38-40 people to maintain 2 aircraft. That is incredibly wasteful.
I don't think so, not on COD's. Besides, not all of those folks are pure maint. Like said, 6-8 aircrewman (back-up maint), 2 AZ's, 1 YN, a few non-designators, etc. Depending on the CAG, we have to have a catch crew, so we keep 8-10 maintainers on the boat, the rest on shore. So 38-40 is actually a bit small IMO. Especially when CAG wants to split our det and our maint department. I think 50 maint types would be better. Plus, the COD is a Grumman product

Then I get 6 pilots, including the OIC and if only 3 are AC's, it becomes tough when CAG requires a CVDO, further splitting the det. Just about anything is possible, just not always the correct route to take.
So now you kiss my ass while before it was pain in the ass
I'm joking of course. I hear things are going to get quite busy for you guys at 30. I'm glad I'm not there but here, doing nothing as usual.