Thursday, August 30, 2012

Not Your Father's Air Force XXI

From the Usual USAF Source and a Cannon Airplane Patch press release...
Suite Digs at Cannon: The 27th Special Operations Wing broke ground this week on a new $12.4 million enlisted dormitory at Cannon AFB, N.M. The dorm, scheduled for completion in fall 2013, will house 96 airmen in separate quad bedrooms that share laundry and common areas in a suite-style arrangement, states a Cannon release. "We are working toward single occupancy and this will move us closer to that goal until future dorms are built," said TSgt. Matthew Smith, 27th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron project noncommissioned officer in charge. "The new dormitory is something that Air Force Special Operations Command has long awaited," added project chief Robert Ferry. "It's a step toward premier unaccompanied housing at Cannon." Civil engineers at Cannon began preparations for the project in April; officials ceremoniously hefted the project's first shovel loads of earth on Aug. 27. (Cannon report by A1C Xavier Lockley)
Sweet, indeed.  Here's a better image of the floor plan you can barely see in the corner of the pic above, even if ya embiggen it:


Private baths!  Closets!  A freakin' laundry room and a KITCHEN, even.  This is a far cry from the way I lived when I was a junior airman.  Hell, I had a roommate when I was a staff sergeant and we had communal latrines in the dorm I lived in.  The first time I ever had a room of my own was when I made tech sergeant, but I still had to share a bathroom with about 20 of my closest friends.  I shouldn't complain, though... at least I wasn't in the Navy.


Heh.

16 comments:

  1. "...at least I wasn't in the Navy"
    At least our mattresses were thicker than the ones in the photo ...even if the bunks were closer together. E-7 thru E-9 only had to sleep two high and had their own berthing space.

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    1. At least our mattresses were thicker than the ones in the photo...

      I don't think those are actually mattresses... more like something to keep ya from getting spring imprints all over yer body.

      And I KNOW my Navy friends... and mebbe fam'bly... are jes gonna be all over me fer this. After all, I've seen the way yer ossifers live, too. ;-)

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    2. In re: Navy ossifers... this.

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    3. At least the ossifers have someplace to put their stuff. Our lockers were about 3'w x 3'l x 10'h and under the bottom bunk. Bunks weren't too bad though, for a piece of canvas stretched on a rack.

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  2. When I toured through the ships in the Navy/military Park in Buffalo,NY, I was quite horrified to see how the Navy lived, slept, and pottied together. The Air Force definitely has it better. I bet someone will make a comment about the Chair Force.

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    1. This pic is from the USS Little Rock in that same Buffalo Navy Park, Lou.

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  3. I just don't get the need for the separate showers/tubs. We don't have that in our home for 3 girls, my wife and I.

    Maybe this has something to do with the change from Don't Ask don't tell, so it helps keep it "don't touch"?

    Seriously, that is a nice space, but two shared showers seems more than adequate, especially being how we tax payers foot the bill.

    I work at a private university, and even the grad students don't have that kind of set up. And they pay through the nose for housing.

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    1. Quality o' life, Anon... quality o' life.

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  4. Well, my digs as a lowly LT (O3 for you AF types) were not as nice as my digs as a LCDR, nor would they have been nearly as good as they would have been as XO or CO at sea. But that's only at sea... my digs now (as CDR... O5 again for you AF types) are quite comfortable.

    I think all the services are improving the quality of life for our enlisted ranks. It's important.

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    1. XO on the tin can I was in had the privilege of not sharing a berthing space. The CO was bumped from his quarters by the Commodore of DesDiv 72. I at least had the same bunk for three years.

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  5. Speaking as a real Sailor; Our berthing spaces got better as the ships improved. My first cruise in 1981 had us living in a space like the photo. When I got to Fast Frigates, we had coffin lockers in our racks which was great for keeping all your stuff safe and secure. Nowadays, when I go sailing the digs are very, very spartan, not anywhere as nice as on a Navy Ship.

    Consider what the Army and Marines have to live with.

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    1. Nowadays, when I go sailing the digs are very, very spartan, not anywhere as nice as on a Navy Ship.

      Ahem. But you OWN the boat. I lived with the Army for a year, so I hear ya on yer last.

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    2. Ahem. But you OWN the boat
      Oh, the Barco is very nice!(Thanga-ver-much!) I was speaking about the sailboats I have owned and sailed long distances.

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  6. The picture looks like berthing on a "Gator Freighter" (LHA, LPD etc) not a "regular" Navy ship. The main difference being each bunk is now a "coffin" rack as Barco above noted. This adds maybe 6 inches to the depth of each rack so one can store your personal effects since most sailors "live" onboard. The racks shown in this picture are for those amphibian creatures who are simply catching a ride to more exotic locales and as a result don't need any "niceties" such as a pillow or even curtains (which my coffin had, along with a light).

    My young son of that amphibian variety complained bitterly about when he lived on board the now de-commissioned USS Tarawa (LHA-1) as compared with us full time squids. He did like the chow and the weight room so there was a trade-off for those who merely “rent” the space on a monthly basis.

    BT: Jimmy T sends (from the CZ)

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    1. See my answer to Lou, Jimmy. It's an old cruiser. I have a lot o' respect for the Marines, as you prolly know. But they tend to take a perverse sorta pleasure in living the Spartan life, in every sense of the word.

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    2. "...looks like berthing on a 'Gator Freighter'"

      The Gators I saw, except for LSTs, had them five high, but the spacing was about the same.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.