1986 to 89 lifetime ago if your out there hello woody ,kevin, bush, rehart and steve wilcox from shawn tandy great time and hard work brothers! 57 years old now great life!
@tedstutzman9762Ай бұрын
I was stationed there from Jan 1974 till January of 1979. We lived in Marquette for a year, the winter drive to make midnight shift was always an adventure. Started out attached to the Bomb wing, then reorganized into the 2001 Comm squadron since we supported the command post digital comms system. One year I worked as a civil engineer augmenter and drove snowplows. It kept me from doing CQ for a year. I was on the runway for 16 hours the day the Edmund Fitzgerald sank, but the base never closed. 2 of my kids were born on base. We lived on Aalbatross drive in a nice little duplex.
@johnbee93262 ай бұрын
That was trip down memory lane for sure. 410 SPS from 86 to 92. Good times!
@williammarshall19002 ай бұрын
My wife & I were up dere from May '71 to Oct '83 - 87th FIS. Some good times!
@jboforjustice2 ай бұрын
WOW great video, I lived on Falcon blv. in 79, and humped them buffs for three years, brought back memories, thanks. But KI is the reason I live in nice hot Florida today, three years at KI was enough cold weather to last me the rest of my life🥶🥶😁
@badguy555410 ай бұрын
LOVED that base! I was there in the early 1970's. GREAT place to live. GREAT place to work. GREAT bunch of people. I was so LUCKY to have been stationed there! I went back last year to look around. The buildings are still there....although "a bit weathered". The housing area is still active with local people moved in. Many MANY thanks for your great video...done in the winter when most people would have been indoors.
@JamieSmith-fz2mz2 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it. I was up there skiing at Blueberry Ridge that weekend, and we stayed in one of the officer's housing units. I remember it was very cold and windy, and most of the roads weren't plowed. I go up fairly regularly now.
@billharrison250310 ай бұрын
Kinchelo, Wortsmith same story
@walterzemialkowski660410 ай бұрын
Stationed there in AMMS hound dog missile maintenance great base but lousy winters. Remember climbing to hills to get to work slipping and sliding all the way and praying the woman in the car in front does not let up on the gas and lose her momentum.
@ivanhicks88711 ай бұрын
Great Video - I am 90 - Did 4 Years Active - 16 NYANG THOSE WERE THE DAYS - God Bless Us ALL
@johnpaulmakowski746411 ай бұрын
I served on the front lines of the us and ussr cold war at Minot Air Force Base north dakota. 1977 to 82. Never got to ki sawyer.
@GregoryElsner-xu5kl Жыл бұрын
Thanks for the memories! I was stationed there 75-79 and worked in the WSA. It was great to see your video as that area is now a lumber processing business.
@dpmiller1000 Жыл бұрын
Actually seeing it all buried in snow is how I mainly remember it. I was there from 87-90, and it was a pretty good place to be.
@exmichigansnowskier2150 Жыл бұрын
If this AFB was closed down then why was the radar kept on turning around? As a former USAF person stationed at Wurtsmith AFB in March, 1976 - August, 1977 winters always was and will be is wimpy. You are thinking why am I living here? Well, when I got out of the USAF at my last AFB assignment at Sheppard AFB, Texas; my wife wanted to move back to Michigan because she had relatives her at time in May, 1977.
@JamieSmith-fz2mz Жыл бұрын
It continued to turn for several years. You’d have to ask the Air Force why that is.
@firstsgt279 Жыл бұрын
Became "Sawyer International Airport" For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 18,141 aircraft operations, an average of 50 per day: 54% general aviation, 38% air taxi, 1% scheduled commercial service and 7% military. In December 2022, there were 41 aircraft based at this airport: 36 single-engine, 4 multi-engine and 1 jet.
@atomicorang Жыл бұрын
So sad. I could have been assigned there but received first duty to Holloman NM in 1979.
@JamieSmith-fz2mz Жыл бұрын
I swapped for KISawyer from Kirtland in Albuquerque. I traded the desert for snow up to my waist. So glad I did.
