What It's like at America's Northernmost Military Base in Greenland?
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- Опубликовано: 21 дек 2020
- Thule Air Base is the United States Air Force's northernmost base, located 1,207 km (750 mile) north of the Arctic Circle and 1,524 km (947 mile) from the North Pole on the northwest coast of the island of Greenland.
Thule Air Base is the US Armed Forces' northernmost installation. Thule's arctic environment includes icebergs in North Star Bay, two islands (Saunders Island and Wolstenholme Island), a polar ice sheet, and Wolstenholme Fjord - the only place on Earth where four active glaciers join together.
Thule Air Base is home to the 21st Space Wing's global network of sensors providing missile warning, space surveillance and space control to North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Air Force Space Command (AFSPC).
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I had a friend who was a civilian DOD employee who was stationed there in the mid 1970’s. He told me all kinds of stories. Back then there was no much to do but by stuff from the PX catalog, gamble and stay warm. He told me about excursions off base in trucks and the polar bears. He took lots of really close pictures of polar bears. He told me a polar bear smelled them out once and came running from a good distance. They had to get in the truck as the polar bear crawled all over it trying to get to them. Finally it got off the truck and they drove away. He was glad to come home when his contract was over. I enjoyed looking at his polar bear pictures.
Polar bears fear nothing, they are alpha predators in the north, that would be an hell an experience, running away from Polar bear.
@@someguyfromarcticfreezer6854 yea you gotta think, like food for polar bears in a place like this don't come by from them all that often so if they see a couple humans to them that means they gona be eating good for the next couple weeks probably other then just a bunch of fish
Spent 6 1/2 years at Thule and J -Site the radar installation nearby in the mid 1960 's and later 1970 's . Was there when the B - 52 crashed and when the J - Site fire occurred. Most stories about Thule are somewhat blown out of proportion . It actually warms up during severe weather as most storms originate far south . Not much weather that far north . Most of the snow is blown up over the icecap and frozen ocean . Hardly ever rains , very few clouds form . Beautiful , clean , full of wildlife and a real adventure for many . After my last contract l stayed and lived with the lnuit for 8 years in 2 different villages. Some of the best years of my life .
@@foxeyfisherman7552 my friend who was there died in 1996. I am not sure which years he was there, but I know he was there in 1977. His name was Walt Sammons and he was from Delaware. He always had a cup of coffee in one hand, a Camel filter cigarette in the other hand and a story to tell. Used to have some good stories about DOD transport and his luggage. He also bought a lot of high end Sansui stereo equipment there. He told me they shopped a lot from the BX catalog. I wish I had those 4-way speakers he had.
I was at Thule in 1956 as a new member of the Air Force. Worked in POL. Supported the F-89 aircraft. That was the year they put some of the fuel storage tanks under ground. As I recall there were about 4000 men on the base and only 5 women, one was the Danish Commanders wife and the others were nurses. As a 18 year old that time made me appreciate a lot of things that later helped me coupe with life. The high light of that tour was the 7 days we spent in the barracks, which were built off the ground and fully insulated, due to the 90 degree chill factor outside. Learned how to take 3 minute showers
My dad was there in the summer of 1954. He was with the Army Corps of Engineers and was helping to build roads for the base. He told us lots of stories-especially about the mosquitos. 😊
There is an excellent documentary on the military building the larger underground base there around that timeframe. It's on the channel called DarckDoc's. Has some great footage.
Amazing to compare what it was like then when they built it to today with all these crazy amenities for all the down time in winters. My high school buddy was there for 2 years in 2016 -18 I believe. His pics were amazing. And I remember him coming back absolutely jacked out of his mind as all he did every day all winter was lift weights. Must be long boring winters of everyone fucking everyone else. Those poor women trapped with horn dog men all winter in the dark northern attic lmao
Thanks for ur service sir! 💪🇺🇸💪
I was a civilian employee 1978 to 1981 at the BMEWS site 13 miles from Thule. We lived on base and were bussed to our 12 shift 6 days a week. Worked 80 hrs a week plus depending if the weather was clear or not. Must have been about 3 thousand employees between USAF and Americans and Danes. Food was great lots of drinking and use of hashish. After 3 years I left with almost 60k $$ saved. And then I went to Antarctica with the same contractor.
