JBPHH Hickam AFB

So I love it here. I pretty much grew up here. one of my first homes as a baby was on this very base! :-D Over the years, I’ve watched it grow and improve to become the awesomeness it is now. Plus, it has a pretty sweet beach. hey what other military base do you know of that has a beautiful beach?! I love the BX & BXtra here, much better than the Navy Exchange. If you don’t want to deal with long commissary lines, head to Hickam. They have some great food options; Subway, Popeye’s, BK, pizza, etc. OH and they even have a Sam Choy’s! With a beautiful view as well. It’s just a fun base, lots of places to walk around and enjoy the Hawaii weather. The base is very well kept and is gorgeous.

Lucky I live Hawaii! One of the elite place to visit, work or live. That of course, if you are the lucky one like me. I don’t have to go anywhere else for anything. Beach, groceries, restaurants, golf, other activities and attractions is on the base.

This place is historic! Ever hear of WWII? How about December 7, 1941? Do you know what «Joint Base» means?
I recently read a review of JBPHH wondering what the deal was with all the shabby buildings and basically the grounds care… let me give you my take and enlighten you.
Most of the buildings between the two bases… Pearl Harbor and Hickam have been here since pre-​WWII. Some of the buildings are in use today and they have taken very good care of them. Other buildings are protected by the historical society and they are not used, are not maintained, can’t be torn down and thus… they look shabby. Personally, I like it. At first it seems like an eye-​sore. But imagine the building in its day and the people who worked there… and possibly died there on December 7, 1941. Then those shabby buildings become empowering and your heart sinks. Plus, some of the architecture is pretty cool.
Some of the buildings are beautiful and I feel sorry for them that they were not chosen for upkeep and use. They stand there, full of history and will eventually fall down, become beyond repair, etc. and then they’ll go away. I wish they could talk… can you imagine what they’d say? As of now, it’s a way of paying respect to those who were stationed here then and since. I personally think it’s sad. But I do understand you can’t save everything. In the meantime, I feel privileged to be able to look upon these historic building’s that stand today no matter what shape some of they are in. And you know what… one day they won’t be there. Then instead of posting about the shabby historical buildings everyone will be posting something wondering where the historical buildings are. Enjoy them while you can. I highly recommend taking the historical tour offered through ITT.
As for the grounds, the weeds, etc. Well… budget cuts and changing times! It used to be that the Civil Engineer (CE) Roads & Grounds shop would take care of the base. And that stands for any base around the world. Fast forward, they still have those people in CE, but not nearly as many and private contractors have been hired for years to take care of things and this changes and/​or is different at every base. I have seen weeds grow here and know they weren’t cut for 2 months. Sometimes I feel as though the grass only gets cut once a month in some areas. They do housing once a week at least. No one pays attention to detail like they did years ago… everyone is in a hurry and it’s accepted. The cheapest bidder wins a contract and all they have to do is the surface to keep everyone happy. On another note, back in the day the people who occupied a facility used to help take care of it… pick up trash, weed, trim, etc. and this is a rare find any more if at all. No one is expected to do it and they certainly don’t do it… a change in times.
What a lot of people don’t know is that both bases fall under the Navy here, hence the Joint Base title. People say Air Force Bases normally don’t look this bad, etc. Well… it’s a joint base and if that Navy commander is happy… well…what are you going to do? We all have different priorities. Obviously the appearance of tall grass, weeds, etc. isn’t one of them here.
I love experiencing the history all around me here no matter how tall the weeds are. I like paying respect to those who walked, lived, worked, played, cried, died, etc. here before me. I wish we could respect them better by taking care of the grounds as they did, but it’s a change in times and the budget. Enjoy the history while you can.
In closing, I want to go back farther and touch on the Hawaiian history. The area around the airport and Hickam used to be a wetland. There is a natural stream that runs through the Earhart housing area. There are endangered fish in that stream and they are having a hard time of it. People feel the need to throw trash in there. Plus, it is not maintained and the mud & muck is bad. It’s very sad that this portion of the remaining wetland & these fish are not respected. We can all do our part by educating each other and our kids. Please don’t throw your trash in there or your aquarium fish when you move.

This joint base may be historic, but it needs a major freaking face lift. I mean what is up with those shabby looking buildings in the shipyards? Those things are one strong gust of wind away from being gone! I would have snapped a few photographs to show you what I was talking about, but this is clearly posted all over the damn place that photography is not allowed. As soon as I rolled onto the naval side, I immediately started taking pics. However, once I began seeing the «no photography» signs posted I gave up. Moreover, this place needs some major help as far as landscaping goes. I’ve never seen so many damn weeds and unkempt bushes on any military base in my entire life.
Now on the Air Force Base side, everything was still out dated, but very well kept up. We took a stroll through these and eventually landed up at the exchange where we bought some goods for a reasonable price. But different bed these two branches of the armed services spin on faith upkeep must be astronomical.

i go into base daily because it’s part of my work.
I don’t mind going into the base but sometimes it’s humbug when they check my work van. sometimes i have drive around if you in a wrong lane. just know what you are doing when you are entering this place.
In the area it’s very clean and well kept. i like driving around there. it’s clean and very organized feel. also you get to see some airplanes and other monument. some buildings are historical and i think it’s amazing to see it. (you can see bullet holes)

Any base with a beach gets 4 stars alone.

One of the most beautiful AF bases.