@joenop3393 Жыл бұрын
I served in the U.S. Air Force from 1986-1997. It has always been sad to see an Air Force base close down......MacDill didnt shut down but we lost our flying mission back in 1995.....we eventually got KC-130s back a few years later. Not the same as the 80+ F-16's that roared the skies over Tampa Bay. So many life's were impacted by these bases as well as friendships......we all grew up on these Air Force bases. The WSA/CSC/LED are all quiet now......life moves on.
@markwicks635 Жыл бұрын
I was born here in late 81. First time I'm seeing what it was like. Dad transferred to Luke afb.
@briancooper2112 Жыл бұрын
Anybody remember a Doug and Karen Cooper?
@bobcade10022 жыл бұрын
I was stationed at KI Sawyer in the later 70’s. I actually had a great time there. Sad to see it close.
@nojo10992 жыл бұрын
Some of your shots look just like KPSM (Pease AFB)
@Acemechanicalservices Жыл бұрын
I was at Pease and KI
@badguy14812 жыл бұрын
I was based there in the early 1970's. Just went back there this summer to look around. VERY SAD! WHY the government just walked away from this installation and let people rummage around destroying every thing inside these buildings... is beyond me. What would it have taken to keep the grass cut, the windows shut and the doors locked on all those facilities? If nothing else we could have shipped all our "homeless people" there and got them out of our rotting cities.
@bskelly2 жыл бұрын
Was stationed there with the 87th FIS from 81-85. Left just before they closed the unit. Never thought I’d miss the place but like many I had a lot of good times there and met some great folks. Some crappy ones too! Thanks for posting Jamie. Red Bulls Forever!
@acemechanical2752 жыл бұрын
I was there from ‘75 to ‘83, from the age of 4 to 12. We moved there right when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. We lived at 617 Valkyrie. I went to KI elementary. I still remember some of my teachers, Mrs Lindstrom, Mr and Mrs Parlatto, Mr G the art teacher, Mr Hanuskala the gym teacher (good Finn name) and Mr Corkin. We spent the winters sledding dead man’s hill. Summers were all about BMX. Also, it was the golden age of video games at the bowling alley and the wonder hut. I can’t think of a better place for a kid.
@josephcapen44692 жыл бұрын
I moved there in Dec '78 at 10 and left in 81 at 13. It was the perfect place to live those years as a young American boy.
@Acemechanicalservices Жыл бұрын
@@josephcapen4469 You were probably in my sister’s class.
@tomking18903 жыл бұрын
Best thing that happened to place was closing it
@teedee59783 жыл бұрын
The UP was a horror show in the winter if you worked on the flight line. Best day of my life was when I left Kinchloe.
@exmichigansnowskier2150 Жыл бұрын
Another wimpie!
@larryhudlemeyer26173 жыл бұрын
Thank you for posting this; it brought back many memories! I was stationed there May 1974-June 1984; it was my first state-side base after spending 2 yrs at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Yeah, I know....couldn't get enough of the cold and snow, I guess! I was assigned to USAF Hospital, K.I. Sawyer (NCOIC, Med-Surg Ward; NCOIC Outpatient Clinics, then NCOIC Physical Exams eventually back as NCOIC Med-Surg and OB Wards. In 1981, I was selected for special duty as NCOIC NCO PME Center and assigned to the 410th Combat Support Group for the remainder of my tour there. I would eventually go on to Grissom AFB, Indiana as Commandant, 8th AF NCO Leadership School; then to Anderson AFB, Guam as Commandant, 633rd ABW NCO Leadership School. After 4 yrs on Guam, returned stateside as First Sgt, 28th Medical Group, Ellsworth AFB. Then, I completed my 25 yrs, 2 months and 19 days assigned to the 28th Mission Support Squadron as Deputy Director of the Family Support Center. Still....after the passage of 46-plus yrs, the one assignment that still tugs at my psyche, the one place I always felt the most at-home was K.I. Sawyer! I have been back twice since it has closed, once with family (stayed at Queen Cottages/South Shag Lake) and once with only my wife (camped at Horseshoe Lake). Each time, because of further disrepair and neglect, it felt like going to visit a relative at the graveyard! It was once a great place to be stationed, a great place to start a family, with great outdoors, great people-because only the best go North! I lived in a dorm down in the "Hole" for a while; then the trailer park at Little Lake and finally out hwy 460 to Scandia and 545 South. If I had the misfortune to fall into a time loop and had to live my life over and over in one spot, I would hope it would be at K.I. Sawyer AFB, in the U.P. I truly miss that place and those people....it was the best time of my life! Here's to us and those like us who stood the watch in the Great White Frozen North....damn few left! LH
@tracybland2649 Жыл бұрын
Thank you for your service. This was b4 my late spouse n I had met. He was stationed at Ki from 85 to 94. He was one of the last to leave ki. Said it was the best time during his Af career. Sadly he passed 2 yrs ago. But always had a place in his heart for Ki.
