Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
I owned my 1st boat at five years old. Won my 1st race at 11. Unlike so many people who misuse the term, I was a sailor before I joined the Navy. And still am! So there!

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

In your face! So there!

I still hope that you'll let me buy you a beer next time your up this way (hopefully before May).

Mike

"Good times will set you free" - Jimmy Buffett

"They need more rum punch" - Me


Artwork by The Amazing Dixie

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


USS Growler(SSG) (the second) and USS Halibut(SSGN) both had them.

I thought they were called missile or launch decks or something like that.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

quote:

ORIGINAL: sprior

Junior Rates aren't allowed beer on tap at sea.

Beer? At sea? They can't have beer on tap at sea? OH-WA! What is the world comming too?

Um, Steve? What was your longest time away from a land base? 12-16 hours? I spend 87 straight days at sea during Desert Storm.

We "earned" one beer day during that time and I was handed two cans of hot Heineken to drink.

OK Mike. Let's lay that "Cadillac duty myth" to rest. Yes, I was land based. But unlike maintainers, for who "VP" duty is Cadillac duty , for Aircrew, it's a little different. Maintainers can have a beer anytime that they are not on duty ) and I've know a few who would have one when they were on duty. If you think it's hard not having a beer when you've been months at sea , where NO ONE , not even the Captain is having one , try going 30 days when everyone around you is having one , offering you one , and trying to repay you by buying you one.
Here is how it works: You show up for a 2-3 hour brief, then go to the plane and do a three hour preflight. Then you wait for 4-5 hours for maintainance to fix a gripe with the airplane that they supposedly fixed , but didn't. THEN you go flying. And yes , it's only 12-14 hours on patrol. And the P-3c has three pilots, two flight engineers, two navigators, two sonar operators and ONE EWO. Guess which one I am? So after 12-14 hours of sitting the seat (because no one else can) we land, and the "crew rest cycle" begins.This means , since your base is "flapping" (at a high alert status, tracking multiple "real world targets"--read "bad guys") that EXACTLY 12 hours after landing you WILL fly again. Unfortunately , this flight isn't done. And you are already supposed to be preparing (read--no booze) . So you post flight the plane for an hour or so, then go to a debrief for two hours--that turns into three or four if you had an interesting flight.

Then you go eat. But as a "Prisoner of the flight schedual" , you eat when you can and Navy and Air Force galleys have very specific hours. They never, ever coincide with the flight schedual. (It's against the rules). So you go to the club (This is Iceland--no MacDonalds, Burger King, etc. The basing treaty doesn't permit them). The club is expensive, but..it's hot. So you finally sit down in a comfortable chair (having changed--no flight suits). Your dead, but starving. Then the devil's begin their torment. Every 15 minutes for the rest of your meal , the waitress will offer you a drink. People all around you are having drinks. You smell it, you crave it , but it's not for you!
Finally , ordeal over , you get to your room....and everybody in the barracks is having a party. Except you. Your flying in six hours. Despite the "do not disturb, crew resting sign" on your door , at least 3 times through the night some drunken maintainer will knock on your door, demand someone who doesn't live there , then try to give you a beer to make up[ for waking you up. If you can sleep at all , due to the non-stop partying going on.

Your alarm goes off and it's 0Dark30 and it's time to do it all over again. Repeat again and again for thirty or so days. Maybe, just maybe the "flap" will end , and you can try to make inroads to deal with your sleep and beer deprivation. Or not. I've seen flaps that lasted most of an entire deployment (six months or more).

So , yeah , your right that P-3 deployments can be fun . Or not. Unless your a maintainer. Then it's usually fun. Weren't you a AT Mike?

'Bout time we heard from you.

Let me recap. It seems that you are complaining about how hard you had it with waitresses, rooms, and noise while trying to sleep. I often went more than a month without seeing anything close to a waitress, except in a few "training" magazines on board. The "room" I had to sleep in was also occupied by about 150 other guys and I couldn't sit up in my rack because there was only about 2 feet of clearance to the 1 or 2 other racks above me. (Simon can explain what hot racking is. I was happy with what I had ) My rack was about 20 feet below catapult #1, and I worked nights, 7 - 7, so there were usually these really loud machines hooked up to a giant sling shot, cranking their engines at full military or full afterburner, directly over my head. Is it a wonder that I can sleep through anything now?

Oh, and yes, I had the best job on the entire ship. I was an AT2 at the time of my 3 deployments, working on electronics in a secured, air conditioned shop. I fixed things, I didn't "operate" (break) them.

Yeah Mike. I know it was tough having only six to a room, where you had 30+. Of course then there was Aircrew school (where SEAL and Marines got to beat on you for 12 hours a day), and SERE school where you got to live in the Maine woods for up to two weeks with no food except what you could catch , then you get "rewarded" by spending a week plus in a POW camp where the quarters were exquisite and the staff, well let's say they were "attentive". They made sure that you were never bored.

I didn't mean to complain that I was allowed to go to a restraunt (on a e-3's pay in 1979-83) when you expected to use COMRATS and use a mess hall that was never available to you. And I'll admit , I never really needed the soft bunk that They so thoughtfully spoiled me with (as I could have just as easily slept on my feet, and often did). But you're right .I was spoiled . And I'd have killed anyone to kept my job. I spent nealy six years refusing promotion (it would have meant changing rate) just to keep that job. People pointing missiles and guns at us (unarmed and unafraid) fighters wearing the Red star and other emblems giving us an "escort" to make sure that we went away safely (nice of them wasn't it) . We didn't need or want air conditioned space (but it would have been nice in Pueato Rico and South America) or a safe and secure space. Frankly I really didn't want a carrier (I trained for SH-3's) as I really wanted to be more than a airborne Lifeguard or mailman.And those of us lucky enough to be top of our class to get those orders were very, very lucky.