I spent four days on the Thule Air Base in 1996. I was a civilian guest of the US Air Force attending “Kool School” on the polar ice cap northeast of Thule. A C-130 equipped with skies flew us out of Thule and it landed at Ice Station Ruby for a three day survival mission. Five civilians and 24 military personnel built a survival camp. Three instructors from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska spent two previous days training us in Arctic survival. We had extreme cold weather gear and MRS. When we landed at mid-day it was -55F. A night the temperature dropped to ~ -70F. We built snow/ice shelters into the 8’ thick ice cap for protection. We had no incidents as we planned for success and executed our plans - an awesome experience. To this day, I remain grateful to the Air Force for this rare privilege.
That certainly is a unique and very neat opportunity!
That LC-130 was an Air National Guard plane from Scotia, NY.
@@afcgeo882 I didn't see any LC-130s. there was a Canadian C-130 in the video. The LC-130s have the Operation Deep Freeze mission at McMurdo Station/South Pole Antarctica.
@@PinstripeJim The NYANG’s LC-130s from the 108AW fly missions to Greenland in the winter and the Antarctic in the summer (NA summer). There aren’t any in the video. They aren’t based there. No aircraft is. It’s a Space Force station.
I did the same thing you described at Ice Station Zebra. And during my stay I was able to meet some cool folks such as Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine and Jim Brown to name a few. However, when the then Soviets decided to pay us a visit demanding a microfilm from a space capsule, the stress level exploded as we all feared WWIII. Old times gone, but not forgotten!
My dad was stationed there in 1957. I have old pictures of him standing on an iceberg.
I did temporary duty at Thule in both the summer and winter. Summer is OK. Winter is insane. The chow hall is contracted to the Danes. The food was delicious.
I was stationed there in 04-05. It was the best experience of my life.
I hope that "best experience " is superseded by something better ...
really ? how so?
My son left for Thule about a month ago. He's retired AF. This is where he wanted to go.
@@barpatron jesus LMAO
I've been there a couple of times on C-5s. The runway is usually painted white so it doesn't sink into the permafrost. The club there was nice. The climate is very dry and just walking a foot gives you static enough to shock you as well. Great place place to transit.
I was in Thule in 1981 for a 7 week TDY and again in 1982 for another two month stay. Just missed Clint Eastwood who came up to film scenes for Firefox. Anywho, great times for a young guy! Great memories.
Thule AB was constructed in secret under the code name Operation BLUE JAY. Construction for Thule AB began in 1951 and was completed in 1953. The construction of Thule is said to have been comparable in scale to the enormous effort required to build the Panama Canal. The Navy transported the bulk of men, supplies, and equipment from the naval shipyards in Norfolk, VA. On June 6, 1951 an armada of 120 shipments sailed from Norfolk, VA. On board were 12,000 men and 300,000 tons of cargo. They arrived Thule on July 9, 1951. Construction took place around the clock. The workers lived on-board the ship until quarters were built. Once they moved into the quarters, the ships returned home.
The base was initially designed as a forward base for staging SAC bombers and tankers. It was designed and built to house 12,000 personnel (during the peak period it housed approximately 10,000 with personnel living at Camp Tuto, BMEWS/J-Site, Camp Century, P-Mountain, in Nike Sites, and at Cape Atholl). It was built with a 10,000-foot (by 200�) runway and a fuel storage capacity of about 100 million gallons (the largest in DOD�built to support mid-air refueling of the B-47 bombers). The agreement set aside 339,000 acres, and when Thule was first built, this is how it looked: main base 2600 acres, 82 miles of road, 38 fuel tanks, 10 hangers (6 are 28,000 sq. feet), 122 barracks, 6 mess halls, a gym, service club, Officers� club, hobby shop, library, base exchange, post office, theater, chapel, and hospital. There were also 63 warehouses, a laundry, a bakery, two primary power plants, and 4 auxiliary power/heating plants.
They told my dad before he went to Thule that there was a naked girl behind every tree.🤣
Problem was, there was only one tree. It was in the base ops building. The girl musta been on break the times I was there!
