40 Years in the Making

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Mariah Haddenham
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam --  For a majority of Andersen AFB personnel, it is hard to imagine what Andersen was like in 1972 during the final period of involvement in the Vietnam War. For Master Sgt. Ronald Landry, 117th Air Refueling Wing, Birmingham Al., currently stationed here on a temporary duty assignment, he could tell you. He was here.

"I was first in Guam from April through October in 1972 for Operation Linebacker I," said Sergeant Landry. "I was an aircraft sheet metal specialist deployed on my first temporary duty for 179 days from Fairchild AFB, Spokane, Wash."

During Operation Linebacker I, Andersen AFB saw several changes to the base that was about to become a temporary duty station for a vast number of Airmen.

"Andersen AFB became the site of the most immense buildup of air power in history," said Jeffery Meyer, 36th Wing historian. "More than 12,000 Airmen and 153 B-52's took up five miles of ramp space on the flight line."

Sergeant Landry recalls his first assignment to Guam clearly, as if it were yesterday.

"Initially, our arrival was pretty hectic," said Sergeant Landry. "We were crowded into open-bay tin buildings, with no air conditioning. The building was 'H' shaped with four sleeping bays and the center line being the latrine and showers."

Airmen would receive a single locker and footlocker for personal storage; personal space was a commodity not readily available.

"I would be thankful for our living situation later," said Sergeant Landry. "As Linebacker II was gearing up, they started putting arriving folks in canvas tents, lacking air conditioning as well. Our work schedule was seven days a week with 12 hour shifts most of the time. There seemed to be at least a couple of hundred B-52's here, they were parked everywhere."

Work days were long and provisions for lunch were often taken straight to the crew on the flight line.

"We weren't allowed off base except for church services or some approved function," said Sergeant Landry. "A fellow crew member saw the path I was heading down and recommended I go to church with him and eventually I did. I went to get off base, and maybe meet some pretty girls. I met pretty girls, but I also met the Lord at that little church in Yigo. I believe that this occurred somewhere around the middle of my temporary duty, which made the final three months on Guam a much more pleasant experience."

Guam still has a continuous bomber presence and Sergeant Landry has returned, with a different crew after 40 years.

"I'm here with the 117 ARW, on what looks to be my final temporary duty," said Sergeant Landry. "We are here in support of air refueling for different aircraft and it's nice to come back to Guam and see where I started and how far the island and base have come."