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Squadron Vehicles
- Thread starter FastMover
- Start date
Well, I've seen a few over the past few years; so I guess the answer is: yes, somewhat .... just not so many as when I was drivin' airplanes for UNCLE.
In the 'ol days, EVERY shipboard squadron had a "reliable" beater painted up in squadron colors. The cars and vans were usually purchased by the Officers' Mess, sometimes shipped from CONUS aboard the carrier when the squadron/ship went west and were maintained by the squadron. They were used as local transport while in port and remained ashore in the overseas "homeport" when the ship went to sea.
They were frequently swapped out between the outchop and inchop squadrons of the same communities (ie., Light Attack XFER to Light Attack, Medium Attack to Medium, Fighter, etc., etc.) which meant most of them were "permanently homeported" in CUBI as the new layers of paint were applied. A few might make it back stateside -- but since most would not pass even the most rudimentary safety inspection of the day -- they remained, happy in their work, in WestPac.
I suspect many were converted to "upscale" Jeepney's and are running around Olongapo today ....
We've got a DRMO El Camino we're restoring. It was quite a PITA to get the base's permission to drive it, though!
We're in Cubi on the '74 Ranger cruise. The Marines have two vehicles, both the old, original Ford Econoline Vans... very light trucks with a lot of Ford Falcon parts. Econoboxes for the '60s. They had one enclosed van and one pickup.. one was "Fox 1" and the other was "Fox 2" ...with their names painted on them. The Marines approach our skipper with an offer to sell them to us... (I think the Marine squadron was VF-232... the Red Devils). The skipper had just taken over after a two week-line period to learn the squadron. He had been a POW and his "payback" for his 7 years in Hanoi and was a direct input into squadron CO. Our lucky XO, being the junior XO of the Pacific fleet fighters, was told to double-cycle... 36 months as XO... 18 months as skipper.
Anyway... the skipper totally overstepped his bounds and ordered the coffee mess officer to buy the vehicles, with subsequent hit to our coffee mess bills. The trucks were a mess... more F-4 Phantom parts in them than Ford parts. The start switch in one was a fuel transfer switch and the ignition switch was a circuit breaker. When a group was going somewhere in the van, the last one to reach said vehicle was the designated driver. A very unenviable task. They were a BITCH to drive. After you got them started (if you could) there was about 3/4 turn of play in the steering.
They were in a "down" status most of the time. When we left, someone drove them behind one of the hangars and left them. They were really trash by then.
Anyway... the skipper totally overstepped his bounds and ordered the coffee mess officer to buy the vehicles, with subsequent hit to our coffee mess bills. The trucks were a mess... more F-4 Phantom parts in them than Ford parts. The start switch in one was a fuel transfer switch and the ignition switch was a circuit breaker. When a group was going somewhere in the van, the last one to reach said vehicle was the designated driver. A very unenviable task. They were a BITCH to drive. After you got them started (if you could) there was about 3/4 turn of play in the steering.
They were in a "down" status most of the time. When we left, someone drove them behind one of the hangars and left them. They were really trash by then.
^^ Same cruise. One of the A-7 squadrons, VA-25 was passed down a vehicle from one of the Oriskany squadron... an old 3/4 ton International pickup. It was a sinister black with an off-white triangle on each door. It had belonged to a mining company or something in a previous life. At that time, the cult favorite cruise movie was a little-known comedy western staring John Aston called "Evil Roy Slade." (actually a very funny movie... see it if you can...)
The truck became "Evil Roy" and a legend was born.
The legend was added to, as a group of air wing guys and the ship's Marine Company CO launched up the hill from Subic to the Cubi Club. Since Ranger was broken... and I mean really broken... that cruise, we spent most of the time at Alava Pier on the Subic side. To go back down the hill, the not-so-sober group piled into the back of the truck. On the way, the Marine Captain lost his grip and tumbled over the side, resulting in head injuries requiring a MedeVac back to the States.
About six months later, I was standing SDO at Miramar and we were hosting the Fisties (VA-25) as they were going through CQ. One of their pilots came into the ready room with a patch on his flight jacket... a triangle in the middle and the words "50 missions in Evil Roy" around the perimeter.
The truck became "Evil Roy" and a legend was born.
The legend was added to, as a group of air wing guys and the ship's Marine Company CO launched up the hill from Subic to the Cubi Club. Since Ranger was broken... and I mean really broken... that cruise, we spent most of the time at Alava Pier on the Subic side. To go back down the hill, the not-so-sober group piled into the back of the truck. On the way, the Marine Captain lost his grip and tumbled over the side, resulting in head injuries requiring a MedeVac back to the States.
About six months later, I was standing SDO at Miramar and we were hosting the Fisties (VA-25) as they were going through CQ. One of their pilots came into the ready room with a patch on his flight jacket... a triangle in the middle and the words "50 missions in Evil Roy" around the perimeter.
Fast Mover,
The Prowler Community has a few JOPA mobiles. Check out VAQ-134's mean machine:
It's now at the Naval Air Museum at PCOLA. I think?
Anyone at Whidbey: How many JOPA Mobiles are running around?
-ea6bflyr
The Prowler Community has a few JOPA mobiles. Check out VAQ-134's mean machine:
It's now at the Naval Air Museum at PCOLA. I think?
Anyone at Whidbey: How many JOPA Mobiles are running around?
-ea6bflyr
Fast Mover,
The Prowler Community has a few JOPA mobiles. Check out VAQ-134's mean machine:
It's now at the Naval Air Museum at PCOLA. I think?
Anyone at Whidbey: How many JOPA Mobiles are running around?
-ea6bflyr
I can confirm that vehicle was at the far end of the parking lot at the museum as of Dec 07.
B
Blutonski816
Guest
Someone told me that the Ripper bus used to belong to VF-114 before they were disestablished....
Forget the source... maybe schnugg can confirm that...
Forget the source... maybe schnugg can confirm that...
The Red Rippers purchased the Varkmobile in 1993* and brought it East with them.
That would be the Ripper Bus that preceded this one ^^^^ and was more of a school bus vvvv
*Excerpt from Official Red Ripper history submitted to OPNAV:
CHRONOLOGY OF OUTSTANDING EVENTS
FEBRUARY
Purchased disestablished VF-114 Aardvark's squadron bus.
Closeup of front end
B
Blutonski816
Guest
That would be the Ripper Bus that preceded this one.
The length of that one begs a "short bus" joke, but I can't think of one right now....
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
I can't find a pic, but HSL-40 used to have the CO's car which was a IROC (I think, some LAMPS-East bubba back me up) painted up in squadron colors, but like a race car.
We never really had any sort of drunk-bus in HSL-42, but being a det squadron kind of cuts down on that sort of stuff.
Any COD squadrons have one of these?
Because an old school Greyhound would be cool.. And nothing sounds like a 2-stroke Detroit Diesel 6V-71 firing up, or screamin down the road.
We never really had any sort of drunk-bus in HSL-42, but being a det squadron kind of cuts down on that sort of stuff.
Any COD squadrons have one of these?
Because an old school Greyhound would be cool.. And nothing sounds like a 2-stroke Detroit Diesel 6V-71 firing up, or screamin down the road.
B
Blutonski816
Guest
So...
What % get Buses??
What % get Buses??