View Full Version : Smoke Bomb Hill 1969 (Aerial Photo)
I thought some of the old timers would enjoy this picture. I ran across it about 2 years ago and scanned it. It was taken on January 12th, 1969. Not much changed from then until 1979 when I joined SF.
Team Sergeant indicated that the SF Museum was looking for old photos so I'll email them this one to see if they can use it. The picture is large so rather than fill up your computer screen here's a link:
http://www.atvgraphics.org/Downloads/SmokeBombHill_1_12_1959.jpg
AL
The motor pool parking lots are the large squares along the top (north) of the photo.
In the mid 70's the 5th and 7th Gp Companies were located in the upper left square of Barracks. The companies were moved to the south side of Gruber and the whole northern section was torn down to make way for the 37th Eng Brigade buildings.
One of the last building to go was the SF Museum located in a one story building fronting Gruber.
The GB Club? Locate the ball diamond in the center of the picture and drop down to the building just below it. Then go to the same building 1 block west, next to the double roads. Moved there from the old Womack area where it was located in the early 80s.
Yep,
We (B/3/5th SF) were on the 2nd floor in the first two story building from the left on the South side of Gruber Rd. We conducted PT in the open field South of the building. That's also where we practiced with the mortars.
AL
Scimitar
01-12-2009, 22:47
Yep,
We (B/3/5th SF) were on the 2nd floor in the first two story building from the left on the South side of Gruber Rd. We conducted PT in the open field South of the building. That's also where we practiced with the mortars.
AL
I imagine running around trying to avoid mortor shells would make for good PT. :D
I imagine running around trying to avoid mortor shells would make for good PT. :D
They had a pneumatic device for the 81s and 60s you could check out. In the days of little money you would get your crew drill and FO procedures down and then use the device to fire over one of the one story buildings.
The open fields and the MATA mile Area saw a lot of low cost team training for a few years. Back in the walking back from the DZ to save gas money days.
They had a pneumatic device for the 81s and 60s you could check out. In the days of little money you would get your crew drill and FO procedures down and then use the device to fire over one of the one story buildings.
The open fields and the MATA mile Area saw a lot of low cost team training for a few years. Back in the walking back from the DZ to save gas money days.
I sure remember those days. The Pneumatic devices for the mortars were "HIGH TECH" at that time.
AL
mark46th
05-13-2011, 16:48
That's me down there by C/5th HQ...
Yep,
We (B/3/5th SF) were on the 2nd floor in the first two story building from the left on the South side of Gruber Rd. We conducted PT in the open field South of the building. That's also where we practiced with the mortars.
AL
Yeah, and when Burroughs was Bn Cdr, we used to have to bring, like 4 sets of PT uniforms.
longrange1947
05-13-2011, 18:37
The row where the GB club is now, is where I did 91A training in 68. The litter obstacle course, really an excuse to drink beer and party before going to Ft Sam, was in the woods south and where the Mata Mile was later located.
Had a "few" beers at the cannon cockers club up in the north east corner across Gruber. Good place to go towards the end of the month when your monthly pay for pvt2 was a bit over 100 dollars.
Have that photo on my computer, don't remember where I got it, have a Camp MacKall WW2 map as well. :)
Can someone please point out the old HALO Committee Building? Thanks
If I remember correctly it's this one:
http://www.atvgraphics.org/images/SmokeBombHill_1_12_1959_Halo.jpg
If I remember correctly it's this one:
http://www.atvgraphics.org/images/SmokeBombHill_1_12_1959_Halo.jpg
Just a young lad, but I believe that is the current location of the SWC Rigger Shed (top center of page, circled in Red). So we still have a presence in the area, now overrun with CA and MISO (PSYOPs new name).
The Reaper
05-14-2011, 08:19
Just a young lad, but I believe that is the current location of the SWC Rigger Shed (top center of page, circled in Red). So we still have a presence in the area, now overrun with CA and MISO (PSYOPs new name).
Negative, the area circled in red is on the north side of Gruber Rd.
Reilly is just to the left of the HALO barn, The All-American Expressway would be on the far right, where the runway is. Buker Street is the street immediately South of the HALO barn.
The SWCS rigger shed would be at the bottom of the map, South of Son Tay.
This same map sits outside the GB Club with quite a few of the buildings and areas marked. Probably put up by the CA and MISO units in the area.
TR
tom kelly
05-16-2011, 03:59
Negative, the area circled in red is on the north side of Gruber Rd.
Reilly is just to the left of the HALO barn, The All-American Expressway would be on the far right, where the runway is. Buker Street is the street immediately South of the HALO barn.
The SWCS rigger shed would be at the bottom of the map, South of Son Tay.
