COMFAIRWESTPAC

COMFAIRWESTPAC

Last Updated
October 25th, 2026

Prologue

Now that the COMPHIBRON 8 door had been slammed shut, my only choice was to take advantage of the new door which had just been opened.

Departing CONUS (Continental United States)

First we had to rent our house in the "Woods" development(2 year lease). Then we had to sell our car (We were not allowed to bring a car in to Japan). Next, we had to select 1,000 pounds of our most required personal stuff for our "advanced shipment"; we put most of our stuff in storage. Now, we were ready to fly to Japan

Location of Our Quarters at Naval Air Facility Atsugi

Our very nice senior officers quarters were a short walk from RADM Bobby and Dottie Lee's quarters. A big difference was that they had a tennis court next to their quarters and a par three practice hole in the back. I would make ample use of both in the next two years.

RADM Bobby Lee

I knew Bobby Lee very well. He had flown in VA-174 when he was the Commanding Officer of USS Forrestal CV-59 and I was the Commanding Officer of the VA-174 "Hellrazors".

Also, he was the Chief of Staff for VADM Frank Kelso , Commander Sixth Fleet when I was the Commanding Officer of USS Austin LPD-4

I was only aboard NAF Atsugi when I was tasked to go to NAS Cubi Point in the Philippines to conduct an US3 aircraft accident investigation. The Commanding Officer of VRC-50 was killed along with his Ltjg Co-PIlot.

On 20 May, 1990 I flew a two seat TA4 Skyhawk from VC-5 at NAS Cubi Point from Atsugi to Cubi Point in the Philippines.
(Total Flight time-4.3, First Pilot 2.1, Co-Pilot 2.2, 2.0 Actual instrument time, 2.2 Simulated Instrument time)

Note: Our TA4 Skyhawk would have had three drop tanks to make the long direct flight to Cubi.

NAS Cubi Point

VC-5 and VRC-50 hangars and ramp space are located in the rectangular area to the right of the runway.
The BOQ and Cubi Officers Club are on the top of the hill indicated by image on the right.


Bachelors' Officer Quarters (BOQ)	Cubi Officers' Club

I was assigned a very nice senior officers VIP quarters near the swimming pool and bath house in the rear of the BOQ. I had a few days for a daily jog from the BOQ to the hospital and back along a beautiful jungle road. I would usually pass a bunch of monkeys along the side of the road and made sure I didn't make eye contact with the super male in the group, a lesson I had learned from previous visits to Cubi.

I had two other members of the accident board. The Operations Officer from VRC-50 was on the board to advise me in US-3A operational and technical matters. The third member was a forensic pathologist from Guam. He also had a degree as Doctor of Medicine and a law degree. His role was to reconstruct the bodies of the two pilots that had been found floating the the bay by fishermen to determine what they were doing at the time of the impact.


VRC-50 Squadron Patch	Position of the crash site	VRC-50 US-3A aircraft

It took the forensic pathologist almost two weeks working 12 hours a day in the morgue to reconstruct the bodies. He was able to determine the position of the hands of both the pilot and Co-Pilot at the time of the crash. He determined that the left hand of the Co-Pilot was reaching for a switch above the console. With that information, the VRC-50 OPS Officer was able to determine the cause of the crash!

Capt Ted Sexton, the new Commanding Officer of VRC-50, reported aboard. I was able to spend a lot of time with Ted. We developed a mutual friendship that was invaluable to me throughout my tour at COMFAIRWESTPAC when I visited Cubi to observe the operations of VRC-50 and VC-5.

Back at Atsugi

When I returned to Atsugi, I found out that Bobby Lee at assembled his staff. His new Chief of Staff was the previous Commanding Officer of NAS Cubi. Besides being the Chief of Staff, he would be in charge monitoring base issues at Cubi and Guam. His new ACOS Supply Officer was a Supply Corps Captain who was recently the Supply Officer at Cubi. The three of us along with the outstanding leadership of Bobby Lee made a great team.

My Responsibilities as the COMFAIRWESTPAC Operations and Plans Officer.

My primary responsibility was to provide air services for 7th Fleet exercises in the western Pacific.
My secondary responsibility was to assist the Chief of Staff for monitoring security issues at NAS Cubi Point.

My experience during my tour at 3rd Fleet in Hawaii in arranging air services for Carrier Battle Group transits from California to Hawaii and for 3rd Fleet Exercises including a RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) exercise made me prepared to do the same thing for 7th Feet exercises. I used this experience to arrange air services and surface threat services from the Japanese Self Defense Force (JMSDF), the South Korean Navy and Air Forces the USAF F-16s from Osan Air Base in South Korea, B-52s from 15th Air Force from Okinawa and Guam, and US Navy P3 aircraft located in Cubi Point and Misawa, Japan.

After some experience, I was considered as the Commander of the Orange Forces for 7th Fleet Exercises in the Western Pacific Operations Area.
This was exactly what RADM Bobby Lee expected from me and why I wanted to be the Operations Officer and not the Chief of Staff. I spent a lot of time traveling to South Korea, Misawa Japan, Kadena (Okinawa), Anderson Air Force Base on Guam, and of course to Cubi Point in the Philippines.

I usually traveled in a Navy C12 aircraft

COMMANDER ORANGE FORCES (COMORANGE)

Map of 7th Fleet exercises Operating Area

Bo (COMORANGE) discussing Japanese P3 Orange aircraft launching from Atsugi with JMSDF Rear Admiral

Visit to the World War 2 Tunnel from Atsugi to Yokosua

I was given the rare opportunity to spend some time in a tunnel from Atsugi to Yokosuka that I was told was used to transport bombs and supplies from Yokosuka to the Atsugi airfield during World War 2. To get to the tunnel they opened a locked circular cap and we used a ladder to descend into the tunnel. I expected to see a set of railroad tracks used for the logistics support for the air field.

