Breakfast with Herb & Mike

Long before the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base became home to warehouses, offices and businesses, it was a world unto itself — complete with roaring jets, military traditions, lifelong friendships, and a generation of airmen and families who forever changed the North Country. In this month’s Breakfast with Herb & Mike, we revisit the sights, sounds and surprises of PAFB, where history has a funny way of coming full circle — and where yesterday’s mess hall can become today’s headquarters.

Mike: When did you come to Plattsburgh Air Force Base?

Herb: I came in the summer of 1956 after a year-long deployment in Goose Bay, Labrador. The Base had opened the year before and I was the first nuclear tech assigned here. I lived in one of the first group of dorms on the corner of New York Road and Idaho Avenue, ate in the dining hall next door and worked in the bomb dump that was located on the south end of the base property.

Mike: I remember some of this. Your dorm, and two others, as well as the dining hall were part of the property we bought after the Base closed in 1995, right?

Herb: That right. The dining hall -- now Northeast Group’s headquarters -- was where I did KP (Kitchen Patrol) weekly. My desk – now your desk – is where the slop sink was located. When we remodeled the building, I liked the irony of placing it right there.

Mike: A lot has changed since you were stationed here. When I was a kid, we lived close to the Base. One of the things I remember most was the noise. The flight line came right over our house. The planes came in so low we could see the fire coming out of their tails and we could read the marking on them.

Herb: The flight line also went over what was then Champlain Centre (now Price Chopper and Lowe’s). The sound and the vibration were incredible. If you were walking through the parking lot of the mall your body would shake and conversation was impossible.

Mike: There has always been a lot of talk about the economic impact the Base had on the community, but what I remember most was the kids I went to school with. The Base was divided into two sections – the Old Base on the east side of U.S. Avenue where the officers and their families lived and the New Base on the west side of the road where the enlisted men and their families were housed. I was friends with some of them, but it was a weird dynamic. The Base kids mostly stuck together. They understood the military way of life and they lived by its rules. They knew reassignment could happen all of a sudden and friendships would be over. As an adult looking back, I can see just how hurtful that must have been. The adults chose that lifestyle, but the kids were just along for the ride.

Herb: Don’t underestimate the impact of being moved around had on military personnel. It was difficult, but there were good things about it too. I saw places and did things I would likely never have experienced had I not joined up. It is what brought me and a lot of other people to the North County. Many of us fell in love with the community and stayed, or came back to the area after our careers were over, and that had an important impact on the area.

Mike: That’s true. I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t met Mom.

Herb: I met your mother the first night I was in Plattsburgh. Another new airman and I went downtown to the USO Club on Margaret Street (second floor over what is now the Champlain National Bank branch). She was there with her girlfriends and the rest is history.

Mike: You mentioned the impact the Base had on the area. When I was a teenager and a young adult I played in a lot of sports pick-up leagues. That’s where I got to know guys from the Base and to admire their skill. At the annual PBA (Police Benevolent Association) Tournaments I got to watch athletes with talent that far exceeded what you would normally find in a small community like Plattsburgh. Many of them were semi-pro and division one caliber athletes.

Herb: The diversity the Base brought to the area extended far beyond sports. It brought educators, medical personnel, finance people, mechanics, police and fire fighters, musicians, artists, and more. It wasn’t just the talents the military brought, it was those of their wives and children as well.

Mike: It’s been interesting to look back on the dynamic days of PAFB. I’d like to talk about what led to the closing of the Base and its transition to the civilian business hub it is today, but we’re out of time. Let’s pick up this conversation at our August Breakfast with Herb & Mike.