 This is of the golf course looking east with control tower to the left. Bob
|  This is a photo of Ramey from the air. |
Thanks to Bob Thompson for the pictures in this section..I was at Ramey from Aug 1954 to Jun 56. A brand new "butter bar", fresh out of Navigator's school at Mather AFB, CA. The reason I wasn't there longer was because my whole B-36 crew rotated to Walker AFB, NM. I enjoyed the time that I was there, even though I didn't have a car to get around. Our flights usually lasted 24+ hours and were from Ramey to the Tampa, FL Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS) site and back. Once I dropped a dummy A-Bomb (8,600 pounds) on Matagorda Island bomb range, TX (spring of 1956). Once we went to Neuwasseur? AFB in French Morroco, stayed over night (got plastered on French Champagne)(filled the plane up with souveniers) and then made a simulated bomb run on Scranton, PA (fall of 1954?). However, we had an engine fire and had to land at Westover AFB, MA, Since the engine was ruined and no way to replace it, we went back to Ramey minus one propeller. The whole Wing went on these missions. Later, when I was at Walker, we had to land at Hickam AFB, HI two different times with an engine fire. We landed at Anderson AFB, Guam with 3 engines out. There were too many parts, in the B-36, to go wrong. |
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This is of the golf course looking east with control tower to the left. Bob
| This is a photo of Ramey from the air. |
 This is a photo of the water survival course. I forget exactly where it was - I think maybe sw of the golf course. We got dressed in artic gear, then a rubber suit, then a Mae West and then a parachute harness. Then climbed up some stairs, got hooked up to contraption that would allow us to slide down this long cable. When our feet hit the water, we had to hit the "quick disconnect buttons" and drop into the water. Then try and paddle (we were like a bunch of stuffed turkeys) to a lift raft and haul ourselves into it. One of the Aircraft Commanders hit the "quick disconnect" too soon and dropped onto the beach and screwed up his back. While we doing this, our clothes (including wallets and watches) were in a locked building. However, some thieves got in by going through the floor. I had just gotten a payment for something and had a $50.00 bill taken. The local police caught the guy trying to break the 50 and got a few years in the federal jail at Eglin AFB, FL.
|  Here is a photo of the contraption that let us slide down the cable during water survival training. |
 This is a photo of my friends, Zeir Escabi, Major USAF, Ret & William Sly a 1/Lt who got RIF (reduction in force) in 1958 and died 20 Sep 2003 in Carolina, PR (he married a girl from Moca, PR). They are having breakfast at the O Club.
|  Here I am, looks like I'm going to go swimming. Bob |
|  Cliff's off the west end of approach to Ramey AFB. This photo is the outdoor dining area of the Officer's Club. It was also used for floor shows and dancing. |
 Here is a B-36 taking off. We usually took off and landed going east as the prevailing wind was from the east and gave us more lift which we needed on a warm day. Just after we moved into the new BOQs, a guy came along and started planting sticks along side the building. They were about 2 and a half feet long and he stuck them in the ground making an X. In a few weeks, the darn things started sprouting leaves and after a few months, there was a nice green hedge. It seemed to me that every afternoon, about 5, a brief shower would come along and water the grass and these hedges. If I happen to come across any more photos, I will pass them on. This one will be number 18. Bob |
 B-36 photos |
 This is the old BOQ I was in during 1954/55. It had 3 men to a room and a central latrine.
|  This is the new BOQ during construction I think it opened in May 1955. It was so much better one man to a room and had and adjoining bath and kitchenette and no bugs. |
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