Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

Monthly meetings, organizations, important dates to remember etc.
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cobraneck
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Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

Post by cobraneck » April 16, 2014, 5:09 am

cobraneck wrote:I just got back from Thailand. went to do some scuba diving in Phuket. At first I was elated to be back in Thailand after 45 years....but that soon wore off when the reality of that ----- hit me like a sack of potatoes. Thailand has not improved at all in 45 years, just the population has increased about 10x. It's now full of hustlers, very similar to today's Vietnam. The car and motorbike traffic is unreal, the motorbikes even jump on the sidewalks when the traffic slows down. Some motorbikes are even coming the other way, so you have to watch in front of you, and behind. Many stray dogs, most with rabies, just hang out sleeping in the gutters and sidewalks. You have to tiptoe around them and hope they don't wake up.

I had planned to stay for a month, maybe go up and visit the 7th...but soon I just changed my flights and headed back. What a depressing experience.
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I went back again, this time for some diving in Ko Lanta in southern Thailand near Malaysia. It was great, totally the opposite of the chaos of Phuket. After about ten days, headed up to Udorn (Udon Thani) for a few days and visited the 7th. Udorn is much like Bangkok back in the day, nothing looked familiar, crowded and much larger...but basically still a -----. The airport uses the same runway as the old Udorn Airbase, saw the old airbase tower and aircraft flak shields while our plane taxied by.

After some major difficulty, I found the old 7th RRFS. Urban growth has spread from Udorn to Nong Soong, a four lane busy road now lined with various commerce and shoddy buildings...gone are the long stretches of rice paddies and klongs. What was once an army outpost in the middle of nowhere is now surrounded by that urban growth. I got on the post, and after filtering out all the changes, it came in loud and clear. The only building that the Thai army maintained is the HQ building, the barracks are still standing, but are mostly closed off. The rec building/area around the pool is gone, the pool has deteriorated, partially filled with old rain water. The NCO club is long gone, just bushes and trees where it once stood. Across you can see the old motor pool, the maintenance/engineering building, and the BOQ, didn't walk over there, so not sure if they were kept up or not. Their vehicles are parked at the motor pool. Was quiet without the old diesel generators blasting away, lots of old trees all around, much different from what I remember. No trees or anything back then. Didn't walk down to the old ops building, but understand it has deteriorated as has most of the post.

Was a mind bending experience walking around there, the barracks bay that I lived in near the old water tower seemed to be the only one that was not closed off. Was clean and ventilated, so I walked thru it...surreal remembering those that lived there in 1967-68, all my old rowdy drinking buddies are now dead...

Went up to Nong Khai where we used to go to eat and drink, stopped at some cafe and had lunch, bizarre seeing Laos across the Mekong again. Another mind bending experience for me.

Glad to leave, have no more plans to return to visit Thailand...or Asia. Thailand is still Thailand, was happy to leave long ago, happy to leave again.

Enjoy!



thai_pilot
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Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

Post by thai_pilot » May 18, 2014, 9:54 pm

FrazeeDK wrote:then you probably remember the entrance to the Peppergrinder where they had what looked like two curved elephant tusks (probably of painted concrete).. They're still there..!
Hey Dave I'm heading up to Udon sometime in the next three weeks and was wondering if I can get in contact with you for a few beers and talk about the RRFS. Call me a Luddite but I couldn't figure out how to privately message you on these forums.

[email protected]

Regards,

Ben H.

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Post by wieland62$$ » October 28, 2014, 12:39 am

I was on a military clothing site looking for anything to do with Thailand hats, patches, ect. I decided to type in the 7RRFS and to my surprise there are freaking websites. One post mentioned who this person hung out with and I recognized the stoy boys were mentioned. I was with those guys and a lot of the other guys from Vinthill farms and went to Thailand in May 74 and ets'd 7 June 1975. The first guy I met was a guy named Rick from California and he introduced me to TS. I belonged to a group of six that called ourselves The Committee for Gooder Leadership. I worked in the Air Force Bay from 2-10..got ducked taped and displayed and then thrown in the duck pond out front. Tom the redhead from Iowa was a good friend and oh god so many names I don't remember. We lived next to the Stoy boys behind the bar and messed up his monkey......They called me Jew Boy, Rabbi, had a jungle hat with Jew Power, Thai Stick is ass kicking ----, keep on truckin.....still have the hat..... Let me know what up

