C2Aaircrew

Too funny and all too true. Spent a lot of time stationed in "The South". Two short stories. 1. Traveling from Virginia to visit my wife's family in Alabama in 1991, (wife born and raised in Albany/Berkeley, CA.) going through Goergia, we were pulled over one mile from the Alabama state line. He was hidden in trees, they will make a small clearing in the trees that cannot be seen until you are past it. I'm trying to be nice and my wife decides she wants to argue with the state trooper that we could not have been speeding as we were going up hill behind a big rig. I'm trying to get her to stop arguing and the trooper tells her "Ma'am you better listen to your husband" and proceeds to lecture me about controlling my passengers. Let's just say that the rest of the trip was very quiet until our return to Virginia. 2. I will refute #16. Transferring from Virginia to California, traveling across Texas and Texas and Texas, my wife gets pulled over by a Texas State Trooper. I see this pull over and start to back up. Next I see the Trooper walking towards my car. He asks me if I know the occupants of the car behind me, I answer yes. He proceeds to write me a ticket for speeding. I ask him why, he tells me my wife claims that she was not paying attention to her speed and was following me. When I was backing up he asked her if she knew the car backing up. She tells him "two 68 Camaros with Virginia tags, what do you think?" I know why I got the ticket. All I had in the car with me was the dog. In the other car was my wife and teenage daughter both wearing tank tops shoving ice down their fronts because the cars did not have air conditioning. So don't tell me cops, southern or otherwise, give tickets to pretty girls if they can give it to someone else. If I had known I would get a ticket, believe me, I would have kept on driving. Take care, C2

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I've been on a 5 download limit for about a year or so now after going one over the 15 download limit. One did not download properly, did not see it in my download folder and thought I had one more to go. Got an e-mail telling me I was banned for exceeding the limit. I replied with what happened and told him thanks for what I had already downloaded and figured that was the end of it. A bit later I got an e-mail saying I would be unbanned if I agreed to a 5 download a day limit. I figured why not? I think that the last time I visited was in Feb for some Gen2 aircraft that had come out. Mostly was looking for WWII aircraft, but it seems like most of what I want is right here anyway.

Cool pic, thanks. Always thought that the F4 was one of the most aggressive looking aircraft designed. It looks as if it is hauling a$$ even on the ground. During Junior H.S. my science teacher was a retired USMC LtCol. We were always taking field trips to MCAS El Toro and MCAS Tustin. Seeing F4's was a common sight growing up in Southern California in the 60's & 70's. Take care, C2 Edit: Spelling and grammar corrections. Still working on first cup of coffee.

Please include me also. Thank you, C2

I think this is a good idea. In my travels around this watery rock, (2 1/2 times), the one thing I have always noticed is that no matter who's military you're in the complaints are pretty much the same. You may not speak the same language, but the shared experience and enough beers can overcome any language barrier. You do find a way to communicate. I like that there is large contingent from the world's militaries here. That being said, also one with nothing to hide, does this count? From back in the day, 1981.

I definitely agree, leave the national anthem the way it was written. I cannot stand personalized or "bastardized" versions. And yes, I understand the irony of the fact that the tune that the lyrics are set to is a "bastardized" version of the "The Anacreontic Song" written by John Stafford Smith. Right you are. All US Naval ships carry a Battle Ensign that is hoisted whenever entering war zones, and sometimes as a courtesy when entering or leaving foreign ports. And as such this flag is much larger than the standard National Ensign that is normally flown. Aboard a Marine Base or Army Post this same flag would be referred to as a Garrison Flag. I would imagine that other nations still do this as flying larger than normal Battle Ensigns or flags started in the days of sail for visibility through the heavy smoke during battle. Hoisting the Battle Ensign has always been seen a means of morale and kind of a poke in the eye or defiance in the face of the enemy. My two cents worth. C2

Reminds me of what my grandfather used to tell me: :Youth and agility are no match for old age and treachery."

Charles, thank you for your posts and pictures. Brought back some memories. Served aboard her sister ship the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower CVN-69 from early 1982 to late 1985. All of the berthing, flightdeck, p-way, hangerdeck pics are all so familiar. All of the feelings you describe about the stressors of everyday shipboard life are spot on. Everybody has their own way of dealing with it. Like you said the hard part is trying to notice the breaking point in the sailors that work for you. If you miss it, you always question yourself, how did I fail this person? What could I have done differently? Your story about the two boneheads who got NJP, no sympathy for either of them. I have seen that expression on more than one C.O. at Captain's Mast (fortunately not at me). Anyway, be safe and keep a swivelhead on you. Take care, C2

Here are a couple more pictures of this POS. One as a Lt. Col. and one as a Master Gunnery Sergeant, along with some affidavit papers. This joker even has a blog about his "combat experience" in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.thesmokin...ml?link=rssfeed http://www.militaryt...s_affidavit.pdf http://www.militaryt...information.pdf Whatever punishment this lowlife gets, it should start with Marine Corps Boot Camp at Parris Island. His Drill Instructors should be let in on what he did. Words cannot even begin to describe the disgust I feel for this coward who has the unmitigated gall to publicly wear his Stolen Valor. Thank you for listening. Take care, C2

