Sar

[Pags]

PAX River has station SAR and they also fly the C-12; but I wouldn’t set my sights on station SAR for shore duty unless you are looking to get out.

Yeah, I've heard it's not exactly the place for the upwardly mobile...but...might that change now that at most places you'd end up flying a fleet aircraft(Sierras, Foxtrots), as opposed to something old and on its way out (H-3/H-1)? Discuss.

I've heard some funny stories about station SAR back in the day....lots of free time in out of the way locales and not a lot of adult supervision.

 

[S.O.B.]

Yeah, I've heard it's not exactly the place for the upwardly mobile...but...might that change now that at most places you'd end up flying a fleet aircraft(Sierras, Foxtrots), as opposed to something old and on its way out (H-3/H-1)? Discuss.

I've heard some funny stories about station SAR back in the day....lots of free time in out of the way locales and not a lot of adult supervision.

I was a crewman in Key West in the early nineties, you would not believe the kinda stuff we got away with. I loved it and wish I could go back.

I don’t think it will ever be career enhancing, it’s just to good of a deal.

 

[Gatordev]

For the Mayport 60B det, we did combo missions. 1st run in logistics, then SAR until it got dark. After 3-4 days it shifted to more of a recon/resupply role once we got on the CVN. First 4-5 days were at NAS Pcola.

I was talking about Tsunami aid in the second part, but interesting info, nonetheless.

So to get this right:
You'll only get to conduct SAR on deployment if you happen to be at the right place at the wrong time. Otherwise, a helo guy should'nt count on doing SAR at station unless they assist the CG in hawaii or Mayport or are stationed in Guam with HSC. Which duty stations have station sar as a shore tour besides "middle of nowhere" Lemoore, Whidbey, and Key West?

Well, that's not exactly what's been said here. You may very well do SAR when at homeguard, just like on deployment. It really is a matter of just being around at the right time and being the crew that's flying. There's plenty of other stories of guys who get SARs of opportunity, including an HS det that was on the Kennedy (I think it was) during one of the HURREVACs. They ended up saving some people on a sail boat in 60+ knot winds and brought them back to the carrier.

As has been said, you can't get Station SAR out of the HTs, so I'd recommend not trying to base your selection choice just on whether you get to do SAR since the Navy doesn't make that the number one priority. It sounds like you'd probably be interested in HS or HSC, as the chances of doing SAR duty are much more likely. Just know there's lots of time doing other stuff in between potential SAR scenarios.

 

[navy05]

Kind of off topic but will the HS squadrons in JAX be moving to Norfolk in a few years? The HS mission sounds really enticing, but not at the expense of living in Norfolk. My understanding is that HS is currently located in San Diego, Jax, and Atsugi, all of which are good places to be.

 

[Pags]

Kind of off topic but will the HS squadrons in JAX be moving to Norfolk in a few years? The HS mission sounds really enticing, but not at the expense of living in Norfolk. My understanding is that HS is currently located in San Diego, Jax, and Atsugi, all of which are good places to be.

Yeah, the plan is for east coast HS to move to Norfolk. What's wrong with Norfolk?

 

[Gatordev]

What's wrong with Norfolk?

It's not the West Coast. (Smiles in effect).

 

[S.O.B.]

Yeah, the plan is for east coast HS to move to Norfolk. What's wrong with Norfolk?

People in Norfolk seem to be angry all the time. Poor customer service. If you live in Norfolk you will spend a third of your life standing in line. I do however enjoy being able to hear the music from the car next to me when I pull up to a stop light.

 

[navy05]

There's nothing wrong with it if you're from the area I guess. I'm from SoCal so being in Norfolk could only be a major downgrade in QOL. To each thier own. Personally, I'm into surfing, cosmopolitan nightlife, and diversity. Besides, Norfolk is pretty ghetto from what I've seen.

 

[hscs]

Oh come on -- it isn't that bad. Hey, at least, you can buy something more than a closet in Norfolk (as opposed to SD).

 

[Pags]

People in Norfolk seem to be angry all the time. Poor customer service. If you live in Norfolk you will spend a third of your life standing in line.

you make it sound like an eternal trip to PSD

 

[Pags]

There's nothing wrong with it if you're from the area I guess. I'm from SoCal so being in Norfolk could only be a major downgrade in QOL. To each thier own. Personally, I'm into surfing, cosmopolitan nightlife, and diversity. Besides, Norfolk is pretty ghetto from what I've seen.

While there are ghetto areas, it's no worse than any other city sized area. I'm not trying to tell you what to like, I just always hear a lot of people, especially west coast people, hate on the tidewater area and it's nowhere near as bad as they make it out to be. if you listened to the progaganda, you'd think it was nothing more than ghetto, traffic, and drunken sailors. there's a lot more to the area than just the NOB.

 

[hscs]

Aren't all trips to PSD "eternal"??

 

[Gatordev]

While there are ghetto areas, it's no worse than any other city sized area. I'm not trying to tell you what to like, I just always hear a lot of people, especially west coast people, hate on the tidewater area and it's nowhere near as bad as they make it out to be. if you listened to the progaganda, you'd think it was nothing more than ghetto, traffic, and drunken sailors. there's a lot more to the area than just the NOB.

This is a very fair assesment of the Tidewater area, all joking aside. Personally, I like the West Siii-ede better, but on a scale of Milton to Hawaii, there's definitely worse places to be than NorVa.