I was there from Feb 79 thru Dec 82 for A.G.E. (student then pipeline instructor). The best tour of my Air Force career. I am saddened that this base has fallen into such disrepair. It could have been so much more. Thank you for the walk down memory lane. The dorms you started the video from was my old dormitory, the 3371 st student squadron. Great friends and memories.
Pretty awesome video. Very interesting way to visit the base. I was stationed there in 1971 for Weather Equipment Maintence School. I lived there 9 months. Wish I could remember more. Thanks for the video.
A couple years after Tech school at Chanute, I stopped there while driving cross country. My old dorm had become Base Lodging, and as luck would have it, I was giving my old dorm room !
Thanks for sharing, I lived in those dorms from Dec 87 to March 88. I went through Airframe Repair at Chanute. It was fun, but very cold winter as I remember it.
Was there from late Sept. 68 to May 69 auto pilot on F102, F106, F101 and F4 fighters. I see the two story barracks along the curved highway that I stayed in are gone. When we had a surprise inspection we crawled out the windows and ran down the curved frontage road opposite the entrance door side. You had to watch so some guys jumping out of the second story windows didn't land on you. 😂
@Gary Jones. You would think that they would catch on or eventually see someone running away but I don't recall anything about being caught. We were being cautious to make sure the building blocked their view. Imagine what they were thinking when only a few were left in the barracks. The daytime barracks guard must have had to be pretty articulate if he was asked any questions.😉😂😇
@@bottmar1 When I was stationed at Castle AFB I had a buddy come live in the barracks with me.. I gave him my meal card so he could go to the chow hall and eat... We had a couple close calls.. He lived with me for about 3 months... Good times..
@Gary Jones. When I went to the chow hall I sometimes liked the food so good that I wanted a second helping but the line you stood in was too long so it would take too much time. The answer to that was to go to the line that married troops (and officers?) stood in which was much shorter. I turned my class ring around so it looked like a wedding ring, set that same hand up on the counter while signing the register and ate again. One time going back to the barracks after eating I got a terrible pain in my gut making me stop and bend over. When got to the barracks I immediately went passed the barracks guard into the four stall latrine and crapped a huge domed pile of crap. All the water went away. The barracks guard hollered from the smell and moved down the hall a ways. Looking back I am surprised all of that flushed down the toilet without holding the toilet plunger overhead. Not everything was fun while there. I was dating my future x-wife at the time so I missed her. Oh well.😳
It's really horrible to see chanute AFB going down?!😢 the video makes me very very sad?! I'm DRISS. E. From Morocco. I've been there in. : 76 _ 77 for AGE training?! . It's shame to see famous schools dieing slowly like Chanute?! . Thank sir for the video?! .
I seem to recall the dorms at the beginning as my home while attending Life Support school from Feb - May 1983. I want to say it was called Arnold Hall for Hap Arnold. Please correct my memory if I’m getting that wrong.
Joseph I was there for jet engine school from Dec 70 thru Mar 71.. I have watched many of these Chanute videos looking for my barracks and at 1:14 in this video there it was.. I wonder if the old chow hall is still there.. Well Joseph you take care my friend...
3352SS Jet Engines course across the quad from us- 3354 SS Aircraft Maint& Fuels Systems Spec courses at Then yet unnamed dorms in 1976/77 time frame. It was named Faktor Hall some years later.
Was stationed at Chanute, '65' AGE. Hard to believe that many of these residence halls were less than 20 years old when the base was closed in the early 90's. Millions of taxpayer dollars used for construction as you see many of these buildings that were newer and left to rot. But as the saying goes, 'if you want something foolishly done, have the Government do it'. And it will never change. Another gentleman posted a video of old resident buildings that are now low income housing and just a total mess and that would be many, many of the old resident buildings.
Fire fighting class of '73. "H" shaped dorms looked similar to ones I was assigned to. Don't recall the dorms being so far from the flight line as i had to walk to school due to oversleeping. Do remember many instances where someone thought it would be amusing to frequently pull the fire alarm in our dorms, specially when the fire fighting class bunked on the 3rd floor. Other good memories connected with Chanute and Rantoul. Depressing that good land and structures are allowed to rot due to politics.