I would be rolling that's a good joke.
i just seen the movie greenland im definitely hitting that place up when clark comes🤣🤣🤣🤣
Facts gr8 movie
Fun fact: this base is used as part of a real life operation similar to the movie Greenland where they secretly send resources etc to survive.
I’ll see you there!
No lie.. actually a good movie
Yeah, Greenland is such a good movie. It is more realistic than 2012. Because it's one of my favorites, I watch it once a month. This movie made me like Gerard Butler as well, which also made me watch the Fallen movies.
My dad had to deliver a prop to one of his units C130's that got diverted to Thule because of bad weather in Newfoundland Canada, he was a C130 flight engineer stationed in North Carolina. The plane that went there the day before went to start engines the following day and the seal in the prop housing let go and most of the prop fluid poured out on start up. When dad sat in on the mission brief he told the pilots that he wanted to do a hot unload of the prop and extra prop stand, keep all four engines running, he had NOOOOO intentions of staying, breaking, or anything else. When they flew in he said that place was cold, colder then lake front Chicago in January. They taxi towards the hangers and off loaded their plane, all engines running, he seen his friend Phil who was the engineer on the broke C130, dad waved and gave him a big smile, Phil gave him the middle finger, flight engineer love I figure.
ERO = Engine Running Offload. Ya not a place to break :)
Hey man thank you all for what u do to everyone serving in the U.S. military thank you all so much for what you do for our beautiful country!
Every machine in this video is just a thing of beauty. The C-130s, the F-15s...even the refueling truck.
F18s. but just as sexy!
I salute everyone with the highest level of respect. God bless you all.
I was in Thule., winter time three years in a row back starting in 1982.
thanks for the service
I was at thule during parts of 1966 and 1967. My military job was telephone operator on the grave yard shift. There was 2 of us, and we were fairly busy from midnight til about 1:30AM and then the calls would stop. my coworker and I would split the rest of the shift with one sleeping for half and then we would trade. I also worked at the NCO club during the day and made more there than from the military.
I was there 12/85-12/86.The top of the world club got me through it.
Dammit if you aren’t correct
Did a few Op: Boxtop in Thule in the early 00's working as a Sit up in COBWEB for 8ACCS. My first bishop the U.S. And Canadian pilots had unofficially changed my calls with from cobweb to CANDY CANE. It was a play on the movie that was out called joyride. Loved the truly close family mindset everyone had up there. The "TOW" was a place like no other. As well as the rabbits the size of small black bears lol.
Was honestly my most favorite USAF base I have been too.
Merry Christmas an Happy New year to everyone at Thule air base. Bless you all.🎅🏻🙏🏼💫👍🏼🎉🎊
“Handful of Canadians”
Proceeds to show hundreds of Canadians and only Canadians.
@Tan Le Greenland is of Greenland, not Denmark.
@@afcgeo882 part of the kingdom of Denmark.
@@chrisrock3108 The Kingdom is not the country.
@@afcgeo882 so?
@@chrisrock3108 So the guy I was commenting to has deleted his comment. Now I’m just counting the number of trolling comments you’re making.
My ship was the icebreaker that came in 4 years ago. What an experience it was being here!
Visited in the '80s. Crazy cold.
How many layers of clothing would you have to wear??? Or is there special clothing for freezing weather?
Used to go up there back in the 70s.BRRR!
Any girl getting orders there goes up 7 points on the scale.
Haha
Funny thing is I only looked this base up on RUclips and am on this video because one of the security forces girls I went to BMT with about a decade ago posted a pic on Instagram of her there today 😂. She’s a solid 6.5 so prolly a flawless dime there. Looking at women there has to be 20x worse than desert goggles if you’ve ever been to Qatar…
Only 947 miles from the north pole? Well hell, let's just walk then.
You can stay at CFS Alert to split up the walk.
You probably never return back
Funny!
Your telling me they have gaming and pizza in a military base? Sign me up!
The current base was built in 1951. My father was a Knight of the Blue Nose in the 1950's.