@atomicorang Жыл бұрын
Great story! Thankyou for your service and you made it real. From a fellow Airman. 1979-2004 431X1 Tactical Aircraft Maintenance technician.
@SilentEcho91943 жыл бұрын
I found where I was stationed in Germany on Google Earth. They have repurposed most of the main post however the storage bunkers of PSP4J and the NATO site are abandoned and falling apart. I feel the same way those of you who were stationed at KI Sawyer do. It tugs at your heart. I was in Marquette in 2017 and strongly discouraged from going to KI Sawyer or Gwinn because it had become a drug infested hood. Very sad. I grew up near Houghton so the AFB was well known to me.
@JamieSmith-fz2mz3 жыл бұрын
Go back and visit. It’s not the cesspool of drugs and death that everyone wants you to believe it to be. Yeah, there are problems in the old housing units, but generally it’s just light industrial businesses and the county airport. And ghosts of airmen.
@SilentEcho91943 жыл бұрын
@@JamieSmith-fz2mz I really would like to see the static display. Did not know it was there. I live in lower peninsula, so it may be awhile before I get back. My daughter graduated from NMU, so it was a good time to be there. It had been at least 10 years since I had crossed the Mackinac Bridge.
@bruceshaw43993 жыл бұрын
What a waste. Could have alot of good uses. The only thing the state will save, is the golf course.
@JamieSmith-fz2mz3 жыл бұрын
It's also the regional airport. So it still smells of jet fuel.
@sr71ablackbird3 жыл бұрын
just wondering, if the base closed up, why was the radar still rotating ?
@firstsgt279 Жыл бұрын
Became "Sawyer International Airport" For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 18,141 aircraft operations, an average of 50 per day: 54% general aviation, 38% air taxi, 1% scheduled commercial service and 7% military. In December 2022, there were 41 aircraft based at this airport: 36 single-engine, 4 multi-engine and 1 jet.
@MrPepper3123 жыл бұрын
I was there in 73. The coldest place I have ever been.
@chrishickey24143 жыл бұрын
I was 410th SPS and loved it there so much. Snowmobiling and skiing in the winter, fishing in the spring and fall, and motorcycles and beach in the summer. I actually drove my snowmobile to work 4 months a year which made going to work just way too much fun! The people and the place were amazing. My daughter just deployed yesterday on a mission; the details of which I suspect I don't want to know even if she could tell me. On a difficult day for me, it was nice to look back upon a happy time and place so thank you so much for posting this.
@JamieSmith-fz2mz3 жыл бұрын
It's good to visit the ghosts now and then, isn't it? In hindsight, I'm really glad I shot this when I did to preserve some sort of image of it. It's so remote that it makes it really hard for former Sawyer-ites to get up there. By the way, the old SPS building is no longer standing.
