Topic: Like Folks To Acknowledge Their Military Branch And Such, If You Don't Mind

[Slayer]

2000-2004 Navy Submarines Torpedoman on the U.S.S. Jefferson City, SSN 759. Duty stations San Diego, CA and Bremerton, WA with one West Pac deployment for 6 months. Thank you to all of the veterans, their supporting families and most of all the guys who are currently serving. If it wasn't for them being out there it would be us in the sand box.

The idea of getting into a Sub gives me the creeps. Submariners are my heroes.  

Hey man, hats off to you. We thing you guys are nuts! You kinda get used to subs, it is more of an isolated and uncomfortable setting. Ships can sink but submarines can just stay on patrol forever.

[rustrocket92]

 Basic training and Ait at Ft. Jackson, SC Feb. 1995, U.S. Army Airborne School August of 1995. Wheeled Vehicle recovery course FT.Hood TX 1996. Operation Joint Endevor and Operation Joint Guard Bosnia Herz. 1996-1997. Operation Joint Forge Bosnia Herz. 1998-1999. Joint task force 6 supporting the US Border Patrol operations Camp Nowhere Tx. 1999-2000. 

[BobbyR]

2000-2004 Navy Submarines Torpedoman on the U.S.S. Jefferson City, SSN 759. Duty stations San Diego, CA and Bremerton, WA with one West Pac deployment for 6 months. Thank you to all of the veterans, their supporting families and most of all the guys who are currently serving. If it wasn't for them being out there it would be us in the sand box.

The idea of getting into a Sub gives me the creeps. Submariners are my heroes.  

Hey man, hats off to you. We thing you guys are nuts! You kinda get used to subs, it is more of an isolated and uncomfortable setting. Ships can sink but submarines can just stay on patrol forever.

You guys have me thinking(way after the fact). In a surface Naval ship the object is to stay up which is fairly simple. Subs go up and down, which I suppose is fairly simple in principle.

In my somewhat unstable airship, the object is go up, stay up, and get down in a reasonably controlled manner using a mess of complicated parts one of which is known a the Jesus nut. Damn, I should have gone in the Navy! Oh well, live and learn.

[Bob Wessner]

Being more of a ground pounder, I had never heard of a Jesus nut. In case anyone else is curious;

The Jesus nut, also called the Jesus pin, is the nut that holds the main rotor to the mast of some helicopters, such as the UH-1 Iroquois helicopter. It is a slang term that maybe was first coined by American soldiers in Vietnam; the technical term is main rotor retaining nut. Other sources suppose that the term may be coined as early as by Igor Sikorsky, a pioneer of rotor wing aircraft, who was a deeply religious person [1]. The Vietnam War was the first war fought seriously by the helicopter.

[nokrome]

my rides had two jesus nuts (ch-46)
   back to the f-4, probably the loudest aircraft that i have ever heard on take off......feel the power!

[BobbyR]

my rides had two jesus nuts (ch-46)
   back to the f-4, probably the loudest aircraft that i have ever heard on take off......feel the power!

That is an impressive ship. Twin turbines with twin shafts, 3 bladed rotors, solid airframe and amazingly maneuverable.

+1 on the F-4. I was at the Atlantic City a few days before the Airshow. The Blue Angel were practicing. Two Hornets came up from behind us and by time I heard them, it would have been too late. The newer planes are much quieter.

[Slayer]

2000-2004 Navy Submarines Torpedoman on the U.S.S. Jefferson City, SSN 759. Duty stations San Diego, CA and Bremerton, WA with one West Pac deployment for 6 months. Thank you to all of the veterans, their supporting families and most of all the guys who are currently serving. If it wasn't for them being out there it would be us in the sand box.

The idea of getting into a Sub gives me the creeps. Submariners are my heroes.  

Hey man, hats off to you. We thing you guys are nuts! You kinda get used to subs, it is more of an isolated and uncomfortable setting. Ships can sink but submarines can just stay on patrol forever.

You guys have me thinking(way after the fact). In a surface Naval ship the object is to stay up which is fairly simple. Subs go up and down, which I suppose is fairly simple in principle.

In my somewhat unstable airship, the object is go up, stay up, and get down in a reasonably controlled manner using a mess of complicated parts one of which is known a the Jesus nut. Damn, I should have gone in the Navy! Oh well, live and learn.

Yea I always say I should have joined the Air Force. At least you can see where you are going! I always envied the Air Force eye candy and mess halls. Hey, a #$%*ing sailor is a happy sailor right?

[DollarBill]

USAF 1994 - 2000
Enlisted in Texas and never left in the 7 years I was in.
Lackland AFB, Sheppard AFB, Lackland AFB, Brooks AFB
Did some cool molecular biology research at Brooks.

I miss it and wish I had never left...  You don't find the same kind of camaraderie in the corporate world.