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FrazeeDK
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Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

Post by FrazeeDK » October 28, 2014, 6:29 pm

Wieland.. If you worked the Zoomie bay you worked near me.. I worked the Weather and you may have been in the undersea world of ZKB?? Got a few old Ramasun guys married to Thais who live here in Udon, five including me that I know of, probably more hiding out somewhere.. A few more down in Bangkok.. Facebook has a 7th Radio Research Field Station and a Ramasun Station page, one with about 130 members and the other with 200.. Yeah, you crazy guys from VHFS.. Coming in with an "old guy" attitude.. The Stoys, Steve Lippert,, who was the short guy, was that you??
Dave

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Post by wieland62$$ » October 28, 2014, 10:04 pm

I might have been the short guy.....I copied airports out of NV......hang out with Bob Pudelka from NJ.....Stoy boys were on day shift if I remember right....send me your email...I am going to try a put a picture up to help some of you guys remember ......40 years later....memory not all there......hell sometimes I don't know if I ate lunch.....then I look down and I see mustard.....I remember Lippert....Lynn from Seattle (?) was one of my buds

wieland62$$
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Post by wieland62$$ » October 29, 2014, 12:03 am

send me a email at [email protected] and I will send you some pictures.....didn't think I was that short...just everybody else was a little taller

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redwolf
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Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

Post by redwolf » October 29, 2014, 8:47 am

I retrieved the links for the Facebook pages FrazeeDK mentioned, great stuff in there:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RamasunStation/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2772219 ... ?ref=br_tf

RW
AUT VIAM INVENIAM AUT FACIAM | ARCANA IMPERII | ALIS AQUILAE

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parrot
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Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

Post by parrot » December 16, 2014, 8:30 pm

On one of many Udon Facebook pages, there's a discussion of the recent US Senate report on CIA Torture.......and conjecture in the press and on-line about whether the black site in Thailand was at either the Voice of America station in Ban Dung or the RTA site at Ramasun Station. The article concludes by discussing recent US policy changes concerning the future of the VOA site.

Nice overhead photo back in the days for those who were at Ramasun.

https://www.facebook.com/udon.today.news

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FrazeeDK
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Post by FrazeeDK » December 17, 2014, 8:03 am

In Googling various combinations of "Rendtion Flights and "Thailand" I came up with a string of stories from 2002 onwards and about six referenced Udon... After some cogitation I'll say that there is a possibility that Udon AB was the site... In thinking back, since our house is in the landing path of Udon Airport I doe remember occasionally seeing some Learjet type aircraft with "N" (U.S.) tail markings landing at Udon back in those years. It actually makes no sense for either VOA or the old Ramasun station to be the sites since it would require an additional van ride to those locations.. VOA, being in Bandung is a long ride over rural roads.. For those of you who've been around here a while you might remember the North Koreans trying to do a "rendition" of Nork refugees they'd grabbed in Bangkok via van to Laos. An accident had the "refugees" fleeing to the Thai police with the attendant bad press for the Nork government and embassy.. It just makes more sense to have a place where the aircraft could fly in, drop off the prisoner and secure them on the AB.. Any travel off the transit base is just asking for more public observation and potential accidents. Looking at a database of rendition flights into Thailand shows most were to Don Muang and one to Trat which supposedly took Hambali out of Thailand. Of course, hopping up from Don Muang to Udon could have been done without any flight plans..
Dave

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Post by wieland62$$ » December 30, 2014, 3:18 am

bradley K. Wieland

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parrot
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Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

Post by parrot » January 21, 2015, 12:54 pm

Ramasun vets might be interested in the photos toward the top of the page at
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthrea ... &page=2585
The Thai at the top of the first photo (with the bikes) says:
"American radar center, Ramasum Base, from the Vietnam War days. There are plans to develop the area into a tourist attraction sometime in the future"

JRHill
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Any 7th RRFS Ramasun Station alumnae on the forum??