The first building shown looked like it would have been building 300, Gates Hall. The Jet Engine school students were in one side and the other side closer to the phone center may have been fire fighters. I remember someone finding it amusing to pull the fire alarm also in January, 1980. The side closer to the phone center would gather inside the phone center while the other side stood out in the snow in the parking lot. On one of those fire drills, a young female student was wearing only their nightgown, and some socks after having just finishing taking a shower. I gave her my field jacket and my stocking cap to keep her hair from getting cold. So that her feet were not in the snow, I had he stand on my boots. You had to stand real close to do that. That is how I met my wife. Brings back memories.
This is the difference a state can make. Bergstrom AFB, TX was closed at the same time as Chanute. Chanute rots away, while Bergstrom was completely redeveloped into a first class major airport. One can’t tell there was ever an AFB there now. It’s sad that Chanute was never properly repurposed.
The middle-of-nowhere location that made it a good choice when it was built plus horrid winters killed it off permanently, and the infrastructure was basically only good for military use. The museum folks gave it a noble try but there are no other tourist draws nearby. The Air Force should have shitcanned Keesler instead since it's been destroyed twice by hurricanes, but that may be part of the plan since rebuild money is easy to get and buys MS votes in Congress. Chanute was such a "comfortable" base it's sad to lose it but when the flying mission went away long ago it was doomed. It served the mission well over many wars. RIP.
Winter of '89 Electro-Envirenmental Systems. We were in the dorms that were immediately west of the missile. There is a new white building there in its place (across from the phone center on the corner). Our mess hall was decommissioned so we would normally go to Factor Hall to eat. I believe our dorm building was called Gates Hall. I remember one time marching to class on the other side of base where the hangers were located (White Hall) and it had snowed a bunch and the streets were icy. When road guards were ordered to post at the intersection, one lost his footing and nearly slid underneath an 18 wheeler. We were then ordered to straggle to class after that incident. Best time ever.
The population of Rantoul didn’t have a big enough tax base to utilize anything at Chanute. Most of the people who worked there moved away when it closed
Tech school at chanute for me as a CAE-42335- Aerospace ground equipment mechanic. 595 hours of hands on training at this facility. Graduated in April of 1981. Shipped to Rammstein AFB- Germany. With the 86 the black panther fighting airing that was 40 years ago ! Now I live in Crowley, Louisiana. 70526 population 12643. . God Bless! Mike Edwards Crowley Louisiana. Retired USAF.
@@jackchapman1509 Thank you for taking the time to do this. I often talk to the young Airman about going there. (That it was pretty dam cold ) lol Now most of the schools are at Sheppard Air Force Base. I’m still at Stewart ANGB IN New York.
I have such fond memories of Chanute and my experience there. 1985 -86, Avionics. I have difficulty recalling the exact details of the grounds but this brings back a lot of good memories. It was the height of MTV and I recall seeing the same music videos all the time going through the tv room in the student housing (did they call it a barracks??). Made some good friends but we didn’t stay in touch. We did reconnect a couple years back though on Facebook. So sad to see Chanute fall in to disrepair and many parts of it gone now. Thanks for the video.
Wow, the old student dorms where I lived from Dec 1979 to April 1980 going to missile maintenance school. Ended up at Minot AFB where I endured and moved on to Macdill, AFB and been south bound ever since. 😜
Was Minot colder in the winter then Chanute? I went from Chanute in the winter to Kadena in Okinawa. Chanute in Jan was the coldest place I've ever been to. I lived I SoCal all my life. Rantoul was a wake up call.
Sad to see the base in this state and to me unusual, probably in Illinois now not a feasible or financially possible solution to redevelopment of the area like base's in Florida, bartow, Lakeland, zephyrhills. There was talk of closing Macdill in the late 90s cost of hazardous waste removal would not have stopped investors to develop, because any open land down there would be a gold mine of returned investment.
