Roosey Roads: The End Of An Era

I think this will be my last sea story about Naval Air Station Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico.  The Navy closed the base in 2004, and I think it was detrimental to both the Navy and to Puerto Rico.  The Navy lost a great deployment area, and Puerto Rico lost a ton of money. Overall, I have favorable memories of my time at Roosey Roads. 

From the low point of my first deployment there, to visiting the rain forest on my last trip, I had many memorable moments in between.  Although we rarely had any off time, when we did, we would have some squadron picnics at the Enlisted Beach on base.  They had a fun little coral island about 200 yards off the beach and we would snorkel out and around it.  More than once I got pretty sunburned out at the beach area.

Crabs and Angus…

Puerto Rico also has some large coconut crabs.  Those beasties are HUGE.  You definitely do not one of those critters latching onto you.  The ones I saw did not live near the water.  They eat coconuts, so anywhere the coconut trees grow they can be, and coconut trees are ubiquitous on Puerto Rico.

One time a group of us went to San Juan to check out the city.  In the Old Town section, which is where all the tourists end up, it was pretty cool.  Lots of shops and history, not to mention the numerous casinos.  Old town is where all the cruise ship pull in, so it naturally caters to those folks.  No trip to San Juan would be complete without a stop at the Black Angus.  I won’t delve further, but it is NOT a steak house.  It is not my cup of tea, but the “group” wanted to go.  So I can say I’ve been there, seen that.  The downstairs area is a large bar and the upstairs area…is well…I didn’t go up there so I can’t speak to it.

Special Operations

Another memorable sight I saw one day was the unloading of a SEAL team assault boat.  An Air Force C-5 Galaxy taxied up near our hangar.  When the cargo doors opened there was an AWESOME looking Special Operations boat inside of it.  The boat look very sleek and mean.  The fact that it was inside this giant aircraft was even more impressive.  It made me proud to be an American that day when I watched it being unloaded!

Naval Air Station Roosevelt Roads Puerto Rico has gone the way of Subic Bay, Philippines.  Both were widely recognized by Fleet sailors, and many questionable, but TRUE, stories originated there.  Both are gone and only us old salts remember those times.  It is too bad that today’s Sailors do not have the opportunities we had.