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My wife flies for an airline. Shortly after I came back from a cruise in '93 I took my first trip flying standby, which really is one of the best deals around. I made it all the way out to the west coast and got there a few minutes before she did and met her as they landed. Stayed overnight in...

Not too much of a story. I was the junior B/N, so had to walk aboard for start of cruise. Manned up a hot seat w/ the junior pilot (who was also an LSO, so he should have known what he needed) for a touch & go and a trap to get his two day landings to go at night. Take off, immediate turn...

6.2 in the A-6E from Oceana w/ 12 x Mk 82 Snakes for a long range Hi-Lo-Hi opposed (sort of - the air war was waaay above us) night strike on goggles into one of the Tonapah targets, then over to Fallon for a cold beer or three. I know my Dad has at least a couple of 10.0+ in the Skyraider...

Actually, I believe it is technically "Aviation Career Incentive Pay" and it is paid to keep you in, which is why you get it even when you are not flying as long as you make your gates. It is not hazardous duty pay. It tapers when they think they've got you on the hook for a career. As others...

Would that be the same Craze Mace who works w/ me @ JFCOM and is retiring in two weeks? How bad do you want the picture? I'm sure Crazette has a copy...

"Target Rich Environment" is what we used to call the wedding circuit...

Fr the sake of the joke effect, most tiaras I've seen were purchased at Toys "R" Us in the Pretty Little Princess section. We used to buy them for female officers when they promoted to O-5 or above, just for fun. Easier to drop $5 for a plastic one than big money on the official Navy one that...

I had a roommate on my second cruise who was allergic to peanuts. Would break out in hives and had to get a shot periodically. Was in for 9 years, flew combat missions, etc. Had the red dog tags. Only thing they gave him a "bye" for was not crawling through the "vat o' slop" during the...

I went in, she was very helpful, but she can only give me a turn-in unless I want my command to pay for a new one (there's a full-blown instruction out there dealing w/ this). Given my current / future non-flying status, that would have Fraud, Waste, & Abuse written all over it. She had about...

Thanks!

I am in Pensacola visiting my family and finally have opportunity to try and trade my "naugahide" version of the leather flight jacket I got issued in 1984 for something a bit less plastic looking. I know they are all low-bidder manufactured, but mine wasn't even the right shade. Flight gear...

That's my point, NROTC does not get leftovers because Navy sets a quota spread out fairly equitably among at least two commissioning sources (USNA and NROTC). USNA does this because they are chartered (poor choice of word, but you get the point) to commission Unrestricted Line Officers and have...

Perhaps one of the Air Force guys can weigh in, because when my son was looking at options last year (USNA, USAFA, NROTC), the USAFA guy told him he stood a hugely greater chance of selecting aircrew going USAFA than if he went AFROTC. His rationale was that USAFA is chartered to graduated...

I went in to have Lasik done by the surgeon @ Portsmouth Naval and ended up getting PRK. She said I was a good candidate for either procedure and since I was not flying g-aircraft anymore, there really was no reason to get PRK and go through all the pain and delayed recovery as compared to...

Grant: Pretty well written. My recommended changes in red / bold. Basic guidance - - speak in present tense when possible. - don't overdue the quotations...looks like you can't express in your own words. Probably need to use only one or the other quote. The Kennedy one is the better one...

Back in the 80s we wore garrison cap, and insignia on the shirt to facilitate taking off the jacket/blouse. Back then the female version was pants only, no skirt, which was a shame because my wife (EC-130 pilot) would have looked great in the skirt option. AWGs were the most comfortable...

The key is applying early. They start assigning scholarships as early as eptember and while they are perhaps a bit more selective up front, there are fewer people who have got all the stuff together soon ernough to get looked at. As was said before, focus on a technical major as 85% are...

100 and 1/4. Multi-pilot mins. We made the point of reminding the RIOs of that fact, although secretly many of us would have preferred to stay out of the treeline... Needles and Bullseye, both worked fairly reliably. ALWAYS backed up by the ever-popular "Intruder Approach" which we were...

Understood, but I'm sure guys aggressively tried to parlay that "co-pilot" time from the military log book when they went to FAA to get their log book verified. Could the V-1 cut be demonstrated in a sim? Or are you telling me your guys practiced engine failures on takeoff in the plane? I...

After reading several of these posts, I feel the need to provide some professional counseling to make sure some folks don't get the wrong idea about per diem. I have had the sad duty to reprimand, and in more than one instance "fry" field grade officers who either failed to do the due...

Back to the discussion about NFOs trying to log PIC time, or co-pilot, or whatever, I know several (i.e. more than 5) A-6 NFOs who had their private pilot's license and some how were able to rationalize all the right seat flying into co-pilot time such that they made a play for the regionals and...

Disagree. You can't play both sides of the fence. About the only thing worse would be the flight surgeon who is just barely in qual using a flyoff as an excuse to stay current.

I'd make sure you actually have what you consider to be a fairly safe route to take from home to work (or wherever you plan to bike). Dueling w/ 4 wheeled idiots almost always ends up w/ the 2 wheeler being the loser. Without a dedicated (ideally physically separated) bike lane, you're going...

Re: Your updated statement: Where you talk about OIF III and you mention mentoring and counseling monthly, perhaps you should say something like "...providing daily mentorship and monthly formal counseling..." to make the point that you had daily interaction, not just a monthly check in the...

NAMI / NOMI, or whatever they call themselves these days used to have a desensitation program to help guys w/ chronic airsickness but the desire to stick with it. Lots of zen "you are great, flying is great" self motivation, as well as sitting you in the puke chair as they spun you around and...

Your Motivational Statement - very well written! A recommendation or two: - Start off with "I seek" rather than "I am seeking." - About the third sentence, I think your word should be "into" rather than "in to." - Biggest thing, if you have the room, would be to possibly shed some light on...