[BobbyR]

2000-2004 Navy Submarines Torpedoman on the U.S.S. Jefferson City, SSN 759. Duty stations San Diego, CA and Bremerton, WA with one West Pac deployment for 6 months. Thank you to all of the veterans, their supporting families and most of all the guys who are currently serving. If it wasn't for them being out there it would be us in the sand box.

The idea of getting into a Sub gives me the creeps. Submariners are my heroes.  

Hey man, hats off to you. We thing you guys are nuts! You kinda get used to subs, it is more of an isolated and uncomfortable setting. Ships can sink but submarines can just stay on patrol forever.

You guys have me thinking(way after the fact). In a surface Naval ship the object is to stay up which is fairly simple. Subs go up and down, which I suppose is fairly simple in principle.

In my somewhat unstable airship, the object is go up, stay up, and get down in a reasonably controlled manner using a mess of complicated parts one of which is known a the Jesus nut. Damn, I should have gone in the Navy! Oh well, live and learn.

Yea I always say I should have joined the Air Force. At least you can see where you are going! I always envied the Air Force eye candy and mess halls. Hey, a #$%*ing sailor is a happy sailor right?

At groom Lkae we wre only 80 miles from Vegas. 

[bill440cars]

Bill,
Us younger guy's heared the term flying brick a lot for the F4. I worked on the 141's and the F111's

Paul

           Flying brick, huh? I guess things like that go on from one generation to another, we called the F-100 Super Sabre, the "Lead Sled"! There is Nothing that can be said, that would change me from being an admirer of the old F4 Phantoms. Worse I ever heard the F111's called were the "Swing Wings!" Wasn't much a fan of the F111's though, I'd rather take a B58 Hustler myself (had FOUR of the basic engines that the F4 had two of (J79s). Nothing derogatory to say about the 141's, best CARGO planes, in MY opinion. But We weren't talking Cargo Planes were we?   

                                        Take care, Bill

[bill440cars]

my rides had two jesus nuts (ch-46)
   back to the f-4, probably the loudest aircraft that i have ever heard on take off......feel the power!

          Used to really like to do night sorties while over in Japan and see the F4s pop after burner when taking off. In the winter, over there, after we'd send one off, we'd get over on the spot where the plane was sitting and soak up that heat! I was stationed at Misawa AFB, in Northern Japan for 2years. Didn't slow down the flights, they'd just have us get them ready to go, send out the snowplows and send the planes down the runway.   Enjoyed crewing a fighter plane and would have done it longer, except all I could think about when I went , was getting out! Not to say that I didn't enjoy it and got a lot of educational as well as Cool experiences out of the deal. Got ALL the respect IN THE WORLD, for the Ground Pounders,  Chopper Crews and Fighter Pilots. Of course, it takes the whole nine yards from the ones who provide the supplies, keep the equipment going, and such, all the way up to the ones who have to actually get out there. My Hat's off to ALL of those who were OUT THERE!

[tramp]

6yrs submarine duty
uss seadragon ssn584 fire control tech

[Slayer]

6yrs submarine duty
uss seadragon ssn584 fire control tech

Hey, another bubble head! Weapons Department at that. 

[demon78]

Hey Bill never forget that we were the ones that allowed them to fly, with out us the A/C wouldn't get off the ground, although probably having to listen a bunch of pilots whining about not being able to fly would have been too much.
Bill the demon.

[BobbyR]

Hey Bill never forget that we were the ones that allowed them to fly, with out us the A/C wouldn't get off the ground, although probably having to listen a bunch of pilots whining about not being able to fly would have been too much.
Bill the demon.

+1

[medic09]

Hey Bill never forget that we were the ones that allowed them to fly, with out us the A/C wouldn't get off the ground, although probably having to listen a bunch of pilots whining about not being able to fly would have been too much.
Bill the demon.

+1

+2

I still fly.  The pilots come and go.  Any flight I could be with a different one or two pilots.  But the ground crew/mechanics are always the same guys.  Every problem, large or small, is theirs until it is fixed.  If we even safely get off the ground is up to them.  When we come back, again every problem the pilots or medical crew have becomes their problem.  And they do it all with pride and good spirit.  Thumbs up to the ground crews! 

[Markcb750]

USAF 1973 T0 1977 Active. Lackland AFB  Texas, Kessler AFB Mississippi, Luke AFB Arizona.

F4 avionics and Navigation.

Best friends I ever had.

Great Job, chicken s**t at end of Vietnam war sucked.

Thanks to those who serve.

[bill440cars]

Hey Bill never forget that we were the ones that allowed them to fly, with out us the A/C wouldn't get off the ground, although probably having to listen a bunch of pilots whining about not being able to fly would have been too much.
Bill the demon.

