Life at NAS Alameda

In 1970, I arrived at NAS Alameda upon our return from a WestPac cruise. I was with VAQ-132 at the time, a freshly minted sailor baptized by the fire of war and striking for Yeoman. Alameda became my home between deployments for the next three years. In the fall of 1973, I transferred to NAS Whidbey Island for my final year of enlistment. When I left Alameda, I knew somehow, some way, I’d be back. And I promised myself that if the opportunity to return presented itself, I’d surely take it.

So, in 1997, I was hired by a Bay Area software company to write and develop their education program. I arrived the weekend of NAS Alameda’s closing, unfortunately too late to attend the ceremony and tour my once proud home. In fact, it would be nearly nine years before I’d return again and finally visit the base.

Through those long years, I often reflected on my experiences at NAS Alameda; life in the barracks and standing the fire watch. The fine Navy cooked meals served in the galley. Drinking beers with the buddies at the EM Club at the end of the barracks. There were also the weddings in the base chapel and receptions at the “O” Club. Movies at the base theater. Oh, and the visit to the base by Admiral Zumwalt, CNO. Life during the waking hours was focused on squadron activities in hangars 39 and 40. I’ll never forget the day I tacked on third class and did everything to avoid my left arm becoming black and blue. The guys in maintenance were all too eager to do the tacking for me and all too pleased when they caught me and tossed me into the seaplane lagoon.

As I write this blog, I am prompted to also recall the names and the faces of the fantastic people I worked with. Their names would fill many pages. It’s good to go back to cruise books and look up those folks with whom I deployed but it would be really nice to enhance those memories with a “base book” that helps us remember those times between deployments and for those who were permanently assigned to the base. Maybe that’s what we’re starting here, a “base blog” about life at NAS Alameda. My experiences are quite limited to my few months between deployments with VAQ-132 and VAQ-135 Det 2. I am always anxious to hear the stories of others who were also stationed here. Often, I got out to the base, now closed and in pretty run down condition, and run into NAS Alameda veterans. I enjoy their stories and like to see where and how our paths may have crossed. Hopefully, this blog site will become populated with hundreds of stories about life at NAS Alameda. I also hope we’ll add to the historical documentation of life at this Navy base that was so instrumental in defending our nation during World War II.

Alameda Naval Air Station 1940 - 1997