Should I stay or should I go? Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love HSC.

[Jim123]

Touche! JB is always available at Costco for $20 / 1.75 L bottle. I drink mine with soda. So I'll leave the finer stuff to the @HAL Pilot 's of the world!

Twenty bucks for a "handle." Nice!

Reminds me of a night in college, after finishing the last exam, we were out of food and everything else- but we scraped together enough for a handle of rotgut, found some grape kool aide powder to mix with it (Purplesaurus Rex was the exact flavor, as I remember), and filled up plastic bag with ice from the salad bar in the dining hall. And that is how the "Barney" was first made...

If a bartender says, "I don't know how to make that drink" then those are the secret ingredients. It sucks at first but after about three or four it sucks less.

 

[Brett327]

You mean like POTUS ?

I'm generally not too fond of the message there either.

 

[CUBUFFS4134]

With any luck, @Brett327 will join a think tank and be the next Jerry Hendrix. Like the ol VP pilot turned CVN TAO, his breadth of experience on the carrier has made him the go to source for determining the future of the Naval Aviation Enterprise and all of its communities. We would be honored to have him as our voice on every two bit website and news network. Right, @wlawr005?

 

[wlawr005]

We could say we knew him way back when.

 

[Treetop Flyer]

Twenty bucks for a "handle." Nice!

Reminds me of a night in college, after finishing the last exam, we were out of food and everything else- but we scraped together enough for a handle of rotgut, found some grape kool aide powder to mix with it (Purplesaurus Rex was the exact flavor, as I remember), and filled up plastic bag with ice from the salad bar in the dining hall. And that is how the "Barney" was first made...

If a bartender says, "I don't know how to make that drink" then those are the secret ingredients. It sucks at first but after about three or four it sucks less.

Weller Special Reserve is about $30 for a handle and it’s actually pretty good. Waaaaay better than Beam

 

[Griz882]

...29th CAB weren't stellar (I'll get my pee pee wacked for saying that), but you roll the dice every time you deploy...Depending on the time frame, you probably worked with some FL, GA and MA ARNG guys. ARNG does the majority of MEDEVAC for the Army. When you have very experienced ER nurses, EMTs, and that sort in the back of the aircraft, survival rates go way up. AD Army is trying to play catch up with the guard wrt experience in the back of the aircraft.

I did the PTAE train up for one of the 29th CAB deployments and two of the 3/126th (MAARNG) train ups. The issues with the mixed bag of the 29th, IMHO, was the USAR battalion (the 229th as I recall). They didn’t want to train, acted like pre-deployment training was beneath them, and nearly failed to meet their gate. When they left I told my boss they would drag other units down. My exposure to the 126th was interesting. Their work up was easier on them since most of the crews drilled out of Edwards - the same place we trained them up. They were good guys, eager to go and do their part...which wasn’t sexy but is critical.

 

[bluemarlin04]

Our squadron Intel-Os were in CVIC. Of our airwing, 2 were stuck doing shift work on the Admiral's daily intel brief. I think the other 4 did shift work processing the film footage of ordnance expenditures. Never saw a single Intel-O in DESRON, but occasionally, if there was a high interest ship we were supposed to gather photos of, the DESRON guys were spun up by an Intel O and would brief us, or tell us "hey, get more info from CVIC on this ship and come back with footage for us." We'd turn said footage into Intel. @Python1287 - this was another thing I did several times on cruise (and even once on workups... a not-so-friendly country had a spy ship off the coast made to look like a cargo tanker... had to make circles around him to get footage and to tell him very clearly - "we know who you really are, let's step away from the carrier now.")

Being a squadron AI is the worst. You’re so task saturated managing programs like security and EKMS and standing FIWO or another watch you have no time to do anything else.

Everything sounds good in theory and in practice til you get out there and realize CVIC is a dumpster fire with 4 different senior intelligence officers fighting with each other over who is in charge and who is more important.

 

[RobLyman]

I did the PTAE train up for one of the 29th CAB deployments and two of the 3/126th (MAARNG) train ups. The issues with the mixed bag of the 29th, IMHO, was the USAR battalion (the 229th as I recall). They didn’t want to train, acted like pre-deployment training was beneath them, and nearly failed to meet their gate. When they left I told my boss they would drag other units down. My exposure to the 126th was interesting. Their work up was easier on them since most of the crews drilled out of Edwards - the same place we trained them up. They were good guys, eager to go and do their part...which wasn’t sexy but is critical.

The problem with any aviation unit larger than a company in the national guard is that it consists of sub units from different states. Heck, even our medevac company is split between three states. The whole battalion, and certainly any CAB never gets together as a whole until pre-mob. Also, CAB staff positions, and to some extent battalion staff positions get loaded with people who haven't successfully deployed at the company level. By successful, I mean they were never a PC in any aircraft in the battalion or brigade. Of course who wants to go to a staff position as a guard member when it isn't required, doesn't help your career, and takes you away from flying? --> Unsuccessful aviators, that's who.

Another truth in advertising statement...I DID volunteer for a CAB (77th) staff position on my last deployment, but I insisted that I continue to fly medevac missions (which I did) and it was an opportunity to be the Navy liaison for ARCENT CAB and schedule/do deck landings.

 

[DanMa1156]

Being a squadron AI is the worst. You’re so task saturated managing programs like security and EKMS and standing FIWO or another watch you have no time to do anything else.

Yeah for what it's worth, that job looks miserable, but our EKMS Manager was always the avionics DIVO, until that DIVO became an actual AMDO who royally messed it up; then it went to the Chief. I recall my Skipper saying to said AMDO, "LTJG [X] - what do you do around here? You do less than half the work that most of my E-5's do as far as I can tell." Guy pretty much spent all day clicking through his TA funded MBA from Liberty University and Skipper knew it to some extent...

 

[Hair Warrior]

I guess there is no JO ACRC to assist the CRC and do jobs like EKMS? EKMS just sounds like a job for a JO cryppie/IP.

 

[Pags]

I guess there is no JO ACRC to assist the CRC and do jobs like EKMS? EKMS just sounds like a job for a JO cryppie/IP.

Not a thing for squadrons (or not most squadrons).

 

[Hair Warrior]

Not a thing for squadrons (or not most squadrons).

How many EKMS managers are needed in a CVW?

 

[Pags]

How many EKMS managers are needed in a CVW?

I dunno, I was never in a CVW. But EKMS is usually handled at the squadron level so I'd imagine that each CVW squadron has an EKMS manager. But that guy is probably some random shmuck JO who hopes nothing goes missing.

 

[Hair Warrior]

I dunno, I was never in a CVW. But EKMS is usually handled at the squadron level so I'd imagine that each CVW squadron has an EKMS manager. But that guy is probably some random shmuck JO who hopes nothing goes missing.

That stinks. I can see how that job might fall to the only IWC officer in a flying squadron, and I can see how it would be a major time suck for him/her (along with everything else they have to do).

 

[Pags]

That stinks. I can see how that job might fall to the only IWC officer in a flying squadron, and I can see how it would be a major time suck for him/her (along with everything else they have to do).

Or it just goes to some aviation JO if you don't have a squadron IntelO. But it's not like it's a hard job. Unless you lose something. But if you keep your shit locked up and inventoried you'll happily turn the job over to the next FNG in 6mo or so.