Egress June 81 My roomie was in AGE . I believe i was in the first barracks shown. I don't remember But did we march back to the barracks for lunch everyday ?? I do remember that there was 2 shifts Probably because of the military build up from Reagan
Wow cool drone view I was there aug-nov 85 airframe repair I can’t remember exactly which building was mine I know it was about a 30 min March to the hangers and white hall faktor hall was right next door lotsa mixed memories good and bad played on the base all star flag football team went to Champaign Urbana to party on green street and hook up with college girls lol alas chanute also was the end of my promising military career 15 seconds I’d like to do over party at one of the trailers on base hit a joint kerpow that was the end of it all I was literally 2 weeks from shipping out to torejon AFB to be on a f16 crew absolutely the biggest regret of my 55 yrs
I could see Homeless Jobs for shelter, at a minimum to retrain and maintain facilities. If not Homeless, tha works projects at the very least to retrain our population on needed skills. Better taxes spent that way than others. Stop the rot two ways.
The Government needs to turn old bases like that into Reservist bases, or joint reservists training base for mainly active reservists. Or just training bases. Do something with it that is tax payers Money rotting away. At least keep the hospitals open for the local community and veterans. Then in the case of a mass incident or out break they can use it and the barrack for hospital space or quarantine building. There is a lot that can be done to them. Hotel resorts for military members to vacation to. Just add a golf course and people will come. We are always looking for a safe place to vacation with our families.
I spent the summer of 1966 there. Sad to see it fall into disrepair, like so many other closed AFBs. Loved the drone shots, but that F%@#ing repetitive music sucks, what were you thinking??!!!
Never been there myself but it looks depressing in the middle of some corn field in the middle of nowhere in the midwest. As much as many lament the closure of many of these out of date facilities, the military has far, far too many bases in the CONUS and overseas. While many of these facilities cost a lot of money to build, the main recipient of the funds are the contractors who reaped the rewards building these buildings in the first place. I doubt that many of these airmen's dorms would be well suited for low income houses as they typically were designed for two-men-to-a-room with latrines down the hall. Definitely not up to USAF standards today and undoubtedly not up to standards for anything now. Most bases that I have been stationed were not what I would call exciting or the facilities that great. Most building replacements on most bases are utilized primarily for the benefit of the contractors connection usually to the local Congressional members "bringing the bacon" home to their district. Much like here locally, the new Warrior fitness center that cost well in excess of 100 million dollars, how does that benefit the local community? Zero! Even more amazing, the gym that I go to on the opposite side of Las Vegas about as far away from Nellis AFB as one can get are fun of active military members. Usually you can spot them, the bodies covered with GHASTLY tattoos, the haircut and weird little mustache's and too much military swag on their clothing.
Thanks for the video was there 7/1979-12/79 avonics instrument specialist course
I was there from Feb 79 thru Dec 82 for A.G.E. (student then pipeline instructor). The best tour of my Air Force career. I am saddened that this base has fallen into such disrepair. It could have been so much more. Thank you for the walk down memory lane. The dorms you started the video from was my old dormitory, the 3371 st student squadron. Great friends and memories.
Was there in 73 and 73 .loved it
Pretty awesome video. Very interesting way to visit the base. I was stationed there in 1971 for Weather Equipment Maintence School. I lived there 9 months. Wish I could remember more. Thanks for the video.
A couple years after Tech school at Chanute, I stopped there while driving cross country. My old dorm had become Base Lodging, and as luck would have it, I was giving my old dorm room !
Thanks for sharing, I lived in those dorms from Dec 87 to March 88. I went through Airframe Repair at Chanute. It was fun, but very cold winter as I remember it.
I was there from September 87 til February 88 AGE. and as I remember it was very cold.
Thanks for the Video was Stationed there for Fire Technical Training July 1974-September 1974!
Was there from late Sept. 68 to May 69 auto pilot on F102, F106, F101 and F4 fighters. I see the two story barracks along the curved highway that I stayed in are gone. When we had a surprise inspection we crawled out the windows and ran down the curved frontage road opposite the entrance door side. You had to watch so some guys jumping out of the second story windows didn't land on you. 😂
That's hilarious... Did they ever figure it out? I was there Dec 70 thru Mar 71 for jet engine school...