As we moved further in to the tunnel it turned in to a complex of many rooms such as barracks, mess hall, briefing rooms etc. It had apparently been been used after WW2 by US forces during the 1950s indicated by the presence of personal protective equipment associated with the NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) threat that existed at that time.

This sketch indicates the type of spaces I observed in the tunnel complex.

Extracurricular Activities

I spent about half of my time planing or conducting job related functions.
But, I had plenty of time for non job related activities.

Exercise Activities

There were three types of exercise related activities.

One: Running: I tried to run at least three time a week. It turned out that it was about 5k around the airfield. So I could do 5k or 10 k runs. When I first started, I was still capable of doing a 5k run in about10 minutes but at the end of my tour, I was lucky if I could do it in 13 minutes!

Two: Golf: I played 9 or 18 holes of golf on the Atsugi golf course with Bobby Lee a few times. We had a great time and occasionally mixed golfing with business. Bobby Lee also had a par 3 hole behind his quarters. I spent lots of time there practicing my short game.

On one occasion, when we were putting on the 18th hole, we heard a crashing sound from the hill next to the green. It turned out the crash was because Jessica tried to ride her bike with training wheels down the hill. She crashed into the sharp edge of a half drainage culvert cutting one of her knees quite badly. Bobby Lee ran to the crash site, picked up Jessica in his arms, ran to his quarters and put Jessica into his sedan and drove her to the Camp Zama Army Health Clinic near by. Cathy, Lindsay and I followed in our little blue Nissan sedan we bought on the Japanese used car market. The corpsman at the hospital cleaned out the debris from her knee and stitched it up. Bobby Lee was not only a great boss but also a very compassionate friend. As Paul Harvey was known to say, "This is not the end of the story". The remainder of the tale will come later.

This is an image of the same vintage Nissan sedan as our except ours was a sky blue color. We were able to buy it on the car market near the base for about $800. The reason it was so cheap was that it was due for the Japanese 2 year car inspection. The policy in Japan was that they basically failed all the car inspections causing the owner to sell it and buy a new car. The same car inspected on the base always passed. With this policy. the Japanese government made it easier for Americans stationed in Japan to get cars cheaply considering the Japanese policy of not allowing us to bring our cars to the Japan.

Note: I wish that I had known that I could have bought a black expensive European sedan such as a Porche, Saab, or Mercedes when in the US and had it delivered to Japan which was allowed and then use it when we were in Japan and then sell it when when we left for over $150,000 US dollars in the high end Japanese market!

Exercise Activities (Continued)

3. Japanese Tennis competitions and the Royal Tennis Club outside the back gate in town:

During my last year at COMFAIRWESTPAC when RADM Red Best was the Commander, I participated in several tennis tournaments especially when Cathy took the girls back to the states.

Competitions: We had a "nisi" Japanese (born in the US of Japanese decent) on the staff (Admiral's Yeoman). She was fluent in both English an Japanese. Her role when I was participating in a tennis tournament was to accompany me to the tournament and make sure I was registered correctly and assist me in getting to the correct court on time. I did quite well in these competitions. I had a strong serve and had more power on my strokes that most of my opponents. I didn't win any of the tournaments but established a good reputation in the local tennis community.

The Royal Tennis Club: The Royal Tennis Club was located out in town out the back gate. It had four courts and a small restaurant with a bar. I drove our Nissan to the club and went in the restaurant and ordered a Kirin Ichiban draft beer. When it was my turn on court, one of the members would tap me on the shoulder and point to the court and side that was expected to play. Everything was in Japanese. I understood quite a bit of the Japanese present tense at this point so made out pretty well. I got to know quite a few of the members after a few trips to the club who after playing tennis would take me to a local restaurant where we would usually get cold soba noodle soup and tempura. After awhile, I was invited to be a member of the club tennis team and played with them especially when Cathy and the girls were back in the states during the summer.


Tempura is lightly fried vegetables usually with some kind of protein. This one is shrimp, asparagus, and sweet potato tempura.	This is soba noodle soup served cold in the summer and hot in the winter.

Note: Japanese dishes are served with very specific sauces. Tempura is served with tempura sauce, nothing else!

Map of Japan

Visiting the Popular Tourist Sites

Mt Fugi

We drove by Mt. Fugi on our way to Kyoto.
We would return to the Fugisawa Province on a traditional Japanese New Years family excursion which I will describe later in the chapter.

The Temples of Kyoto

We enjoyed checking out the famous temples of Kyoto. We actually spent some time touring around a large temple similar to the one in the center image. It is noteworthy that the United States military deliberately spared the Kyoto temples during the World War 2 bombing campaign in recognition of their importance in Japanese culture.

Incense purification is a ritual in Buddhist temples.

This image was taken at the Senso Temple in Tokyo.

Temples and Museums Tokyo

We made several trips to Tokyo. We visited numerous temples and museums on these trips.
I selected the two below as the best examples of the Temples and War Museums we visited.

Tokyo Sensoji Temple	The Tokyo Sensoji Temple is probably the most popular temple to visit in Tokyo. We spent quite a bit of time here. This is where we first observed the incense purification tradition.
Tokyo Yasukuni Shrine and War Museum	We visited several World War 2 war Japanese museums. The Tokyo Yasukuni Shrine and War Museum is probably the best of them. The remains of many of the most senior military fag officers are located in one of them.

Restaurants and Clubs in Tokyo

We did not make many restaurant or club trips to Tokyo. They were It was very expensive. We preferred the restaurants close to Atsugi.

One exception was a visit to the Tokyo Hard Rock Cafe.

