LARRY'S RAMBLE: 1960

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

1960

Head on from the air, a different view of NAS Alameda

I remember 1960 as another fairly quiet year, I think there was a promotion to Third Class, and a change of jobs. I left the Documents behind and joined the crew at Expediting, the fast paced world wide search for parts. Alameda was a major industrial base and the Overhaul and Repair Department reworked dozens of aircraft every year, they must have had 2500 employees, all, or mostly all, civilians. Sometimes they needed parts and sometimes we needed them to speed up the process on other parts. We worked pretty hard up there near the front entrance to the third floor. During the year two of us worked nights, this year Gene Rice and myself had our turn. Data Processing was still in its' infancy and we would hand type on a key punch machine and use each single card to send information to Philadelphia (Worldwide hub of Aviation Supply for the Navy). Each card was wrapped around a cylinder, and the cylinder fit into a small chamber of a unit tied to the telephone line, the data was transmitted and we would wrap the next card. This process now would be very different, a list e-mailed would take seconds, the process we used would take an hour or two. Times change for a reason. We also took advantage of a brand new shipping company for parts in a hurry. Two or three former military pilots had started a civilian company to take care of the Navy and Air Force, Federal Express was the name, it's amazing to see how that company has grown.
Well let me give you a few photos I have gleaned from the depths of stuff in the cloud (Internet).

The barracks (top), Mess Hall (dining) in the center, and more barracks and Navy Exchange complex on the bottom.
When the Oakland Raiders were brand new they practiced on the field in the middle, we got to know a lot of them.
The large building in the foreground (very bottom) is part of the Overhaul unit.