Boy, have things changed since I was there from Sept. '67 to Sept. '68. There were about 4,000 U.S. military personnel back then. I can't imagine Thule Air Base with only 150 personnel. It must be like a ghost town compared to the '60s. And I have one quibble: The whole year I was there I never saw one mosquito, or a bug of any kind.
I’m not 100% sure the years but my father was there about the same time, he worked for RCA and I believe he was there in 68 when we lost that bomber. One odd thing he told me about was that during the long dark period you would hear crows flying around and squawking in the pitch black. He said it was surreal.
@@juantoomany7202 Yeah, the B52 crashed in January of ‘68. I helped with the cleanup.
Summer of 67.
@@williamsimmons152 We just missed each other. I worked in the comm center, teletype maintenance.
@@jonham8469 did you know John Saraceni...he worked there 66 and 67. Lives in Queens has a real thick Italian accent.
The narrator noted (~4min, 30sec) that the 21Space Wing is at "Patterson" AFB, Ohio. It's actually at Peterson AFB, CO
Spreading disinformation.
Spy vs Spy ...
Wright-Patterson AFB Dayton Ohio
Been there done that, TDY there for 5 Months in 1985. They kept C-Rations in the barracks if it was to cold to walk to the Mess Hall. The days were given a “Code” for the weather. But he was correct on 1 thing, it was Beautiful up there but nothing beat coming back to the “ World”.
What a change at Thule since I was stationed there in 1970-71
Wow, impressive!!!
It's nice to see Santa visiting the troops. I guess they share some air space and have to do join operations.
Thule Airbase is the closest staging area for Operation BoxTop. Canada's long running annual resupply mission to CFS Alert. Thats why you see a sh't ton of RCAF aircraft rotating in and out. It is a continuous 24/7 resupply operation for a month straight. Average Canadians still don't really know what our military does up there as it has never been totally revealed. But you can guess it involves Russian communication interception. Just think of resupplying Antarctica's McMurdo Station but on a smaller scale with aircraft instead of sealift. I think Thule is within Norad's Canadian Identification zone too, not positive though.
Doubt the F-18s are resupplying. It’s also a place to do arctic training with NATO partners.
@@afcgeo882 Hence the last line of my comment. Those CAF scenes are from two different operations
@@scottmccambley764 Thule’s primary job is NORAD. They are subordinate to Space Delta 4, a part of the Space Force. They also assist the Danes, CFS Alert and any NATO transient aircraft.
@@afcgeo882 May the Schwartz be with you
US Military: Hey we know this place sucks, here's free pizza.
I mean, the planes cool
@@andrewdoesyt7787
Google global truth project and read "the Present" to see the truth about life/death. Nothing is more important than checking it is true, especially pgs 1-4
@@foolonthehill1265 I’m not gunu do that but if you want just tell me the point
‘14-‘15 for me! It was overall, Epic! An amazing experience! I miss that place! 💖
So thats the place where they make my Thule roof rack :)
Amazing 😍
computer voice always gets a down vote.Sorry.
They don't want you to hear the Russian accent haha
@@skater15153 haha
Thanks for this interesting where things go in the Arctic region? 🤔
A fellow co-worker of mine who was stationed their as a Marine in the 70s said all aircraft stayed running 24/7 because of the cold
No chance
I’d go insane if I was stationed there.
4:55 Santa Claus like “the fuck is y’all doing here”
I was almost stationed here and very excited to go but my wisdom teeth had to be pulled so instead I was stationed in South Dakota. I was supposed to be at thule for a year and then go to the lakenheath RAF. It was the next day after I graduated tech school that they changed my orders.
I was at Lakenheath a long time ago. 48th ATH
Forecasting the weather here would be terrible
EPIC
I worked on the DEWline south of Thule. Flew up there on a C-141 and spent the night there. Next day flew down to Sondrestrom AFB.
I was stationed at Sondrestrom Air Base July 61 to July 62 . It was built in 41 to refuel Fighters and bombers flying to England In WW2. They didn’t have the range to fly nonstop from the USA to England !