Tokyo Hard Rock Cafe

Tokyo Hard Rock Cafe Store

Cathy's brother Brett was in Tokyo for some reason and we met them at their hotel. I don't think they visited us in Atsugi. I think is was just a coincidence that they were in Tokyo so we took the train to Tokyo. I think we had a drink at a bar in their hotel and then walked to the Hard Rock Cafe. A very amusing thing happened on the way. Brett's girl friend was a beauty; tall, blond, and fit. Japanese men rarely see an American beauty. On the way to the Hard Rock, a group of Japanese men walking opposite us ere staring at her. One of the men oblivious to where he was on the side walk, crashed in to a street lamp and was knocked unconscious. Of course we we all were laughing included the men in his group. Thankfully, he came around and was embarrassed but otherwise OK.

The Hard Rock Cafe club was actually on the second floor of the building. You entered by the front door which lead to the Hard Rock Cafe Store. While there, you confirmed your reservation and paid the cover charge. We never made it upstairs. First, we didn't have a reservation and second the cover charge was outrageous. So, we had a good time at one of the tables over drinks from the store bar before going back to Brett's hotel.

Note: I night on the town at the Hard Rock Cafe combined with a hotel bill from a nice western style hotel could easily cost more than $1,000!

Our trip to Hong Kong

Cathy and I had a great trip to Hong Kong with Al Mascaroni and his wife. Al was the Dental Officer aboard Austin during my tour. Cathy and I got along great with the Mascaroni's when we know them there. After leaving Austin, Al then Commander Mascaroni was the Dental Officer at the Naval Academy before becoming Dental Officer at Cubi Point when we were at Atsugi. Cathy, Jessica, Lindsay and I flew to Cubi about two weeks after Jessica's Crash at the 19th hole on the Atsugi golf course. Our flight there was very unusual. Ted Sexton had one of his US-3's fly to Atsugi. We had the VRC-50 US-3A listed as space available flight and amazingly were selected for our flight to Cubi.

We were all decked out in the proper gear for the flight. Jessica spent a lot of the flight in the up front with the Ltjg Pilot while the Co-Pilot was in the rear with the rest of us. She had a very memorable flight in the cockpit. One challenge for her was when she had to pee and was introduced to the "relief tube" in the back of the plane.

When we arrived at Cubi, we met up with Al and his wife at their quarters which had a swimming pool. Like most officers, the Mascaroni's had several local Philippine workers; a couple of maids, a pool boy, and a grounds keeper. The workers were paid about $3.00 a day in American dollars which was cheap for the Americans but a very good wage by local standards. We left Jessica and Lindsay with the Philippina maids and went to Hong Kong via Manila.

Note: Jessica's stitches were removed by the Philippina maids while we were on our trip.

Manila

We drove from Cubi Point to the northeast and then southeast around Manila Bay to Quezon City (Manila).

We left Al's car in the long term parking and took a cab to our hotel in Manila.

I don't remember much about the hotel except the Tepanyaki dinner we enjoyed there.

Hong Kong


Area map (Circa 1988) showing Hong Kong Island (we called it Victoria Island), the Hong Kong portions of Kowloon and the New Territories; which are next to mainland China in Orange.	Area map (Circa 1988) showing Victoria Island where our hotel was located and the southern part of Kowloon where we toured around and shopped.

Our plane landed on Victoria Island. In 1990, Victoria Island was still a British "colony".
Our first Fantastic Dinner

We checked in to our western style hotel and rested before dinner in the hotel. This was not an average dinner. I had made reservations at one of the most fabulous dining experiences you could imagine. I had learned of this restaurant during one of my previous visits to Victoria Island from a Royal Navy officer. You get to the restaurant by a "rose wood" elevator from the first floor to the top of the hotel. Then you are escorted to your table for the evening; no turnover. The menu has no prices just numerous courses from appetizer to desert through a fish course with white wine and a meat course with red wine etc etc. The desert is served with aplomb usually involving some kind of a flame or two!

The dinner took about three hours and cost about $800.

We took a cab the next morning to Victoria Peak for a great view of Hong Kong Harbor and Kowloon.

Then we traveled from Victoria Island to Kowloon via the famous Star Ferry

Kowloon

There are Four things that tourists do in Kowloon; shop, go sightseeing, enjoy an authentic Chinese meal, and shop.


One of the best shopping is for monogrammed shirts and custom made suits. I bought several of both over the years.	There are many fishing villages with fishermen mending nets and drying fish on lines.	We found a fantastic restaurant that featured a wide variety of authentic Chinese offerings.	I found a carpet dealer on Hanoi Street. I bought four carpets. One of which is in my living room.

Another very popular item is ceramic bowls. I purchased several like these.

I purchased two very large fish bowls similar to the one on the right along with a tempered glass table top for Bobby Lee. All of the fish bowls and the glass top were shipped to Atsugi by the dealer. Another popular item was smaller ceramic bowls like these.

We returned to Cubi Point in a Navy C9 aircraft picked up the girls and returned to Atsugi on another Navy C9.

The Navy operated C9 aircraft out of NAF Atsugi to provide logistics support in the Western Pacific operating area. It was part of my responsibility to monitor these operations. So, it was easy to schedule flights into Hong Kong on a routine basis.

Change of Command

RADM Red Best relieved RADM Bobby Lee about half way through my tour at COMFAIRWESTPAC.

Both were fighter pilots (Bobby Lee F8 Crusaders) and Red Best (F14 Tomcats).
Both were operators not staff types.
Every one on the staff liked and enjoyed working with both of them.
Bobby Lee was smooth when having lunch with our Japanese counter parts.
Red best was from Tennessee and was candid with our Japanese counter parts. "We use this stuff for bait in Tennessee" when describing the lunch meal. Instead of being offended, the Japanese liked his honesty.
Red Best was friend of Jimmy Buffet and played the harmonica in Buffet's band on occasion.

