# Short trip, pic heavy



## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

My wife and I took a short trip south of Jacksonville to Camp Blanding on Kingsley Lake yesterday morning. My wife had been there 40 years ago when with her parents when she was a kid. I had never been there.

Camp Blanding is an active combined Army/Air National Guard base. Prior to entering the base there are static displays of Vietnam and Gulf war military equipment used by the armed forces in those wars. The coolest display was the Air Forces F-106 Delta Dart, a super fast cold war interceptor. The Air National Guard at Jacksonville International airport flew these jets into the late 80's when they were replaced by F-15's. There were also an A-7 Corsair and A-6 Intruder used by the Navy. We had them on the USS Eisenhower when I was aboard in the late 70's.

The base also had plenty of camping, swimming and boating sites on the Lake. Rental cabins were available as well. Trees were close to the shoreline at the small beaches with plenty of picnic tables. The shade was nice and the water was warm. I wish I had brought my swimming trunks lol.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

That looks like it was ideal time to explore. 

We have far more military posts than I realized.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

robin416 said:


> That looks like it was ideal time to explore.
> 
> We have far more military posts than I realized.


There were muffled sounds of explosions while we were there and it wasnt rifles, shotguns or pistols although they had an outside gun range.
Other than the campsites along the beach, there were quite a few empty barracks. We didnt go into officer housing area, it was restricted. In another area, there was a junkyard of military equipment; a couple of tanks, personnel carriers and big trucks. There were several different headquarters buildings of different commands and a medical evacuation building. 
The rest of the base was nothing but acres and acres of woods and pine trees.

Here where we live, we are close to 3 big Navy bases; NAS Jacksonville, Naval Station Mayport, and Kings Bay Sub Base. We are close to one small Coast Guard Station at Mayport as well.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I was most familiar with Fort Hood. I even knew how to get on base without going through a check point. Bet that's been remedied in the intervening years.

We've got Rucker nearby and as far as I know that's it. It was actually hard finding a place far enough away that we weren't right under the flight plans for the helicopters. 

I can see that where you live would be ideal for all of the Naval bases. Having one that isn't is more of a surprise.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I had to go to a school at Ft McClellan, near Anniston in the early 80's. It was different being on an Army base for sure. Their chow at the mess hall was terrible compared to Navy chow. The food in the vending machines at the base bowling alley was my food lifeline while I was there, the 50 cent chili dogs in the microwave were really good!
Then in the late 90's I had to go to school in Montgomery. I drove through Albany, Ga, then the backroads to Eufaula on up to Montgomery. There were some 2 lane gravel roads and I thought I had gotten lost lol. Back then there wasnt much development in that area, I suppose it's changed by now.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Some. I haven't taken it since I'm more of a high speed, straight through driver. The road you took that was unpaved is now paved but still two lanes. I doubt that much else has changed on that route since you took it. Growth is not that big here.

I spent a few days on Fort Lewis in WA a million years ago. I was fascinated watching the big cargo planes taking off with their wings just barely off the ground. But I never learned the ins and outs of that base like I did FT. Hood. Guess living in Killeen for three years allows for exploring. 

It's where I got to see a private practice of the Black Hawk before it was released to the world. That was back at that little known entrance. Makes me think that's why that had a few Loaches stashed out that way, it allowed for some private things like the Black Hawk.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

We have one really nice base south of me in Tampa , McDill. It's on the tip of a peninsula in Tampa Bay. What gets me is that's probably the choiciest property in all of Florida. It would be paradise for anyone living in a house there. But it belongs to the military.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Nice pics!!!


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Did you take your bike on the trip?We don't have naval bases but I live close to Dayton,OH Wright -Patterson Air Force Base.We went once a year when I was a kid.We always stopped in front of a plane called the "Strawberry Bitch" and my father said that was the plane he was a gunner on in WWII.I don't know if it was THE plane or another like it.I often see military aircraft flying overhead.I can hear the helicopters way before I see them.They rattle the windows and scare my animals.The planes usually leave chem trails and sometimes,when they finish,it looks like a tic-tac-toe" board missing the "x's and o's" in the sky.Makes me wonder what they are spraying for us to breathe.....


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

When we lived in the N. Ga mountains we had jets buzzing the tree tops. I mean buzzing so low the tops of the trees moved. It made the house shudder, animals went nuts. I don't know how many times it happened before I'd had enough and called about it. At first the Colonel I was talking to said "That can't be happening, it's not allowed." I don't know if it was my insistence yes indeed it was happening or what but it stopped. They still flew over but not at the tree top level.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

chickenqueen said:


> Did you take your bike on the trip?We don't have naval bases but I live close to Dayton,OH Wright -Patterson Air Force Base.We went once a year when I was a kid.We always stopped in front of a plane called the "Strawberry Bitch" and my father said that was the plane he was a gunner on in WWII.I don't know if it was THE plane or another like it.I often see military aircraft flying overhead.I can hear the helicopters way before I see them.They rattle the windows and scare my animals.The planes usually leave chem trails and sometimes,when they finish,it looks like a tic-tac-toe" board missing the "x's and o's" in the sky.Makes me wonder what they are spraying for us to breathe.....


No, didnt take the Harley. I like hitting the back roads riding up towards Fernandina Beach, west Nassau county and into SE Georgia with the bike...less traffic and more country. I love riding by a cattle or hog farm, brings back my country roots and senses.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

We have Navy P-3 Orion and P-8 Poseidon anti submarine planes/jets fly over our house depending on wind direction. They arnt too loud. However F-18's fly in once in a while and they are loud. The noise doesnt bother the chickens or dog.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Being a daughter of a Lifer Air Force dad, we've lived on a few bases. I think they're very nice. Ramstein Germany was a big base and they'd have an air show every year. Since most of us didn't have phones , it was easy to track down your friends. In Turkey we lived on Incirlik AFB . Most people would have been miserable there, but us teens had a lot of fun. The hangout was the cafeteria. It was a smaller base as well. We walked every where. I worked on the flight line one year. Another year I worked in an office that would record all the stats from the F-4's that would fly every day. Like they come back and they inspect for malfunctions and stuff. It was fun watching them. I certainly would have not traded those years for anything. And we got to live in interesting places.


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I remember the F-4 Phantoms. We had them on the Ike just before we got the F-14 Tomcats. Both were awesome jets. The only reason the Navy stopped using F-14's was due to high maintenance. They were a 'swing wing' jet.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Is that why the Harrier fails so often? The wing assembly?


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

I dont know much about Harriers. I was never on an Amphib ship that had them.
Actually the avionics and electronics became outdated on the F-14. Also it required alot of man hours troubleshooting and replacing parts, swapping out engines aboard ship was time consuming etc...not cost effective nor a good thing in a conflict. Then the F-18 Hornet came out and it was initially underpowered. They upgraded the engines and now it's called the Super Hornet with all the latest and greatest bells and whistles.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

The "Ike" -is that a carrier?


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## dawg53 (Aug 25, 2015)

seminolewind said:


> The "Ike" -is that a carrier?


"Ike." USS Dwight D Eisenhower CVN-69. One of the best ships I've served aboard.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I've only read a book about the Enterprise. : (


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