53rd WRS

[SmellsLikeAvGas]

I know I've made some inquires before about the Hurricane Hunters, but I was wondering if anyone had any recent info on new pilot recruits; if you are awarded a pilot slot (no prior service - OTS) do you start flying storms right away, or do you fly other missions first to gain experience? Thanks.

 

[bssthound]

I'm a member of the 53d. Together with the 815th Airlift Squadron we form the 403d Wing. The 53d gets a lot of publicity due to our very high profile mission, therefore we tend to attract more applicants "off the street." The past few folks we've sent to SUPT have ended up at the 815th, flying tactical airlift. I know two, for a fact, who interviewed and were hired at the 53d, one of whom's father was a pilot in the 53d for about 20 years. Those guys were sent to the 815th to see the full spectrum of C-130 flying in the tac environment.

In other words, when you graduate SUPT you're a wing asset. You might go to the 53d, but there's a good chance you'll go to the 815th. Once you're there it doesn't mean you will be forever, though. There are transfers between squadrons and we have wing/group guys who fly with both. Please don't construe this to mean you will fly with the 815th should we hire you; I'm just saying there's no guarantee you'll come to the 53d.

 

[dtfl]

I would bet there is a 75% chance he'll fly TAC airlift first - the General said he wants the newbies learning the full spectrum, like you said. But soon I guess we will all be Airland and Weather qualed with the 815th and select Wing personnel being airdrop also. One big happy disfunctional family..with no BX

 

[bssthound]

One big happy disfunctional family..with no BX

Or Commissary. :-(

 

[dtfl]

I personally love the 2 hour wait to eat dinner. Or the 55 people in line at one of the 2 places that serves lunch on base. Of course, there are folks eating on Sterno stoves rebuilding their houses..that sucks too....coming from a person who had 30k in damage from Ivan and I was 40+ miles away!

 

[slacker]

Once you fly at the 815th, you won’t want to fly at the 53rd. Flying straight and level thru a storm for 12 hours and landing at the same location where you took off the day before isn’t that fun. The novelty of flying thru a hurricane is neat a couple of times, but after that you’d rather do something with a little less drone time and different scenery. Just my .02, there are many folks at the 53rd who love it, it’s just not for me.

 

[Visceral]

Hmmmm; Hanging out in Hawaii, Alaska, or St Croix versus airland/drop or potential sandbox deployments. That is a tough one.

 

[dtfl]

Hmmmm; Hanging out in Hawaii, Alaska, or St Croix versus airland/drop or potential sandbox deployments. That is a tough one.

Hanging out? You mean flying 14 hour missions on the AP and having a NON RATED flyer tell you where to go? Hmmm....that is a tough one.
I did my share of 14 hour missions...flying around...with the Nav telling me where to go...only, once I got there, I rolled into a pylon turn and BLASTED THE HELL OUT OF SOMETHING!

 

[bssthound]

You mean flying 14 hour missions on the AP

14 hours is stretching it a bit. My longest, which was this past season, was only 13.6!! You talk about PAINFUL!!:crying: Thank God we can't air refuel. Seriously, it ain't everyone's cup of tea. It's usually not an exciting mission, however, it will get your attention from time to time. Most of our folks will tell you it's rewarding to provide data that helps out the coastal residents.

We do get a lot of media and the lines at airshows to get on our acft are amazingly long. We provide tons of good publicity for the Air Force, I hesitate to say this because I'm baring my a$$ to the flames of some really funny, witty people, but we're told we provide more positive press for the AF than even the Thunderbirds. Gimme a second to don the asbestos!!

 

[slacker]

funniest quote at an airshow

the 815th lives in the 53rd's shadow. it's a running joke in the 815th, heck, people in the wing don't even know about the 815th. the funniest thing i've heard was at an airshow, one of the thunderbird pilots walked up to one of our pilots and said, "you guys are from keesler?"
815th pilot, "yeah"

thunderbird pilot, "you guys the hurricane hunters?"
the normal response would have been-no, we're the tactical airlift guys next door. Instead our pilot said, "you guys the blue angels?"

thunderbird pilot, "ouch, i understand"