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Hawkeyes!

Pcola04/30

Professional Michigan Hater
pilot
She said she went to the reserves about a year ago. She is still an IP at -120 but does the Sim gig on the side when they need help with the schedule.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
VT-28. I fly once a week if I am lucky. They try to get me on the sked but WX has sucked, and the STAN guys that I need for my OCF flights have been on leave or dealing with completers and such..

Quick threadjack,

Master, what's the actual T-34 syllabus for you like? Sounds like it's a mixture of IUT stuff (Natops/OCF) and some stud stuff (PAs). I'm surprised it's 16 flights as that sounds like a lot for a winged guy (it's more than they teach WTIs coming through the FITU), so I was curious what they actually had you doing.
 

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
Gator, its in the IUT Curriculum Guide, under Helo to Strike syllabus.

The problem is, its it's not very well written as to what I need and what I don't need.

What WTIs get T-34? Not SWTIs...

I do the normal IUT sims,
C7001, C7002, C7004, C7005
C5001, 5002, 5003, 5005
I5001, 5002
F5001, 5001, 5101, 5102

I THINK those are the events. My MCG is at work.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
Gotcha. Yeah, I remember seeing the Helo to Strike section when I was going through. Cool that you get Forms, not the norm here. There are actually SWTIs that get T-34 qual'ed. They're down at Jax. We were supposed to do some low-slow flier stuff w/ them, but they couldn't support us, so we did it w/ our own birds.

The guys that are stationed w/ the...I'm totally drawing a blank now...the tactics support people for the pointy-nosed guys. They have T-34s they fly as spotters, so they come to the FITUs to get qual'ed. It's basically just a Natops qual.
 

kray1395

Active Member
Thanks for the detailed reply Pcola. I found the thread that I was talking about.

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?p=283541#post283541

In there you mentioned it being more laid back than K-rock, but not as much as the guys next door. I assumed you were talking about the E-2 side of the house, so that may be the problem. You know what they say about assuming. That post has actually since been edited by skidkid for OPSEC so I don't know what that's about.

You guys may think I'm crazy, and maybe you are right, but I'm actually pretty dead set on going the E-2 route. I have my reasons, all of which may be stupid, but reasons they are. Maybe I just don't like money, I don't know. I'm pretty excited about the money being thrown into the E-2 program lately, and the advances coming in future E-2's with that money. I would like to know a little more about the C-2's future, and I'm not sure anybody knows that information yet.

Anyways, I do realize that I may be getting myself into a more anal retentive side of the house. But there's just that sadistic desire to spend six months on a carrier and be part of the actual objective it is we are out there to accomplish. I've been in the Navy now for 12 years, and all of that time has been spent in either a classroom, or some kind of training environment, and it's time to be part of the fight. Well, there was that one year spent with the Pukin' Dogs, and six months of that was spent TAD to the base galley. But fighting with Mess Specialist's doesn't count.
 

bunk22

Super *********
pilot
Super Moderator
Thanks for the detailed reply Pcola. I found the thread that I was talking about.

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?p=283541#post283541

In there you mentioned it being more laid back than K-rock, but not as much as the guys next door. I assumed you were talking about the E-2 side of the house, so that may be the problem. You know what they say about assuming. That post has actually since been edited by skidkid for OPSEC so I don't know what that's about.

You guys may think I'm crazy, and maybe you are right, but I'm actually pretty dead set on going the E-2 route. I have my reasons, all of which may be stupid, but reasons they are. Maybe I just don't like money, I don't know. I'm pretty excited about the money being thrown into the E-2 program lately, and the advances coming in future E-2's with that money. I would like to know a little more about the C-2's future, and I'm not sure anybody knows that information yet.

Anyways, I do realize that I may be getting myself into a more anal retentive side of the house. But there's just that sadistic desire to spend six months on a carrier and be part of the actual objective it is we are out there to accomplish. I've been in the Navy now for 12 years, and all of that time has been spent in either a classroom, or some kind of training environment, and it's time to be part of the fight. Well, there was that one year spent with the Pukin' Dogs, and six months of that was spent TAD to the base galley. But fighting with Mess Specialist's doesn't count.

