SVEN-HANSEN.DK - Mit liv - Mitt liv - My life

ENGLISH VERSION 8

After about 3 months at home, I suddenly got a call from a man from the company Greenland Contractors on Bomhusvej in Emdrup, who performs work on the Thule base and Søndrestrømfjord in Greenland. I got the address from Henrik (Dorthe and Henrik in Brisbane), who has previously worked in Greenland. I had then sent a postcard from Australia to the company and told a little about myself if they could use someone like me at the air bases in the cold.

In fact, I had not thought about it since the postcard was sent, but suddenly I was sitting here on Bomhusvej in Copenhagen talking about possible jobs in Greenland. He offered me a job as a Supervisor at the Central Workshop in Thule, but I said no to the offer because I think my English is not good enough for such a position where there is more direct contact with the U. S. Airforce and therefore more need for English skills. Practice, I think, but then the boy disappeared right out the door, to come back with a fresh telex from Thule, who told them to use a contractor mechanic at the air base. If there was anything?

If it was! And I was about 2 seconds about saying yes and was already in the process of planning. It was Monday today and the plane already left Kastrup on Thursday towards the Thule base and I had to go through medical examinations and various other things before departure.

My conscience could be a very small place when I went up to Boss Poul Villy on the Blue Buses in Holte and I was told I had to leave the job immediately. I did not have the best conscience because Poul Villy in particular had helped me with a quick job when I returned home from Australia. But he knew me and we shook hands on a good future. Thank you Poul Villy!

Then it went otherwise strongly. Medical examinations and a lot of paperwork had to be done. And then s use around and talk to family and friends, who again shook their heads. Probably know the idea that I was not quite right in my head with all those traveling around and seeing Greenland now! Well what? I have then seen something new every day instead of sitting still.

November 5, 1987

Thursday morning and out to the airport again, this time to find out the Gate to the long DC-8s chartered for the trip to the Thule base. It is very crowded today, where there are many who have to return to the base, after a holiday in Denmark. I was the only "newcomer", but I soon fell into conversation with the others during the time we were waiting in the departure hall in Kastrup. It was 9 o'clock in the morning and several people started drinking beer, but I now stuck to the water. It was probably best to stay sober and not perform on the slap line, already the first day in the company.

Pleasant flight across the Atlantic, Iceland and Greenland with the inland ice that looks very impassable down below us. 5 hours to the northwest from Denmark and the climate is very different. Have just read that it is "First Night" at Thulebasen 22 November, ie. the first day when the sun is no longer visible from the base and for the next 3 months when there is night at the base. Curious about how it is now, when I am now so obsessed with sun and heat. Similarly, there is "First Light" on February 22, when the sun returns to the base over Sydbjerget I read.

Sitting here on the plane and looking down into the night as we fly around the base to prepare for landing. What in the world am I doing now? It looks like something is lying down there, with the darkness surrounding the gray metal barracks and a few lights here and there. Does anyone live there? Well, it's probably going really well and it's too late to change your mind. So down it goes and the plane lands like a snowflake on the runway, so I think the pilot has tried it once before. The DC8 taxis to a gray building, which must be a kind of welcome house for new workers and returnees from vacation. I thought I was the only "newcommer", but there are some more with the same crazy thought as me, namely to start new work here. Thinking for a moment about whether we should rather have a mental examination?

Well, but we go in and are greeted by someone. He mumbles his name (mmuytrvh and welcome to) and we are shown off to a bus that takes us over to a place called "Recreation Center" as the sign outside illuminates. Here we are planted at a table and coffee, tea and soft drinks are offered on request.

Welcome to Thule Airbase! You are a bit excited about what is going to happen today, so we all have to keep our ears stiff, as there is a lot of safety information, because it is storm season in the area. These are very powerful storms that can come from nothing in a short time – being told that a clear warning is if the temperature rises rapidly (within 5-10 minutes) from eg minus 30 to the freezing point, it is best to be prepared for storm. Everything here is very different from life at home by mom's protective arms and always warm food pots. There is an hour of security information about life in and around the base.

