In 1975 a contingency of Metrology (PMEL) troops was sent to the Island to open up a calibration laboratory. Here's a picture of the motley crew standing in front of a building that was very close to our beginnings (for a closer look at this bunch, click here).(Coord J6)

One of the few forms of entertainment on "the Rock" was attending one of the numerous Island "Smokehouses." It was akin to going to your neighborhood bar. They were replete with bumper pool tables, an excellent lineup of beverages, and even an occasional "movie." Just think, the Coast Guard guys on Attu came to Shemya for R&R! (Courtesy George Blood, Coord N6)

Speaking of landing by boat...this was one of the barges used to supply Shemya. This was Barge #18, grounded on her maiden voyage in 1958. The view is towards Alcan Bay. As you can see, it wasn't always that easy to "hit" the dock! Once stranded on Shemya, it became a source of scrap metal for various construction projects on Shemya. (Coord E5)

At the end of WWII, a cache of ammo was dumped over the cliff on the southeast end of the Island and allegedly set on fire. The resulting melt-down of the brass casings and re-solidification in the water formed little "nuggets" that all of us had to have a sample of. Watch out for those phosphorous tracers! Someone picked up an old tracer shell, put it in their pocket where it warmed up, dried off, and began to smolder. That's me in the picture. 1975-1976 (Coord W9)

Here's a close-up view of the Shemya nuggets as mentioned above. This shot was taken about 1977. Courtesy George Blood. (Coord W9)

You can see in this picture the beginnings of a rail-lined sidewalk. The rails served two purposes...one to guide you from place to place in the fog (as here, when the "fog monster" would attack), the other to give you something to hold on to when the wind would pick up (sometimes in excess of 100 m.p.h.). Courtesy George Blood. (Coord J5)

This picture is the same as the one above, after the "fog monster" departed. Some of the Islands older radomes and radars can be seen in the background. Courtesy George Blood. (Coord J5)

#18

A wrecked recky. This one didn't make it. "Rivet Ball," otherwise known as "Nancy Rae" then later renamed to "Wanda Belle," Model JKC-135A/RC-135S, Tail # 59-1491, crashed at Shemya AFS during landing operations on the 13th of January, 1969 at around 12:30am. Jim Alspaugh put about 500 hours behind the throttle of this modified KC-135 in 1965. There were major concerns about a North-South wind with an East-West runway! (Coord B8). For photo of Wanda Bell taxiing, click here.

The C5s and C-141s were our supply workhorses. Shemya had one of the worlds few grooved runways which made landing a little less hazardous under some of Shemya's foulest weather. Hardly ever see a lot of sunshine on Shemya, do you? (Coord L10)

Here's another shot of the old protective eyes of America, the FPS-17 radar antennas. Taken around 1977. (Courtesy George Blood, Coord L3)