Tailhook Local Ready Rooms

[Renegade One]

This note is especially aimed at those "future NFOs" who may have an interest in meeting and talking with Tailhooker aviators in your local area. They can be a great source of information and answers to your questions, and would be thrilled to meet those of you who are just embarking on the road towards your Wings of Gold.
The Tailhook Association has a number of "Local Ready Rooms" across the country. You can see the complete list, and get info on their upcoming gatherings and a point of contact for each on the Tailhook Local Raady Rooms page of the Website at: http://www.tailhook.org/All Ready Rooms Schedule - Master.pdf (be patient while the PDF file loads).
I run the San Diego Tailhook Ready Room, but there are others in Washington DC, Hampton roads, Colorado, Dallas/Fort Worth, Omaha, Honolulu, San Francisco, China Lake and St. Louis. Monthly gatherings are the norm, with some holding quarterly lunches, etc.
The Tailhook Website is, in itself, a great place to peruse and get info.

All the best, Spike
Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
"Renegade One"

 

[Schnugg]

Spike, great gouge. Thanks for the link...

Is it just me or.....

 

[phrogpilot73]

Is it just me or.....

Good point... Although, my initial reaction was "Holy crap, "Heater" Heatley is on AirWarriors!!"

 

[Renegade One]

I'm pretty sure the character "Goose" was modeled after me! Seriously, I was XO of VF-51 in 1984-5 when that squadron had the distinction of doing all of the Tomcat flying for the movie. No...I'm not in the credits nor do you see me on screen, although those are "all" my jets.
V/R, Spike

 

[insanebikerboy]

Were you involved with the filming at all? That's pretty cool they were your squadron's jets.

 

[HeyJoe]

Thanks to Spike for posting the Tailhook gatherings....all you need is an interest in things related to carrier aviation to attend. The Tidewater Ready Room began operating 18 months ago and has settled on G F Keagan's eatery in ther Hilltop Shopping Center (1550 Laskin Road). Gatherings are first Thursday of every month at 1700-1900. ROE is $20 in jar (entitles you to open wine/beer bar). PM me if you want to be on monthly announcement email (dates are sometimes adjusted due to conflicts or alignment to other events).

The DC area Tailhook gathering is actually the longest continuous event began in late 70s by transplanted Lemoorons titled the "Alpha Strike" and then later "FCLP" get togethers. The local Tailhook chapter merged their interests a few years ago to create one of the best attended events in town (JOs to 4 stars and senior leadership are regulars). Location has shifted from time to time, but date is always last Thursday in month. PM me if you want particulars or to be on announcement email.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

Thanks to Spike for posting the Tailhook gatherings....all you need is an interest in things related to carrier aviation to attend. The Tidewater Ready Room began operating 18 months ago and has settled on G F Keagan's eatery in ther Hilltop Shopping Center (1550 Laskin Road). Gatherings are first Thursday of every month at 1700-1900. ROE is $20 in jar (entitles you to open wine/beer bar). PM me if you want to be on monthly announcement email (dates are sometimes adjusted due to conflicts or alignment to other events).

The DC area Tailhook gathering is actually the longest continuous event began in late 70s by transplanted Lemoorons titled the "Alpha Strike" and then later "FCLP" get togethers. The local Tailhook chapter merged their interests a few years ago to create one of the best attended events in town (JOs to 4 stars and senior leadership are regulars). Location has shifted from time to time, but date is always last Thursday in month. PM me if you want particulars or to be on announcement email.

Now see. Why the hell can't SWO's do shit like this? Wait a minute. I think I know the answer. Is it because we're used to seeing each other 14 hours a day that we don't want to see each other's ugly mug any more than we have to? Yes, I think that might be it.

...Or maybe shipdriving and talking about PMS boards isn't as fun as aviation. That could be it too.

 

[HeyJoe]

Now see. Why the hell can't SWO's do shit like this? Wait a minute. I think I know the answer. Is it because we're used to seeing each other 14 hours a day that we don't want to see each other's ugly mug any more than we have to? Yes, I think that might be it.

...Or maybe shipdriving and talking about PMS boards isn't as fun as aviation. That could be it too.

That might be quite a bit to Steve's sardonic and insightful remarks. When I retired, my first company affiliation was in DC area and had Joint service and Navy aviation, surface and sub community legacy folks. We chatted about best gatherings this from time to time and took each other to see how the other guys "lived". There were a number of aviation luncheons and gatherings going on, but NOTHING for the Surface Warfare folks.

The most well attended and well organized event was and still is the Marine Corps Aviation Association (MCAA) monthly dinners at Ft Meyers. You will see virtually every USMC aviator in town there and not because they want face time either (if they aren't there, they have a good reason). It shows how close the Marine Air component is and the presentations are well thought out and on target. It is considered an honor to present there and you'll see everything from Congressmen to Vice Chief of Staff of Air Force to Commandant talking off the record (no fluff allowed). There are a lot of other monthy and quarterly gatherings as well. A few years ago, the Surface Navy Association finally started getting their act together and even has a website with a listing of Chapters.

