Blog

My First Love...

116PM is my first love in PA. I fell into its net half a century ago, we were together with my girlfriend, then my wife Lina, for less than 40 years in total.
We separated, at 116, by mutual consent, despite our intense love, in May 1970.
We took our paths:

NADGE, Digital Communications, CCCIS, ACCS, NATO, Retirement, Vitsi, AKP, GEA, Limnos, ATA… me,
F 104, A7, F16 the mistress.

First love is never forgotten, I wanted to see her again, to see how much she had changed.
I was kicking everything back, as if I wanted to make the road longer, but I couldn't get her out of my mind and heart, I always loved her.

And, so, today, July 23, 2019, I took my wife with me, because she had never seen her rival (I was the one who measured the kilometer markers of the old Araxos-Athens road, every Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening), we put on our clothes, left the Fokido-Nafpaktia Bridge and pulled over to the 116PM, our beloved, to meet her.
We didn't need a GPS, we arrived in Kato Achaia, I saw the old Araxos Airport sign.
The road is the same old one, it hadn't changed, Niforaika there, Kalamaki below, Stamatopouleiika, on the right, I see a sign to the Ionian Coast, it didn't exist back then, and lo! further down is Lakkopetra.

A little further on, on the right, the sign said, 116 PM Diaspora. It seemed much smaller to me than the one in 70.
On the left, the hill, where the antennas and VHF machines were, now had a chapel and a small cemetery.
On the right, the hill next to the intersection, where telecommunications were known, then, as Lightup, was full of olive trees and vineyards now.
Only in the diaspora did the towering antenna of the Americans, as it was then known, the 116th Military District Landmark, dominate.

Eight kilometers, even if we reach the old mistress's house. I was in a hurry, to see it, but more to show it to Lina so she would understand how great I was then at 22.
The telecommunications antennas, on the towering hill, there, a timeless landmark and behind it the Naval Squadron, with the rescue machinery we had there. I used to go there very often, I don't know if it was to check the machinery or the beautiful fish I used to catch there, the Spartan sea bream, '8 drachmas per kilo'.

Then, on the right, I see a complex of small and large buildings. I wondered, what is this? and almost immediately, a voice burst out inside me! Don't you remember, Tasos! TWO DOWN! TROCHADIN, EPOMOU ARM, PSARADES… The always alive, the always shouting, the famous Araxos, the mother of thousands of our squadrons, the first love of so many and so many! The 124PVE!!! I cried, I said to myself, she died or got transferred!

And, then, a little further to the left. Here is the gate '116 BATTLE WING'. There was my first Love: Great Lady, Aristocrat, Empress, Beautiful, Ancient Spartan, either then or now. I instantly remembered all the 'those' Mandalos, Chronopoulos, Dimakis, Roulias...

A great and pleasant surprise, two young officers came there: Messrs. Chalantzoukas and Sykiotis. I asked Chalantzoukas what your relationship is with the old Nikos Chalantzoukas who was my chief of staff, 40-50 years ago. He answered me as an uncle. I felt very good. I replied, "Very good 'boy'" (80 years old, now, as Lieutenant General N. Ch.). We continued the conversation... and my companions told me: The commander would be very happy to offer you a glass of water in his office... but... I'm just a squadron leader, I'm an engineer, and back then in the 116th, I was a sub-squad leader..

And, we both responded, simultaneously, with Lina: both our honor and our joy to have a coffee with the commander (at that time, the first time, on 15/9/1967, longing and anxiety were the dominant feelings - although the then Commander, a 39-year-old colonel, Giorgos Vagiakakos, was a wonderful man and officer with an A-capital).

And, we moved forward, and in front of us was a small hill, probably left as history: I recognized it, it was the SOR (Squadron Operations Room), it seemed very small to me, the thing that once inspired me with awe.

And, I thought to myself, so small, but it once accommodated King Constantine during his visit to the 116th Military District at the end of November 1967 and his briefing by the then Commander Vagiakakos.

How many times have I been there with the pilots of the 336th MK to brief them on the status of the T-H means and P/B. And, I remembered Squadron Leader Ghika Venetsano,… thank you, little one, I was 22, these pilots were 25-30 and they were very old!