Flew with VW 13 out of Newfoundland in 1 963/64 made stop in tulie
Finger slip Thule bitch restarting those 3350 engines cranked slow when cold even with oil preheaters. We also flew the dew line east of Newfoundland and west to Iceland to Scotland. I believe the ec121s were built the 1950s. ( SUPER CONNIE'S )
When I was at DYE-2 on Greenland in 77 I heard about the P-38 from WW2 that was at DYE-1 radar station near the west coast of Greenland. They showed on TV when it was recovered. It was deep under the ice which builds up every year. When C-130's landed at DYE-2 they sometimes had to use JATO to take off.
@@williammagill1646 i did 2 tdy's to sondrestom in the early 60's ... took care of the heaters on the kc-97's ... i was permenantly stationed at homestead afb, florida ... huge contrast
I was there 05-06, some of the stuff in the video isn’t exactly true, but it was a great assignment.
What about the video isn’t exactly true🤔
I think the real question is, what was so great about being stuck on Thule, Greenland?! 🤔
@@TDK2K The people are great.
I was stationed there from 91 to 92.
Nice very nice
This is where I’m heading when Clark shows up.
The 21st Space Wing is at PETERSON AFB, Colorado Springs!
I thought I was the only one that caught that.
Yeah...21st at Patterson OH I was like WTF? I was stationed at USAF Clinic Peterson later dubbed 21st Medical Group and I was at Thule AB in 92-93 as we were doing health checks for our remote assignment locations - I had hoped that we would go to Alice Springs next but we never did....but still all in all, it was a great experience coming from Peterson to Thule. I would love to go back and work there for a few years....maybe take up the shuttle bus driver on base :P or work with AAFES. I definitely loved the Danes at the Hospital....only time I got a chance to speak my native German again....albeit only a few but still...and I got a chance to learn some Danish :) The details from the narrator were off in a few things that is for sure.
They think they're fooling the Russians, lol ...
Yes, but I bet this is a deployment and/or TDY and not a permanent duty station. It's also now Space Force (USSF).
Pinstripe Jim We did TDY over there for 90 day rotation each year - loved it. I would have preferred to do a short tour instead for the ribbons but you take what they give ;)
Considering taking a job up there.
Seasonal parties and events?
Sign me up!
😃👍🏻
Haha
I was stationed at Thule, and while not all the information in this video was incorrect, much of it was.
@A S what about the video was incorrect🤷♂️🤷♂️
Giving 100% false information is counterproductive. They typically use between 23-61% true/false info to confuse the Russians, as well as the Americian politicians ...
@@ObamaFromKenya The fact theyre presenting the base as being above ground for one....
@@laqueefasteinberg4981 Laqueefa were you stationed in Thule 😳😳
@@ObamaFromKenya Shut up barry youre going to jail.
For an American airbase sure looks like it’s more Canadian than American 😁
It's Canadian lol
The RCAF only deploys to Thule twice a year for about 2 weeks at a shot to replenish one of their locations, CFS Alert.
@@DougKahn Operation Boxtop!
Whats the difference?
@@chaosXP3RT Parkas
The place you're stationed when you've pissed someone off.
Like Adak.
My fondest memory of the "half - uh/a - lifetime" spent on "ye olde Bluie"/"Station Nord", supporting our NATO/OTAN commitment, was the "no fraternization/keep it in yer pantz" preemptive arse-chewin we received within 20 minutes of our arrival. That policy was followed up by a second'arse-chewin', this time by the acting "director of nursing" for the base hospital. (as it turned out, we learned early on to "stand back about 500-ft, get a good look at the situation, and act accordingly")
Truth be told, I remember feeling like a 'deer in the headlights' upon my arrival, with much of that angst dissipating around the 90th day of my stay. In a nutshell, we each received what we put into it....
That's a pretty decent computer simulated voice.
Looks cold as heck lol.
This video did not touch on anything on what its like to live at Thule. It just showed planes taking off and landing.
Clark AFB in the old days was way more fun.
My buddy was stationed at Thule as an ATC early 70's said it sucked, sounds better now.
USAF's most northern military base ... shows exclusively canadian personal and aircraft.
It’s a Space Force base now.
Here is a perfect example what American propaganda sounds like.thsts If one does not want to believe what they are seeing/watching. 99 % is Canadian Airforce, and Navy. This is American corrupt logic. As NATO was set up by Canada after WWII.
