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Picture of Sewart AFB Flt Line


Spectre623
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I was a medic assigned to the base hospital and was then assigned to the 61st. on mobility status. I remember the old guest house on base because I got my parents a room there when they came to see me. Sam Ridley was the mayor of Smyrna I believe. Does anyone remember the lake? The stream or river that fed it went behind the base hospital and I spent many hours fishing there. I left with the 61st. when they went to Little Rock.

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  • 3 months later...

Came across this website. Grew up in Smyrna. My dad was in aircraft maintenance in the 314th from 1955 to 1963. From 1978 to 1981 I worked for commercial airlines on what is now called Smyrna Airport.

The area where the base hospital was located is today taken up by a large vehicle maintenance facility for the TN Army National Guard. The hospital buildings were some of the first to go after the base closed. Most buildings were moved from the base rather than being torn down. Example is the Catholic Church. it was moved to Smyrna by First Baptist Church and is in use today by the church that purchased the facility when FBC moved to a new building. The lake you asked about is Percy Priest and the river that feeds it is Stones River. The creek that runs through the base area is Stewart's Creek and it dumps into Percy Priest behind the big hangar. Soon after the lake came about a base beach was built just behind the big hangar and was named for a former base commander.

On another post some one said that several hangars have been torn down. The hangar behind hangar 693 burnt down when it was used to build houseboats not long after the base closed. One of the wooden hangars from WWII on the flight line may have been torn down and one of the metal hangars on the flight line that is occupied by the TN Army Air Guard had an extensive fire. I don't know if the hangar was torn down or repaired. The big hangar has been used since the base closed by numerous commercial airline maintenance companies. The first to occupy the big hangar after the closure was Capitol Airlines operating DC8 aircraft worldwide.

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Hi guys;

I was stationed at Sewart AFB TN in 1969/70 in the 4442nd. I remember closing the base in 1970. I and another Amn painted the Commanders ACFT. It was supposed to be the last ACFT off and the first to land at Little Rock AFB AR. The plane blew #2 oil cooler and never made it. I think it was #2, could have been #1. The engine guys tried to change the oil cooler when it would have been easer to change the whole engine, (QEC).

I remember a CM/Sgt Wysocki, so did my Dad, he was our dorm chief. I also remember “Hippyâ€, he was a Greek Amn and a T/Sgt Head. I want to find T/Sgt Head.

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What a beautiful photo!

It's too bad that they closed Sewart.

Today, the TN Army National Guard uses part of the base.

Several years ago when MG Carl Wallace was our AG, there was a proposal by some developers to purchase the assets of the Tennessee National Guard on Sidco Drive near the now defunct 100 Oaks Mall in Nashville.

At the same time, American Airlines was expanding in Nashville and the Metro Nashville Airport Authority was wanting to use the space occupied by the 118th/105th TAW.

MG Wallace proposed selling the property on Sidco to the developers and letting the Airport Authority have the 118th/105th property. Under MG Wallace's plan, these units would have all moved out to the former Seward AFB in Smyrna.

Well, it sounded good and looked good on paper. However, the Town of Smyrna and Rutherford County now own those facilities. They had other plans and they didn't go along with it.

"History that almost was."

118th AES Retired

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  • 5 months later...

Thanks for posting the picture! I was at Sewart from April 1962 until January of 1966. I worked in the 4442nd engine dispatch shop. We got our E's from the factory 61's and 62's. 56-0488 that crashed on base was one of ours. I departed in January of 1966 for CCK

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