@Gary Jones. You would think that they would catch on or eventually see someone running away but I don't recall anything about being caught. We were being cautious to make sure the building blocked their view. Imagine what they were thinking when only a few were left in the barracks. The daytime barracks guard must have had to be pretty articulate if he was asked any questions.😉😂😇
@@bottmar1 When I was stationed at Castle AFB I had a buddy come live in the barracks with me.. I gave him my meal card so he could go to the chow hall and eat... We had a couple close calls.. He lived with me for about 3 months... Good times..
@Gary Jones. When I went to the chow hall I sometimes liked the food so good that I wanted a second helping but the line you stood in was too long so it would take too much time. The answer to that was to go to the line that married troops (and officers?) stood in which was much shorter. I turned my class ring around so it looked like a wedding ring, set that same hand up on the counter while signing the register and ate again. One time going back to the barracks after eating I got a terrible pain in my gut making me stop and bend over. When got to the barracks I immediately went passed the barracks guard into the four stall latrine and crapped a huge domed pile of crap. All the water went away. The barracks guard hollered from the smell and moved down the hall a ways. Looking back I am surprised all of that flushed down the toilet without holding the toilet plunger overhead. Not everything was fun while there. I was dating my future x-wife at the time so I missed her. Oh well.😳
@@bottmar1This sounds like some of the stuff that I would do.. lol...Hope all is well.. Take care my friend and God Bless....
That was my dorm in the beginning. Damn it I am crying.
opening was Faktor hall, I remember lots of days marching over to the AGE shops. Was there in '88.
Memories of marching, setting heels hard to outdo passing formations. Whathappened to the B36 and B58 static displays? AGE, class of '69.
The Hustler went to California. What a machine.
I was stationed there in 1970 - Missile mechanic training. I also remember the Air Force Thunderbirds did an air show there, quite spectacular!
It's really horrible to see chanute AFB going down?!😢
the video makes me very very sad?!
I'm DRISS. E. From Morocco.
I've been there in. : 76 _ 77 for AGE training?! . It's shame to see famous schools dieing slowly like Chanute?! .
Thank sir for the video?! .
Thank you! '89 AGE. These videos with that music bring back lots of memories....
1980 AGE here,,,,,was that H shaped building your Dorm?
87 AGE, Pretty dang depressing looking at it now. Definitely brings back memories.
89 AGE here
1985 Fuelies. I was there a couple of years back and I scarcely recognized the place. Sad.
'75 for Fuels. We were in those WW II dorms, not too far from that small BX shop.
The first set of buildings look just like the Tech school dorms at Shepherd probably built by the same contractor.
I seem to recall the dorms at the beginning as my home while attending Life Support school from Feb - May 1983. I want to say it was called Arnold Hall for Hap Arnold. Please correct my memory if I’m getting that wrong.
I could see where I used to park my car on the highway side of Faktor Hall right at the end of the video!
I was there in the winter of 92’
Chanute , jet engine , from December 1976 to April 1977 .
Joseph I was there for jet engine school from Dec 70 thru Mar 71.. I have watched many of these Chanute videos looking for my barracks and at 1:14 in this video there it was.. I wonder if the old chow hall is still there.. Well Joseph you take care my friend...
3352SS Jet Engines course across the quad from us- 3354 SS Aircraft Maint& Fuels Systems Spec courses at Then yet unnamed dorms in 1976/77 time frame. It was named Faktor Hall some years later.
Hopwood Hall was neighboring quad to the east. Both have been razed due to asbestos abatement.😢 5:16
September to December 1954.😮 '
My Father was stationed there when he was in WW2 . He told me about it .
Was stationed at Chanute, '65' AGE. Hard to believe that many of these residence halls were less than 20 years old when the base was closed in the early 90's. Millions of taxpayer dollars used for construction as you see many of these buildings that were newer and left to rot. But as the saying goes, 'if you want something foolishly done, have the Government do it'. And it will never change. Another gentleman posted a video of old resident buildings that are now low income housing and just a total mess and that would be many, many of the old resident buildings.
Fire fighting class of '73. "H" shaped dorms looked similar to ones I was assigned to. Don't recall the dorms being so far from the flight line as i had to walk to school due to oversleeping. Do remember many instances where someone thought it would be amusing to frequently pull the fire alarm in our dorms, specially when the fire fighting class bunked on the 3rd floor. Other good memories connected with Chanute and Rantoul. Depressing that good land and structures are allowed to rot due to politics.
