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Chunk said:Dave Griffin,
I'm raising the bullsh*t flag on you. Your posts simply aren't believable.
Proud of my 6.5 years of service, getting out 22MAY02! I don't owe the military anything.
Chunk
AlbieF15 said:Speed,
I have worked with a variety of supervisors in my 14 year career, some good, some bad. I'm not there yet, but some pretty smart folks mentioned to me I'd find the same in the airlines, both on the line and in management. By the same token, there are happy airline pilots and miserable airline pilots, and it seems to me about 85% of the difference is attitude.
If you served a day for your country..you did a service that many never do. I don't care if you were dropping bombs, flying cargo, passing gas, or flying DVs around in a C-21...you did what your country asked. I'm glad you were on the team.
I'm also glad you found your niche in civilian aviation. I hope to join you there in 2 weeks. In the meantime--how about remembering a little board etiquitte? I am getting out...I agreed that the grass for me was greener on the outside. However...rants against guys who stay in with terms like "loser" and "too scared to get out" don't do justice to the guys who stay in. Right now there are friends of mine scattered across the globe in some crappy places far from family. They are there to impose our national will on those who would do us harm. They aren't there for the pay...you can't pay me enough to enjoy 120 days away from the family at a pop. (Navy guys do this routinely on cruises) You may think being a well-paid airline pilot buys you security, but another shoe bomb or hijack that doesn't get thrwarted may very well mean more furloughs, airlines going out of business, etc. Especially in aviation, right now your job security is on the razors edge...and the success of our military operations have a direct effect on your economic livlihood. If I were you, I'd be very thankful there are people willing to try to stay in 20-30 years and doing the leadership jobs--making due with much less money than you (and hopefully me soon) will be making, and being greatful for the (often closed) commissary and (overpriced and poorly serviced) Bx/Px exhanges.
Again--I'm getting out...happily! I also saw some non-effective officers and poor policies. I also worked with some of the best people I have ever met. However...I am forever indebted to those guys who stick it out, move every three years, endure the remotes, work the 14 hour days, and, oh yeah, occassionally die doing their jobs. If they weren't there making sacrifices, you can bet the "our Delta is better than SWA who is better than United" BS banter would become moot in about 48 hours.
As always...fly safe. And try to play nice.
Albie
AlbieF15 said: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....
I neverlikedorrespectedtheunhappy,shorttimers(4-10yearmini-careers)whoreadilyacceptedtheirtrainingandpaychecks,andthenbitched and moanedthewholetimeabouthow f****dupthemilitaryis.
Magic said:Just thought I'd save anyone else from trying to find some idiot named "Matt."
BMD said:Please tell me that the idiot named Dave Griffin is also a 50's action figure. His opinions are cartoonish. BMD
XNav said: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.