These were the most important things regarding safety and then we shift the focus to hunger (finally). Off to "Dundas Dininghall" where we go up and get a plate filled with some really good food. So sit and eat for a little talk about a little of each. To be able to eat here, simply write your name on a list at the entrance to the well-equipped food counters, where you can get all the food you can have in you. There is plenty to choose from so I see a future without hunger and pain in the knees of being overweight.

After dinner we drove around the base and were shown and explained a number of things and told what the different buildings contained, which are worth knowing something about. Including the gym, where almost all forms of exercise can be practiced. The Danish club, the cinema, several hangars and a small alley down near the harbor, which is closed now because the water is stiff and shipping is gone.

The sun is gone, but there are street lights everywhere. All buildings here are confusingly similar because all are built of aluminum. Virtually no special features other than house number, which later turns out to make the base relatively easy to navigate around. The same system as in the USA, with road numbers that tell where we are in the rows of houses, so it should now probably go gradually. I have to live in Barak 326. So it will be 3rd street, 20th row and 6th barrack. How hard can it be!

I'm the only new mechanic, so it's a short trip down to the workshop, referred to as # 580 (eighty-five in everyday speech) where all rolling stock and vehicles are maintained and repaired. And then there are warehouses and offices. There is an overboss (Superintendent) in the workshop named Birger Jensen, but he has just gone on holiday. Then there are 2 Supervisors, (name later) and Erik Lisner. In addition to these, there are a couple of Crewchiefs who take care of a bit of paperwork and screw cars at the same time when it's time for it. Employed a total of 28 people in # 580, so there are many names to remember in the future.

Whoa, that was a long day. Am back in the barracks and have looked at my room. Nothing special, but there is a bed, table, some chairs, a wardrobe and a TV. Had hoped for a refrigerator, but here is a shared refrigerator in the trunk. I go up to the BX, which is a supermarket where the residents of the base can buy a little of everything and everything of a little. I think I just want to give a few rounds of beer, water and some snacks to the other residents in the barracks when they get home from work.

I also need to have emptied the suitcase and relaxed a bit before the 12 other residents get home. Quickly falls into conversation with a couple over a beer and we go afterwards in "Dundas Dininghall" together and have dinner. Very nice and at home in the barracks again it will be a good evening with talk and coziness. Is told that the barrack has a common box with the sale of water and beer, where the profits go to dinners and parties. Fine, then we do not have to buy drinks in the BX ourselves, but do it together. Although the prices here are double, so it goes to a good cause with barracks parties and more.

Working hours are from 600 to 1700, Monday to Friday and Saturday from 600 to 1200, if there is no overtime beyond the usual. On my first day in # 580 I get workwear, protective clothing and parka, thermal underwear, elephant hat and "mukluks", which are special canvas boots for use in the Arctic. Here take a walk around the workshop and have a little chat with each of my future colleagues. And then a drive around the base, to see and revisit what are the possibilities here. There is also a longer trip (approx. 25 km) up to the radar station, "BMEWS" (Ballistic-Missile-Early-Warning-System) formerly called "J-Site", where the large radar is found, which looks down over most of the world here from the square far to the north.

On the return trip we also drive in around DET-3, which is located just outside the base itself. The T-3 (Detachment-3, 22.Space Operations Squadron) is a satellite tracking and control station that controls many of the various satellites the United States has sent into space over the ages to suit us all, the. Also an exciting place with a myriad of wires and lamps that flash and beep constantly. Heard that one should not be pregnant and be here at the same time because it can give "different" children in addition. A consolation to know if I get pregnant one day.

Back in # 580 I get a huge toolbox on wheels, which I spend a few hours cleaning up and get to supplement the shortcomings with new tools. That was the day and then it goes home to # 326, out in the shower and find the dining room and get my stomachs filled. An exciting day with many impressions and many new information. Somehow I'm already starting to feel at home, no matter how incredible it may sound after such a short time here.

For the first time, I work in the GP department (GP – General Purpose) with repair of cars and vans. But after they found out that I was also a bus mechanic, it's pretty much nothing but buses I repair, because most others prefer to be free of it. There are no major fluctuations, but after a few weeks, a man will be needed in the SP department (SP – Special Purpose), which repairs heavy equipment such as bulldozers, loaders, snow removal equipment and vehicles, trucks, stone crushers, various machines and and .. Yes, I could go on.