Typhoid, I'm on a couple of other flight sim forums. PM me if you want. Retired off the The Big E in 93 while she was in drydock an Newport News, right before sea trials, after having her reactors replaced/overhauled. "Among us dark blue suit Sailors, when the fire alarm goes off we all run TO the blazing conflagration, put the d@mn thing out, and wait for the profesional firefighters to show up and finish the paperwork.....". Reminds me when my bro-in-law were staying with my grandmother's for a few days in Dec. 97, we drove down to Laguna Beach from S.F. bay area so he could talk to a couple of fishing boat captains out of San Pedro Harbor. He was a commercial fisherman in the Bering Sea for almost twenty years. Anyway, we had fallen asleep on her couches and her fire alarm went off at about 4 am. We both jumped up and burst through her bedroom door, breaking it off of the door jamb. Scared the crap out of her. Upshot was no fire, she said the thing goes off all of the time and if there had been a fire she would have called 911 and we should have gone outside. Told her it was reaction to training. Still do it today, certain things happen and you go into autopilot and react or prevent the situation. It does not go away. Well, we spent the day installing a new door jamb/door and fire alarm. Sound like a long string of events led to this catastophy. Where were the LPO's/LCPO's in charge of these spaces? If unauthorized storage of flammables is what caused this, then this is where the final break in the chain of command happened. I find it hard to believe that some hard charging Seaman or 3rd class would have let this pass unless the folks in charge had a cavalier attitude about cleanliness. I seem to remember Chiefs and Firsts who could spot a speck of dust on the topside of the electrical conduits in a dimly light passageway. Were the safety teams doing their daily walkthrough inspections? What about the documentation for the disposal of flammable materials? Sorry to say but, cavalier attitudes start at the top. It's just the breakdown is usually somewhere between the top and bottom of the ladder. This is why I'm sure that after the investigation/board of inquiry is over, there is going to be enough pain to go around. I hate to say it, but, the guy/gal that started it probable hauled a$$. Hopefully someone saw this person. I would not like to think this person would go unscathed. You guys are right tho. Our ships and crews can take a lot more and still complete their mission. It would take an awful lot of firepower to get to a CV. Tho' I'm sure those two soviet AC jolted someones jockstrap the other week with a CV flyover and no intercept. I'll bet someone heard about that. Speaking about cleanliness, when I was aboard the Mt Hood, we were just notified an hour before liberty call that ComLogGru One was coming aboard at 0800. So needless to say, we know what happened next. Yep, liberty was secured until further notice. Anyway, I was OI Div LPO at the time, so 03-05 levels and the winch decks were my responsiblity. I actually had this 3rd class, 6 mos A school wonder, total TIS 18 mos, tell me I was lucky, I didn't know what it was like to have to scrub decks/bulkheads, etc... I asked him do you think I came in the Navy as a 1st class. I told him I came in the hard way, E-1 started out on deck force on the Saratoga, now get the F$$K back to work. Can't talk like that now. It's the new Navy again. Didn't we go through that Admiral Zumwalt and his infamous Z-grams already? Just my thoughts. Anyway, take care, C2

Typhoid, you are absolutely correct, fire aboard ship is no joke. Have fought more than one myself. All were small thankfully. During our 84-85 cruise onboard the Eisenhower, had one joker get caught smoking in the forward JP-5 pump room during flight ops. Fortunately he was caught before anything happened. Still it earned him a trip to visit the C.O. in less than 24 hours. I hope that smoke was worth it, it cost him thirty days extra duty, thirty days restriction and one months pay. The clock on restriction and extra duty stops while the ship is underway. I guess some folks do not understand what "the smoking lamp is out during flight ops" means when announced over the 1MC/5MC. Fires happen all the time onboard ships. As was stated before, most are are small and contained before they get out of hand. I agree, one of the best schools I went to in the Navy was firefighting school. You also get refresher training. Like they say in the Marines, every Marine is a rifleman no matter what your MOS is. In the Navy, every sailor is a firefighter/damagecontrolman no matter what your NEC is. Which leads me to a question. Jarhead1, do FMF get shipboard/aircraft firefighting training before deploying aboard ships? Seems like a silly question. I don't remember meeting any Marines at firefighting school. It would seem aviation Marines would as the squadrons deploy aboard LHA's. Just curious. Yes, if one cigarette can cause 70 milliion dollars in damage, I seriously question this ships survivability, not to mention the training of the crew. Unless this figure also includes the operating budget for the amount of time she was out of service and cost of repairs. 70 mil is considerable amount of damage. So I would completely understand the relieving of the C.O and the X.O. As a LCPO, even though I was enlisted, I was still held responsible for everything the men under my command did as it was reflection of my leadership capabilities. Everyone is responsible for those under them, right on down to the lowest petty officer. So I'm fairly certain a lot more heads were rolling. Including department heads and division officers, CPO's, etc. Just like when the USS Stark was hit. Some officers were relieved or given letters of reprimmand (effectively killing their careers) and some CPO's and 1st & 2nd class petty officers were demoted for lack of leadership abilities under emergency/GQ conditions while others were promoted for showing exceptional leadership abilities under the circumstances. Bottom line is, in the military when s$#t happens, heads roll. And I don't mean port-a-potties on wheels. Anyway, sorry I got long winded. Thanks for listening. C2

Dave, thanks for the beautiful picture. Brought a lump to this old salt's throat. Yes, agreed, this is something that should be on the front page. I'm sure that some papers somewhere ran it. I know that you would never see it here in the San Francisco bay area. These men and women are our best we have to offer, because they give of themselves willingly. I do not worry when it comes to our military, they will always rise to the occasion and can be counted on. The politicians? Well, that's another story. Hopefully enough people will see this photo and others like it to counter all of the less than flattering stories that pass for news about our military. Take care, C2