RADM Best fully supported my role as Commander of the Orange Forces for 7th Fleet exercises.

Visits to ISUZU and Nissan Manufacturing Plants

RADM and Mrs Best and I made visits to two automotive assembly plants in Japan. Our first visit was to the #2 truck manufacturer in the world (Mercedes was #1, Ford #3). However on our visit they were assembling small cars; some for the US market and some for the Japanese market.

The Isuzu Plant


On the day of our visit there were many flatbed trucks with engines loaded and it was raining. I asked the manager who was leading the tour if they were concerned about corrosion with the engines out in the rain. His answer was no because none of the engines would be out in the rain for more that 10 hours; one shift.	Once I observed the efficiency of the assembly line, I understood how they would go through all the engines on the flatbed trucks in one shift. It turned out that was repeated every shift. Note the different colors of the cars in the line. I will comment on that below.

One would think that they would plan a schedule for the assembly of cars with similar characteristics. I was amazed that it wasn't the case. The computer system that controls the assembly of the cars combined with automated logistics enables them to have very dissimilar vehicles back to back in the line. The even mixed left hand drive cars for the US market mixed in the right hand drive vehicles for Asian markets. The color of the car was also an indicator of whether the car was headed for the US in their deal with Chevrolet. For instance, if the car was yellow, there was a100% chance that it was a left hand drive car because the Japanese didn't drive yellow cars. Conversely, if the car were white there was a about a 75% chance it was a right hand drive car headed for most of the Japan market.In 1989 about 90% of the cars were white. The luxury class cars were black and manufactured by Toyota or Nissan. There were no black cars on the Isuzu line. The younger generation of Japanese drivers (especially male drivers) wanted to break away from the white car market and wanted a red or blue car. Hence, the red or blue cars on the Isuzu line were about 75% left hand drive cars for the American Chevy market and 25% right hand drive cars for the youthful male Japanese market.

All the cars had similar engines as fuel economy was required in both markets.

The Nissan Plant

The purpose of our visit to Nissan was to observe their use of robotics on the production line. Nissan was the leader in robotics automotive technology in Japan in 1989 and rented out robotics machines and related logistics to companies like the Isuzu plant we had previously visited. I observed the same flat bed truck with engines sitting out in the rain and found out they also used engines a a high rate similar to what we learned at the Isuzu plant.


The traditional use of robotics was limited to rather simple functions.	But Nisson had developed robotic technology to take on much more challenging functions.	In 1989 at Nisson almost all of the assembly functions were being completed by robots.

Three Notes

Note 1: At the time of our visit, the functions that were causing them problems were installing soft items such as the seats especially the back seat in a coupe.

Note 2: I asked the plant manager if the robotic technology at this Nison plant was the best in the world. He told me that he had just returned from a trip to the General Motors Cadillac plant in Michigan and he thought that their robotic technology was a bit more advanced than theirs at Nison.

Note 3: Mrs Best remarked that she was concerned that there were no women on the assembly line. The Nisson Plant Manager replied that it was true. The reason he gave was that they couldn't afford to stop the production line because some male worker lost track of what he was doing while looking at an attractive woman. But, he remarked that many women worked at the plant and he took us to a large space where hundreds of women were working on avionics tasks including circuit board construction. He said that the women were much better at these functions because they had smaller hands, more nimble fingers, and more patience than male workers.

Saturday Shopping at the US Army Base Camp Zama near Atsugi

On one Saturday of the month, it seemed that all the Americans in the area could be found at the Camp Zama gymnasium. Vendors from Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines, and Japan would be there selling their wares. There was always a great selection of products; Hong Kong carpets, fish bowls and other ceramic items, step Tonsu from South Korea, rattan and mahogany furniture from the Phillipe's, Immari ceramic items from southern Japan (Sasebo).


Hong Kong Carpets	Hong Kong Fish Bowls	South Korean Step Tonsu	Philippine Rattan Furniture	Philippine Mahogany Furniture	Sasabo Immari

It was a lot of fun and always a "mad house" and a spending fury but well worth the effort!

Ton Katsu at the Pork Place

I mentioned in my discussion about our Tokyo experience at the Hard Rock Cafe that we preferred going to dinner at local restaurants. Well,we went to several local restaurants but our favorite was "The Pork Place" I always got because we usually got Tonkatsu there which is fried pork cutlets served with vegetables and white rice ("sticky rice") after a cup of mizo or clear soup.

The "Pork Place" was a favorite with the American Atsugi community because the food was excellent and the owners (a US Army retired; probably stationed at Camp Zama and his Japanese wife) were especially friendly to us.

About the Food: Katsu means fried. So if you want fried chicken cutlets in an American Japanese restaurant, you would order chicken Katsu. "Ton" in Japanese means "pork" so Ton Katsu is fried pork cutlets. Katsu whether chicken or pork is always served with Katsu sauce which we Americans called "Bull Dog " sauce because of the "Bull Dog" on the label. If you have Katsu in an American Japanese restaurant, ask the server to show you the bottle that the sauce came in. If it is an authentic Japanese restaurant, it will be "Bull Dog" sauce.

Hotsi Baths at the BOQ at Atsugi

I enjoyed Hotsi Baths at the Atsugi during my previous visits associated with my Vietnam deplyments in 1966, 1967,and 1972.

At that time, a Hotsi Bath consisted of being washed by a female attendant and then taking a dip in the very hot water (Hense "Hotsi").
That was followed by a "special"massage" usually given by the same person who did the Hotsi Bath. The woman on numerous occasions was named Nancy. She was about 10 years older (35) than me (25).

