ORIGINS of PATCHES

[HooverPilot]

How long does it generally take to get 100 traps? One cruise? One sea tour?

In todays age, it depends on your platform. My first 2 cruises I flew S-3's and left my shore tour with 349 total traps. Now I fly the COD and on my last COD cruise (I only did 4 months of the cruise) I got ~25. On my second COD cruise now and the pace is about the same - ~25-35 for cruise. I have around 420 traps now.

The hours rack up pretty quick in either platform. I left my S-3 Sea tour with 1500 hours and now I have just over 2200.

 

[WheelsUpHeelsUp]

My first squadron patch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vaw-123.jpg

The best one was with VR 52 Det Wash where we were known as "The Flying Grannies". To my knowledge we were the only ones to use a copyrighted Playboy logo with permission. We had wristwatches with "Granny" on them and both nude and non nude logo's for squadron gear.
It was fitting since we were flying the old C118's. For you kids out there there is NOTHING like the sound of 4 2800's droning their beautiful melody on a RON singing per diem, per diem, per diem.

 

[HooverPilot]

OH and here are my first squadrons patches!

 

[Mr. Blonde]

I like the last one the best.

I'm guessing those types of patches are becoming few and far between in actual practice. To think, 50 years ago they used to paint things worse than that on the actual plane. That's why I voted for my grandfather's Navy.

 

[Nose]

How long does it generally take to get 100 traps? One cruise? One sea tour?

Depends on the cruise and what you fly. Some cruises are busy (Think OIF/OEF) and some cruises are not (think Clinton/Gore years)

A good complete cycle of work-ups and cruise for me (E-2's) was 100 traps. That was with a decent amount of flying on cruise. Remember that as an E-2 guy I only log the trap if I am at the controls, right seat stuff doesn't count (Interestingly enough, we still log the Cat shot!) AND we do lots of double/triple cycle sorties so we get less traps because of that too.

All the other squadrons on the boat averaged 100 traps per cruise. S-3s did a lot more on my last cruise because they were doing the tanker thing and did a lot of yo-yos. (Yo-yo=launch with event 5 and land 15 minutes later with the event 4 jets).

I finished 11 years on active duty with about 400 traps/750 cat shots, but that is pretty good for a Hummer dude - I was an LSO in the RAG and got to bag, a lot. That also includes traps I got during CAG LSO cruise when I cross trained in the hornet.

 

[A4sForever]

.... during CAG LSO cruise when I cross trained in the hornet.

A Hummer driver??? Front seat F'in-A 18's ??? @ how many hours??? How did that happen ... ???

 

[A4sForever]

Probably an easy question but why isn't there a VT8?(If there is one now, disregard the question.)

Probably out of respect for Torpedo 8 .... i.e., VT-8.

 

[Nose]

A Hummer driver??? Front seat F'in-A 18's ??? @ how many hours??? How did that happen ... ???

I played golf with the CNAL force LSO and during that golf game he got a call from the CNAL F-18 desk. One of the CAGs had hurt his knee and wasn't going to be able to fly and did Vaner know anyone who needed a cat IV at the hornet rag? Vaner originally said can't think of anyone until I hit him with my driver. "Oh, yeah, I got a guy right here."

So off to Cecil for 6 fun filled weeks of training. Did a lot of 1V0 kind of stuff. Learned the radar pretty good, Dropped some blue death. Went to Fallon and flew my ass off. Lots of Harm stuff, couple of nice low level ingress strikes, etc.

Got CQ'd during workups. Got to do some stuff on cruise. EASY EASY EASY behind the boat. Ended up with 120 hours and 25 traps. Not a bad ratio.

They try pretty hard to get most CAG LSO's cross trained. Good to have that corporate knowledge.

Nose

 

[A4sForever]

....off to Cecil for 6 fun filled weeks of training. Did a lot of 1V0 kind of stuff. Learned the radar pretty good, Dropped some blue death. Went to Fallon and flew my ass off. Lots of Harm stuff, couple of nice low level ingress strikes, etc......Ended up with 120 hours and 25 traps.....They try pretty hard to get most CAG LSO's cross trained. ...

WOW ... amazing. Yeah, sounds like someone got a good deal. I had to "arrange" all my X-training myself ... "they" try pretty hard (???) .... the only thing CAG did was do nothing and stay out of my way while working my plan to "X-train" myself through the AirWing. It seemed to work better that way ....

It's a good thing you're in "today's kinder, gentler" Navy (or were in the recent past) as it would have never happened 25+ years ago ... a Hummer (or a STOOF) guy in a jet. AND BY HIMSELF !!!??? The horror ....

It just never happened ... rightly or wrongly .... ditto for CAG LSO. Never happened .... never would; never could in the CVA days, at least in PACFLT. Only a VF and a VA guy need apply ....

How times change ...

 

[KnightNArmor]

One of my other patches....

more to come...

 

[phrogpilot73]

One of my other patches....

more to come...

Gee, I wonder where that came from... Me and my roommates designed it on our first deployment and had them made up for when we returned. They were a HUGE hit and when we got to Yuma for WTI Tac Support, all the West Coast Bubbas asked us where to get one. Had to call back to the squadron and have them grab a shitload and bring them with them when the brought the birds out on the cross country. My legacy and dedication to the old girl is officially set in fabric and stitching!

 

[Nose]

It just never happened ... rightly or wrongly .... ditto for CAG LSO. Never happened .... never would; never could in the CVA days, at least in PACFLT. Only a VF and a VA guy need apply ....
How times change ...
[/B]

Well, you better sit down - we actually have E-2 Strike leads, CAGs and CVN COs (lots of those, in fact!).

I think it is a combination of two things: First, unlike in your days, the stuff in the back of the hummer really works, and works well. The difference between what they were flying when I started in late 80's and what they have now is an order of magnitude! Second, these days it's all about information. When you are using stand off weapons and the strike/fighters are spending less time on "Government time" (i.e. not nearly as much "Target area tacticts" involved) there are many missions where the mission commander in the Hummer is in the best seat to make the "Go/No Go/Flex" decision. One thing I DON'T like about that is we are just one step from someone on the ship or on the Beach in a bus driver uniform making tactical decisions. That would be bad!


Sing with me now "Oh the times, they are a changin'"

Best

N

 

[KnightNArmor]

What can I say... that's an awesome patch. They don't allow us to wear shoulder patches anymore otherwise, I'd proudly wear it. Sooooo.....

I was trying to find a picture of the one they did like that except it had
"Endangered Species My A$$" on it...

 

[KBayDog]

They don't allow us to wear shoulder patches anymore otherwise, I'd proudly wear it. Sooooo.....

Is this Marty Moose-specific?

 

[KnightNArmor]

I thought it was a 3rd MAW thing. Cause right after I got the war-moose community people were still wearing shoulder patches. then a couple months later word came down we weren't allowed to wear them anymore....

go fig...

and since you brought up the War Moose Patch... here's both my squadron patches.. "The Youngest of the Oldest."