Thule, Greenland

Author Message   Tony Cabrera Senior Member Username: Tonyc Post Number: 1539 Registered: 08-2006 Posted From: 76.161.183.54 Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 02:23 pm:    KSYR, That's also a good one. Then there's the one told by a Chaplain himself, which coming from him, didn't know if to laugh or shut-up: "Thule is such a bad place that Chaplains go AWOL". Happy travels!   Dakota Ray Senior Member Username: Rhammer Post Number: 420 Registered: 05-2007 Posted From: 69.62.147.217 Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 02:44 am:    Hey KSYR--Too Funny but how true!!!   KSYR Senior Member Username: Ksyr Post Number: 640 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 74.33.194.28 Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 01:08 am:    An Air Force cargo plane was preparing for departure from Thule Air Base in Greenland. They were waiting for the truck to arrive to pump out the aircraft's sewage holding tank. The Aircraft Commander was in a hurry, the truck was late in arriving, and the Airman performing the job was extremely slow in getting the tank pumped out. When the commander berated the Airman for his slowness and promised punishment, the Airman responded: "Sir, I have no stripes, it is 20 below zero, I'm stationed in Greenland, and I am pumping sewage out of airplanes. Just what are you going to do to punish me?"   Tony Cabrera Senior Member Username: Tonyc Post Number: 1536 Registered: 08-2006 Posted From: 208.12.99.234 Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 12:38 am:    Dave, I knew the story about the women and the tree, except that the tree was located in the Officer's Club. Hope you enjoyed that portion of your career; experiences are experiences, no matter how you put them. Dakota Ray, I know what you mean.... I also went through those "minuses" temperatures; not easy for a young boy coming from the Caribbean waters, but really enjoyed my tours there. Happy travels!   Dakota Ray Senior Member Username: Rhammer Post Number: 419 Registered: 05-2007 Posted From: 69.62.147.217 Posted on Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 12:18 am:    I do understand most of those jokes. The state tree of North Dakota is a telephone pole, summer is sometime during the 4th of July, etc. With a name of Dakota Ray, I do understand what you are talking about. The coldest I saw was -42 without the wind chill and I grew up in the Banana Belt of South Dakota. My days there were also enjoyable. Thule, North Dakota, Montana, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, etc have a lot of good people and good experiences. I also saw most of the island bases as a crew member. All we have is our memories and hopefully you were open minded enough to enjoy the experiences. Keep up the posts and Happy Trails!!   Dave Nosek Member Username: Waterman15 Post Number: 42 Registered: 10-2005 Posted From: 134.215.253.245 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 11:48 pm:    I was there in 1964/65 and the fact is there was a woman behind every tree. We had 1 tree and approximately 5 women (nurses) lol. In truth is was an intresting tour with some great people and while I wouldn't want to live there long term I did enjoy myself. BTW the tree was a potted plant in one of the hangers which had a grow light. It actually did survive but was not really big enough to hide behind.   Tony Cabrera Senior Member Username: Tonyc Post Number: 1535 Registered: 08-2006 Posted From: 208.12.99.234 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 10:39 pm:    I have never been to Thule and don't think I ever want to go there anyway. During the early sixties when I was stationed at Malmstrom AFB, Montana (ADC/SAGE), many got assignments to Thule. It got to a point that when Personnel called you to inform about your new assignment, they first told you (joking), that you were heading to Thule. It happened to me, except that my assignment wasn't Thule, but Minot AFB, ND; not much of a difference, except that I remained in the U.S. There were a lot of other jokes about the subject, which I would rather keep to myself (private). And by the way, please don't take me wrong, I loved both of my assignments at Malmstrom AFB and Minot AFB; they were cold places, but great places to visit. Happy travels! Happy travels!   Leland Senior Member Username: Leland Post Number: 6091 Registered: 05-2006 Posted From: 98.218.147.237 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 07:35 pm:    They said the same thing about the Aleutians in WW 2. Some old Army tales never die.   Larry W. Carnes Senior Member Username: Larry Post Number: 1123 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 63.20.88.112 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 07:16 pm:    "it's a great place to visit but I would not want to live there." I still remember some old sergeants at Ft. Bliss who had completed tours on the Thule Nike Hercules missile sites in the late 60s. They used to tell us young troops that we should put in for reassigment to Greenland. They said we'd love Thule because there's a beautiful woman behind every tree up there. But then they'd add that there's only one tree on the whole island...and it may or may not still be standing! Those old sergeants had odd senses of humor.   Bob Dart Senior Member Username: Bobdart Post Number: 1454 Registered: 06-2005 Posted From: 76.29.20.95 Posted on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 - 04:48 am:    The references in the Peterson newsletter certainly gives all the information you need. I was in Greenland last fall but with a cruise ship. We did some kayaking and I can attest to how remote the island really is. As they say, it's a great place to visit but I would not want to live there.   M. Craig Pinsker Member Username: Mcpins Post Number: 19 Registered: 04-2007 Posted From: 96.253.77.237 Posted on Monday, April 12, 2010 - 09:58 pm:    Thule web site http://www.peterson.af.mil/units/821stairbase/index.asp   Jerry Gonya Senior Member Username: Jgonya Post Number: 417 Registered: 09-2005 Posted From: 65.29.246.135 Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 09:17 pm:    Michael, No You have to be on orders for Thule. Many have asked, none have flown there.   Dave Nosek Member Username: Waterman15 Post Number: 38 Registered: 10-2005 Posted From: 134.215.253.245 Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 09:17 pm:    Michael your not going to find much of anything at Thule. As far as I know you would not even be authorized to travel there space a, it is restricted to people who are actually stationed there. There is a web site I believe that can tell you about the area. Don't have it at my fingertip but do an online search and you should be able to find it fairly eaisly.   Michael P. Peck New member Username: Mpeck Post Number: 2 Registered: 01-2010 Posted From: 198.232.62.16 Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010 - 08:29 pm:    Is there space-a lodging available at Thule? ANy information about Thule would be greatly appreciated.