@badguy14812 жыл бұрын
I agree. What a beautiful base and a beautiful assignment. My wife and I had a snow mobile, just outside our back door. Within minutes we were out in those "north woods" plying through feet of snow, enthralled with the beauty of a full moon on a snowy night. I was stationed there in the early 70's, but just got back to see the base this August (2021). Very..VERY...Depressing! The base we LOVED is now run down and, from what the locals tell me, the drug problem is RAMPANT in the housing areas (now leased out to who ever!). I think there's a saying that goes something like: "Never try to relive old memories of that past." Maybe I should have heeded that before I went back there and saw what I saw.
@hamburger110003 жыл бұрын
So sad to see the end to these bases. I was stationed at Walker AFB in Roswell New Mexico. Wish there had been a video made there before the closing.
@jimcampbrill50613 жыл бұрын
Thank you for the video and zooming in on the police station, my dad was a cop on base
@dennisleecluckey3 жыл бұрын
Served 1967 and 1968 410 SPS , then off to Vietnam. A lot of fond memories and fine people. RIP KI Sawyer AFB you were once a base that the air force looked up too, to many base closures, so sad.
@luminous69694 жыл бұрын
Who else wants to move back after watching this? 😭
@JamieSmith-fz2mz4 жыл бұрын
Go visit Marquette. The place is still amazing.
@badguy14812 жыл бұрын
I was back there in August (2021). People in Marquette told me there's a MAJOR drug problem in the housing area. The rentals there are in fair condition and are probably pretty cheap. But I don't know if I'd want to live around the "clientele" that inhabit that old housing area now.
@luminous69692 жыл бұрын
@@badguy1481 Is it still bad currently? There's no way to know if it used to be bad, the folks in Marquette heard it was bad, then they just kept repeating it for years not knowing that the situation had improved. But even if it's still true, it doesn't mean that the folks that live there are bad people, it could very well mean that they're hurting/depressed/lack hope in which case they still deserve our support.
@badguy14812 жыл бұрын
@@luminous6969 I was told that in Aug of this year (2021). Whether its something THEY heard or there's real, up to date, evidence I don't know. The housing area DOES look pretty shabby. I would guess most of the residents are "down and out" and probably prone to take drugs. Best to check with the local Sheriff's office to follow up.
@nickclayton25174 жыл бұрын
I wonder if anyone was still there. Because of the Radar still going
@georgeguthrie29624 жыл бұрын
I was there from March 1977 til Jan 81 Sac Alert Force Controller
@bvanderloop574 жыл бұрын
I was there 1975-79 , 410 CSG Base Administration
@bcfmef5 жыл бұрын
If the government keeps closing all of these bases, we’re not gonna have a military anymore
@srobak5 жыл бұрын
Just a notification to folks who might not be a part of the "I Survived KI Sawyer AFB" group on Facebook - as of yesterday - the signature, rotating antenna atop the SAGE building is no more. It was shut down a month or so back and it was dismantled and removed. It has been replaced by a standalone unit atop a tower on the northwest quadrant of the runway. You can see the old antenna in operation in this video at the 3:35 mark. It is from this day forward that it will be the only way to see this in operation. The last militarily functional role of the base has come to an end. RIP DC-14 SAGE Antenna 1960-2019.
@josephcapen44692 жыл бұрын
Rob, it's Bret Cantwell from the FB group. I must have missed that post. Thanks gor posting it here.
@realgoodscoobysnacks5 жыл бұрын
1:36 the fire team building. It was always fun when to Packers or Lions played and you could get on that post. It was grand central station. the TV room would be standing room only. Even better when the Packers played the Lions. Usually resulted in a intra-flight civil war.
@ted30205 жыл бұрын
Miserable weather but had the best maintainers and people.
@TheThoreauly775 жыл бұрын
Dad was stationed there 91-93, but we lived in Skandia up the road. Many great times at K.I. Went to Gwinn my freshman and sophomore years. Cool place. Miss many aspects of the yoop. Formative years. However, it is not in Marquette.
@jimmcguckin82515 жыл бұрын
Another abandoned former SAC base, there are a lot of them unfortunately. They all seem to have a Buff on display as well. I had the option of going there in the 80's but since I was already at Griffiss AFB, NY I wasn't about to go from one cold weather base to another. It's sad to see these old bases left to rot.