I saw on one side new large hangars and buildings and on the other humble low support facilities of the touch of my time. And, we were moving slowly with the air vehicle, and I remembered the MPA on the right, the FAX and Meteorology, the GCA further on, the PEP further down, and the firefighting equipment further there… and the QRA with their nuclear weapons at the end of the corridor, and I saw order, cleanliness, deforestation, housekeeping…

And, moving forward, I saw a larger hill, with large iron gates, the new BOC (Base Operation Center) – nothing like the one I knew, 50 years ago, I am Number 12 (T-H) I reported to the operations officer, every night at 1900- and then we arrived at a very beautiful building, with a nice and well-kept garden, with proudly lined up historical F 84, F 104, A 7 airplanes, with parking shelters, with beauty… it was the new Command Headquarters. No comparison with the low long building of my time in the diaspora!

And, we enter through the central, large entrance, the official one, of the highest de..., and as I entered, I stopped, I saw three large columns with the commanders of the Unit. There, somewhere in the middle, were my guys: G. Vagiakakos 39x, E. Papadimitropoulos 34x, P. Papaioannou 40x, much lower down was my classmate Grigoris Nousias 44x… All young and beautiful in their summer uniforms, I cried, the first were in eternal flight. The last holds on tight and writes... distilled, he no longer flies.

We went inside with my wife, and we were greeted standing by the commander of the squadron, Ioannis Kotsakis, a slender airman, a little older than those I mentioned above, he would probably have been born in 1967, when I was in the 116th Squadron.

He offered us water and coffee, we chatted, he seemed to be holding on tightly to his aviation family, next to the aviation image, with the blue F-16s facing four red F-16s in the Chios area and Dktis, fleeting, his eye on us and on the screen.

He says that the Commander must have the electronic image in his eye almost all day long, turn and lift every stone of the Unit, receive and listen to all his people, see the papers late at night, utilize all his resources (human and material) and not complain about the finances… I shook my head… how much realism, how much lean, simple, effective management!! He honored us by offering us a small F104. We thanked him warmly and continued the short journey parallel to the taxiway and arrived at the 336, the praised and war-laden one.

The Squadron Commander, Aschos Konstantinos Sitos, a wonderful man and aviator, sparkling eyes, friendly around 45, was overflowing with pride for his Squadron (but also the luck he had from God to command it) and what didn't we see in a short time: the wonderful pilots' lounge with handmade tables made from useless materials from Afon, the beautiful briefing amphitheater, the meeting room, the flight uniforms and life jackets room, the Historical Museum of 336 - a historical diamond - the simple but elegant office and next to it a dressing room for the warrior to steal a nap in his 24-hour, seven-day-a-week service.

And, best of all, an F16 loaded like a lobster and another F16 leaving the shelter and taking off in under five minutes. -yes less than 5 minutes- from the moment of the take-off order.

Oh! What a time! I remember in Lemnos in 1985 - I was there as a DYP - the Minister of National Defense Charalambopoulos giving the take-off order of the readiness F4, the Chief of the General Staff Kouris, the Chief of Staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces, Dr. Scho Athanasiadis and myself as DYP (the last two sweating to the bone). And, when the operator left the readiness canteen, the Afos prepared itself, and was in the air and the clock showed 11 minutes, a meltemi blew in our faces!

The PA is direct and the strikes are instantaneous. And, here the air force 'son' said goodbye to us by offering us a nice poster of the F 16, we wished him a zero safety index, hugged him and left for the seaside club of diaspora officers.

Hyacinth.
The menu had country chicken, country salad and beer. Two people €11. Nothing had changed in 50 years, then drachma now € but always 11, across Varasova and Klokova towering and proud, to the side in the deep majestic Panachaikos.

A wonderful return to my Ithaca. Lina proud of her rival. I felt 50 years younger but with the rank of Aetherarch!

The two Commanders of the Wing and the 336th Squadron were also watching, and they were very grateful to their retired colleague, their parents, the old air force, and they were happy, and from their limited time they had plenty for us. And, we thank them warmly, and we love them, like our children.

Our Air Force has not changed, even if we say the opposite many times in the cafe! It is the same throughout time. Mentally and spiritually, magnanimous, proud, it loves all its children the same!!! And, it ensures the security and defense of the country.
Here's why she is the beloved of our people,