Royal Canadian Air Force 1957-1963 407 Maritime Sqdn have love hate relationship with military, my oldest and best friends came from that time and place. I used to think that the wheels in charge couldn't managed a gang bang in a hook shop till I got out and discovered that civvy wheels couldn't do it even with a credit card.
The people I was in with were the absolute best, there was still the feeling if you were downed in the bush and you needed a part to get off again the crew would search for a mineral deposit, build a fire pit, smelt the ore, build the part, install it and away we go. We used to cross train with the USN in places like Alameda etc and were always astounded at the amount of tools and material they had ( we were flying the same A/C) they were amazed at what we would accomplish with so little and of course the amount of beer we could pour down and still walk. Silver Fox that comment about the Civvies thinking that you're 2cd class was the same for us ( oh in the services eh, what too lazy to work too nervous to steal eh? no airmen or dogs allowed)
mostly from people that wouldn't lift a hand to help themselves or their neighbors in times of crisis and were far more interested who was getting .50 cent an hour more and wasn't JFK cute. As an aside when our CO of the time thought that the Squadron had done well ( anti sub exercises, what ever) he would throw a party for the Squadron, we loved that man, if the call had gone out that we had to bomb Moscow, we would have picked those old Lancaster's up and carried them on our backs across the Bering Straits to do that. Having said that, some of the later people in charge didn't evoke the same loyalty, and even to the present I can't put on any sort of blue uniform without my body itching.
Sorry for running on.
Bill the demon