Note: I never got a manicure at a Hotsi Bath. I did get a manicure once at the BOQ barber shop.

When Cathy, Jessica, Lindsay and I walked down the hill from our quarters to get a family Hots Bath at the BOQ, it consisted of some time in a steam room followed by Hotsi Baths and messages. The room hadn't changed (it didn't look like this modern image I found on Google) but the woman who gave us the Hotsi Baths was about 55 and her name was Nancy; same woman!

We got many Hotsi Baths with Nancy during or time at Atsugi. She was almost a part of our family. We exchanged gifts when our tour was over which is a tradition in Japan.

Tennis Lessons

Mrs. Best had a group of Japanese ladies at the Flag quarters about once a week at 10:00 in the morning for coffee and for English lessons. After that visit, a part of that group stayed around and joined me on the Flag Quarters for tennis lessons if I was available and not traveling. The going rate for English lessons was 100 Yen (@130 US dollars) per person per session. I received the same rate for the tennis lessons.

Every one of the Japanese ladies were outstanding students. The Japanese payed attention during each lesson and had the unique ability to show up at the next lesson having learned the specifics of the last session. Like in the image to the right, the student had assigned numbers to the important parts of the forehand swing and executed them perfectly. I bet they were excellent golf students also.

English Lessons

My experience with the ladies' tennis lessons encouraged me to teach English to a group of Mitsubishi workers.

We met in the evening at a community outside Atsugi's back gate at a table something like shown in this image.

My class consisted of a group of "shop floor" workers and their foreman from the Mitsubishi Auto Corporation. Mitsubishi paid the 100 yen (@130 US Dollars) fee as a part of their worker development program. My group consisted of about eight Mitsubishi workers so I made about $,1000 dollars per session.

My group was more interested in discussing aspects of US culture and how it affected Japanese culture. Although I was fairly competent in present tense Japanese, the discussions were in English so that is what it defined the sessions as English lessons. We discussed such things as the color choice of cars in Japan; white for the worker class, black for the executives.The workers in my group were all in their twenties and reflected the interests of younger Japanese car market; red for the men, blue for the females. They also wanted to talk about the difference between American and Japanese women. They were also interested in American food and about karaoke.

As a result, we conducted one session at a American BBQ picnic and another at a karaoke bar.

Karaoke at Official Functions

There were numerous occasions when the Admiral and I would represent the Navy at executive level receptions.

The decorations would normally be impressive sometimes spectacular; ice sculptures with real gold accents and every conceivable type of Japanese cuisine. The ambiance would normally be very proper and conservative during the early phase pf the reception.

But toward the end the atmosphere changed dramatically when it was "karaoke time". That is when the most senior of the most highly rated business or government position would initiate the festivities by doing his favorite karaoke song. I assume that if it were an all Japanese reception, the next senior CEO or President would do his karaoke favorite. But when the the reception involved executives from business the government and/or the military, each would be initially represented by their most senior executive present.

For Example

If it were an all Japanese reception, the most senior of the two CEOs (on the left) would start the karaoke and the next senior (on the right) would go second. But if RADM Best was in attendance, the CEO of Kawasaki Heavy Industries would go first and RADM Best would go second. Next up would be the CEO of Nippi Corporation (an aircraft manufacturing company) and fourth up would be the next senior military officer present, yep, you guessed it, me.

If an American was present the senior Japanese executive would normally sing, "I Lost My Heart in San Fransisco" or if his staff were on the ball, "The Tennessee Walz" . Major Japanese companies actually provided karaoke training for their senior officers so they would not embarrass the company. But then came up Jimmy Buffet, I mean Red Best the good friend and sometimes harmonica player with Jimmy Buffet's band. He always stole the show for the evening. My performance, not so much. Both the Japanese had more karaoke training than me!


CEOs of Nippi Corp and Kawasaki Heavy Industries	RADM Best; Senior American military officer present

Japanese Swim Park

A very large swim park was also nearby the back gate at Atsugi. We enjoyed several visits to the park.

Not shown in this image (from Google) was a huge slide that began about three levels above the water and a meandering river.


The water slide at the Atsugi Water Park was about three times higher that the one shown here. It was a thrilling ride!	The winding river at the Atsugi Water Park was similar to this one. I enjoyed many relaxing trips with Jessica and Lindsay!

The Japan American Club

We had a Japan American Club at Atsugi. There was a Japanese member for each American member. We met monthly. One month we would host an event which consisted of a round of golf at the Atsugi golf course followed by a steak dinner at the officer's club. This was a big deal for the Japanese members as a round of golf in Japan was very hard to get. They had to basically win a lottery just to get a chance to pay an very expensive "green's fee. We were able to arrange a round of golf for them for $40. Their steak dinner a the O'Club cost us about $20. An equivalent steak dinner in Japan cost about $100.

In return the Japanese would take us to a Japanese resort consisting of hot springs, a restaurant and some sort of entertainment. We would not normally be able to have access to this type of venue.

New Years Traditional Celebration with Local Family

My wife Cathy taught aerobics classes on base Atsugi where she met a local Japanese woman (I don't recall her name; I'll call her Rose). Rose invited us to spend a traditional New Year's dinner with the her family which lived near Atsugi base.

The Japanese New Year dinner is a traditional affair with somewhat formal Japanese dress, traditional menu, and entertainment by family members. In our case, there were three generations of family members. We were seated at a traditional low table on tatami mats. The grandfather was seated at the head of the table. I was seated to his right. The grandmother was seated at the other end with Cathy on her right. The mother, father and their to children and our daughters Jessica and Lindsay were at the middle of the table. Right after the meal, the daughter played the piano; a piece by Chopin I think. Neither the grandfather, grandmother, or father spoke English. Their children understood some English because they were exposed to it at school. The conversation at the dinner was in Japanese with the mother translating for us.

