial]
[serial]89-2074[/serial]
Eielson AFB, AK
1992-1996

389th FS, Support section
Mountain Home AFB, ID
1998-1999
Last edited by EielsonBlueFox96 on 06 Jul 2008, 09:42, edited 1 time in total.


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by Lieven » 05 Jul 2008, 18:07

Hi EielsonBlueFox96, welcome to the forum and thank you for your introduction.

Lieven


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by EielsonBlueFox96 » 06 Jul 2008, 10:05

Thanks (Dank u wel), Lieven. It's been fascinating to see the F-16 world again for the first time in about a decade, and see what has happened to my old jets and my old unit, and all the changes that have taken place since I was in. This is a really high-quality and well-put-together website with a lot of interesting and useful information. I like it. Later
Scott


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by Cali » 29 Oct 2008, 16:30

Hi Blue, I was stationed at Eielson from 1999 to 2005, loved that base so much to do. I'm a fuels system guy.


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by Crowbar » 29 Oct 2008, 18:48

Nice to see some guys from the North :)

I always wondered how many sorties were canceled daily due to WX at Eielson AFB?

And BTW, Cali what's the symbol of ground refueling receptacle used to fuel the Viper?

Cheers!


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by BlueFoxGuitar » 29 Oct 2008, 21:02

Another Blue Fox in the midst, well update, all the block 40s that you loved are in Korea now and the Korea Block 30s are at Eielson now, also the 18th is a Fighter Squadron no more, its an Agressor Squadron. I was stationed there from Dec 03 to Dec 06, crewed 90-0724 while I was there but worked as a TODA for good bit as well.

I am scheduled to go back there in 2010 after my year in Korea, and I have heard Eielson has changed alot, New BX/Commissary, New Chapel, New addition to the Gym with Indoor tracks and Indoor Football/Soccer field. New AMXS dorms were built and completed in 2003-2004 time frame. New housing is being constructed too and some of the older stuff is being torn down. They also moved the big sled hill from the middle of housing to one of the schools, 18th AMU building had some renovations done by some of the construction skilled Airmen, looks pretty good too. New boxes, with new tools and waterjet cut foam and laser etched. There is no longer an A/B section its just one flight, but thats how its going at many bases.

Oh and Crowbar WX only happend when it was below -50 which doesn't happen as much as people think. Maybe like 5-10 WX in a winter, and most of the time its for Ice fog.

Fairbanks has changed as well, there is a wal-mart, Old Navy, Barnes and Nobel, Chili's, Petsmart (or Petco), Dodge and Chevy Dealerships have new buildings, some new clubs (The Hideout, Kodiak Jacks). There are also some more fast food places that have gone up, and an Arbys was rumored.


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by Crowbar » 30 Oct 2008, 00:57

Thanks BlueFoxGuitar for answering.


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by f16crewchief03 » 30 Oct 2008, 11:00

Am Currently At Eielson... This place has changed a lot. The 18th AMU Building hasn't changed too much. The Base is constantly changing like bluefoxguitar said. The new BX is almost finished and the Gym addition is finshed, it now has an indoor track and a indoor football field. A Driving Range is under construction currently. There are no more A-10's here. So far there is still no Arbys but there is a Carl's JR.

BlueFoxGuitar, The Hideout has actually closed down. It didnt last very long.

Crowbar, as far as WX goes, BlueFoxGuitar is right. At -40 we stop all flying operations. Flying is generally canceled for fog and runway conditions such as being to slick or too much snow. Or the usual divert location's weather.


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by Crowbar » 30 Oct 2008, 21:34

Thanks Crew Chief!


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by tokenblkguy1785 » 31 Oct 2008, 01:12

f16crewchief03 wrote:BlueFoxGuitar, The Hideout has actually closed down. It didnt last very long.


HA! That's hilarious. What was the reason for shutting it down? I lived in Fairbanks for ten years (certified Sourdough), but have not had the chance to be stationed at Eielson in my young career...and I have a feeling that since I want to be stationed there, it won't happen...


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by f16crewchief03 » 31 Oct 2008, 10:30

No problem Crowbar.

Token, not sure why it closed down. Drove by it one day to see it all boarded up.


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by EielsonBlueFox96 » 20 May 2009, 11:00

BlueFoxGuitar wrote:Another Blue Fox in the midst, well update, all the block 40s that you loved are in Korea now and the Korea Block 30s are at Eielson now, also the 18th is a Fighter Squadron no more, its an Agressor Squadron. I was stationed there from Dec 03 to Dec 06, crewed 90-0724 while I was there but worked as a TODA for good bit as well.

