There's a lot going on in this pic, but I won't take a potshot...
Seriously though, nice pics and your recs are correct!
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If you could go back in time...
- Thread starter taxexperts31582
- Start date
Seriously though, nice pics and your recs are correct!
What happened in the PI stays in the PI.😉
Great SHUTR pic......I wouldn't be surprised if this one was still on the line however many years later when I went through as a Cone (then) in Miramar. My old lot claim to fame is mostly based on that flight line. Though we had some straight A's at NSAWC that were still pipe hitters, when all the Supers were long term down
Fair point, and I should probably have listed the caveat that right now is probably not the time to buy. When I was a new JO, I missed the opportunity to buy in the immediate aftermath of the great housing bubble bust, and regret it in hindsight. But you're right, this isn't then. There is a reason I haven't bought another home since we lucked into closing our second home purchase a month before the world shut down with COVID and everything went insane in real estate.
- Wish I'd taken more pictures with the boys in Pensacola/Corpus Christi. Who'd have thought 6 years later I'd be remembering day drinking in our run-down rental house with a cardboard box TV stand and a half-broken couch as the good old days?
- Wish I'd started investing more and sooner. Time in the market is always more important than trying to time the market, and I have no doubt I've left tens of thousands of dollars on the table by doing the electronic equivalent of stuffing the cash under my mattress for years.
- Wish I'd begun working on non-resident EWS sooner. For all you Marine SNAs and new fleet pilots out there, there is no good time to do it, just the least worst time. Don't listen to (or at least take it with a grain of salt) people who say to focus on making aircraft commander and getting good at your ground job first. EWS isn't that much of a time suck, the timelines for promotion are only getting shorter, and aircraft commander is only the hardest syllabus until you get to all the subsequent ones. And getting passed for Major does in fact close doors.
- Wish I'd kept my own logbook from day 1, if nothing else to keep track of places I've been and cross country time (for airline apps). It wasn't until 3 years into my first fleet tour that I began hand-punching my blue logbook entries into ForeFlight and exported my M-SHARP logbook into ForeFlight's import csv. Had to make a lot of (conservative) assumptions about when I would have logged XC time.
- Probably the biggest one: wish I'd spent more time trying to be friends with non-military folks more. Other than the significant others of some of my closest friends, basically my entire social bubble is made up of other pilots.
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Not to be morbid, but some of those boys (and girls) will likely perish in the profession. It is good to have those memories.
This is more true than anyone ever wants it to be.
Go to the O club in P-cola on a Friday night. My Son in law recently was introduced to rolling the bones and closed the bar with the training wing CO and a couple of retired aviators. It was a great experience.
From my Don't Ask Me How I Know files:
1. If you end up flying something with a pointy nose and are asked to be an LSO, jump on it. Don't listen to your JO bubbas who say you'll get less traps and flight time. (In fact, most JO advice should be considered fun, but unfounded.) Someone senior to you thinks you are a good stick, you'll get to know most of the folks in the air wing (including future XOs/COs/CAGs), and most importantly, you'll be right in the middle of carrier aviation. You might even get better at landing on the boat. Don't worry about the traps - you’ll be a member of the Ops Flying Club in your squadron and will likely have a hand in writing the flight schedule.
2. Flight school is all about grades and your performance as a pilot. In the fleet, as long as you're not a shaky stick, it's more about your performance as an officer.
3. Don't assume senior officers will actually be aware of your “exceptional” performance in your collateral duty. Do not simply toil away, letting the chips fall where they may. You need to be innovative, pro-active, and work harder than the next guy, and that effort has to be observed. Change something for the better in your job. Ask your senior officer what he or she would actually like to see from you.
4. Know your troops. You're not buddies with them, but know their names (they know yours) and rates, where they are from, and maybe something about them. Don't be a stranger to their working spaces. Don't leave it all up to your 4.0 E-7s and E-6s. If they show the attitude that you should return to the Ready Room and let them do their jobs, it may be time for an "I'm OK, you're not OK" discussion.
5. Anything you do that makes your skipper's FitRep look better will make your FitRep look better.
6. Never trust admin to keep your paperwork straight. Follow up on everything.
7. Don't do stupid shit. Be satisfied with getting your kicks from watching other JOs do stupid shit. Stay outside of the camera frame.
8. Learn to play golf while it's cheap.
9. Ask senior officers the same question posed at the beginning of this thread. Take in the good advice, trash the bad advice, but consider it all.
1. If you end up flying something with a pointy nose and are asked to be an LSO, jump on it. Don't listen to your JO bubbas who say you'll get less traps and flight time. (In fact, most JO advice should be considered fun, but unfounded.) Someone senior to you thinks you are a good stick, you'll get to know most of the folks in the air wing (including future XOs/COs/CAGs), and most importantly, you'll be right in the middle of carrier aviation. You might even get better at landing on the boat. Don't worry about the traps - you’ll be a member of the Ops Flying Club in your squadron and will likely have a hand in writing the flight schedule.
2. Flight school is all about grades and your performance as a pilot. In the fleet, as long as you're not a shaky stick, it's more about your performance as an officer.
3. Don't assume senior officers will actually be aware of your “exceptional” performance in your collateral duty. Do not simply toil away, letting the chips fall where they may. You need to be innovative, pro-active, and work harder than the next guy, and that effort has to be observed. Change something for the better in your job. Ask your senior officer what he or she would actually like to see from you.
4. Know your troops. You're not buddies with them, but know their names (they know yours) and rates, where they are from, and maybe something about them. Don't be a stranger to their working spaces. Don't leave it all up to your 4.0 E-7s and E-6s. If they show the attitude that you should return to the Ready Room and let them do their jobs, it may be time for an "I'm OK, you're not OK" discussion.
5. Anything you do that makes your skipper's FitRep look better will make your FitRep look better.
6. Never trust admin to keep your paperwork straight. Follow up on everything.
7. Don't do stupid shit. Be satisfied with getting your kicks from watching other JOs do stupid shit. Stay outside of the camera frame.
8. Learn to play golf while it's cheap.
9. Ask senior officers the same question posed at the beginning of this thread. Take in the good advice, trash the bad advice, but consider it all.
PMPT
Well-Known Member
is that first jet with the IMERS an A-6?
Also wild seeing a -101 bird flying out of what I'm pretty sure is El Toro. times change.
Yep A-6, we dropped 28 MK 82 that day. You are correct, 101 bird in El Toro.
The stories I hear from a couple of old A-6 guys at my soaring club.
Stuff like, "JTACs would have lead come in with one MK82 to make the mark, then -2 (and maybe even -3 and -4) would come in with a ripple 6."
And they'd get four passes each before going home.
Such a cool airplane.
GroundPounder
Well-Known Member
Supposedly The Navy wasn't thrilled with her outfit, but by that time the cat was out of the bag.
Almost...