After a couple of hours, we learned that our entire group was going to get in our cars and drive about two hours to Fugisawa (Province of Mt. Fugi) to have another dinner with the other set of grandparents.

The second set of grandparents lived in a traditional Japanese house not far from Mt. Fugi. We had a second meal similar to the previous one again seated on tatami mats at a low table. On the way back to Atsugi, we drove to an overlook with a great view of Mt. Fugi and the valley below.

There was a plaque at the overlook commemorating the crew of an American bomber killed in a crash on the plain near Mt Fugi after a bombing raid. The Japanese have deep respect for their countrymen killed during World War Two and it seems for the lives lost by their adversaries.

I also learned that the father who was a high school math teacher was not a fan of Americans!

I got to know that father much better by including him in a round or two at the Atsugi Golf Course which changed his attitude about Americans!

Special Assignment with VADM Mauz

Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on August 2nd, 1990. On August 3rd, I was in Osan, South Korea working on arranging USAF F-16 participation in an upcoming exercise when I received a message from RADM Best to return to Atsugi as soon as possible. When I arrived in Atsugi, RADM Best told me to pack my bags because I was leaving the next day on a TAD (Temporary Additional Duty) assignment and that I could not reveal the nature of the assignment to anyone including Cathy. My assignment was to accompany VADM Mauz, Commander Seventh Fleet based in Yokosuska, Japan to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. VADM Mauz was to be assigned as the senior US Navy officer in the area relieving the RADM normally based in Bahrain. The Navy wanted to have a more senior admiral (3 Stars) to work with the USAF Lt General (3 stars) in the area. My assignment was to advise VADM Mauz on tactical air matters until his regular staff arrived in Bahrain from Yokosuka on his flagship. We would be flying from Atsugi the next day in a P3 Orion aircraft along with a small group of the Seventh Fleet staff members including some intelligence staff.


VADM Henry Mauz Jr.	P3 Orion

Our route to Bahrain would be from Atsugi to Cubi Point in the Philippines to Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to Bahrain.

We stopped in Diego Garcia for a day or so until the Navy could receive clearance from the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and probably President H.W. Bush) to upgrade the Navy's flag officer in Bahrain. I'm not positive of the exact date we arrived in Diego Garcia but it was probably August 5th. By August 5th, Kuwait City was controlled by Saddam Hussein and his Republican Guard. The concern in Washington was the the Republican Guard might move south from Kuwait in to Saudi Arabia and attempt to take over Saudi Arabia's the Dhahron oil sector. This would put American lives at stake as the headquarters of Saudi ARAMCO was located in Dhahron.

When or P3 arrived, a group of B52s from the northeast United States had just arrived in Diego Garcia.

They were fully loaded with 50 to 70 Mk 82 500 pound bombs each but no ordnance personnel to reload them. Their mission was to engage any Iraqi Republican Guard units if they left Kuwait south toward Dhahron.

I had an opportunity to talk with the B52 crews in Diego Garcia. They were from two Air National units and had lots of questions about their mission. They knew they were supposed to bomb any Republican Guard units that were on the road but how no idea how to do it. They wanted to know how to tell the difference between the Republican Guard units from friendly forces. I told them that the Saudi's would be fleeing south along the road in their Mercedes cars and the Republican Guard would be in T62 tanks chasing them. I told them that they were cleared to bomb the Republican Guard units if they received permission to take off from Diego Garcia. We had some Seal Team units along the road between Kuwait and Dhahron with the mission to observe but not engage the Republican Guard units. The Seal mission was to send the alarm should the Republican Guard units move south so that the B52s could engage them. It turned out that Saddam Hussein decided not to move south into Saudi Arabia probably because as he needed his Republican Guard with him for his own security.

Our P3C was cleared to leave Diego Garcia and fly to Bahrain about August 6th so that VADM Mauz could take command of American Naval Forces in the Saudi Arabia operating area.

Operation Desert Shield
and
Operation Desert Storm

USS Blue Ridge LCC-19

VADM Mauz set up our mini-staff in a local hotel in Bahrain until his flag ship USS Blue Ridge arrived in mid September.

Disposition of US Forces for Desert Shield and Desert Storm

USS Eisenhower CVN-69 was first to arrive and took up station in the Red Sea. USS Midway CVA-41 arrived from her homeport in Yokosuka, Japan in early September and was stationed in the northwest Indian Ocean for Operation Desert Shield and later in the eastern Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Storm in 1991. USS USS America CVA-66 was stationed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in early 1991 and moved to the Red Sea after Desert Storm and relieved the Carl Vinson for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Dhahron was defended by units of Amphibious Ready Group Bravo and the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade embarked in USS Iwo Jima LPH-2 and ships from Amphibious Squadron Five.

Units from the US Army 18th Airborne and 7 Corps were deployed along the dotted line between northern Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq.

I had a C12 available to me to fly me in and out of Bahrain to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and a US3 aircraft to fly me me from Riyadh to the aircraft carriers as they arrived in the area. I stayed in a hotel in Riyadh that had USAF air crews and refugee families from Kuwait. I was pleased with this hotel as I was the most senior military officer there and most of the residents were either From Saudi Arabia or Kuwait refugee families reducing the chance that it would be a target for any terrorists.

I think this hotel was probably typical of other hotels in Riyadh. The check in desk was manned by Pakistanis. The accountants in the back office were Philippinas. There were two restaurants in the hotel; one for the Americans and one for the Saudi/Kuwait men. There were no Saudi or Kuwaiti women or children in the restaurants. They were confined to eating in their rooms.