This same map sits outside the GB Club with quite a few of the buildings and areas marked. Probably put up by the CA and MISO units in the area.
TR
Iam in Fayetteville, NC as I write this msg. staying at The Marriott Courtyard on Scyamore Rd. down in this AO for All American Week; I was never in the 82nd but arrived at Ft. Bragg on 12/05/1962 to Special Forces Training Gp. A Co. which was in the Smoke Bomb Hill area, will stop by the Green Beret Club and check out the map. I did my medical training in the old division area hospital...dog lab... A lot of the street names in the Smoke Bomb Hill area have been changed since since I was last stationed here in Dec. 1963? tom kelly
Someone help a FOG..
Is the red area in this pic where the 6th Gp was in 69??
And the green at the bottom right, the edge of the Gabriel Demonstration Area??
Tx..
JJ
The MATA village and Gabriel Demo Area was to the E of the airstrip; the MFF school was the area circled in orange in Al's post IIRC.
Richard
greenberetTFS
05-16-2011, 05:55
When did they tear down the old SF museum?.........I stopped by with my wife and kids when we went to Wally World in 1976.......... Talked to the guys in charge about my short life in the 77th,they had some old papers from the early 60's......... Went to the drop zone(forgot which one) to have the kids watch a jump......... Sure brought old memories back,and it seemed like a lot of changes,like the old wooden 2 floor barracks were gone....... That was the last time I was a Ft.Bragg,hope to some day get back there on the next reunion.........;)
Big Teddy :munchin
Someone help a FOG..
Is the red area in this pic where the 6th Gp was in 69??
And the green at the bottom right, the edge of the Gabriel Demonstration Area??
Tx..
JJ
If you look at the piture the bottom east/west road is Son Tay. Coming from the west the first single road is 15th st, next set of double roads are 14th & 13th, 10th & 9th and lastly 6th & 5th.
When they put in the All American Expressway in the late 70s they took out the eastern half of that last block leading up to the eastern single road over to the east/west runway you can just see in the bottom right of the picture. The highway fence runs/ran pretty much just to the west of the north/south runway.
The runways made an E/W - N/S X. As Richard said - the bleachers for the Gab demo were on the south side of the runway on the eastern side. After the demo the visiters took the trails wandered through the south/eastern square.
By 1982 the area noth of Gruber had been turned into new buildings and the 37th Eng Brigade. The SF Museum was moved somewhere around that time to where it is now. The 5th had moved over to the area in the Old Division area by the summer of 83.
If I remember correctly it's this one:
http://www.atvgraphics.org/images/SmokeBombHill_1_12_1959_Halo.jpg
Did Gruber Rd run down hill towards Reilly Rd (right to left on the map?
Which area was 7th Grps back in 65/66?
Thanks
Which area was 7th Grps back in 65/66?
This was 7th SFG area '71.
Richard :munchin
Did Gruber Rd run down hill towards Reilly Rd (right to left on the map?
Which area was 7th Grps back in 65/66?
Thanks
You are pretty much looking at the "Hill" in the picture. From around the orange circle it slopes gently down to the south. Where it says "Gruber" is around where it started to slope off to the east down to the RR tracks and old rigger shed at Knox St. But they did put in a big ditch as they ran the AA Expressway through there.
The northern square areas were the pavement of the motor pool parking lots. The "Hill" dropped off just north of them.
Richard - by 1974 the 5th had pushed your western 7th Gp line two more buildings east. Look real close at a larger picture and you'll see a single lane paved road just north of the top row of western barracks. At the 5th barracks (6th Bldg) it jogs south and then back east along the south side of that row. The building on the west side of that jog was A/3/5th's building. IIRC C/3/5th was just south of Co A while Co B was to the building to the west.
The snack bar was in one of those single story buildings on the east side of Alamo Parade Field.
Somehow in my memory (FOG), I remember the HALO Committee (66/67) being located in the building I circled in yellow.
A number of those building Richard marked as SFTG (71) were company mess halls back in the 60's.
In 66, 7th Grp company orderly rooms, chow hall, billets, dispensary, and Group S-2 moved into newly constructed buildings southeast of Ardennes and Marion St
Somehow in my memory (FOG), I remember the HALO Committee (66/67) being located in the building I circled in yellow.
A number of those building Richard marked as SFTG (71) were company mess halls back in the 60's.
In 66, 7th Grp company orderly rooms, chow hall, billets, dispensary, and Group S-2 moved into newly constructed buildings southeast of Ardennes and Marion St
The area circled in red were the team rooms and ODBs - the Group HQs, ODCs, mess halls, and billets were due west of Reilly Road near the JFK Chapel.
The bldgs marked as SFTG were committee/classrooms - there were many more in the area South of Gruber Road and the training companies billets were also located West of Reilly and North of Gruber.
