31 Aug 2023 - F.E. Warren Air Force Base and Last Day at Cheyenne WY

 

Today we wrapped things up on our last day here at Cheyenne WY with a visit to F.E. Warren Air Force Base.  F. E. Warren stands for Francis Emroy Warren who was a Medal of Honor recipient in the American Civil War, a territorial governor and later first state governor of Wyoming, and first and a very long serving US Senator for Wyoming. We had read that F.E. Warren AFB has the distinction of being the oldest military facility in the Air Force, having begun as a frontier fort of the US Army, originally Fort D. A. Russell. In 1930 the Fort was renamed Fort Francis E. Warren, and again renamed as Warren Air Force Base in 1949.  This became very evident during our visit today.

The main gate looked a bit different than a lot of other Air Force Base main gates.  It was kind of 'majestic' with it's brickwork and pillars.  Very beautiful, but this was just the start.

Off to the left as we entered the base is the 'missile park' where three static display missiles are shown. The three missiles displayed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base (AFB) are the Minuteman I, Minuteman III, and Peacekeeper. The Minuteman I was first introduced in 1961. The Minuteman III is part of the current ICBM force, which consists of 400 missiles. The biggest one, the Peacekeeper missiles were brought on full alert in 1988 and have been phased-out.  These ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) serve as one leg of our nuclear triad, the military force structure that consists of three independent delivery methods for nuclear weapons. The other two triad legs are: 

Air - 60 nuclear-capable heavy bomber aircraft

Sea -  14 ballistic missile submarines armed with 240 submarine-launched ballistic missiles

Needless to say, F.E. Warren AFB plays a huge role in our Nation's defense.  With that, we headed for the ICBM museum on base and were amazed at the very old, very beautiful structures, including the building that the museum is in.  

It was interesting to learn that this building was the first brick hospital building on post and the oldest hospital building still standing.  The original wooden hospital was torn down in 1887, yes 1887 not 1987, to make way for this building.  The huge porch areas around the building provided a place for patients to walk and get some fresh air!!

We were disappointed to discover the building locked.  The museum was supposed to be open from 0900-1600 each day, and we were here before lunch, so no idea why it was closed.  Very disappointing!

Across from the museum building is Security Forces squadron, in another gorgeous, very old brick building.  

Everywhere we drove we saw row after row of beautiful old structures, exquisitely maintained.  FE Warren is really a crown jewel!

Next on our list was to do a drive-through of the FamCamp.  As I mentioned before, I had read some not-so-good reviews for this FamCamp and that combined with a hassle trying to get ahold of them to make a reservation I decided to just stay off-base.  Well, the FamCamp was OK.  Nothing to write home about. It was not that easy to find to start with and there were a couple railroad bridges that were 11-12 ft clearance, so that would have been a no-go for us.   Most of the sites were small, gravel.  They had a few pull-throughs for larger rigs, but just a few. We made the right decision I believe.  We took no pictures here.

On the way to the FamCamp we passed what is likely a facility maintenance building of some sort, again, another historic building.  It could have easily been a stable back in the day.  So, cool building, but very cool to see antelope grazing in the yard!!  They undoubtedly frequent the FamCamp which was not far away.

From there we headed to the Commissary to restock the pantry and fridge before we depart tomorrow.  It was not huge, but very well stocked and we got pretty much everything we were after.

On the way back to the campground we stopped to refuel the truck and then stopped at a car wash about a block away.  The big ol' brown truck was badly in need of a bath, and we delivered!  Glad to get the bugs and grime off of her.  Back at the campground we flushed/dumped tanks and stowed all the hoses.  Good news - I did not toast our water pump.  It has a thermal overload built in and so when it got warm, it shut itself off.  We switched over to onboard tanks like we do the day before we depart, and it is working fine.  I ordered a replacement just to be on the safe side, and it is sitting in Colorado Springs waiting for us.

So tomorrow we will pull chocks at a reasonable hour and head west on I-80 to I-25 then south through Denver to Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy FamCamp, our next stop.  We stayed there in 2017 and enjoyed it.  We visited quite a few of the attractions in and around Colorado Springs then also, so we are building a list of places we want to go this time.  

We have already made connections with some friends and relatives to see there including a DeWitt Iowa classmate and neighbor of mine that I have not seen for 53 years, Vickie Prier Garwood.  Vickie lived just down the street and around the corner from me there and I attended school with her from Kindergarten through Freshman in high school when we moved away.  It will be so great to reconnect with her and meet her Navy Veteran husband Bruce.

Another friend and military comrade Ron Tomlinson lives there.  I actually hired Ron and he and I worked together with our team in communications for the Iowa Air National Guard for many years.  We facilitated the installation of the first digital Government owned and maintained telephone PBX, CCTV system and fiber optic-based local area computer network.  We are trying to plan a get-together with him.  

Finally we are excited that we are having lunch with two of Doreen's cousins while we are there.  Jeanie and Deni Powers from Ann Arbor MI will be here visiting Jeanie's sister Barbie Puzio and her husband Jake who live in Lafayette CO!

Next report from the Air Force Academy!!