Nakashio-koji alley, just out the main gate and to the right, was more popularly known as "AP Alley" and was considered hallowed ground by most GI's up until such time as the US dollar lost value against the Japanese yen, sometime in the late 1970's.
Roll Calls were a USAFSS ritual in Misawa dating from the mid-1950's and 1st Radio days. Typically, following the final mid shift, trick workers would gather in AP Alley to drink breakfast. The logic was to party the entire day, collapse that night and awake refreshed for the first day watch. And, it worked!!
The State Side Snack Bar, Bldg. S-300, just a block outside the main gate at the intersection of the main drag, often served as a rendezvous point, a last stop to grab an order of fried chicken before curfew, where you expected that pretty bar girl to meet you and take you home, or just a place for a great cheeseburger and cup of coffee.
Throughout the years, we all passed through this portal hundreds of times, and often never gave it a second thought. But, it's a point of reference that we all know and remember. Here is a collection of photos spanning over 50 years showing the evolution of the main gate to Misawa AB
The Bong Theater on main base was a good place to spend some time or maybe kill a night just before payday when nobody had any MPC or yen to spare. Of course, you weren't allowed to take in combat jugs of Akadama or roll the empties under the seats towards the screen, but the movies were cheap and fairly current.
1st Radio (The Hill) was separated from main base by Lake Ogawara. The road from main base to The Hill used a causeway that passed an old fisherman's hut that was there since before 1st Radio. It remains there today, although it has been rebuilt at least twice (once between 1965 and 1971). Surely, anyone who has been to The Hill will remember this homestead from their time.
During the rein of USAFSS, The Hill - known as 1st Radio, and later Security Hill - was more than just a place to work. It was home. We worked there, we ate there, we showered there, we often played there, and sometimes even slept there. This album provides glimpses of The Hill from the 1950's on up through some photos taken well after the year 2000.
By 1964, the AN/FLR-9 antenna - aka the "Elephant Cage"- was gathering SIGINT, and became the most notable landmark on the Hill. With its 260-meter diameter, the huge array was constructed between July 1963 and March 1965 and, until recently. remained as one of only two in operation on the planet.
The original Static Club was in Bldg. S-1593, was apparently opened early 1959, and was located across the street from Dorm 1, just beyond the little BX where the Blue Goose (base shuttle bus) made its turn-around.
Sometime during the late 1960's, the Static Club (Bldg. S-1593) relocated to what had formerly been the 6921st mess hall (Bldg. S-1566) - hence the term, "Static Club 2". The new location was considerably larger than the older building.
It started about 1420 hours on 11 Jan 1966 and consumed a 20-square block area of Misawa, destroying 375 business & housing structures in a 7-hour ordeal. 30-mph winds hindered the combined efforts of Japanese and AF personnel to control the fire. When it was over, much of AP Alley was gone!
The 1968 Tokachi-oki Earthquake, Japan's largest and most powerful of the decade, struck Misawa on the morning of May 16th. At a magnitude of 7.9, it left wide-spread destruction, fire, and a civilian casualty count of nearly fifty in its wake.