The first building shown looked like it would have been building 300, Gates Hall. The Jet Engine school students were in one side and the other side closer to the phone center may have been fire fighters. I remember someone finding it amusing to pull the fire alarm also in January, 1980. The side closer to the phone center would gather inside the phone center while the other side stood out in the snow in the parking lot. On one of those fire drills, a young female student was wearing only their nightgown, and some socks after having just finishing taking a shower. I gave her my field jacket and my stocking cap to keep her hair from getting cold. So that her feet were not in the snow, I had he stand on my boots. You had to stand real close to do that. That is how I met my wife. Brings back memories.
WHAT NEWS !!!
HOUSE DA HOMELESS AND CLEAN THE BASE FOR ROOM N' BOARD !
Rev. Jack
Pretty depressing that it was not utilized somehow instead of slowly rotting away.
This is the difference a state can make. Bergstrom AFB, TX was closed at the same time as Chanute. Chanute rots away, while Bergstrom was completely redeveloped into a first class major airport. One can’t tell there was ever an AFB there now. It’s sad that Chanute was never properly repurposed.
The middle-of-nowhere location that made it a good choice when it was built plus horrid winters killed it off permanently, and the infrastructure was basically only good for military use. The museum folks gave it a noble try but there are no other tourist draws nearby. The Air Force should have shitcanned Keesler instead since it's been destroyed twice by hurricanes, but that may be part of the plan since rebuild money is easy to get and buys MS votes in Congress. Chanute was such a "comfortable" base it's sad to lose it but when the flying mission went away long ago it was doomed. It served the mission well over many wars. RIP.
It’s a horrible shame how many of our military posts and bases have been abandoned. It makes me sick!
Winter of '89 Electro-Envirenmental Systems. We were in the dorms that were immediately west of the missile. There is a new white building there in its place (across from the phone center on the corner). Our mess hall was decommissioned so we would normally go to Factor Hall to eat. I believe our dorm building was called Gates Hall. I remember one time marching to class on the other side of base where the hangers were located (White Hall) and it had snowed a bunch and the streets were icy. When road guards were ordered to post at the intersection, one lost his footing and nearly slid underneath an 18 wheeler. We were then ordered to straggle to class after that incident. Best time ever.
Those white buildings are part of the National Guard’s Lincoln’s Challenge program.
@@caeleaarmstrong3816built on the Faktor Hall site dorm closest to the West gate/ Missile
Winter of ‘86-‘87 Pneudralics class. Lived in Hopwood hall. Good memories of the beginnings of my AF career.
88 Pneudraulics here. Though I did not enjoy the military much I do have fond memories created from that time and will always value my time served.
Any chance of turning those barracks into homes for homeless vets or are they just going to keep letting them rot
We were in the dorm by the misleads. Special Acts… 89
The population of Rantoul didn’t have a big enough tax base to utilize anything at Chanute. Most of the people who worked there moved away when it closed
Tech school at chanute for me as a CAE-42335- Aerospace ground equipment mechanic. 595 hours of hands on training at this facility. Graduated in April of 1981. Shipped to Rammstein AFB- Germany. With the 86 the black panther fighting airing that was 40 years ago ! Now I live in Crowley, Louisiana. 70526 population 12643. . God Bless! Mike Edwards Crowley Louisiana. Retired USAF.
Just wondering what interested you in taking these video ? so thankful you did. Can’t believe it’s been 30 years
I spent 4 months in AGE school in 88- the base I was stationed at afterwards was closed as well, I’ve shot at both.
@@jackchapman1509 Thank you for taking the time to do this. I often talk to the young Airman about going there. (That it was pretty dam cold ) lol Now most of the schools are at Sheppard Air Force Base. I’m still at Stewart ANGB IN New York.
I have such fond memories of Chanute and my experience there. 1985 -86, Avionics. I have difficulty recalling the exact details of the grounds but this brings back a lot of good memories. It was the height of MTV and I recall seeing the same music videos all the time going through the tv room in the student housing (did they call it a barracks??). Made some good friends but we didn’t stay in touch. We did reconnect a couple years back though on Facebook. So sad to see Chanute fall in to disrepair and many parts of it gone now. Thanks for the video.