Sounds exciting so I line up and get the job done so I move up into the heavy department where I am for a month until a man is needed in Hangar 6 where the new stone crusher is to be assembled. This means that it has just arrived from the USA in a separate condition and will be assembled for use next summer to produce, among other things, materials for the roads. Also find 2 gangways and 2 tugs here, which are under renovation for use next summer.

Likewise, here is a new long-arm mobile crane, which is later sold and shipped to Sweden to the buyer. Finds out later that it is my old friend Knut Jureen who bought it quite cheaply. You damn well made a good purchase there, Knut, because even though it is 5 years old, it has not been used as much as a single minute. By the way, I just have to say that Knut Jureen is one of the founders of the Swedish Harley-Davidson club.

We are only 2 blacksmiths / mechanics here in Hangar 6. For the first month, I work with Bjarne Bunk. For some reason, Bjarne wants to go home to Sindal in Jutland and I get a new partner named Aksel Sørensen Schiødt. Shaft is also called "The Cold Blacksmith". A nickname he got because some colleagues wanted to joke with him and set fire to the eternal tot twist that Axel always had in his back pocket. But instead of jumping up and whizzing around, as most others would do, Aksel just looked at the fire that was burning up along his back and said on his slow Jyske, "Jaaaa, can you light a fire, you can probably also put it out again ". And so he continued to work and there were some who got busy putting out the fire.

Aksel and I worked really well together and solved the many and varied tasks that came up to us. At the same time we had to review the landing craft and the 2 tugs so they were ready for next season at the harbor. And next year, the new 32-ton stone crusher should also be ready to go. In addition to the assembly of the stone crusher, all welds had to be strengthened so that they became twice as large. A huge task where large amounts of welding electrodes had to be used. So if I did not already have experience with electric welding, then I got this.

Oh well, so I also got a little extra job in the hangar. There was going to be a Crewchief for the paperwork so it was me came to fix it so it was uptodate all the time. Not such a big task, but it took some time to pick up spare parts at the warehouse and write timesheets, in addition to working with Aksel also so he did not get bored. At the same time, I also had the top job of getting drinks, coffee, bread and other super important things, so Aksel and I had our breaks covered. This must never fail!

Aksel and I went and took care of ourselves. We usually only had one visit once a day by our Superintendent, Birger Jensen, who always came on time. A couple of times a day, our Supervisor, Erik Lisner, came just to talk and get some papers on things we had repaired. Birger always came sneaking silently for some reason, as opposed to Erik who always came whistling loudly and noisily in through the hangar door out of Flightline.

It was a really good time in Hangar 6, where we did a lot of work, possible and impossible. I also found an old abandoned bike down by the harbor, I repaired and painted with a blue USAirforce paint and "Harley-Davidson" written on the frame. Then Harley was not completely forgotten and I actually rode a part by bike, instead of using the workshop car when I had to go down to # 580 and pick up parts for work. Really nice and I also got moved a bit.

After a month I was invited to move in Barak 243, which suited me just fine. Here lived some of my colleagues from # 580 and it fit really well with the social life, which was significantly better here in # 243. There were almost family reunions in 243, with regular communal dinners and parties plus much more. Nice with the move.

In fact, we got a lot done at the workshop in Hangar 6. Not least because the different departments in between had a good "Buddy" system. It was a rather slow affair to order spare parts and others through the official channels. But around the various departments and workshops, it was an incredible amount of new parts and new materials that over the years had left the system officially and only existed in the memories around because someone had saved them from the waste container instead of throwing them out.

Likewise, the "Buddy" system was really good when it burned on to get things done faster. Instead of waiting for new parts, there was almost always someone in a shop somewhere at the base who might have something or could do something, so the work was completed without papers so that the equipment came out to work, instead of it all stopped unnecessarily. Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like it's working fine and US.Airforce got things running again so they could take care of the world.

