I was in training from May - Aug 1977 at Chanute AFB, IL. Super 8mm. I lived in the dorm across the street from the Theater and Pit & Ping, you'll see me and another airman (McBain), come out the main dorm entrance.
Thanks for sharing your old films with us. I spent 36 weeks there in 71-72 going to flight simulator training. I will never forget White Hall, and those long, cold marches from the dorms that winter. Definitely will never forget the morning it was -60 F with the wind chill factor. I had on a lot of clothes that morning and still thought my lungs were going to stop working before we got there. Good times, good memories.
I went to the Jet engine mechanic school 3355th in summer of 1972. I was a road guard from day one until the day I left with my classmates. In 1988 I returned to the school for the accident investigation course there. Many fond memories of Chanute.
I was in Weather Equipment and loved my experience at Chanute. Even though I was stationed there 5 years after this video, it looked very much the same. Thanks for the memories. Thanks for posting this.
I was stationed there from September 78 through December 78 as a part of the "cornfield" Navy did my weather school training there really enjoyed it never been to the Midwest, sooo flat! (from New England), made some great friends, had some great times, memories I will cherish forever, my best friend a PFC in the Marine corps bought a 1967 GTO right across the street from the north gate for $700 in 1978, saw Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen over at Champaign. I think life was so much better back then oh, I also got stationed after that on Midway island. Both places have been abandoned destroyed change forever maybe not for the better.
I was there November 73 to February 74 for tech school. ACFT MAINT JET OVER TWO, 431x1E. We did a power on on the B-52. I grew up about 120 miles from there.
When I took that video, I was on "C" shift filming the "B" shift guys . I can't remember. 3353 was my sqdrn. Were we all 431x1E or all kinds of other AFSC's , all headed to class?
Coldest place I've ever been in my life. Dec 77 to Apr 78. Fire Protection. From Cali. The march across the snowy field to the fire school when -50 F at 5am was life changing. Don't miss that place at all.
Nice. I got there just a few months after you and spent the next four months in APG school and the 54th Squadron during that cold-ass winter. The travel office across from the BX (I think it was in the Rec Center?) was one of my favorite places to hang out because I could look at maps and dream about my escape from Chanute. 😄 Those four months seemed like an eternity. If someone had told me back then that I would do eight years on active duty, and that 45+ years later I would think fondly of those days, I would have laughed hysterically and said they were out of their mind. However, my AF experience got better pretty quickly once I got to my first base, then even better at my BOP in my second hitch, and afterward I was able to parlay those eight years into a nice civilian career and retirement. It was a very positive experience. After leaving in early '78, I was stationed and lived post separation on both coasts and the Midwest, and in my travels I drove through Rantoul and Chanute in '93, '10, and '20. It was bittersweet to see it change and deteriorate over the years, with all of those abandoned buildings and once perfectly manicured lawns overgrown with weeds. My old squadron stood virtually unchanged at least in outward appearance until it was torn down about ten years ago. I still occasionally run across my Pitt and Ping card boxed up with my old AF stuff.
Spent July-August 77 at Lackland for BMT. Came to Chanute three years later as permanent party: POL instructor. My students were quartered at the small baracks right next to the convenience store, across the main road from the Theaters/Club. Didn't spent a lot of off-duty time on the base, mostly went to Champaign. Still, it was a decent experience, all in all, and I really cannot believe nobody could find good use for all that floor space in all those buidings. White Hall, with or without asbestos, could have been a great regional headquarters for any number of corporations. Drove through once, probably late 1990s, while on a cross-country - it was both nostalgic and depressing.
@@757MrMark I wouldn't expect a ghost town. Street View shows Rantoul looking occupied and busy, with light industry out by the Interstate. The base will be fairly empty, but some of the buildings got put to good use. There had been a museum of sorts on hangar row, but it closed down a few years ago. But Chicago is only a couple of hours north and they have really good museums.
I was 6pm to Midnight. Then over to the chow hall for midnight chow. May 77 to Aug 77. Midway thru, they started morning aerobics runs with us, we all started putting on weight on our shift. 😆
Aircraft maintenance specialist training Beginning of 77. Then off to Barksdale b52 crew chief. Life on the flight line was incredible. I would imagine it still is. Yellow rope while at chanute. I really do miss that place.
Was there from January '76 thru August '76 for flight simulator school. My wife and I lived in base housing. I don't remember very much about Chanute - I guess I was focused on the class work. I think I remember a place called "Silver Spoon". We ate there and played the pinball machines.
I returned there in June of this year. 46 years. Like a ghost town. Bush & tree overgrowth in that 'mall' area you see them marching to class. Sad to see it again.
I was there in '75 for Fuels Specialist training. Was the 3354 Student Squadron still near your dorm? I was housed in those old buildings, right across the street from that small BX annex, and I didn't have much of a walk to the theater. Good times.
I always wish I could've seen it here when the base was up. My son and I drive through the base now and always wonder what it used to look like before it got to how badly it is now.
I want to do that. Will probably make me sad. Like going to a ghost town now. I had a great time there for 14 weeks. 5.5 hr drive there. Just going to have to commit.🙂
@@757MrMark white hall is gone. They tore it down. And a few of the barracks by highway 45 have been torn down as well. The rest just has broken windows, and a ton of overgrowth. There are different videos of it here on youtube.
I was studying Aircraft Electrical Systems there from late August 1979 to mid-November 1979. Our commander told us during TIPS (Training Information Periods) after school that during peacetime, most Air Force personnel get hurt off-duty. An hour later, I saw a guy break his collarbone playing touch football, proving the Commander's point.
I was at Chanute in July to October 1975. I was assigned to Linen exchange first for several weeks before going to 571x0 Fire Protection Specialist school. I remember so many things about my time there. Playing cards all day with several NCO's that were temporarily assigned there. Funniest was the power failure in September. A group of Firefighter streaked through the WAF dorm. The TI at Tips before school said that we were lucky that none of the streakers were identified by the WAFs.
