Navy Memories #15: Adak Work, Winter, and More

Previous installments:

1. Boot Camp Memories
2. About Those Navy Memories
3. First Orders
4. Anchor's Aweigh
5. Man Overboard!
6. Reflections of a Black Shoe
7. Destroyer Life and Ports of Call
8. Warships vs. Big Waves
9. The Accident, and More Ports of Call
10. The Black Sea - Operation Silver Fox
11. 1975, A Year of Change 
12. North to the Future
13. Adak Outdoors
14. Adak Life

Location of Adak Island in the Aleutians

That first long, Aleutian winter dragged on. Heavy snows, strong winds ... digging out the car, putting on chains. Two- and three-foot deep snows were common, hitting every 3 or 4 days.

We were expected to make it to work on time; it's the military, after all, and we weren't excused just because the weather had turned mean. The Security forces drove Dodge Power Wagons with lift kits and large tires, and so did the Executive Officer. If he could make it to work, then it was not a day off.

NOT a Navy truck, but you get the idea.

Personally, I always thought that was a bit unfair. 99 per cent of the sailors on the base drove regular cars or four-by-fours, not lifted trucks. The average personal vehicle didn't have two feet of ground clearance, but that's how it goes.

* * * * *

Williwaw:  2. strong winds which blow from one direction, stop suddenly, and then blow just as strongly from the opposite direction

Foot travel in the winter was difficult. The winds blew almost constantly, and one had to lean sharply into the wind to stay upright.

But williwaws made it tough: you could be walking along, and the wind would stop suddenly. Already leaning forward into that wind, you would start to fall, and then the wind would return from the opposite direction, pushing you onto your face. That was ... unpleasant. And it happened just often enough to be really annoying.

But for driving, there were four levels of "road condition":

• Delta - normal conditions, roads are clear
• Charlie - snow-covered, use caution (this was the normal winter condition)
• Bravo - chains or four-wheel-drive required (travel to/from work or grocery store only)
• Alpha - roads are closed; do NOT attempt to drive

In winter time, these conditions were announced on the radio every morning. We all prayed for Road Condition Alpha, of course, but it rarely happened. I only recall Alpha occurring once in the two years I was there.

* * * * *

In my previous post, I wrote about volunteer work at the radio and TV stations. But most weekends were spent driving around, or camping and hiking, depending on the weather.

Driving on Adak could be challenging. In winter, you had to use four-wheel-drive just to get out of the parking lot, as it was rarely plowed. The on-base roads were kept as clear as possible, but sailors who parked at the barracks were on their own. I kept a snow shovel and a broom in my truck, just for digging out.

But driving off-base was always an adventure.

For that matter, walking off-base wasn't for the faint of heart, either. More than once I set off with backpack, only to have snow move in and go from flurries to mid-thigh deep in 15 or 20 minutes. That was a "go back to the barracks and try another day" moment.

I asked a Navy buddy from Adak if he remembered anything about that sort of thing, and this was his reply:

I remember that you and I backpacked to the cabin late one winter's evening. The snow was deep and the night was really dark and cold. About 15°, if I remember correctly. When  we arrived at the cabin, we found that the door had been kicked open, and the drift was piled as high as the door. We climbed over and then slid down the opening into the cabin.  

By that time you were chilled, so you immediately rolled out your goose down mummy bag on a foam pad, and climbed inside to get warm. I had a borrowed sleeping bag, and did the same. I didn't get much sleep that night, in a summer bag on the wooden floor. You slept soundly in the goose down. 

Craig P.

I don't remember now why we didn't light a fire (it's been 41 years, so forgive me) but it's safe to say that any scrap lumber in the area would have been under a few feet of snow by that point, and hard to find at the very least.

I had a small tent in my pack, but couldn't set it up on the wood floor. This was long before tents came with fiberglass poles, and needed pegs and guy-wires to stay up.  Just the same, I wish I'd known Craig was that cold. We could have pulled up a section of flooring to burn for heat; wouldn't have bothered me a bit.

* * * * *

Adak was such a starkly beautiful place. The mountains, streams, lakes, the ocean ... just so gosh-darn photogenic!

Adak had a number of places which were off-limits (i.e., secret / top secret / or otherwise "authorized personnel only"). Some of those were guarded by the Marines. If you didn't have a pass, or your name didn't appear on that day's list of authorized visitors, you weren't getting in - and shouldn't try.

At one point in the spring of '76, COMNAVPACFLT came to visit. That's "Commander, U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet" to you landlubbers ... and that's A Big Deal to the sailors and Marines on the island. When the Commander of the Fleet shows up, you snap to like you've never snapped before!

The Commanding Officer of the Naval Station was showing the Admiral around the base, and they pulled up to one of those barbed-wire-and-armed-guard gates. The C.O. was always authorized to visit, so that wasn't a problem. But said Admiral's name did not appear on that day's list.

Without any further ado, the CO and the visiting Admiral found themselves face down in the snow, while the Marines sought identification and possible clearance for the unexpected guest.

Word of that event spread quickly around the base (and the Navy rumor mill makes office gossip seem like a snail's pace, in comparison). Sailors, in general, were aghast that the C.O.'s boss's boss was arrested and detained by the Marines.

Heads were gonna roll; we were sure of it.

Except that the Commandant of the Marine Barracks received a letter from the Admiral, commending him for how well the guards did their job. He wasn't on the list, and he knew it. It was a test, you see. If the guard(s) had allowed him in, no matter their reason, there'd have been disciplinary hell to pay.
But the guards did their job in exemplary fashion.

And the rumor mill had fresh grist for a week. :)