AFRS - Athens, Greece

The Golden Age of AFRS-Athens (1964-1967)

If you were a U.S. serviceman or dependant in Greece you most likely began and ended your day listening to AFRS-Athens.  Thousands of English-speaking civilians working in Greece and Greek citizens also turned to "the little station that could" for their news, information and entertainment - 24 hours a day.  Perhaps never before, or since, has a group of people come together who cared more for their mission, and each other, as was assembled at Detachment 500, 7122nd Support Squadron (AFRS-Athens) in the mid 1960's.  Each member contributed his/her unique skills and talents in a committed manner that is rarely found.  This website is lovingly dedicated to that truly wonderful group of people.  We all worked hard - and played just as hard! What many referred to as "Radio Athens" went dark in the spring of 1991, as the United States was forced to close it's Hellenikon Air Base at Athinai Airport.  Civilian operations at Hellenikon came to an end in March 2001, after 60 years, when the new Athinai Airport opened at Spata.  The northern half of the old airport was redeveloped as one of the sites for the 2004 Summer Olympics.  As of August 2004, most of the buildings on the grounds of the former U.S. air base were still standing.                         AFRS-Athens technicals & personnel from the mid 60's Broadcast Frequency: 1584kc & 1594kc @ 1kw (.25kw backup) / non-directional twenty-four hours daily (EET)  Sq. Commander (Wiesbaden, Germany): (Maj) Pete Ballas  Det. Commander: (Lt) Ron Gruchy, (Lt) Larry Thibaut (replaced Ron Gruchy in January 1965) Det. Management: (TSgt) Pat Longo - NCOIC, (TSgt) Bill Heinemann - Program/News Director, (TSgt) Art Sharpe (replaced Pat Longo in June 1966) Engineering Staff: Costas Lydakis   Office Majordomo: Mary Orphan (Molloy) Air Staff: (Sgt) Pat Longo, (Sgt) Bill Heinemann, (Sgt) Ron Strickland, (Sgt) Art Sharpe, (Sgt) Ric Crawford, (Sgt) Jay Burns, (Sgt) Jim Strizak, (Amn) Bill Billingsley (mornings),  (Amn) Bill Anderson, (Amn) Bob "Tiger" Nelson, (Amn) Chuck Follstad, (Amn) Al Cunningham, (Amn) Craig Barnes and (Amn) Don Pagan Comments and suggestions for this site are welcome.  Contact Bill Anderson at musicmann@oldiesauthority.com.  Please include AFRS in the "Subject" line.  Information presented here is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed.