About this episode
Mike Dell shares his experiences living in Keflavik, Iceland during the early 1990s while serving in the U.S. Air Force.
In this episode, Mike takes a break from Northern Michigan stories and heads far north— way far north—to share memories from his year living in Keflavik, Iceland in the early 1990s while serving in the U.S. Air Force. Life on the NATO Base Mike talks about being assigned to Naval Air Station Keflavik, a joint-base environment with Air Force, Navy, Marines, and other NATO personnel. He recounts working with the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron – the Black Knights , maintaining F-15 electrical and environmental systems, and occasionally pulling duty in “FISneyland,” the alert barn for interceptor operations. The Journey to Get There Before Iceland came a whirlwind of military orders: Originally headed to remote Galena, Alaska , the Air Force cancelled those orders at the last minute. The next day, new orders arrived sending him to Keflavik instead. He completed F-15 training at Tyndall AFB in Florida, drove across the country, shipped his belongings, and ultimately hopped a Hawaiian Airlines DC-8 from Philadelphia to Iceland—a strange but memorable experience. Daily Life Before the Internet Mike recalls what it was like living overseas before modern connectivity: Expensive phone…
People in this episode
Host: Mike Dell
Topics covered
- Iceland
- 1990s
- military life
- Air Force
- technology
- travel
Keywords
- Iceland
- 1990s
- U.S. Air Force
- military life
- Keflavik
- F-15
- technology
- travel
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: U.S. Air Force, 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, AFRTS, BBC, RTL4, Sky News/Sports
Places: Keflavik, Iceland, Galena, Alaska, Tyndall AFB, Philadelphia, DC-8
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