Iraklion Air Station

Iraklion Air Station was 16 km (10 miles) east of Heraklion near the villages of Gournes and Gouves.  The base was in use during the Cold War from 1954 to 1993.  The facility finally closed and was turned over to the Greek government in 1994.

Iraklion was an Electronic Security Command listening post.  It was home to the 6931st Electronic Security Command and the 7276th Air Base Group.






I remember that lots of people wanted an assignment to Iraklion.  I loved that it was only a 10-minute walk from the dorms to the beach.  I was really lucky to get stationed here as my last base.

The facility is more or less abandoned.  The old base exchange is now the village's city hall and a few buildings are used as part of a school.  The main feature now is the aquarium.

The old base fire station

The rest of the place is a mess.  Lots of vandalism and graffiti with weeds overtaking everything.

Former dorms

Walking around it felt like I was in one of those zombie apocalypse movies.  The whole experience was pretty surreal especially the entry gate with no one there to check your ID.

 

CretAquarium

I found this old newcomer's video produced by the public affairs office out on YouTube. It was made in the late 80s or very early 90s.  I remember receiving a VHS copy of this video when I first received my orders for Iraklion.