I am scheduled to go back there in 2010 after my year in Korea, and I have heard Eielson has changed alot, New BX/Commissary, New Chapel, New addition to the Gym with Indoor tracks and Indoor Football/Soccer field. New AMXS dorms were built and completed in 2003-2004 time frame. New housing is being constructed too and some of the older stuff is being torn down. They also moved the big sled hill from the middle of housing to one of the schools, 18th AMU building had some renovations done by some of the construction skilled Airmen, looks pretty good too. New boxes, with new tools and waterjet cut foam and laser etched. There is no longer an A/B section its just one flight, but thats how its going at many bases.



@BlueFoxGuitar,
Ha! That's cool that you play guitar too; I first started playing guitar when I was at Eielson, and have been playing ever since. It helped me survive being at Eielson. I played bass and drums too (still do), and I remember jamming with some of my fellow musicians from the 18th; we had 2 of us crew chiefs and 2 weapons guys in our little band. We used to make so much noise in the basement of our dorm, especially when we played at our insane little basement parties; sometimes we got a little too rowdy and the SPs would come over and tell us to keep it down to a dull roar. LOL! Ah, yes... good times. But I digress...
I never really "loved" the block 40s; I didn't hate them, I just hated working on them. And I just sort of tolerated them 'cos it was my job, which I didn't like either. I never should've been a crew chief in the first place, I'll be the first one to admit. I wasn't very good at it. The AF wouldn't let me cross-train out of being a crew chief, even tho I aced all the tests for the other AFSC, so I just served the rest of my 4 years there and got out.
I remember old '724 quite well; I worked on that thing lots of times, and I remember the day we first got it at Eielson. It was re-assigned to us from Florida, and someone had put some Florida beach sand in the travel pod just to mess with us and let us know how nice the weather was down there in FL, while we were freezing up there in AK. We would've sent them some AK ice or snow, but it would've melted... Oh well.
As for the 18th's current status, yeah, I know, it's an aggressor squadron now with Block 30s, and the Block 40 birds have been transferred to the Wolf Pack at Osan. I was deployed there for about a month back in '94. I can't say it was that much fun; I was working almost constantly and didn't get to see much of Korea besides the base and the immediate vicinity of Songtan (the town outside the base). The truth is, we were already doing aggressor-type stuff back then; we often served as the "red force" (attacking forces/bad guys, for those who don't know) during exercises such as Red Flag, and whenever we went to Korea or Japan. The blue force (defending force/good guys) usually consisted of the units based there plus the host country's forces (e.g. the Wolf Pack and South Korean squadrons in Korea, and the joint Misawa/Kadena/Japanese squadrons in Japan). That's what we did when I was deployed to Chitose, Japan in '94. So I see they finally made it official and transitioned it into the 18th AS at some point, having re-painted the Vipers in Russian MiG color schemes and everything. I saw their Block 30s they have there now, in those colors, and I thought they looked good; it was cool to see Vipers in other colors than the usual dull, boring grey.
So they've fixed up and upgraded that base (finally; it's about time). To be honest, I never liked Alaska or Eielson, or that ridiculously cold weather, so I was just happy to be out of there when I got out. Since then, I just don't do cold weather anymore. And I was never into hunting, fishing, or partying (much), either. To each their own, I guess... The only things I really miss about Alaska and are all the friends I had there, some of whom I'm still in contact with to this day, and Gambardella's (hands down, the best Italian restaurant in Fairbanks, period. At least it was when I was there).
It's good to hear from you.
PEACE
Scott


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by crackhead » 06 Aug 2009, 19:42

It is great to see the blue foxes out here. I am tdy here right now and was stationed here in 98-01. bluefox, I must tell you when I had 724, it was the heat of the fleet! awesome bomber and killer radar package. I went with here everywhere she went. From 02 to 09, this area has blown up. they redid the front gate and redoing the highway from base to north pole. first time I saw it, I couldn't even tell where I was! It is refreshing to see fellow iceman on here.


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by Shortcut » 07 Aug 2009, 14:29

I have recieved several emails of pics with the new paint jobs that I think were mistakenly refered to as Reserve acft. I believe they are still active duty, right?

Blue Fox Expeditor (Fox 4) 1998-2002.
"Once green, always green"


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by thalion88 » 30 Aug 2009, 19:37

Hello Im a young A1C out of tech school blessed to come to Eielson as my first duty station. In regards to the host of this thread. I overly sypathise (Spell Check) with you. I was origionally suppose to be A Crypto but my recruiter screwed up and didnt schedule my hotel so short story im a F-16 Mechanic here (2A333B) anyway, The base itself has changed the chapel is brandnew, and the Gym was redone. BX and Commisary are both finished. the 18th AMU just RECENTLY had a Remodled Snack bar where its been expanded other than that its the same as it has been i guess. True also that the old jets are in Korea and we have Block 30's. I havent done block training so im floating around. In fact starting Monday we have a new section cheif and the leadership is about the change around as many people are transferring out, and transferring in. On a Side note, if anyone has the 18th AMU patch, (the blue fox) and they are willing to part with 1, id like to purchase it from you. Thansk alot. -A1C Pyland


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