Iceland in the 90’s

In this episode, Mike takes a break from Northern Michigan stories and heads far north—way far north—to share memories from his year living in Keflavik, Iceland in the early 1990s while serving in the U.S. Air Force.

Life on the NATO Base

Mike talks about being assigned to Naval Air Station Keflavik, a joint-base environment with Air Force, Navy, Marines, and other NATO personnel. He recounts working with the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron – the Black Knights, maintaining F-15 electrical and environmental systems, and occasionally pulling duty in “FISneyland,” the alert barn for interceptor operations.

The Journey to Get There

Before Iceland came a whirlwind of military orders:

Originally headed to remote Galena, Alaska, the Air Force cancelled those orders at the last minute.

The next day, new orders arrived sending him to Keflavik instead.

He completed F-15 training at Tyndall AFB in Florida, drove across the country, shipped his belongings, and ultimately hopped a Hawaiian Airlines DC-8 from Philadelphia to Iceland—a strange but memorable experience.

Daily Life Before the Internet

Mike recalls what it was like living overseas before modern connectivity:

Expensive phone calls back to the States ($1.06 per minute!)

Mail arriving once a week on the “rotator” DC-8