DAY 1- FLIGHT DAY
0300- Wake up in hotel room/BOQ room/strange closet-like 'quarters'/or tent. Stumble, try to figure out where you are and why.
0330- Aircrew bus picks up officers (3 pilots, 2 NFOs) at quarters. Silent nods and occasional grumbles as you admit to yourself that you are going to spend the next 16-18 hours with these guys AGAIN.
0335- PITCH BLACK RIDE, TOP SPEED. Someone farts on the bus. blame nugget 3P
0340- Pick up enlisted aircrew at their quarters (2 flight engineers, 2 acoustic operators, 1 radar operator, 1 in-flight-technician).
0345- Pick up today's in-flight meal: MREs...great...save me a good one...
0355- Arrive at Hangar. FE's and IFT go to 'read the book', or bookS, as most aircraft will have at least 2 if not 3 ADBs...
0400- Tactical Brief. Watch former VP Pilot or NFO on a hard-fill billet shore tour drone on and on in a monotone voice about your mission details. See the dark circles under his eyes, witness his nicotine-yellowed fingers, his cheesy-milky substitute teacher coffee breath...remind self to not end up here....(DISCLAIMER: TSC guys...I KEED I KEED). Realize you have written half the brief all over your hand with pen you stole from your TACCO.
0430- 3P and NAVCOMM struggle for 45 min to get crypto load, paper and electronic, straightened out. PPC and TACCO read the ADB, or fight with aircrew to read the ADB. 2P drives to base ops/tent to file, get weather, flirt with cute 2nd LT metro chick. She is not impressed with his pit-stained flightsuit and 5 o'clock shadow...but i digress....
0500- Pre-flight in full swing. It is a full 30 degress colder in tube than it is outside. Nothing works. ATs utilize every method they know to get gear running, including steel toes, duct tape, ice bags, rosary beads. All 4 props are leaking and look suspicious. Salty-Dog Flight Engineer older than you wipes them off, winks, and says "Looks good". You grimace.
0630- Somehow everything works. Crew conducts "Planeside Brief"....inside the plane (never could figure that one out). Someone farts. Blame 3P.
0640- Last walkaround for PPC. Weapons secure, gear pins removed....oh there's my coffee cup...on the mainmount...
0700- Wheels up. Unbelievable. Nothing wrong....yet.....hold breath. Transit to onstation. Talk about hot famous chicks on ICS with aircrew. See storms ahead. Grimace. Wish you could still smoke in the flight station....
1000- Begin Tactical mission....CLASSIFIED...(ASW/ASUW/SUCAP/ISR)...count on things breaking...200 feet prosecution...radar fails, but comes back...tube fills with gunpowder smoke from buoys...acoustic operator vomits...3P farts...radios die 5 times...rpm flux...drink too much coffee...eat the last MRE crew left for you, the hot dogs....
1500- Go home. worry about fuel. "will we have on-top???". Aircrew sleeps while you let 2P and 3P drive the bus. Attempt nap on radar cabinet. Think about effects of radiation on nads....
1800- Land. With perfect gas...on deck with 8K. FE pats self on back. Put plane to bed, de-brief.
2000- Friday night where-ever you are. Find booze, find fun, sneaky if need be. Drink. Smoke cigarettes. B*tch about each other, admit you are having time of your life. Sleep later.
Web-Monster...er Master...feel free to ad/edit as you see fit
(and "time til someone b!tches about VP" clock hack....NOW)
COMING SOON....DAY 2...."THE READY"....
0300- Wake up in hotel room/BOQ room/strange closet-like 'quarters'/or tent. Stumble, try to figure out where you are and why.
0330- Aircrew bus picks up officers (3 pilots, 2 NFOs) at quarters. Silent nods and occasional grumbles as you admit to yourself that you are going to spend the next 16-18 hours with these guys AGAIN.
0335- PITCH BLACK RIDE, TOP SPEED. Someone farts on the bus. blame nugget 3P
0340- Pick up enlisted aircrew at their quarters (2 flight engineers, 2 acoustic operators, 1 radar operator, 1 in-flight-technician).
0345- Pick up today's in-flight meal: MREs...great...save me a good one...
0355- Arrive at Hangar. FE's and IFT go to 'read the book', or bookS, as most aircraft will have at least 2 if not 3 ADBs...
0400- Tactical Brief. Watch former VP Pilot or NFO on a hard-fill billet shore tour drone on and on in a monotone voice about your mission details. See the dark circles under his eyes, witness his nicotine-yellowed fingers, his cheesy-milky substitute teacher coffee breath...remind self to not end up here....(DISCLAIMER: TSC guys...I KEED I KEED). Realize you have written half the brief all over your hand with pen you stole from your TACCO.
0430- 3P and NAVCOMM struggle for 45 min to get crypto load, paper and electronic, straightened out. PPC and TACCO read the ADB, or fight with aircrew to read the ADB. 2P drives to base ops/tent to file, get weather, flirt with cute 2nd LT metro chick. She is not impressed with his pit-stained flightsuit and 5 o'clock shadow...but i digress....
0500- Pre-flight in full swing. It is a full 30 degress colder in tube than it is outside. Nothing works. ATs utilize every method they know to get gear running, including steel toes, duct tape, ice bags, rosary beads. All 4 props are leaking and look suspicious. Salty-Dog Flight Engineer older than you wipes them off, winks, and says "Looks good". You grimace.
0630- Somehow everything works. Crew conducts "Planeside Brief"....inside the plane (never could figure that one out). Someone farts. Blame 3P.
0640- Last walkaround for PPC. Weapons secure, gear pins removed....oh there's my coffee cup...on the mainmount...
0700- Wheels up. Unbelievable. Nothing wrong....yet.....hold breath. Transit to onstation. Talk about hot famous chicks on ICS with aircrew. See storms ahead. Grimace. Wish you could still smoke in the flight station....
1000- Begin Tactical mission....CLASSIFIED...(ASW/ASUW/SUCAP/ISR)...count on things breaking...200 feet prosecution...radar fails, but comes back...tube fills with gunpowder smoke from buoys...acoustic operator vomits...3P farts...radios die 5 times...rpm flux...drink too much coffee...eat the last MRE crew left for you, the hot dogs....
1500- Go home. worry about fuel. "will we have on-top???". Aircrew sleeps while you let 2P and 3P drive the bus. Attempt nap on radar cabinet. Think about effects of radiation on nads....
1800- Land. With perfect gas...on deck with 8K. FE pats self on back. Put plane to bed, de-brief.
2000- Friday night where-ever you are. Find booze, find fun, sneaky if need be. Drink. Smoke cigarettes. B*tch about each other, admit you are having time of your life. Sleep later.
Web-Monster...er Master...feel free to ad/edit as you see fit
(and "time til someone b!tches about VP" clock hack....NOW)
COMING SOON....DAY 2...."THE READY"....