When we closed out USASFT/1st SFG in '74 and returned to Bragg, the old buildings North of Gruber were gone, with new bldgs belonging to the 20th Eng Bde in their place and the team rooms and ODBs all having moved into the area South of Gruber.
The WAC area was gone and the female soldiers had been integrated into their individually assigned units.
Richard
.............When we closed out USASFT/1st SFG in '74 and returned to Bragg, the old buildings North of Gruber were gone, with new bldgs belonging to the 20th Eng Bde in their place and the team rooms and ODBs all having moved into the area South of Gruber...........
You are just a couple of years off on the time line Richard. In 74 the area I noted as 5th Gps was still there - as well as everything around Alamo Parade Field. We were still there through 75 as we did one of those Organization Day fun and games deals on the parade field - Van Meter was my Team Sgt at the time. And then we did either a Solid Shield or a Bold Eagle from there when Blair was my Team Sgt which would have been early 76.
We where on the south side when I bought my Jeep Christmas of 77.
So at least the western portion moved south between summer of 76 & fall of 77. I want to say the fall of 76 because I got a 66 Chevy Impala at Christmas of 76 and we barracks rats were living in the old COSCOM area while our barracks near the JFK Chapel were rehabed. I do not recall having the Chevy while being on the north side.
When they started building the AA Expressway shortly thereafter we were on the south side and for our weekly company four mile run - in boots - we would run east to the AA Expressway route and then south down it to Santa Fe and back. As they were building the bridge they had a temporary crossing made over a few small culverts. That was one sucky run after it had rained.
Pete,
Your recall is probably better than mine there and '76 may have been the time-line for the tear downs and new construction North of Gruber. Our team rooms in the 7th SFG had moved from the North to the South of Gruber sometime between '73-'74 when I left 714 for USASFT/JCRC and returned to 742. I thought they were gone and the 20th was in our old area then, but that must be CRS on my part. I then left for Bad Tolz in early '76 and both Groups were South of Gruber when I returned to 726 in '79 with the 20th Eng Bde having taken over the entire North side of Gruber in their new 'dorms' and all.
I do miss the old team rooms and ODB HQs there, though - there was something about those old WW2 wooden buildings that seemed durable and familiarly comfortable.
Richard
greenberetTFS
05-22-2011, 07:07
I have a picture dating back to 1956...........;) I've got Maggie looking for it and will post it ASAP............ :) I got it when I was in the 77th SF group..........:o
Big Teddy :munchin
....Your recall is probably better than mine .............
Only in the immediate area - and mostly only Co A/3/5th. When we moved to the south side of Gruber we were in one of the larger two story buildings that had been used as a BEQ. The rooms were very small and most teams shared a bathroom with another team. The building was just about even with the SF Museum.
Co A was downstairs and the old dayroom at the end of the building was used as a supply room. Co B was upstairs. Co C has down the hill and to the west in the last row of 2 story buildings. They were just offset by a building or two (IIRC) from the 5th Gp SCUBA Locker on Son Tay.
Only in the immediate area - and mostly only Co A/3/5th. When we moved to the south side of Gruber we were in one of the larger two story buildings that had been used as a BEQ. The rooms were very small and most teams shared a bathroom with another team. The building was just about even with the SF Museum.
Co A was downstairs and the old dayroom at the end of the building was used as a supply room. Co B was upstairs. Co C has down the hill and to the west in the last row of 2 story buildings. They were just offset by a building or two (IIRC) from the 5th Gp SCUBA Locker on Son Tay.
Yep,
I was upstairs in Co B at that time on ODA 584 (1980 timeframe). Our team room was on eastern most end of the bldg. Instead of dragging stuff down the hall and down the stairs we used to take it out on the fire escape and lower it down (except for the heavier team boxes of course). It was funny watching one of the other companies play (darn I can't remember the name of it now but it involved a HUGE ball). More injuries were received from that game than any training we ever did.
I love reading this Tread.. Great History on these pages.
mojaveman
06-16-2011, 21:09
Interesting history.
Looked in the top left portion of the picture and couldn't locate the JFKSWC so I guess it was built sometime after '69. Also looked to the southeast of Gruber and Reilly and couldn't locate the Yntema club so I guess it came later too. I went in there onetime while inebriated and on a dare. :p
Interesting history.
Looked in the top left portion of the picture and couldn't locate the JFKSWC so I guess it was built sometime after '69. Also looked to the southeast of Gruber and Reilly and couldn't locate the Yntema club so I guess it came later too. I went in there onetime while inebriated and on a dare. :p
Kennedy Hall was built in 1965 and the JFK Chapel opened in '66...the area where they are isn't on the photo.