RAF Alconbury
RAF Alconbury was home to two squadrons of A-10s, the 509th and 511th Tactical Fighter Squadrons. It was also home to a squadron of U-2 spyplanes.
A single runway bisected the base. In this photo, the 511th Vultures squadron buildings were on the far side of the runway. Note the numerous hardened aircraft shelters (HASs).
A ground-level look at some of the many HASes scattered all over the airfield. Two A-10s fit in each HAS, stacked nose-to-tail.
The 511th squadron operated two main Ops buildings -- our normal, unhardened, peacetime building, seen here...
... and a hardened, bomb-resistant building where we would operate if things ever got ugly with the Soviets. (2015 photo.)
We also had a squadron bar called the Pig Sty, inside this WWII-era Quonset hut. (This photo is from 2015, but it looked about the same in 1988.)
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Desert Storm Deployment
King Fahd International Airport (KFIA), Saudi Arabia, the largest airport in the world at the time. It was our home away from home for 6 months.
A look across the flightline at KFIA, showing the tall steel revetment walls that separated our airplanes. The terminal building, tower, and mosque are in the background. Also visible are Army C-12s and OV-1 Mohawks that shared our ramp.
Tent City and Vulture Boulevard, during the war. (After the war, the dirt street was actually paved!) The tents were air-conditioned, and were reasonable comfortable. At this phase of the war, we hadn't yet built much in the way of fancy bunkers, decks, tent entrance portals, or other niceties.