Post by JRHill » February 15, 2015, 2:05 pm

Just joined, was in country in 72-73, 33G20 (Autotune) and member of MARS (A7USA) (AD3HOF) and Ramasun Motorcycle Club.

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FrazeeDK
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Post by FrazeeDK » February 15, 2015, 8:11 pm

not much left of the old FLR-9 Circularly Disposed antenna Array (CDAA) other than the Zone A monopoles. I imagine all the rest of the FLR-9 was disassembled for copper and metal some time in the early 80's... the link shows the bicyclist walking their bikes down to the old central cable/switching building, now gutted, back 40 ought years ago called the "roundhouse".. As for making it a tourist attraction, what are they going to do, show the old cable tunnel that went from operations to the roundhouse and claim its the entrance to as much as 10 kilometers of underground tunnel?? That claim was main by a Thai military officer some time last year which Parrot posted...
Dave

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Post by JRHill » February 15, 2015, 11:24 pm

Thanx for the quick reply. I guess ASA was eliminated in the latter 70's early 80's. Often think about that life over there. Sometimes wish it was like that more often. When we returned stateside, we brought a Thai individual with us. His first observation was "Who killed all the trees?" LOL. He never saw a winter scene of bare trees! He became an outstanding citizen over here, and I've been guilty of not staying up-to-date with him! I always thought that someday I would return to the area, but never had the opportunity. I spent 18 months there and loved every minute of it. I see you're listed as living there! While over there and working the MARS station, I was always thinking that we were 12 hours apart from my home time and a day ahead!

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FrazeeDK
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Post by FrazeeDK » February 16, 2015, 8:13 am

there are a few Ramasun alumnae I know of living over here.. Two other O5H's besides me, a former MP, and an AFSS guy who lives a ways out of the city and farms... There are probably others here too, perhaps not in this forum and perhaps some that never got into the internet thing... I'm in contact with a number of other old Ramasun guys Stateside who are on the Ramasun Station or 7th RRFS Facebook pages. Some, particularly those married to Thais do say they'd like to "retire" over here but generally family links with kids and grandkids prevent that.. Others visit occasionally.. The land across the street from our place is owned by the Thai wife of a former Ramasun 98C who lives down in Florida...
Dave

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Post by philt51 » March 21, 2015, 9:31 am

Hi

I was stationed at the 7th RRFS in July of 1973. Made my way from Edzell, Scotland via a commercial flight carrying a diplomatic passport. Was part of the Naval Security Group. Worked at the ops bldg at the 7th.
Have many great memories of my time there and some not so good.
Been trying to look up some buddies I was there with, Paul Emge, Bill Mehl werea couple of them.
Hope to hear back from those who spent time at the 7th, especially if part of the crew that worked in the ops bldg with its Flare 9.
Take care

Phil T

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FrazeeDK
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Post by FrazeeDK » March 21, 2015, 12:26 pm

Paul Emge appears to be on Facebook.. He's got a bunch of photos post of Asmara (Kagnew Station) so I figure he's got to be connected with the Intel community back then. He lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. https://www.facebook.com/fairlycrazy23?fref=ts
Dave

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FrazeeDK
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Post by FrazeeDK » March 21, 2015, 12:28 pm

Bill Mehl is also on FB. fits the age bracket based on his pictures but no other links showing he's NSG, AFSS or ASA back in the day...
Dave

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Post by KCMOMAN3408 » August 30, 2015, 12:18 am

Good day to all. I am a young veteran of the OIF 1 and 2, but currently am married to my beautiful wife in Udon and will be going home on vacation there in October and would honestly like to take one of you out for some drinks and just talk about Udon from back in the late 60's early 70's and also some stories if you wouldn't mind. Drinks on me of course. I grew up there in the 80's and 90's for about 8 years, Bangkok, Surin, Udon, Chaiyaphum. I've never spoken to any Americans there and would like to meet some in Udon. Thank you.

[email protected] is my e-mail if you wouldn't mind giving this young pup a history lesson or two.

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FrazeeDK
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Post by FrazeeDK » August 30, 2015, 9:00 am

PM me when you get here..
Dave

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