The A-6 purge was a case study in how not to take care of your people. Big Navy made lots of promises that the Year Group 84 (ones most impacted as they were senior LTs) Department Head screen would put all 1310 / 1320 on the table, regardless of community, and they would select "the best of the...

Mark is actually a very good friend of mine, but we had to get through the BS to finally get there. Manny married an A-4 pilot from the Cubi Point squadron. I believe they met in NPA while she was w/ VT-4 and he was w/ the Blues. She flies (flew?) for Delta. When he got out they went to...

Eric & I started VT-10 together. Pretty sure you'd have to torture himto get any personal sea stories out of him. He held his cards pretty close to his chest at all times. He was in the RAG as an instructor while my wife was a TC-4C pilot there, so perhaps she knows more...

I was crewed up w/ Rand McNally in my first squadron, VA-85. He always tried to play stump the dummy / NATOPS trvia while in the air - very uncool. One night @ Fallon before the massive gorilla strike (low-level terrain following pre-NVG days) we preflight and are starting to strap in, and he...

I knew Sluggo initially from when he was a Replacement B/N back in 1986 (a few classes behind me). He was in the 8-man bunkroom when he came back through as a pilot in 1992/93. I've never know a guy who tried harder to get out of the Navy, but stayed around as long as he did. He finally got...

Stupid me, I knew that. I just wasn't sure who inherited those guys once they split.

Funeral customs http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/customs.htm Whenever outside, and when the coffin passes by, uniformed members render a hand salute. But I'm not sure if it was because the coffin was draped in the Flag and you are honoring the Flag, or to pay respect for the dead. Since I...

I think the fact that you are placing the ashes in the columbarium niche would be an argument in favor of medals, since you are now performing an official function. Let me see if I can find the specific reference in Service Etiquette book and scan / paste. Since it is at Arlington, the...

Shame. Shawn was a nugget B/N on my last cruise w/ VA-75. Sharp kid.

I have done this on several occasions, both while burying squadron mates and friends / relatives. This is my opinion, but reinforced by the Service Etiquette Manual, as well as the Fleet Forces Command Protocol Officer. If it is a funeral for someone dying in the line of duty and you are part...

HJ: As you well know, there isn't a better strike planner around, and he was the right choice, then and now. I was still in the RAG, but as I recall, his inertial dumped while dodging a SAM inbound to the target and he resorted to Zen bombing w/ a manual "Standby, Standby, pickle" call to his...

I'm no math whiz, but from a common sense approach, how do you figure running one mile in 8 minutes, and then walking (i.e. slower) the next half mile will give you a "pretty good time"? If you ran the entire 1.5 at your "pretty good" (which it is not) pace, you'd end up at 12 minutes, which is...

Rant Alert. The Navy should not be viewed as your personal weight loss plan. You need to show up in shape, ready to train. Otherwise you become a drain on the system and will spend lots of effort trying to keep up, rather than excelling. It saddens me that we are having to expend so much...

Wrong attitude. This approach will only get you into the habit of playing catch-up every PRT cycle. You need to embrace a culture of fitness. That means getting off your a$$ and setting some short and long range goals and achieving them.

www.henninger.com/mayaguez A very good and accurate documentary on the Mayaguez. Select "The Script" for the first person accounts of air crew, national leaders, Marines, and Khmer Rouge. The most poignant quote was from Capt Jim Davis, who was in charge of the extraction off the beach...

Still lots of grammatical errors. Recommend you get a college teacher's eye on this before you go smooth with it in your packet. - over use of the dreaded hyphen - conspicuous omission of semicolons where needed - dangling modifiers and prepositional phrases

Pixie: Please PM me. The Joint Public Affairs Support Element falls under the umbrella of the Directorate I work for at Joint Forces Command. The new CO is a Navy PAO O-6, the Reserve CO is a Navy PAO O-6. The Joint Forces Command PAO is a Navy O-6. I'm sure I can get you pointed in the...

Having seen your first post prior to your wise decision to remove it, I've got news for you, it was offensive regardless of whether it was a first post or 1000th post. Not saying it was without humor, but it was offensive. Would you have walked into a squadron party and told that joke in...

So, riddle me this, Batman. How come the 4-star USMC boss here @ JFCOM can give the keynote luncheon speech in Desert Digital Cammies at the Virginia Beach conference center (way off base) a few weeks ago, in front of several thousand civilians, but you aren't allowed to make stops off base in...

RANT ALERT Gee, there's so much to work with here...where do I begin? "I'm not an NFO hater, but..." That sounds as sincere as "I'm not a racist, but..." Guess what? If you weren't, you wouldn't feel the need to disclaim. What makes you think JOs "deserve" traps? They may need them...

After an A-4C Squadron CO tour (VA-12 Ubangis) including a combat cruise my dad gets assigned a couple of years later to a Joint group known as "Silk Purse" flying EC or RC-135s (I don't recall) as the Airborne Command Post out of RAF Mildenhall, flying w/ the USAF. Not only did they have the...

I would downplay your father's negative ties to his military service. Make mention of the fact that he served in Vietnam, but since that was way before your time, there was no real strong military influence. His demons are not yours, so don't bring them into the discussion. I understand the...

Hey T-Short: Biggest thing that jumped out at me was that the majority of your naval heroes weren't even in the U.S. Navy. Might want to pay homage to Bull Halsey, or Jim Stockdale, Mitscher, Ramage, Burke, Gilmore, Fluckey, Spruance, etc, etc. Plus what the other guys already said.

Just curious - were you told to wear a suit, or was it your idea? If coat and tie is not "strongly" recommended, it ought to be. If it wasn't required but you elected to do so on your own, good on you for making the right choice. Despite what others think or have said elsewhere, at this...