@@wavelength7503 depends what day they are filming. Various groups come and go there. That day just so happened to be Canadian
@@jerrynevius1193 understand your point, and aware. Then the Video/ narration is totally out context with reality of what is shown. But as long as it makes USA look good, and the derogatory remark "hand full of CANADIANS" is emphasized, they feel good about their video. On the per capita base's, I'm sure Canada are at par, but probably exceed u.s. for military personnel in this matter. I'm justifying the video facts. Not when someone introduces an opion on a comment on the topic.
Anyone notice the Navy's F18's? Air Force flies the F15's.
*1953, Thule airbase. (Northern most airbase)
Only southern Greenland defence established 1941 to defend against Axis powers.
stayed overnight in Feb 1970 (drank a lot of american beer) on my way to CFS Alert, their northern neighbor.
I was there in 1971.
Send in Space Force!
Couldn’t get some shots of an American plane?
8:18 that's a 757 oeprated by ATI, a US Charter airline. Plus, every airplane in the video was built in the US, so there's that.
Thule doesn’t operate aircraft. They get transient aircraft only. In this case, Danish and Canadian aircraft on polar exercises.
You might call it "Toolie" but I call it "Thool."
0:20 my entire life style was transformed completely because of,
My father was stationed there in 45
They don’t need those ice breakers anymore
Probably no shirtless runners in the summer there I would guess.
You didn’t mention the b52 that crashed there !!!
Did he say Skeet ? 😍
Number 1 USA.🇺🇸🦅
God bless América.🇺🇸🙏🏻
Number 1 in arrogance
It is cold but there is a good looking woman behind every tree!
Just have to find that one tree.
Thule was built in 1953 and not 1941!
Yep and 1941 and 1943.
Look up AF tech news it was 1941to help Denmark to protect its colonies.
In 1941 it was Sondrestrom (Bluie West eight).
@@HcSandborg yeah I guess the Air Force doesn't know what they are talking about. 2 different places look at a freaking map. Sondrestrom is now a civilian AP with a small ANG unit.
Yes, the base was closed in 1991 or 1992. I have worked there.
Let's go build a Quinzee.
HAND full of Canadians but half the Canadian air force hashtag winter ready
THULE ?? TOO COLD!1
blue ice very dangarr coling++++
Are those FA 18 attack jets?In the Air Force?
Did you look at their markings?
The space command? What happened to Space Force?
This video is all kinds of wrong. It is under USSF, not USAF.
This information is not new it is from the 60s when I was there for a couple of days. The BIG thing we were told was to STAY AWAY FROM THE LOCALS!! They had NO immunity from our diseases and our government, and the USAF, considered it attempted murder if you went near them. That meant a reduction in grade to E1, a nice long stay in Leavenworth and a dishonorable discharge. Needless to say we ALL stayed on the base. Not only because of that but the polar bears were probably more abundant back then than now and that alone made one take notice and keep you inside as much as possible. When the ice was broken and the supply ship came in most of the enlisted guys got jobs helping to unload the ship and they made more money doing that than they did from the Air Force. Good times! lol
2000-2001 Fantastic experience! At first I thought I was being punished but anyone who's been stationed there knows it's quite the opposite 😉
What is so fantastic about it? I would go crazy
like
Thule was also a German group... Secret group
Anytime you boys (and girls) want to head to a real northern base, just head up to CFS Alert, located only 90 miles from the North Pole.
Been there. 817 km from the NP according to the RCAF web site.
Organized I’m sure and obviously cold right..
Engage they said, re-engage they said
Narrator: "and a hand full of Canadians."
Video: Nothing but Canadians on an exercise. (like Op NANOOK or something)
Me: Come on, show the fun stuff like the bowling alley, go-cart track, and 18 hole golf course.. Or how fun it is to climb the beer can while checking out the village on the way. 😁
How about a human narrator? I'm sure someone on your team can read.
Not Engrish, no.
@@afcgeo882
Rots a ruk ...
Pff - Alert is closer, if you want a measuring contest.
America is always America. No country on this earth can match America in all things. IN GOD WE TRUST.
So the worst US Air Force base sounds better than the best US Marine base. Sounds about right.