We stopped by Cecil Field today, July 14, 2009, while we were coming back
from Jacksonville and while there took a few pictures which I will send
shortly. As expected 42 years has made for a lot of changes. The entrance
now is just east of where the main gate was and the guard shack is, yes, the
shack is still there. The new entrance is a four lane avenue, about a
quarter mile from the original road into the base, with a median and it
winds around a bit and takes you down the road and you find that you are on
the street that was in between the chow hall and the hangers.
We drove past
everything until we came to the end of the road where the tower and where
the cross runway is. Then I tried to move west to find the road that led to
the gate but found that I had to backtrack and go back to the road that was
between the barracks and the EM club (oh what memories that brought back).
Actually a lot of memories came back during the whole drive through but
remembering beer at 10 cents a can brought back some rather strong and
intense ones. There also were a lot of blurred memories relating to the club
as well. After driving by those locations I found the road that led to the
gate and that went by the base housing. It still does but at the north end
of the base housing the road cuts into the four land and we had to do a
hard left turn to get back onto the old main road. We drove it till we
arrived at the old entranceway and the guard shack was still there although
it was torn up quite a bit.
Just beyond the shack the old road is blocked
but you can see cars going by on Normandy Blvd. We turned around and then
took perimeter road to the east and that took us back to the four lane entry
way again. While we drove around we took pictures of some of the places and
that is what I am sending to you.
Greg Engler
Click for WORD document (800KB): Cecil Field Information Handout _Information, history, and pictures before and after transition from NAS to modern day air facility. Courtesy of: Rusty E. Chandler, Airport Manager Cecil Field. Contributed by Greg Engler
New entry road into Cecil (July,2009)--contributed by Greg Engler
THE door that I entered my first day at the base and the door that I walked
out of when I got into the car to leave the base for a civilians life and
finally returned again to see about 43 years later. (July,2009)- Greg Engler
Another view of the hanger. (July,2009) - Greg Engler
Hangar 67 taken at 2011 VFP-62 Reunion--Ken Jack
Hangar 67 taken at 2011 VFP-62 Reunion. Boeing now occupies the hangar doing "special" work on FA-18s. A security guard was assigned to our group---Ken Jack
Okay, where did they put the chow?? It was right here when I left so don't
blame it on me. (July,2009) - Greg Engler
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Updated 3/9/18
Created on ... July 16, 2009