@LakeErieVideo1015 жыл бұрын
Stationed at KI from 84-88 and still visit every few years. Strange feeling walking around the old barracks. I worked as a firefighter on the flightline and always enjoyed the people I served with and the civilians in the department. Gwinn was always fun and Marquette is an amazing place that continues to grow. Those snow scenes are so accurate. Thanks for posting.
@semco720576 жыл бұрын
I hate to see any base shut down like that and then run down. That base was nice and many there in the area must miss the service members. Many of them lived in the local area and put plenty of money into the local economy.
@atomicorang Жыл бұрын
It is very sad. So many folks have fond memories. My best Air-force buddy was stationed there. He has lots of stories.. he crewed F-106.
@lanahagler49626 жыл бұрын
My fiance misses that place and often talks of wanting to live there. He was there 91-95, worked in POL, 410 supply.
@billgund12066 жыл бұрын
Used to watch the BUFF's fly over Copper Range mine in White Pine. The big stack made an easy visual checkpoint.
@jamesflickinger13636 жыл бұрын
There used to be big mounds of dirt between the storage lockers in the weapons storage area when I was there, looks like they removed them.
@cmscms1234566 жыл бұрын
I was USAF, never stationed there, but it feels eerily familiar. Maybe there is a part of every one of us in the great old military bases.
@jamesflickinger13636 жыл бұрын
Memories.... I was stationed there in 1972. K.I. was its own city. It had everything a community needed, and now its gone. It's hard for me to imagine. Feeling sad and feeling old. Thanks so much for the video.
Пікірлер
1986 to 89 lifetime ago if your out there hello woody ,kevin, bush, rehart and steve wilcox from shawn tandy great time and hard work brothers! 57 years old now great life!
I was stationed there from Jan 1974 till January of 1979. We lived in Marquette for a year, the winter drive to make midnight shift was always an adventure. Started out attached to the Bomb wing, then reorganized into the 2001 Comm squadron since we supported the command post digital comms system. One year I worked as a civil engineer augmenter and drove snowplows. It kept me from doing CQ for a year. I was on the runway for 16 hours the day the Edmund Fitzgerald sank, but the base never closed. 2 of my kids were born on base. We lived on Aalbatross drive in a nice little duplex.
That was trip down memory lane for sure. 410 SPS from 86 to 92. Good times!
My wife & I were up dere from May '71 to Oct '83 - 87th FIS. Some good times!
WOW great video, I lived on Falcon blv. in 79, and humped them buffs for three years, brought back memories, thanks. But KI is the reason I live in nice hot Florida today, three years at KI was enough cold weather to last me the rest of my life🥶🥶😁
LOVED that base! I was there in the early 1970's. GREAT place to live. GREAT place to work. GREAT bunch of people. I was so LUCKY to have been stationed there! I went back last year to look around. The buildings are still there....although "a bit weathered". The housing area is still active with local people moved in. Many MANY thanks for your great video...done in the winter when most people would have been indoors.
Glad you enjoyed it. I was up there skiing at Blueberry Ridge that weekend, and we stayed in one of the officer's housing units. I remember it was very cold and windy, and most of the roads weren't plowed. I go up fairly regularly now.
Kinchelo, Wortsmith same story
Stationed there in AMMS hound dog missile maintenance great base but lousy winters. Remember climbing to hills to get to work slipping and sliding all the way and praying the woman in the car in front does not let up on the gas and lose her momentum.
Great Video - I am 90 - Did 4 Years Active - 16 NYANG THOSE WERE THE DAYS - God Bless Us ALL
I served on the front lines of the us and ussr cold war at Minot Air Force Base north dakota. 1977 to 82. Never got to ki sawyer.
Thanks for the memories! I was stationed there 75-79 and worked in the WSA. It was great to see your video as that area is now a lumber processing business.
Actually seeing it all buried in snow is how I mainly remember it. I was there from 87-90, and it was a pretty good place to be.
