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The crew we were replacing had cleared their quarters the following day, making room for us to identify our new home-away-from-home. The officer’s quarters were what you see here (left and lower left), and the airmen’s quarters were typically two story barracks just down the street (below).
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(Above) is a winter shot of the airmen’s quarters and (left) you see Ron Glowcheski and Dick Sniker holding up the 91st SRS emblem sign. We had no contact with departing aircrew members and turned to other resources to learn more about whatever adventures lay ahead.
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| Although our bed assignments mixed us in with airmen from other 91st crews, we noted that there was no extensive crossfeed of information about who was doing what, when and where.
After meeting our squadron commander and getting a welcome and general briefing on what was expected, we began the settling in process.
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One of the first facts of life that became obvious was the need for personal transportation — on base and out into the local community nearby. After some preliminary checking, members of our crew that wanted bikes went out as a group to negotiate a selection and price. We found a nearby bikeshop, and here you see the dealer, his staff and shop, after the deal had been struck and then Chuck astride his new bike.
After making the final bike adjustments, Bob Weisburn, our RB-29 Photo Navigator (below right) — and photography and hiking enthusiast — and Chuck Stone (L) talk things over as we planned our activity schedule, both on and off base.
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| We soon learned that we were all encouraged to visit the skeet range, whenever schedules permitted, to keep our vision, target-tracking and reflexes in good shape. We did this, with pleasure, as often as we could during favorable weather periods.
Here you see our CFC Gunner, Dick Sniker, trying his hand, and below other crewmembers waiting their turn and offering a few critical comments, now and then.
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For the official records, we were photographed in front of one of the aircraft, trusting that it would never be used in a news bulletin relating to a “missing in action” story.
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Soon therafter we were given a tour of the base, locating our operations office, maintenance facilities and identifying our aircraft configurations and locations. As it turned out, our operationally-ready aircraft were located on the opposite side of the field from the major flow of activities and amenities. This seemed to fit well with the 91st motto which reads:
Alone
Unarmed &
??? Unafraid ???
The question marks are my own addition.
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Under the guiding hand of a squardon instructor pilot, we were familiarized with local procedures, shot a series of landings and takeoffs and were soon to be ready for our first formal mission.
End of Settling In.
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