This is one of two experiences that I had while stationed at Hickham Air Force Base as a security specialist on the island of Oahu, Hawaii in the mid 90s. This incident would occur in 1997. The first day we were processed in, the other troops there started telling us new guys ghost stories. I thought they were just messing with us until I had been there for a little while. It took all of one shift to start verifying the most prevalent story told on the base. It involves the 12th Air Force Headquarters Building being haunted by the war dead of Pearl Harbor. The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) Command is also located in this building, so it is a very important place that requires strict security. There are manned security posts on the premises as well as state of the art laser and camera systems blanketing the property. (As it should be!)
Anyway, a little historical background on the building. During the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, the building was used as a hospital and temporary morgue. Over a thousand dead servicemen were stored there until their remains could be dealt with properly. Many of them would die in the building while being treated. There was so much blood that the cleanup required stringing of hoses throughout the building and washing the floors with scrub brushes. Pretty gruesome and for sure sets a good stage for some paranormal happenings.
Well, the first night on shift, around 3 am, the motion alarms went nuts and the SRT (special response team) was called to respond. I was training with the base patrol that night, so we went that way and provided backup. Every guy there seemed more tense than they should be. Something strange then happened to me. Instead of the SRT going in the building and clearing it, they simply reset the alarm and documented the occurrence. Anyone who knows anything about military security knows this is extremely unusual and not protocol.
Well, when we returned to our patrol, I asked my FTO (Field Training Officer) "why?" that just went down that way. This is what he told me: "It happens every night, usually between 3 and 330!" He also let me in on why there was a little shack outside the front door of the building, instead of the guard being posted at the CQ desk in the lobby of HQ. Almost every airman that tried to work the post, would refuse to stay in there because they would hear walking and inaudible talking, smell what was described as rotten meat or a slaughter house smell, and the stairs in front of that location would squeak and vibrate violently on a regular basis.
I was still thinking that this was them messing with me. It just seemed like it was a little too scripted. Man, was I wrong! For the next 6 months I was there, this alarm thing would occur each and every night between 3 and 330, just like the Sergeant said. I saw military working dogs refuse to go in to search. Every dog would whimper, growl, and try to hide behind their handler. Those of you who know, know that military working dogs don't refuse service! I also witnessed grown men choose to sit on a stool in a 4x4 foot shack instead of at a nice desk in a spacious, air conditioned lobby.
I quickly became one of those guys in the shack! I experienced the walking, talking and stairs all in about the first hour of my first shift on that post. My shift on the HQ post began at midnight and by 0100 or so, my time of trying to stay at the CQ desk was over! I was pretty shaken. I never experienced the smells, but would experience the sounds on several occasions. Then at 3:17 am, the alarm went off-motion detected in the basement and on the third floor! There had been nobody there since 5pm, when the building had been secured for the evening. Peculiar thing, very seldom did anyone come back in the evening to work there alone. I think I remember only about two times in my six months that anyone came back to work after 5 pm. And they did not stay long... In and out so to speak!
These are my experiences at the HQ building on Hickham AFB. I would be interested in knowing if there are any other former SF guys on this site who have had similar experiences while stationed there. It was creepy, and I experienced these things on several occasions, but the alarm thing was EVERY MORNING, without fail! Extremely unnerving place to work. (The days off were great, though!)
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