If this AFB was closed down then why was the radar kept on turning around? As a former USAF person stationed at Wurtsmith AFB in March, 1976 - August, 1977 winters always was and will be is wimpy. You are thinking why am I living here? Well, when I got out of the USAF at my last AFB assignment at Sheppard AFB, Texas; my wife wanted to move back to Michigan because she had relatives her at time in May, 1977.
It continued to turn for several years. You’d have to ask the Air Force why that is.
Became "Sawyer International Airport" For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 18,141 aircraft operations, an average of 50 per day: 54% general aviation, 38% air taxi, 1% scheduled commercial service and 7% military. In December 2022, there were 41 aircraft based at this airport: 36 single-engine, 4 multi-engine and 1 jet.
So sad. I could have been assigned there but received first duty to Holloman NM in 1979.
I swapped for KISawyer from Kirtland in Albuquerque. I traded the desert for snow up to my waist. So glad I did.
I served in the U.S. Air Force from 1986-1997. It has always been sad to see an Air Force base close down......MacDill didnt shut down but we lost our flying mission back in 1995.....we eventually got KC-130s back a few years later. Not the same as the 80+ F-16's that roared the skies over Tampa Bay. So many life's were impacted by these bases as well as friendships......we all grew up on these Air Force bases. The WSA/CSC/LED are all quiet now......life moves on.
I was born here in late 81. First time I'm seeing what it was like. Dad transferred to Luke afb.
Anybody remember a Doug and Karen Cooper?
I was stationed at KI Sawyer in the later 70’s. I actually had a great time there. Sad to see it close.
Some of your shots look just like KPSM (Pease AFB)
I was at Pease and KI
I was based there in the early 1970's. Just went back there this summer to look around. VERY SAD! WHY the government just walked away from this installation and let people rummage around destroying every thing inside these buildings... is beyond me. What would it have taken to keep the grass cut, the windows shut and the doors locked on all those facilities? If nothing else we could have shipped all our "homeless people" there and got them out of our rotting cities.
Was stationed there with the 87th FIS from 81-85. Left just before they closed the unit. Never thought I’d miss the place but like many I had a lot of good times there and met some great folks. Some crappy ones too! Thanks for posting Jamie. Red Bulls Forever!
I was there from ‘75 to ‘83, from the age of 4 to 12. We moved there right when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. We lived at 617 Valkyrie. I went to KI elementary. I still remember some of my teachers, Mrs Lindstrom, Mr and Mrs Parlatto, Mr G the art teacher, Mr Hanuskala the gym teacher (good Finn name) and Mr Corkin. We spent the winters sledding dead man’s hill. Summers were all about BMX. Also, it was the golden age of video games at the bowling alley and the wonder hut. I can’t think of a better place for a kid.
I moved there in Dec '78 at 10 and left in 81 at 13. It was the perfect place to live those years as a young American boy.
@@josephcapen4469 You were probably in my sister’s class.
Best thing that happened to place was closing it
The UP was a horror show in the winter if you worked on the flight line. Best day of my life was when I left Kinchloe.
Another wimpie!