The restaurant for the Amricans was an open space with buffet meals. I never saw any Saudi service personnel.	The restaurant for the Saudi and Kuwaiti men was very private. Americans were welcome there!

Saudi Military Headquarters

There were four separate office structures as pictured in this rendering; one for Saudi Navy, one for Saudi Army, and one for Saudi logistics.

The forth building was used for the American and British personnel involved with Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

The overall commander from the Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa, Florida, General Schwarzkoph and the Navy (including the Marines), Air Force,and Army commanders were in this building along with their staffs. I had an office in one of the upper floors. Navy target planners were in the basement. The target planning was initially accomplished by pilots and Naval Flight officers from the air wing aboard the Carl Vinson and were supervised by Rear Admiral Tim Wright. Representatives from the air wing aboard Midway joined the for Desert Storm target planning.

General Schwarzkoph was not present in Riyadh when we arrived in Bahrain. He insisted in remaining in Tampa until the communications capability in Riyahd improved.

VADM Jerry Tuttle, COMNAVTELCOM (Commander Naval Telecommunications) arrived and fixed it in a week.

When a Desert Storm planning team arrived from the Pentagon, he threw them out insisting on using his own staffs in Saudi Arabia.

The Desert Storm plan was completed in late September 1990 but was delayed by General Schwarzkoph until January 17th, 1991 after the Army M1 Abrams tanks arrived.

My role in Desert Shield proved to be very different than expected. I did very little advising on tactical air matters. VADM Mauz had RADM Tim Wright for that. I worked with a group of USAF and Marine Corps Brigadier Generals in the Riyadh military headquarters on air space and logistics issues. Such as; USAF AWACS/Navy Navy E2C issues and cutting "red tape" in getting USAF HARM (Anti Radiation Missiles) to the Marines in Bahrain. It turned out that I knew the USAF Brigadier General in charge of Electronic Warfare from my USAF exchange tour at McConnell AFB in Wichita, Kansas.

I did fly out in a US3 to the Eisenhower in the Red Sea and the Midway in the northwestern Indian Ocean off the Straits of Hormuz to relay of issues that VADM Mauz wanted to convey "face to face" with RADM Lynch (COGRUDESGRU TWELVE) on Eisenhower and RADM Dan March on Midway.

VADM Mauz's flag ship, the USS Blue Ridge arrived in Bahrain in late September so my services were no longer required.
My orders from Seventh Fleet ordered me to fly out of Riyadh to Atsugi, Japan via Bangkok, Thailand and Singapore.

Bangkok, Thailand Liberty on the Way Back from Saudi Arabia

I had never been to Bangkok. So, I negotiated a deal with Seventh Fleet Admin to route me through Bangkok and Singapore with a week delay in Bangkok. I had spent a week in Singapore during liberty visit in 1972 as part of my Vietnam deployment with VA-82 aboard USS America. So I didn't need to stop in Singapore other than there was a direct flight from Singapore to Tokyo

I decided to stay in a traditional British hotel like this one in the city rather than a western style resort.

We stayed at a resort in Singapore in 1972 rather than an older hotel in the city and I felt like we missed a lot by not staying in an older "British style hotel in town.

When I entered the hotel, I saw a cab driver outside the hotel in a car like this 1956 Plymouth sedan. I asked him how much he earned a day. He said, $30. I told him that I would pay him $40 a day to be my driver; pick me up a the hotel in the morning, drive me to whatever activity we would o during the day, take me to a restaurant in the evening and drop me off at the hotel for a week. He agreed; this turned out to be a great way to see Bangkok!

I told the taxi drive what types of things I wanted to do. He planned my daytime activities, what restaurants I went to and where to go to experience the night life of Bangkok.

One of the first activities he planned was a full day tour of Bangkok from the waterways in a small boat. This was a great opportunity to see everything from small houses to magnificent temples.

	On another day, he took me shopping for gems and Thai silk material.

Thailand is a great place to shop for colored gemstones. such as Ruby, Sapphires, Emeralds, Aquamarines, and various colors of Garnets. I spent a lot of time checking them out.	Thai silk is in great demand for making silk dresses and bathrobes. I bought quite a bit of silk for Cathy to have several thing made.

He took me to different restaurants and various clubs to experience the Bangkok night life.


There was a very nice restaurant in the hotel.	There were many fine restaurants in the city.	The nightlife in Bangkok is famous for it's entertainment; sometimes a bit raunchy.

After about five great days in Bangkok, I got on a plane to Tokyo via Singapore.

Professional Highpoints of my time in Atsugi with COMFAIRWESTPAC

1. Working with two outstanding flag officers at COMFAIRWESTPAC. I had known Bobby Lee when I was Commanding Officer of VA-174. He flew with us and was a member of the five Captains who won the bombing competition. He was also Chief of Staff at COMSIXTHFLEET when I was Commanding Officer of USS Austin LPD-4. He was very helpful in supporting me with VADM Kelso on numerous occasions. RADM Red Best supported me as Commander of Orange Forces and was very enjoyable to work with. I respected both of these flag officers especially because they were "warriors" primarily interested in fleet readiness and not politically driven!


RADM Bobby Lee	RADM Red Best

2. Arranging air services and conducting opposition operations as Commander of Orange Forces (COMORANGE) for SEVENTHFLEET exercises. I was able to use my experience at COMTHIRDFLEET in exercise planning to coordinate units from JMSDF (Japanese Maritime Defense Force) in Japan, USAF F-16 aircraft in South Korea and Kadena, Okinawa, B-52 aircraft on Guam, South Korean units in Osan, South Korea, US Navy P3 Orion in Misawa, Japan, and VC-5 A4 Skyhawk aircraft at Cubi, Point in the Philippines for COMORANGE operations.

