Not to stray away from the conversation on A/C and ball-cooling (believe me, these things are high on my list), but before the discussion strays too far from my previous questions, any comments on deployments for different communities?
Here is what I saw in HSL/HSM (SH60B and MH60R by the time you wing) Det deployments. 3-6 months on average, cycle slightly unpredictable due to pilots being shuffled between dets. I think most Det-Concept platforms have a bit of instability due to that. Oh, and the 60B's AC is not that great, and does not blow on your balls. The back of your neck will be cool though.
I moved this over to a new thread so it wouldn't get lost in the....whatever was going on in the other thread. Hopefully we can get a bit more than just a couple of HSL takes, but for the most part (except maybe VQ), it's the same general cycle... Same, same from what I saw on HSL west. The difference was that sometimes you had more bodies than cruises, so people only got one cruise, or more cruises than bodies, so people got to go out to sea more. Generally it was the former after OIF. From what I've heard, it's similar now, but maybe someone else in the fleet can correct me. For the most part, it's the same general cycle for gray planes that go on gray things: show up at some point during a cycle, eventually workup (might be two days after you show up), deploy, come back, maybe work up again and deploy, depending on your timing and the timing of that particular squadron/community.
I second the HSL west experience. I did two six monthers. Each time one bird, 4 pilots, independent steaming operations. 1. Fly, sleep, eat. Repeat for 14 days or until frigate pulls in for gas and powdered milk. 2. Drink for five days or until current paycheck exhausted. 3. Repeat entire cycle approximately 12 times.
Thanks. A follow up question: how often were you home (i.e., with family if you have one)? Again, I'm curious about all the communities.
That opens a whole 'nother question. Some communities are more into night flying than others. I was an "early adopter" to NVG's in my community (now gone). My bro's ate dinner with their wives a hell of a lot more than I did. Should that be a factor in your decision making? I don't know, but figure that out for yourself.