Thank you for posting this; it brought back many memories! I was stationed there May 1974-June 1984; it was my first state-side base after spending 2 yrs at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Yeah, I know....couldn't get enough of the cold and snow, I guess! I was assigned to USAF Hospital, K.I. Sawyer (NCOIC, Med-Surg Ward; NCOIC Outpatient Clinics, then NCOIC Physical Exams eventually back as NCOIC Med-Surg and OB Wards. In 1981, I was selected for special duty as NCOIC NCO PME Center and assigned to the 410th Combat Support Group for the remainder of my tour there. I would eventually go on to Grissom AFB, Indiana as Commandant, 8th AF NCO Leadership School; then to Anderson AFB, Guam as Commandant, 633rd ABW NCO Leadership School. After 4 yrs on Guam, returned stateside as First Sgt, 28th Medical Group, Ellsworth AFB. Then, I completed my 25 yrs, 2 months and 19 days assigned to the 28th Mission Support Squadron as Deputy Director of the Family Support Center. Still....after the passage of 46-plus yrs, the one assignment that still tugs at my psyche, the one place I always felt the most at-home was K.I. Sawyer! I have been back twice since it has closed, once with family (stayed at Queen Cottages/South Shag Lake) and once with only my wife (camped at Horseshoe Lake). Each time, because of further disrepair and neglect, it felt like going to visit a relative at the graveyard! It was once a great place to be stationed, a great place to start a family, with great outdoors, great people-because only the best go North! I lived in a dorm down in the "Hole" for a while; then the trailer park at Little Lake and finally out hwy 460 to Scandia and 545 South. If I had the misfortune to fall into a time loop and had to live my life over and over in one spot, I would hope it would be at K.I. Sawyer AFB, in the U.P. I truly miss that place and those people....it was the best time of my life! Here's to us and those like us who stood the watch in the Great White Frozen North....damn few left! LH
Thank you for your service. This was b4 my late spouse n I had met. He was stationed at Ki from 85 to 94. He was one of the last to leave ki. Said it was the best time during his Af career. Sadly he passed 2 yrs ago. But always had a place in his heart for Ki.
Great story! Thankyou for your service and you made it real. From a fellow Airman. 1979-2004 431X1 Tactical Aircraft Maintenance technician.
I found where I was stationed in Germany on Google Earth. They have repurposed most of the main post however the storage bunkers of PSP4J and the NATO site are abandoned and falling apart. I feel the same way those of you who were stationed at KI Sawyer do. It tugs at your heart. I was in Marquette in 2017 and strongly discouraged from going to KI Sawyer or Gwinn because it had become a drug infested hood. Very sad. I grew up near Houghton so the AFB was well known to me.
Go back and visit. It’s not the cesspool of drugs and death that everyone wants you to believe it to be. Yeah, there are problems in the old housing units, but generally it’s just light industrial businesses and the county airport. And ghosts of airmen.
@@JamieSmith-fz2mz I really would like to see the static display. Did not know it was there. I live in lower peninsula, so it may be awhile before I get back. My daughter graduated from NMU, so it was a good time to be there. It had been at least 10 years since I had crossed the Mackinac Bridge.
What a waste. Could have alot of good uses. The only thing the state will save, is the golf course.
It's also the regional airport. So it still smells of jet fuel.
just wondering, if the base closed up, why was the radar still rotating ?
Became "Sawyer International Airport" For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2021, the airport had 18,141 aircraft operations, an average of 50 per day: 54% general aviation, 38% air taxi, 1% scheduled commercial service and 7% military. In December 2022, there were 41 aircraft based at this airport: 36 single-engine, 4 multi-engine and 1 jet.
I was there in 73. The coldest place I have ever been.
I was 410th SPS and loved it there so much. Snowmobiling and skiing in the winter, fishing in the spring and fall, and motorcycles and beach in the summer. I actually drove my snowmobile to work 4 months a year which made going to work just way too much fun! The people and the place were amazing. My daughter just deployed yesterday on a mission; the details of which I suspect I don't want to know even if she could tell me. On a difficult day for me, it was nice to look back upon a happy time and place so thank you so much for posting this.
It's good to visit the ghosts now and then, isn't it? In hindsight, I'm really glad I shot this when I did to preserve some sort of image of it. It's so remote that it makes it really hard for former Sawyer-ites to get up there. By the way, the old SPS building is no longer standing.
I agree. What a beautiful base and a beautiful assignment. My wife and I had a snow mobile, just outside our back door. Within minutes we were out in those "north woods" plying through feet of snow, enthralled with the beauty of a full moon on a snowy night. I was stationed there in the early 70's, but just got back to see the base this August (2021). Very..VERY...Depressing! The base we LOVED is now run down and, from what the locals tell me, the drug problem is RAMPANT in the housing areas (now leased out to who ever!). I think there's a saying that goes something like: "Never try to relive old memories of that past." Maybe I should have heeded that before I went back there and saw what I saw.
So sad to see the end to these bases. I was stationed at Walker AFB in Roswell New Mexico. Wish there had been a video made there before the closing.
