sing "
Anchors Aweigh" in 2012 for a fund-raising drive. The large collection of records and tapes at Radio GTMO was amassed from the 1940s to the 1990s. Most have labels stating they are special Armed Forces issue, not the common retail product. Every item is indexed in a
card catalog. Estimates of the value of the collection vary from a speculative $3 million down to $1 million, but many of the titles cannot be sold because they are government property, released by the various record companies to the US military only for radio broadcast, with resale not allowed. A 2007 estimate by AFN concluded that $2 million might be collected if each title could be auctioned online, at an average price of about $100, but for most of the titles there is no method of legal sale. The collection is unique; it is the only intact, active record collection in the
US Department of Defense. In the 1990s when the US military transitioned to
digital audio, AFN ordered its stations to destroy their vinyl record collections or turn them in to the AFN Broadcast Center in
Riverside, California. The Riverside office placed a full set of vinyl records in long-term storage, and sent another complete set to the
Library of Congress. Stations were also allowed to keep some analog recordings and playback equipment for historical purposes. While the various AFN stations were clearing their shelves of vinyl, Radio GTMO ignored the order and kept their collection. Another attempt by civilian staffers with no authority at the
Defense Media Activity to have the collection destroyed in 2022 was likewise ignored and thwarted by AFN Europe and AFN Headquarters leadership. The collection may eventually end up in a museum, but for now is safe and secure inside Radio GTMO. ==References==