It was often many long hours at work, 6 days a week. And work and leisure almost flowed together, especially in the winter months, when it was dark 24 hours a day. The head did not think so much about what was day and night, but only that it was work and leisure. The workshop from 6 to 17 Mon-Fri with repairs and 6 to 12 on Saturdays, where most hours were spent cleaning up and washing the entire floor in Hangar 6, before the weekend set in.

The storm season is from September 15 to May 15. It happened a few times that there is a bit more "free time" when due to storm we were forced to close the workshop and go home to the barracks. At the base, the storms are divided into Phases 1, 2 and 3. When it went into "Phase-1" all welding stopped, but otherwise the rest worked normally. But when "Phase-2" was reported in the speakers, all work was stopped and then one had to quickly go home to the barracks. By a quick registration for "Phase-3" all work had to be stopped and we have to stay where you are and then call the barrack chairman and tell him where you stayed.

There is a security measure, so the barracks chairman should report to the "Storm Center" as soon as possible that all people were back in the barracks and if not, then state where they were staying. If they are missing people during a storm, a search would be launched quickly. But it was also not a weather that just pulled one outside on a hike. These arctic winds make hurricanes around the world look like small winds. The Arctic storms are strongest in the world and often with snow drifts so thick that you have no doubt that it is best to stay indoors where you are right now.

I remember once where a Phase-2 was reported. Aksel and I were on our way home to Barak 243. We walked from Hangar-6 and along the building, with Aksel a few meters in front of me. When we just got free of the building, the wind grabbed Aksel and he smoked down and rolled and slid along the road. But 20 meters away, Aksel smoked into a pole and held on. Now it was that Axel was a small light man who was perhaps an obvious target for the storm. Now I was ready for the wind after watching Aksel's one-man show, so I got down on all fours and crawled up to Aksel so we could crawl back on the road together the same way a couple of crabs in love do. But back to the hangar we came then. Puha, it's not something you want to try twice, so it was just about calling home to our barrack chairman and telling him where we were. The barracks warden called the storm control and a few hours later we were picked up by a bus that drove out to pick up those stranded around their workplaces. At home in the barracks, we heard that the storm was reported in a Phase-3, so it moved really well in the barracks and any desire for outdoor life was stopped automatically.

Whoa, that was something of a storm we got today. I do not know how strong it blew today, but the Arctic storms can, however, far too short a time to get from zero and well up over 300 km. per hour in wind speed. By comparison, a normal Danish hurricane has a wind speed of 12 and a wind speed of 120 km. one hour. So there is nothing to play with up here – you probably only do it once.

Otherwise, here is almost always clear blue sky in summer time and a super starry night sky in winter months. The metrologists say that it actually happens very often that you can see the northern lights here, but unfortunately only visible on measuring equipment and not to the human eye, here in the high arctic areas, with the incredibly clear weather. The weather does not give much snow, but when the storms rage, large amounts of snow can be moved here from the interior where there is snow in large quantities lying on the ice.

But enough about the weather right now. Must also remember to tell a little about leisure activities where there are many opportunities if you do not want to stay in the barracks and lazy. If you like physical activity in your free time, there is a well-equipped gym with bla. a large room with weight training that I cultivated 5-6 days a week. And yes, there were actually a lot of bubbles on my arms and legs back then, so I had to buy new shirts. Ball games and all kinds of gymnastics are here too and if you feel like it, there is also a large bowling alley here.

Christmas Eve 1987 was held in the "Top of the World Club", which gathered many of the residents at the base. Elegant dinner and dancing afterwards. New Year's Eve 87-88 was also held in the club, with accompanying music, dancing and all.

And then there is the Danish club, where it is possible to eat and enjoy a beer or water, or watch Danish TV. Haha, ie. the Danish channels can only be seen on video, with a couple of weeks delay when they were recorded in Denmark and then flown up to the runway. But there were many who came every day to watch old news and other broadcasts from home. Saturday night was the highlight of the week, often with good amounts of good beer and perhaps a cozy dinner in the American club, "Top of the World Club", followed by clever bar talk or in the party hall, where there was often an orchestra or band playing. to dance. Often, Saturday night ends here because it acts as a safety valve after a week of long working hours, so you have to go a little crazy at times.

Continues in ENGLISH 9