Thank you this chanute series!
That was my barracks at the beginning of the video. Faktor Hall. It was fairly new when I was there from Jan-May 1982.
The "H" shaped Dorm was called Factor Hall. What was the dorm to the north called? I think it's an assisted living facility now.
Stationed there from 1971 to 1975, comptroller office.
Wow, the old student dorms where I lived from Dec 1979 to April 1980 going to missile maintenance school. Ended up at Minot AFB where I endured and moved on to Macdill, AFB and been south bound ever since. 😜
Was Minot colder in the winter then Chanute? I went from Chanute in the winter to Kadena in Okinawa. Chanute in Jan was the coldest place I've ever been to. I lived I SoCal all my life. Rantoul was a wake up call.
Sad to see the base in this state and to me unusual, probably in Illinois now not a feasible or financially possible solution to redevelopment of the area like base's in Florida, bartow, Lakeland, zephyrhills. There was talk of closing Macdill in the late 90s cost of hazardous waste removal would not have stopped investors to develop, because any open land down there would be a gold mine of returned investment.
Egress June 81 My roomie was in AGE . I believe i was in the first barracks shown. I don't remember But did we march back to the barracks for lunch everyday ?? I do remember that there was 2 shifts Probably because of the military build up from Reagan
I was there in 81. AGE instructor. What was your roomie's name?
It’s FAKTOR HALL 🤨 you’re excused if you were there in the 80s….most everyone was on drugs
Makes no sense to allow it to deteriorate, sell off the remaining properties so someone may gain from its use.
Wow cool drone view I was there aug-nov 85 airframe repair I can’t remember exactly which building was mine I know it was about a 30 min March to the hangers and white hall faktor hall was right next door lotsa mixed memories good and bad played on the base all star flag football team went to Champaign Urbana to party on green street and hook up with college girls lol alas chanute also was the end of my promising military career 15 seconds I’d like to do over party at one of the trailers on base hit a joint kerpow that was the end of it all I was literally 2 weeks from shipping out to torejon AFB to be on a f16 crew absolutely the biggest regret of my 55 yrs
I could see Homeless Jobs for shelter, at a minimum to retrain and maintain facilities.
If not Homeless, tha works projects at the very least to retrain our population on needed skills. Better taxes spent that way than others. Stop the rot two ways.
great place for homeland to spend millions to rehab and house so called migrants coming across our border!!!
The Government needs to turn old bases like that into Reservist bases, or joint reservists training base for mainly active reservists. Or just training bases. Do something with it that is tax payers Money rotting away. At least keep the hospitals open for the local community and veterans. Then in the case of a mass incident or out break they can use it and the barrack for hospital space or quarantine building. There is a lot that can be done to them. Hotel resorts for military members to vacation to. Just add a golf course and people will come. We are always looking for a safe place to vacation with our families.
Good idea .
I spent the summer of 1966 there. Sad to see it fall into disrepair, like so many other closed AFBs. Loved the drone shots, but that F%@#ing repetitive music sucks, what were you thinking??!!!
Never been there myself but it looks depressing in the middle of some corn field in the middle of nowhere in the midwest. As much as many lament the closure of many of these out of date facilities, the military has far, far too many bases in the CONUS and overseas. While many of these facilities cost a lot of money to build, the main recipient of the funds are the contractors who reaped the rewards building these buildings in the first place. I doubt that many of these airmen's dorms would be well suited for low income houses as they typically were designed for two-men-to-a-room with latrines down the hall. Definitely not up to USAF standards today and undoubtedly not up to standards for anything now. Most bases that I have been stationed were not what I would call exciting or the facilities that great. Most building replacements on most bases are utilized primarily for the benefit of the contractors connection usually to the local Congressional members "bringing the bacon" home to their district. Much like here locally, the new Warrior fitness center that cost well in excess of 100 million dollars, how does that benefit the local community? Zero! Even more amazing, the gym that I go to on the opposite side of Las Vegas about as far away from Nellis AFB as one can get are fun of active military members. Usually you can spot them, the bodies covered with GHASTLY tattoos, the haircut and weird little mustache's and too much military swag on their clothing.