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After finishing my university sophomore year, I had to spend four weeks in Texas for AFROTC Summer Camp. One of my classmates and I decided to drive from San Jose, California rather than taking advantage of the free airfare offered by the Air Force to Abilene, Texas.
A trip of 1,529 miles in an MGB that had seen better days.
After passing through El Paso the tallest thing on the horizon was the oil company buildings in towns like Odessa, Big Spring, Sweetwater, until we arrived at Dyess AFB in Abilene. We did pass through any number of towns that were smaller than the aforementioned towns in this paragraph.
Abeline was a dry town during our time there and there were some residents, not a majority, that had adopted an airmen and dogs keep-off-the-grass policy. We were allowed to go into town after our second week of training and my classmate and I were asked by several residents if we could get them on the base, specifically to visit the base swimming pool where they could swim and drink some beer. Dyess AFB was a federal reservation so beer was available and could be consumed at the pool.
We did go to a drive-in movie where everybody reclined on the hoods of their cars, backs against the windshield. At some point the shadow of an illicit beer bottle would pass across the screen. That led to many beer bottles flying across the screen. I will admit I found that very appealing as a university student and thought perhaps I should change my major to Anthropology.
The B-52 wing was in Thailand at the time, as the Vietnam War had not ended. The C-130 wing was still on the base. There was a rumor was that the B-52 wing jumped at the chance to go to Thailand so their families could get out of Abilene. Another rumor that was floating around was that two main gate guards shot-up the Welcome to Dyess AFB sign one night. I don't know if those rumors were true.
To be fair to Abilene and Dyess AFB, things have changed. I talked to a Dyess B-1 bomber crew a few years ago at an airshow at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson. They said that Abilene has become a great place to live for the crews and their families. I didn't ask if the drive-in was still showing movies. Abeline was not a dying North Texas city when I was there and the people I met in Texas on that trip were polite. After four weeks in Texas, I was dropping a few y'all's into conversations.
I never made it to Waco, but I did come across an interesting video of surfing in Waco. Coming from the West Coast there is The Wedge, Mavericks, Rincon, and Cortes Bank to name just a few surfing destinations, but Waco, Texas... really. In Waco you can ride more than just a horse.
Discussion (18)
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When you were there (in Abilene) was it true that women there don't treat you mean?
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There was no time for dating. Monday through Saturday you were up at o500 hours. A morning two mile run and then breakfast and training until dinner. Saturday was a morning barracks and personal inspection. After dinner every day you cleaned the barracks. Sunday was a free day unless you failed the Saturday inspection. If you failed the inspection, you were doing yard work, like painting rocks along the paths around the barracks.
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The highlight of my 4 weeks in Texas was a ride in the T-37. It was my second ride in a two-seater. The first was a ride with an Oregon Airguard pilot.
I was told by the T-37 pilot that I would taxi the aircraft to the runway, and I would pull the stick back as he worked the throttle for takeoff. I had never done that before. He also let me roll the T-37 several times during the flight.
Stock photo of the T-37.
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Huh. There ain't much in Waco, but I guess there is a big wave pool. The hot newish thing in Waco is Magnolia Market. It is a little market square for tourists to buy overpriced lemonade and ice cream. I would rate it above the Dr. Pepper Museum and below the Ranger Museum and Waco River Walk, which has a bridge that was once the longest suspension bridge west of the Mississippi River.
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Waco Surf is a serious surfing operation. Professional surfers use it to train. The waves are apparently high quality waves in shape and dynamics. And since waves can be reproduced consistently, they are excellent for learning and for practicing. [I'm not a surfer nor have I been to Waco Surf, so I am relying on second hand reports.]
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