 MCAS Iwakuni, JapanBy Marc "Devil Dog Of The Web" Iseli / Updated Dec. 2025 After seven days of island hopping in a C-130, which by then smelled like wet socks, we finally touched down at MCAS Iwakuni. First thing we see? Quonset Huts and that lovely bengo ditch out front, just screaming 'luxury accommodations.' They stuck us in the P-3 barracks, second deck, where I finally got to rack out for more than five minutes. Next morning, straight to the line shack, no rest for the wicked, and right into wrenching on RF-4Bs. The Det wasted no time screwing things up: some genius towed a bird into the hangar and somehow wedged the wing between two hangar wall bracings. Cue an hour of Marines playing 'back and forth' with a multi-million dollar jet. Gunny Furr was about ready to eat nails. Back at El Toro, our birds rocked the Fox on the tail for a year, but the squadron back home sent us a photo of the new spook logo they wanted slapped on everything. Gunny tossed me the pic and told me to whip up a template for the metal shop. Now you can spot which jets had the mainland spook and which ones were ours. Ours was the best, of course. Best memories of MCAS Iwakuni? Easy. The legendary Bengo Dog patrolling the ditch, Quonset huts that doubled as meat lockers in winter unless you fed the 55-gallon drums heater enough diesel to make EPA agents cry. The NCO Club had a movie screen big enough to land a Harrier on and served chow that was...well, let's just say 'memorable.' Ordered trout once, got the whole fish, head, eyes, bones, the works. Welcome to Japan, Marine. Our barracks hugged the fence line, so every time the locals paraded by protesting nukes, some rocket scientist would crank 'God Bless America' out the window. That went over about as well with the higher-ups as a fart in a space suit. Main side was where I blew my per diem on a real SLR camera and enough souvenirs to fill a C-130. And who could forget Smiley and his Soba truck? Soba, mystery meat, and a suspicious shortage of stray cats. The fried rice was the real deal, giant plate, tasted like heaven, and I've been chasing that recipe ever since. No luck yet, 40 years later.
The tail end of my time on the USS Midway was spent pulling night crew, because apparently, sleep is for civilians. Even after we rolled back to MCAS Iwakuni, I was still burning the midnight oil, getting the birds squared away for the zero-dark-thirty launches. At some point, my memory gets a little fuzzy (probably from all the JP-5 fumes), but I do remember being the last man standing in the barracks when the squadron went TAD to Korea. No jets, no flightline chaos, I pulled phone duty, and it was just me and a phone I barely answered. I had the whole barracks to myself for a week or two, living like a king, if kings lived off chow hall leftovers. Visit My Photo Album Photos of Det-C, MCAS Iwakuni, Japan.  1980s Flashback Marine.com 70% MCAS Iwakuni under going reconstruction. Stars and Stripes Daily American military newspaper, with an emphasis on those serving outside the United States Armed Forces Radio Provided crucial "touch of home" entertainment and news to military personnel overseas.
Alright, you glorious Rat Phixers and Phlyers, if we ever survived a TAD, a Det, or a BOHICA, who haven't, and you didn’t think I was the biggest gaff off in the squadron. Got a sea story, or some grainy photos your ex didn’t set on fire, and they’re only slightly illegal? Send ‘em by email, snail mail, or safety wire it to a carrier pigeon. I collect ‘em all, just nothing that would incriminate me. 80svmfp3@gmail.com Return To The Home Page  |
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