Thank you for the video and zooming in on the police station, my dad was a cop on base
Served 1967 and 1968 410 SPS , then off to Vietnam. A lot of fond memories and fine people. RIP KI Sawyer AFB you were once a base that the air force looked up too, to many base closures, so sad.
Who else wants to move back after watching this? 😭
Go visit Marquette. The place is still amazing.
I was back there in August (2021). People in Marquette told me there's a MAJOR drug problem in the housing area. The rentals there are in fair condition and are probably pretty cheap. But I don't know if I'd want to live around the "clientele" that inhabit that old housing area now.
@@badguy1481 Is it still bad currently? There's no way to know if it used to be bad, the folks in Marquette heard it was bad, then they just kept repeating it for years not knowing that the situation had improved. But even if it's still true, it doesn't mean that the folks that live there are bad people, it could very well mean that they're hurting/depressed/lack hope in which case they still deserve our support.
@@luminous6969 I was told that in Aug of this year (2021). Whether its something THEY heard or there's real, up to date, evidence I don't know. The housing area DOES look pretty shabby. I would guess most of the residents are "down and out" and probably prone to take drugs. Best to check with the local Sheriff's office to follow up.
I wonder if anyone was still there. Because of the Radar still going
I was there from March 1977 til Jan 81 Sac Alert Force Controller
I was there 1975-79 , 410 CSG Base Administration
If the government keeps closing all of these bases, we’re not gonna have a military anymore
Just a notification to folks who might not be a part of the "I Survived KI Sawyer AFB" group on Facebook - as of yesterday - the signature, rotating antenna atop the SAGE building is no more. It was shut down a month or so back and it was dismantled and removed. It has been replaced by a standalone unit atop a tower on the northwest quadrant of the runway. You can see the old antenna in operation in this video at the 3:35 mark. It is from this day forward that it will be the only way to see this in operation. The last militarily functional role of the base has come to an end. RIP DC-14 SAGE Antenna 1960-2019.
Rob, it's Bret Cantwell from the FB group. I must have missed that post. Thanks gor posting it here.
1:36 the fire team building. It was always fun when to Packers or Lions played and you could get on that post. It was grand central station. the TV room would be standing room only. Even better when the Packers played the Lions. Usually resulted in a intra-flight civil war.
Miserable weather but had the best maintainers and people.
Dad was stationed there 91-93, but we lived in Skandia up the road. Many great times at K.I. Went to Gwinn my freshman and sophomore years. Cool place. Miss many aspects of the yoop. Formative years. However, it is not in Marquette.
Another abandoned former SAC base, there are a lot of them unfortunately. They all seem to have a Buff on display as well. I had the option of going there in the 80's but since I was already at Griffiss AFB, NY I wasn't about to go from one cold weather base to another. It's sad to see these old bases left to rot.
Stationed at KI from 84-88 and still visit every few years. Strange feeling walking around the old barracks. I worked as a firefighter on the flightline and always enjoyed the people I served with and the civilians in the department. Gwinn was always fun and Marquette is an amazing place that continues to grow. Those snow scenes are so accurate. Thanks for posting.
I hate to see any base shut down like that and then run down. That base was nice and many there in the area must miss the service members. Many of them lived in the local area and put plenty of money into the local economy.
It is very sad. So many folks have fond memories. My best Air-force buddy was stationed there. He has lots of stories.. he crewed F-106.
My fiance misses that place and often talks of wanting to live there. He was there 91-95, worked in POL, 410 supply.
Used to watch the BUFF's fly over Copper Range mine in White Pine. The big stack made an easy visual checkpoint.
There used to be big mounds of dirt between the storage lockers in the weapons storage area when I was there, looks like they removed them.
I was USAF, never stationed there, but it feels eerily familiar. Maybe there is a part of every one of us in the great old military bases.
Memories.... I was stationed there in 1972. K.I. was its own city. It had everything a community needed, and now its gone. It's hard for me to imagine. Feeling sad and feeling old. Thanks so much for the video.