That said, I think Steve is touching on one of the key differences between aviation and surface "worlds"; aviators, especially single seat variety, have to be pretty independent at an early age whereas the surface world seems to always adhere to the "Captain of the ship" mentality. It seems to migrate over to social gathering and I would even say to Air Warriors as well. I remember talking to our senior Surface type who was a great guy, but couldn't shake the notion that everything had to be dictated from the top primarily due to right of seniority and as a perk of being at the top whereas aviators always seemed to want the infusion of youth in the equation. I have heard so many aviators say they'd love to do it all over again from flight school onwards and even trade paychecks with a JO to swap places. When my company was working CONOPS or fleshing out a Requirement, we went to the Ready Room and sought out the JO/SMEs. In contrast, our surface brothers sought out the highest ranking person in the chain they could find.

I can't say A4s is on AW to seek out someone to trade paychecks with nor am I, but there is a fellowship across all aviation that senior folks do want to tap into the Ready Room pulse to hear what's going on and also feel obligated to nurture those who follow in their footsteps. Maybe Sailor Bob is heading down that path (Steve will have to weigh in on that one). The cultures are certainly very different and I chose aviation for a number of reasons, but I do note that we seem to have a lot more fun than any other community and the bonds are very strong.


Just my 2 cents

 

[Mumbles]

Steve...the VP community is really a group of flying SWOs... not nearly the sense of fraternity as the tailhook brethern methinks.

 

[MasterBates]

HSL East was the same way.. But complete with boats as well!

 

[KTBQ]

the VP community is really a group of flying SWOs... not nearly the sense of fraternity...

Not the first time I've heard that. It's kind of disheartening as a wet behind the ears aviator headed down the VQ road. Same airframe, same culture? Any thoughts at all on VQ ready room life?

 

[HAL Pilot]

Steve...the VP community is really a group of flying SWOs... not nearly the sense of fraternity as the tailhook brethern methinks.

Bull Shit. I have networked with a lot of P-3 guys, active, reserve, former and retired. Further, every year there is a VP Reunion in Washington, D.C. that is well attended by (again) active, reserve, inactive and retired.

I can't tell you how much VP guys in the "right" place got things done for me when I was working Southcom and Joint Staff. VP guys I never met bent over backwards to help me out.

 

[Flash]

Not the first time I've heard that. It's kind of disheartening as a wet behind the ears aviator headed down the VQ road. Same airframe, same culture? Any thoughts at all on VQ ready room life?

I can comment on VQ life since I am one of only two or three guys on here that has flown EP-3's. First off, I think Mumbles is either in a really bad squadron or just has a bad attitude . Most of the VP guys I know loved their tour just as much as I enjoyed my VQ tour and would do it all over again, we have a lot of VP types here (including the Webmaster) who would hopefully back me up on that.......guys?

First off, I actually had a lot of fun with my VQ wardroom brethren because we deployed as a crew, not as a squadron, and got to know each other a lot better (not in a carnal sense mind you......). That said, there was always the risk you went out with a 'bad' crew but you always had at least one out of the 6 guys you got along with pretty well so even then it was not that bad. Since you deploy as a crew and not as a squadron you do not see a lot of your buddies for months at a time, which is not all that fun. But at the same time you don't see much of the O-4's and the CO and XO, which is generally good.

You gain and enormous amount of responsibility very early, first Tour JO's were almost always the MC's and they were usually all JO crews. The atmosphere is a little looser than most VP wardrooms, we did not seem to take ourselves as seriously (we had littel time for BS).

While the EP-3 may not be as 'cool' as a jet the wardrooms in my first and second squadrons were not that much different (VQ and VAQ) except for size. Both were mostly filled with first rate guys and gals who loved to fly.

For a good description of EP-3 life, particularly the NFO part, here is a good thread with a long description from me:

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?p=192896#post192896

P.S. Search for EP-3 on the forum and you will find some other threads with info......

 

[Mumbles]

Flash, you got me dead to rights. First off, my command that I'm coming from was notoriously bad...and thus, my attitude is probably a little jaded. But I didn't mean for my statement to be a blanket indictment on every VP wardroom. It was very seldom that we had a crew sans an 0-4 because us JOs felt like we were constantly having to be chapperoned. Also, while other commands will make a JO pilot or FO an MC before they leave, you basically had to be annointed in my squadron. I would submit that talking to the VQ bubbas across the hangar, they had a much better time..

 

[BlackBearHockey]

This note is especially aimed at those "future NFOs" who may have an interest in meeting and talking with Tailhooker aviators in your local area. They can be a great source of information and answers to your questions, and would be thrilled to meet those of you who are just embarking on the road towards your Wings of Gold.
The Tailhook Association has a number of "Local Ready Rooms" across the country. You can see the complete list, and get info on their upcoming gatherings and a point of contact for each on the Tailhook Local Raady Rooms page of the Website at: http://www.tailhook.org/All Ready Rooms Schedule - Master.pdf (be patient while the PDF file loads).
I run the San Diego Tailhook Ready Room, but there are others in Washington DC, Hampton roads, Colorado, Dallas/Fort Worth, Omaha, Honolulu, San Francisco, China Lake and St. Louis. Monthly gatherings are the norm, with some holding quarterly lunches, etc.
The Tailhook Website is, in itself, a great place to peruse and get info.

All the best, Spike
Captain, U.S. Navy (Ret.)
"Renegade One"

If there isn't a Ready Room in your area, is there any way to get involved? Are more being added?