Frozen in time: Life on Lajes is like a 300-year step backward, but with a modern twist - Lajes Air Base, Azores, Portugal

Airman, Feb, 2002 by Elaine Aviles

Airman 1st Class Avita Weeks is late for work. And not for the first time. Today it's due to a bad traffic jam, a bottleneck in the center of one of the city's main streets.

She's growing more frustrated with each passing second, but all she can do is sit and wait. Not for a tow trucks noisy arrival or a screeching cop car blazing to the rescue, but for Mother Nature to take its course.

This traffic jam wasn't caused by a four-car pile up or a stalled station wagon, but by a herd of lazy cattle crossing the street.

Last week, it was a farmer's donkey cart.

"My boss is very understanding," said Weeks, a 21-year-old member of the 65th Security Forces Squadron. "It happens to the best of us."

Weeks, along with about 1,000 other service members, is stationed at Lajes Field on a tiny island called Terceira. This 148-square-mile island, one of the nine that make up the Azores, is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 900 miles from Lisbon, Portugal, and more than 2,200 miles from New York.

"When I told my friends and family back home that I was coming here, they had no idea where I was talking about," Weeks said. "I've been here for almost a year, and my mom still thinks I'm in Spain."

The Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal. While mainland Portugal borders Spain, a huge expanse of ocean separates the Azorean islands from either country. This makes an assignment on Lajes Field a remote one, and airmen serve either 15-month or two-year tours, depending on whether they bring families or not.

But this remote tour isn't quite what you'd expect. Each of the nine Azorean islands is a miniparadise with temperate -- and somewhat windy -- weather, lush foliage and breathtaking ocean views.

Top secret

"This is one of the best-kept secrets in the Air Force," said Master Sgt. Robert Altenbernd, the 65th Medical Group first sergeant, who is accompanied by his wife and three children. "When I found out I was coming here for a short tour, I was excited. I was here in 1993 when the C-130 I was riding broke down. I took a good look around, and knew I wanted to come back."

Nine years later, he had his chance, and he and his wife jumped at it.

"I love it already," said his wife, Tech. Sgt. Nancy Altenbernd, a security forces noncommissioned officer in charge. "No matter where I go, there's an incredible view of the ocean."

And a lot to do. Island activities range from horseback riding and camping to deep-sea fishing and windsurfing, with every conceivable outdoor activity thrown in the middle.

But don't confuse Terceira with Hawaii or Bermuda. Despite its spectacular beauty and bounty of outdoor activities, tourism is practically nonexistent. While the island was discovered and settled by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century, not much has changed since then. Terceira's major industries are still dairy farming and fishing, and its rolling hills and rugged cliffs are untouched by the massive, smoke-stacked factories so common to modern day landscapes. In fact, with its quaint 300-year-old cobblestone roads, tiny Mediterranean-style hamlets and sprawling farmlands, Terceira seems almost frozen in time.

"When I first got here, I felt like I was traveling back in time," Robert Altenbernd said. "My sponsor took my family and me on a tour around the island, and there wasn't a fast-food restaurant or shopping mall in sight. It seemed very old- fashioned."

It is, and that's good. Perhaps because of its isolation, Terceira is host to a variety of festivals and events that aren't practiced on the mainland anymore. Every summer locals line the streets and rooftops of their villages to watch weekly street bullfights.

"The men chase the bulls down the street, taunting them with sticks and umbrellas," said Lt. Steven Bowser, one of a handful of sailors stationed at Lajes Field. "First the men are chasing the bull, then suddenly the bull is chasing them. It's an amazing sight, and one I never thought I'd see in person."

The pastoral countryside setting does have its contrasts. While on one side of a pasture there may be 18th century-style herders tending their flocks and farmers peacefully tilling their fields, on the other there's a 21st century world booming with futuristic aircraft and state-of-the-art technology.

Atlantic crossroads

"Lajes Field provides the only military support in the mid-Atlantic region," said Senior Master Sgt. Larry Cole, the field's chief air traffic controller. "Everything from A-10s to AC-130 gunships and Navy fighters have passed through here."

First used by the U.S. and British military for submarine-hunting missions during World War II, the United States later recognized Terceira's value as a refueling station. Now known as the "crossroads of the Atlantic," Lajes Field has become a trans-Atlantic gas station of sorts, providing a pit stop for aircraft from around the world.

"We service aircraft from Egypt, Germany, Spain, Canada, Italy and, of course, the United States," Cole said. "Our primary mission is to ensure aircraft, both military and civilian, make it safely to their destinations."