COMORANGE Operating Area

3. Visit of VADM Jerry Tuttle:

VADM Jerry Tuttle came from Washington to the Western Pacific to assess the status of naval communications in our area of responsibility while he was COMNAVTELCOM (Commander of Naval Communications. He flew in to Atsugi on his way to be driven to Yokosuka to pay a call on VADM Mauz (Commander Seventh Fleet). After landing at Atsugi, he walked in to Base Operations and was met by RADM Best and a Japanese Admiral. I was in the group because of my past history with VADM Tuttle. What surprised us all was that Jerrry came up to me and gave me a hug after returning the salutes from the Admirals!

4. Additional highlights of my visits to Cubi Point: There are three stories that occurred during my visits to Cubi that I want to relate about my visits In addition to other tales I've offered previously.

Having a meal with the Negritos in their jungle camp-

See my chapter about my VA-15 1966 Vietnam deployment to learn about JEST and more about the Negritos.

I went to see the Negritos because I wanted to see if "King", the Negrito who made the machete pictured to the left was still around. I had used it over the years and the "white water buffalo" bone handle had become damaged. Not only did I find "King" and get my machete fixed but he arranged to to have me partici[ate in a meal at a Negrito camp after a wild boar hunt.

Touring Olongapo with the Mayor in a Jeepney- Part of my responsibility at COMFAIRWESTPAC was monitor the threat to the security of the base by terrorist factions especially by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASF) based on the island of Mindanao which sought to establish an independent Isalmic state in the Philippines.

Colorful "jeepneys" based on the World War Two jeep are a popular mode of transportation in the Philippines.

ASF terrorists were in the area around the Base especially in Olongapo. I toured the city with the Mayor in his jeepney to gather information about how they were able to identify these terrorists in such a crowded area as Olongapo. It turned out that the residents of Olongapo were good about reporting strangers in their midst to the mayor's office. On numerous occasions, the bodies of ASF terrorists were displayed in public as a to discourage ASF infiltration attempts.

Going on patrol in the jungle with a Marine platoon looking for any ASF terrorists from the island of Mindanao that may be attempting to get on to the Cubi Point station-

RADM Best arranged for me to go on patrol with a platoon of Marines in the jungle at Cubi Point to monitor the terrorist threat by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASF). The Marines went all out to impress me by giving me set of jungle fatigues embroidered with my name and rank. The Marines they selected were all "recruiter poster" Marines. They asked me if I wanted to carry a .45 pistol. I declined saying that if we encountered any terrorists I would duck and let them do our patrol and the threat!

We were actually walking on a thick layer of bamboo and downed leaves. I learned that underneath that layer were brown cobra snakes that were brought to the Philippines by the Japanese during World War Two to eradicate the rat population.

Sometimes we hiked through very thick jungle. On one occasion we were were surprised by a loud sound nearby. The Marine platoon leader explained that it was a water buffalo crashing through the jungle.

Final Flight in VC-5 TA4 Bureau Number 155117 22 May 1991

VC-5 TA4 Skyhawk

I flew my final flight as a pilot in the Navy on May 22nd, 1991 in a VC-5 TA4 Skyhawk. I flew in the front seat with a VC-5 female pilot in the back. We had a great flight in beautiful weather flying over Luzon. A highlight of the flight was flying over the Mt Pinatubo
volcano north of Clark Air Force base. This proved to be significant as Mt Pinatubo erupted violently twenty four days later which I will describe in my next section.
When I got out of the aircraft in Cubi Point I received a water wash down sometimes given to a Navy pilot on his last flight.

Mt Pinatubo before the Eruption

Mt Pinatubo erupted on June 15th, 1991

The Mt Pinatubo eruption was one of the most violent on record. As a cinder cone type volcano, it produced a great quantity of acidic volcanic ash which caused a great deal of damage causing base closures at Clark Air Force Base, at Naval Station Subic Bay and NAS Cubi Point.


Mt Pinatubo is a"Cinder Cone" type of volcano	Mt Pinatubo's fast moving cloud of acidic ash

Many feet of acidic ash caused extensive damage	Image of acidic ash at Clark Air Force Base

My tour at COMFAIRWESTPAC was scheduled to end in June. The only orders that The Bureau of Naval Personnel were offering me were in Washington, DC. I was not about to end my Naval career in Washington so I decided to retire after 28 years in the Navy. If they had offered me orders for a significant position in the Naval Aviation Training Command especially in Pensacola, I would have accepted those orders.

Joint Retirement Ceremony with RADM Best

We had our retirement ceremonies on the same day and in the same hanger. RADM Best had his retirement ceremony in the morning; mine was in the afternoon. We had a joint reception at the Officers Club.

Hawaii Stopover in VIP Cottage

I played golf a few times Bobby Lee and maybe once or so with Red Best at the Atsugi golf course. On a couple of occasions, we were joined by a Rear Admiral from the CINPACFLEET (Commander Pacific Fleet) staff in Hawaii. He was an A6 Intruder pilot with Vietnam combat experience. The conversation often concerned the need for more combat aviators in significant operational jobs rather than Washington politically oriented officers. When I retired, he arranged for my family to stay for a week in a VIP (Very Important Person) cottage by the ocean normally assigned only to flag officers in Hawaii in appreciation for my combat experience.

This is not the actual cottage but you get the point!

We really enjoyed that week in Hawaii on the way back from the states. My daughters Jessica and Lindsay particularly enjoyed it as they we not around when I had my COMTHIRDFLEET tour on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor.

My actual retirement date from the Navy was July 31st, 1991. We had returned to Jacksonville, Florida and bought a house. I decided to take on a second career as an educator. I would spend spend the next sixteen years teaching high school Earth/Space Science and Oceanography and taking on some very interesting NASA related grant projects.

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