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This
is the only photo I have of St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland
(where our flight had landed). During our audit of the NEX at the Navy
Communication Station, Argentia, we stayed in rooms at the Basic Officer’s...
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...Quarters
(BAQ) aboard the base, so I did not actually get to see anything in
St. John’s except the airport. This is one photo of the relatively
small Naval Station at Argentia which illustrates the remoteness and
isolation of the base.
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This
is another photo of Argentia showing the harbor and beach areas. Many
of the military personnel who were stationed at Argentia really loved
the duty and living in Newfoundland. [The base is no longer used by
the US military.]
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Over
the weekend, one of the NEX drivers took us on a tour and showed us
some of the local area around Argentia. From my own viewpoint, I was
just incredibly happy that I was seeing this wilderness area in the
SUMMER TIME!
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Oh,
yea, along with several members of my civilian audit team, I did go
on a hike down into some canyon in order to see the local waterfalls.
[Personally, I would have probably preferred to stay in a local ‘watering
hole’ aboard the base and enjoyed a few beverages!]
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And,
this is a photo of “Capital Hill” and our NEX driver who had
taken us on a tour to see an old fort. These cannon on Capital Hill
overlook (and used to defend) the entrance to Argentia’s harbor
(which can be seen in the background).
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Another
audit of an Exchange that I did in a similar (to Argentia) exotic area
surrounded by total wilderness (and not frequented by many tourists)
was Adak, Alaska. THIS is the only place on the island that TREES can
be found.
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And,
as can be observed by reading this sign, the entire “ADAK NATIONAL
FOREST” can be viewed entirely from ONE POSITION!
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This
is a photo of the base during summer when I was there. [I would not
even want to THINK about what it would be like in WINTER!] To say that
Adak is a bit ‘bleak’ and ‘desolate’ would (in MY
opinion) be a classic understatement of the BIG PICTURE.
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However,
many of the enlisted military personnel stationed there totally loved
the experience and ended up reenlisting in order to stay in Adak for
a 2nd tour. For some people, since there was really no place to spend
money, they could save a lot of their basic pay and allowances.
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For married personnel whose dependants wanted to work, wages in the
NEX were based on the average wage scale of Anchorage, Alaska (which
has the highest wages in the US)!
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Others
loved the excellent outdoor hunting and fishing activities that were
readily available at very reasonable prices. These photos (which I had
taken during a partial day’s drive around the Adak area) either
illustrate the classic, raw beauty of nature...
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...or
they depict just how damn desolate and barren this place really looks!
Note: This was the BEST time of year to visit Adak. Not only was there
no snow, I was even fortunate enough to see the sun ONE day while I
was there!
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Even
I had to admit that this particular part of the rugged coastline near
Adak was rather beautiful. [But, now that I have this photo, I have
no reason to ever want to go back there to see it again!]
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Many
old WWII-era Quonset huts still remain in the hills around the base.
These huts have no running water or electricity, but military personnel
often spend their own money and time fixing them up for their family’s
use on weekends. When I asked my driver...
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...WHY
anyone would want to spend either time or money to ‘improve’
these huts, he explained that people saw them as a “weekend place
to get away from it all.” I did NOT express MY thoughts: When I
got OFF the PLANE at the Adak airport, I had gotten away from it all!
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