Sympathy for the recently furloughed

[hawg2hawk]

SR,

I'll drop the fighter bravado now that you acknowledge a few good bros still serve...'nuf said.

141 warhorse was a neat bird, too--especially if it took you for 3-5 years to Charleston...not a bad life.

OV-10 was fun, but after assignment night when you get your RIPs andsee "AGOS" you go "WTFO?" You learn about 50% of your job is on theground with the Army as a ground FAC. You know your aren't in Kansasanymore when part of your job description is keeping qualified in theM-16 (and I'm NOT kidding). Let me tell you...the Army REALLY listensto an AF 2Lt when he makes suggestions on using Air Power during anexercise...(NOT!)

My OV-10 bought me several ground TDYs, including REFORGER and HoenfelsTraining Excercise TDYs to Europe. You haven't been cold until you'vebeen a wet, sleeping on the ground, Germany in the winter cold. I neverappreciated the WWII footage of the battle of the bulge until I didthat REFORGER one January.

The airplane was a hoot to fly....sort of a cross between a King Airand a citabria, if that makes any sense at all. Big and turbine like aKing Air, slow and acro like a a citabria. You could stop the plane in600 feet with reverse thrust. Single engine was its only threat...likemany light twins it would roll and its back and kill you if you gotbelow Vmc and ignored your feet. Otherwise...it was a slow, forgiving,fun little plane. (Eagle guys turn your heads away and don't readthis...) and dropping bombs and shooting rockets on the range was ablast.

Now...the other thing the assignment got me was a front row seat withthe Army during the Gulf War. Let me emphatically state I DID NOT FEELLUCKY AT ALL about that at the time. Everyone I knew was flying, and Iwas in a war on the ground, for heaven's sake! I later learned theMarines lost one of their OV-10Ds (and maybe two...any Semper Fi typesknow?) early in the campaign. The airplane was simply not equipeed todeal with the the SA-7/14/16 type threats, and was slow enough to getDRILLED by triple A if you got too low. So...maybe I was in a betterplace on the ground... Anyway...like most USAF OV-10 guys, the goodnews was your ALFA tour was done, you learned a bit about yourself andyour sister services, and you typically moved on to a pretty goodfighter job afterwards. After the war, we flew about another 10 months,then parceled off our planes to the boneyard, the Phillipines,Columbia, Venuzula, and the BLM.

As for the 141...I guess we answered the question "what's the worstthat can happen if we keep flying them another 5 years?" Glad nobodygot hurt...

Fly safe....

One of the guys in my unit asked me the other day what it was like tofly the OV-10. I cupped my ear and said "WHAT?" Greatairplane though.

AGOS. Don't remind me.

You haven't really lived until you check into your first fightersquadron and they hand you a backpack and some shiny new jump boots.Your primary duty: Battalion Air Liaison Officer. Funny how theyfail to mention stuff like that at the UPT drop.

Fun (or at least funny) in retrospect though, and definitelyeducational. No better way to really understand (and appreciate)CAS.

 

[sandman2122]

From DaveGriffin:

I neverlikedorrespectedtheunhappy,shorttimers(4-10yearmini-careers)whoreadilyacceptedtheirtrainingandpaychecks,andthenbitched and moanedthewholetimeabouthow f****dupthemilitaryis.

Dave;

I believe in the novel idea that: "It doesn't matter how long one
serves their country, but how they contribute and perform during
that time".

The "quality" of one's time served far outweighs the quantity........


Signed,

A "happy 10 year mini-career" AF pilot.....

 

[BMD]

Just thought I'd save anyone else from trying to find some idiot named "Matt."

Please tell me that the idiot named Dave Griffin is also a 50's action figure. His opinions are cartoonish. BMD

 

[Dopps]

Please tell me that the idiot named Dave Griffin is also a 50's action figure. His opinions are cartoonish. BMD

Opinions are like assholes, everyone's got one...

 

[KarmaPolice]

Maj Mason, you are not an idiot, you are being snide and comical though. You obviously wanted to whip up some emotions on this otherwise benign board.

I'm still waiting for that Hegelian historical and scientific proof. Aren't you employing more of a Socratic dialectic method here, albiet flawed and biased?

It was kind of funny to see the reactions though. The f15 guy's bullying use of his AFSC, the 141 guys trouncing of you, all that (possibly authentic) service before self patriotism.

I went on a trip once with a "mason" and a "speedracer". I had to literally break up a fight in the crew bus. This so much better of a place to work out the differences in opinions, it was a quiet ride back!

On a side note, that 141's wing fell off after the refueling guy forgot to pull the plugs and the tanks exploded from overpressure. 141's could go on for another 50 years!

 

[semperfido]

I knew an asskisser extraordinaire a few years back who would openly say around the squadron that he was praying for a major recession so that all the guys who were going to the airlines would come crawling back to the military begging for their jobs. He was the most unsafe and tactically unsound aviator I ever saw in 10 years of flying Uncle Sam's best. He was also the single most divisive and troublesome piece of trash ever to have any influence within a military squadron. All I can say for him (and for you) is that I hope he dies a slow, painful death with the taste of his own blood in his mouth.

don't hold back......i agree