The Spudchucker | Loring AFB

Note: Portions of this post (images) were sourced from social media. Out of respect for the privacy of the original posters, I have not included an attribution.

Have you ever wondered where B52 bomber pilots and crews would go to unwind between missions during the Cold War? Apparently, at Loring, they had a subterranean bar in one of the pilot dormitories. The Spudchucker.

From what I've gathered, this establishment was a long, narrow room converted to recreational use that was originally a part of the bases underground tunnel system that would have allowed for transit between buildings without having to go outside should a 50 megaton sh*t have hit a 14,000 acre fan. Also Northern Maine being Northern Maine, these tunnels did find occasional use as a way for people to get from point A to point B outside of the biting winds in the winter time. They were also the source of plenty of speculation including but not limited to "devil worship" alleged to be in the area.

The "devil worship" story may have had the same origins as the vamp house story. -- Many of the tunnels in the area were apparently connected with "East Loring", aka the North River Depot and were filled in during the late 1950s when the wooden barracks were torn down.

Honestly, I don't know when, and I don't know how. I know that the tunnels existed as early as 1959 and would have likely been part of the bases original construction. The information that I do have comes from a public Facebook group for folks who were stationed at the base -- and that information consists of the following: they made excellent burritos. And that the painting to the right is on a wall in a tunnel under Loring AFB somewhere.