You do what you want to do. Nothing wrong with that. Don't think that being an E-2 guy is being part of the fight, so to speak. Their job is obviously very important. Being 200 miles away from the action, in my mind, is not being directly involved in the fight though. Used to drive me nuts to listen to some of the E-2 NFO's talk about their "combat" time (this Afghanistan). Driving circles in the sky is not combat time, no matter how many air medals are given for it. I think though, the tact guys can correct me, if the air medal doesn't have the combat V, not the equal. Regardless, you are a part of the airwing, can participate in the top nugget, top hook. You can be a paddles and have more opportunity for command. I know there's a difference, spending 6 months on the boat as part of the airwing as a COD guy during my first tour, flying at night at the boat. There's certainly a different feel to it, you feel like a part of the team (we were more like the bench warmers of the team, never getting to play). Of course once we changed direction as a squadron and started to hit the beach, the cold beer easily washed away that feeling :D
 

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
I have been "Tip of the spear", I would like to sample this beach-money-no-night thing. Oh and beer too... :D

(Okay, HSL is more of a special kid in a hockey helmet with a NERF bat than having a real pointy spear, but I digress)
 

bert

Enjoying the real world
pilot
Contributor
(Okay, HSL is more of a special kid in a hockey helmet with a NERF bat than having a real pointy spear, but I digress)

And once the R hits the fleet you can slide the words 'fat kid' into that list as well...
 

Pcola04/30

Professional Michigan Hater
pilot
Next door was a reference to VRC 40, which is next door to 120. VRC-40 is the east coast C-2 squadron.

You are not the only one set on E-2's Kray. Common for at least a handful of guys to be set on going E-2's. One guy I know was actually pissed to have selected C-2's, go figure.
 

Goober

Professional Javelin Catcher
None
"Combat Distinguishing Device. The Combat Distinguishing Device may be authorized for single mission Air Medals for valor (heroism) after 4 April 1974."

The V has nothing to do with actual strikes - still get the same strike/flight medal the rest of the cast gets, just get more points at a time (a sortie = 1 point, a strike = 2 points).

As for pilot involvement, times are changin'. Although it's slow to get adopted in some squadrons, the tactical laptop for the flight station is a huge benefit for the CIC crew. It's a stepping stone to the tactical 4th operator at the copilot station (yes, a pilot). The days of being a bus driver are over. The E-2 pilots going through AMCC (Adv. Mission Commander Course) are required to have the same knowledge now as the NFOs (tactical knowledge anyway - caps/lims, etc.), and they're fully integrated into the NFO AMCC sims as well. Fact is, we couldn't pass AMCC's simulators without them. They're that difficult.
 

bunk22

Super *********
pilot
Super Moderator
"Combat Distinguishing Device. The Combat Distinguishing Device may be authorized for single mission Air Medals for valor (heroism) after 4 April 1974."

The V has nothing to do with actual strikes - still get the same strike/flight medal the rest of the cast gets, just get more points at a time (a sortie = 1 point, a strike = 2 points).

Obviously I know nothing of air medals, not my cup of tea. My boss is a prior F-14 RIO and Pilot (he was one of the original 7 to go from RIO to pilot, I think 3 of them were killed which stopped the NFO to pilot program for a while) and he has 3 air medals. He said without the V, they are meaningless. Getting an air medal while being many, many miles away for a strike was meaningless in his eyes as well.
 

MasterBates

Well-Known Member
Air Medals are also given out for SAR efforts.

JTF Katrina and JTF Rita handed them out like candy. You get a "1" on it. Or a "2" for second award.
 

kray1395

Active Member
Certainly didn't mean to make it sound as though I thought I was going to be a part of the fight as far as engaging bandits or lasing targets. I know that my job will be to orbit hundreds of miles from the action. (Read: I love holding for hours!!) However, I will know that my presence means that those who will be putting iron on foreheads will have greater SA and hopefully that makes their jobs that much easier. If doing my job as an E-2 pilot means that my brethren have a better chance of getting back home to their families, then I feel as though I am part of the fight.

I am happy to hear that we will be responsible for a greater part of the mission and learning more about what the NFO's are doing in the back. I'm sure that will mean even greater opportunities will begin to open up for the pilots later in their careers. Am I right that the laptop will not be necessary with the Advanced Hawkeye? I think I remember reading that the pilot will be able to bring up the information needed on the new MFD's to do the same job they are now doing with the laptops.

Pcola, thanks for clarifying that. It makes much more sense now, although I was hoping you actually had meant that the E-2 side of the house was more laid back. I do know that some of the guys leaving here recently have been wanting E-2's. When it comes to my class, however, there are going to be a number of guys upset when they are forced to go E-2's. I wouldn't really be all that upset with being told I was going to be a COD driver, but I'm hoping they'll let me have the Hawkeye slot that I want.

For anyone else in the E2/C2 loop. Has anyone heard about any rumors of moving the east coast E-2's over to Oceana and letting the helos have NAS Norfolk? The main reason I would be interested is that it will probably affect where I look for our next house. I did the whole Oceana thing when I was enlisted and I'm sure it would be more fun as an officer, but after having been in south Texas for so long, anyplace will be fine.
 
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