TURKEY - CHAPTER 3

 The (Hog) as we affectionately called Detachment 93, was a godforsaken place to be stationed. I realize that I could have been stationed in a much worse place like Vietnam or Thule Greenland but I hated almost every minute that I was stationed there. Erhac was a Turkish AFB and our Detachment was mostly made up of Turkish facilities. With the exception of our recreation hall, the motorpool, and the trailers that made up our dispensary and NCO club everything else was Turkish. The base was fundamentally set up like Kingsley but with a few vital differences. Our mission was to guard the American nuclear weapons that were uploaded on Turkish F-100 fighters. These nukes were at least three times bigger than our Genie tactical nukes at Kingsley. Because of their size they were strategic rather than defensive and were meant for targets in the Soviet Union. Our primary posts were the Alert Area and the Nuclear Storage Area. Central Security Control or CSC was in the storage area. Everything else was handled by the Turkish security forces. The perimeter of the storage area and alert area was guarded by Turkish Airmen armed with rifles, sub-machine guns, and K-9 patrols. There were four barns in the alert area and each one had a Turkish F-100 uploaded with a nuke. On one side of each barn was a guard shack the size of a telephone booth for the American guards and an identical shack on the other for a Turkish guard.

 When posted we had to walk through a Turkish security building where guards would check our badges. The storage area had a building where two SP'scontrolled entry into the area. Only Americans were allowed around the nukes which were housed in bunkers on the inside of the storage area. Most nuclear storage areas in the Air Force had electrical sliding gates controlled from a panel inside the gate house. In Turkey the gates were secured by large master locks and we carried the keys. We were told that our Detachment building had been built in WW1 but I don't know if this was true but it was a large, old, and dilapidated building. It was on the opposite side of the base from the Alert and Storage areas. Our barracks were in the Detachment building, along with various offices including our Detachment commander's office who was a Lt. Colonel. Our chow hall was also in this building. Lower ranking Airmen were assigned to four man rooms and higher ranking Airmen to two man rooms. It was nearly impossible to take a shower during the day or early in the evening because the water pressure was so low. The best time to take a shower was late at night or after midnight. Many times you would be all soaped up and the water would just cut off. After playing basketball, football, or softball in the heat we would get dirty and smelly. Sometimes we would have to wait for hours to get a shower.

When I arrived at the Hog I was shocked to learn that Mike Cannon and myself were going to be Flight Chiefs. The Security Police unit had two SSgt's and one MSgt when we arrived. The MSgt's name was Buddy Wright and he was our NCOIC of Security. The two SSgt's were Flight Chiefs but we had four Flights. Since Mike and I were Buck Sergeants and the next highest in rank, we were given command of the other two Flights. I got off to a terrible start as a Flight Chief and my first night on duty was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. It was a midnight shift and I drove my men out to the nuclear storage area for Guard mount. On the way I had my first encounter with the Turkish security forces. Each night we were given a color code and it was the basic colors like red, green, blue and yellow. We would slip a colored disc over the lens of our flashlight before being posted. At some point on the way out to the storage area we would be challenged by two Turkish Airmen carrying the old Springfield bolt action rifles. When American Security Policemen challenged someone it would be at port arms but the Turks would point their rifles straight at you and you. I was looking straight down the business end of a rifle. One of us would point our flashlight with the designated color code at the guards and thankfully, we always had the right color. I was always a little nervous around Turkish Airmen because it was like no one ever trained on weapons safety. On duty sometimes I would see the Turks carelessly handling their weapons.

After reading the duty roster and passing along information to my men that first night I posted them in the storage area Then I drove the rest out to the alert area. If there is such a thing as Attention Deficit Disorder I have it. Once I dropped my men off I was supposed to wait for the men that were being relieved while I waited in the vehicle outside of the alert area. From there I would drive them to the storage area, pick these men up and take them all back to the barracks. Instead of waiting on the men I guess I was distracted by homesickness and I was deep in thought, I drove all the way back to the barracks alone. When I arrived an Airman was waiting for me in front of the detachment with a big grin on his face as he asked me if I had forgotten something. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized that I had forgotten the men that were being relieved. Luckily they were good natured about it and we all had a good laugh but they never let me live it down .