      That's true! At first, when I got to Japan (with the 67th Tac Fighter Squadron), we had a bunch of "fair weather pilots". If the weather didn't suit them, they would come out, do a right up in the log book and go back to their headquarters. Now, "the Old Man" would find out about the writeups, realize that the pilot was using their OLD plane as the basis for the write up and send them right back out there! Wasn't long before our fair weather pilots got their act together because they learned real quickly that the Col. would send them right back out there. Now, I really enjoyed crewing that plane, because when that sucker was on the ground, it was MINE! It was MY responsibility to ensure that ALL of the services were up to date AND done. Also, that the plane was full of fuel, the liquid oxygen converter was full, the tires were good and full of air, no leaks, everything working properly AND that there was a freshly packed drag chute in the rear of the plane. Our Maint. Officer (In Japan) would come out, ask if the plane was ready to go AND, if you said "Yes Sir", he DID NOT DO A WALK AROUND! He simply got in the plane, you helped him strap in and he took it on YOUR word. Now, if everything WAS good to go and he had no problems, you were Good! BUT, if he went up in the plane and found anything to be  a problem that wasn't taken care of previous to his taking the plane, YOU were in SERIOUS trouble!  It gave us a huge sense of responsibility, to know that the F4 Phantom (some have called a "Brick"   ) was OUR Baby, while on the ground and WE were responsible for the readiness condition of that plane, while the pilots depended on us to keep the planes in good shape, since their lives depended on it. AWESOME FEELING!!!!!!

[BobbyR]

Hey Bill never forget that we were the ones that allowed them to fly, with out us the A/C wouldn't get off the ground, although probably having to listen a bunch of pilots whining about not being able to fly would have been too much.
Bill the demon.

     The pilots depended on us to keep the planes in good shape, since their lives depended on it.

+2

[demon78]

Bill classic airforce folktale at least in RCAF, pilot doesn't want fly writs up log with # 2 missing, guys go over it and over it, run up, go over it again, nothing, goes out with another pilot, fine,  original pilot goes out, comes back in # 2 missing, in log book, old crusty fitter (aero engine tech) looks at log, carefully writes out # 2 found and his signature. After the #$%* dissipated the fitter was told not to be a smart ass and the pilot never wrote dumb things in the log book again whether he wanted to fly or not. I suspect that the C.O., Pilot leader, and Squadron AdJ had words with him.
Bill the demon.

[bill440cars]

Bill classic airforce folktale at least in RCAF, pilot doesn't want fly writs up log with # 2 missing, guys go over it and over it, run up, go over it again, nothing, goes out with another pilot, fine,  original pilot goes out, comes back in # 2 missing, in log book, old crusty fitter (aero engine tech) looks at log, carefully writes out # 2 found and his signature. After the #$%* dissipated the fitter was told not to be a smart ass and the pilot never wrote dumb things in the log book again whether he wanted to fly or not. I suspect that the C.O., Pilot leader, and Squadron AdJ had words with him.
Bill the demon.

      I can appreciate that. I can well imagine that the same thing happened with some of our pilots in Japan because all of them had come over from other acft like the F105s, 101s and such.

[silver fox]

Recovery Mechanic in the REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers).

Lived in: Germany, UK, Cyprus, Holland, but currently finishing my time in Germany

Served in: Belfast, Bosnia(Op Grapple 2 UN), Bosnia (SFOR tour) Kosovo (KFOR tour), Iraq (Op Telic

I have served for 20 1/2 years.

Hi to the rest of you who have or are serving, especially any Recy Mechs out there.

Regards
SF

[silver fox]

Me in back of my Warrior 513 Recovery/Repair vehicle on Op Grapple 8

[cb750k7]

Israeli Navy 1974-1982, finished Master Chief Petty Officer.
Israeli Navy Reserve 1982-2005.

BobbyR ,  I have read Bob Mason's "Chickenhawk" many times until the book torn apart,  then bought a new copy.  I think your company,  the 227'th is in the book.

Take care you all out there!

BTW
there are more planes in the sea then submarines in the air.....


Cheers,
Jona

[BobbyR]

Israeli Navy 1974-1982, finished Master Chief Petty Officer.
Israeli Navy Reserve 1982-2005.

BobbyR ,  I have read Bob Mason's "Chickenhawk" many times until the book torn apart,  then bought a new copy.  I think your company,  the 227'th is in the book.

Take care you all out there!

BTW
there are more planes in the sea then submarines in the air.....


Cheers,
Jona

Robert Mason was there a lot earlier and they had it very rough. He was a Slick driver so he brought the men in and removed the dead and wounded. Unthinkable horror and you could see those guys slowly come apart over time. In the Gunships we were a bit more removed.

Mason and his generation developed the techniques and tactics that we were taught. I was very sad to see how his life spiraled down. I may or may not read it again for that reason.

Having spent the remainder of my enlistment outside Las Vegas, helped my transition back to civilian life.