Jimmy Dolittle entittled his biography "I could never be so lucky again". And that man knew something about flying. So I guess that you're right. We were spoiled. And ya know something? I'm not gonna apologize about it. In your face! So there!

I still hope that you'll let me buy you a beer next time your up this way (hopefully before May).

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
I owned my 1st boat at five years old. Won my 1st race at 11. Unlike so many people who misuse the term, I was a sailor before I joined the Navy. And still am! So there!

So you like to be thrown out into the middle of a wet nowhere on a plank of wood with a handkerchief tied to a stick for propulsion and so much motion in all 3 dimensions that your lunch doesnt know if its coming or going. That cover it?

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

So where'd ya find the old "Alfred Hitchkock" logo? Your too young to recall that. Hell, I'm too young to recall that!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

quote:

ORIGINAL: sprior

Junior Rates aren't allowed beer on tap at sea.

Beer? At sea? They can't have beer on tap at sea? OH-WA! What is the world comming too?

Um, Steve? What was your longest time away from a land base? 12-16 hours? I spend 87 straight days at sea during Desert Storm.

We "earned" one beer day during that time and I was handed two cans of hot Heineken to drink.

OK Mike. Let's lay that "Cadillac duty myth" to rest. Yes, I was land based. But unlike maintainers, for who "VP" duty is Cadillac duty , for Aircrew, it's a little different. Maintainers can have a beer anytime that they are not on duty ) and I've know a few who would have one when they were on duty. If you think it's hard not having a beer when you've been months at sea , where NO ONE , not even the Captain is having one , try going 30 days when everyone around you is having one , offering you one , and trying to repay you by buying you one.
Here is how it works: You show up for a 2-3 hour brief, then go to the plane and do a three hour preflight. Then you wait for 4-5 hours for maintainance to fix a gripe with the airplane that they supposedly fixed , but didn't. THEN you go flying. And yes , it's only 12-14 hours on patrol. And the P-3c has three pilots, two flight engineers, two navigators, two sonar operators and ONE EWO. Guess which one I am? So after 12-14 hours of sitting the seat (because no one else can) we land, and the "crew rest cycle" begins.This means , since your base is "flapping" (at a high alert status, tracking multiple "real world targets"--read "bad guys") that EXACTLY 12 hours after landing you WILL fly again. Unfortunately , this flight isn't done. And you are already supposed to be preparing (read--no booze) . So you post flight the plane for an hour or so, then go to a debrief for two hours--that turns into three or four if you had an interesting flight.

Then you go eat. But as a "Prisoner of the flight schedual" , you eat when you can and Navy and Air Force galleys have very specific hours. They never, ever coincide with the flight schedual. (It's against the rules). So you go to the club (This is Iceland--no MacDonalds, Burger King, etc. The basing treaty doesn't permit them). The club is expensive, but..it's hot. So you finally sit down in a comfortable chair (having changed--no flight suits). Your dead, but starving. Then the devil's begin their torment. Every 15 minutes for the rest of your meal , the waitress will offer you a drink. People all around you are having drinks. You smell it, you crave it , but it's not for you!
Finally , ordeal over , you get to your room....and everybody in the barracks is having a party. Except you. Your flying in six hours. Despite the "do not disturb, crew resting sign" on your door , at least 3 times through the night some drunken maintainer will knock on your door, demand someone who doesn't live there , then try to give you a beer to make up[ for waking you up. If you can sleep at all , due to the non-stop partying going on.

Your alarm goes off and it's 0Dark30 and it's time to do it all over again. Repeat again and again for thirty or so days. Maybe, just maybe the "flap" will end , and you can try to make inroads to deal with your sleep and beer deprivation. Or not. I've seen flaps that lasted most of an entire deployment (six months or more).

So , yeah , your right that P-3 deployments can be fun . Or not. Unless your a maintainer. Then it's usually fun. Weren't you a AT Mike?

'Bout time we heard from you.

Let me recap. It seems that you are complaining about how hard you had it with waitresses, rooms, and noise while trying to sleep. I often went more than a month without seeing anything close to a waitress, except in a few "training" magazines on board. The "room" I had to sleep in was also occupied by about 150 other guys and I couldn't sit up in my rack because there was only about 2 feet of clearance to the 1 or 2 other racks above me. (Simon can explain what hot racking is. I was happy with what I had ) My rack was about 20 feet below catapult #1, and I worked nights, 7 - 7, so there were usually these really loud machines hooked up to a giant sling shot, cranking their engines at full military or full afterburner, directly over my head. Is it a wonder that I can sleep through anything now?

Oh, and yes, I had the best job on the entire ship. I was an AT2 at the time of my 3 deployments, working on electronics in a secured, air conditioned shop. I fixed things, I didn't "operate" (break) them.

Yeah Mike. I know it was tough having only six to a room, where you had 30+. Of course then there was Aircrew school (where SEAL and Marines got to beat on you for 12 hours a day), and SERE school where you got to live in the Maine woods for up to two weeks with no food except what you could catch , then you get "rewarded" by spending a week plus in a POW camp where the quarters were exquisite and the staff, well let's say they were "attentive". They made sure that you were never bored.

I didn't mean to complain that I was allowed to go to a restraunt (on a e-3's pay in 1979-83) when you expected to use COMRATS and use a mess hall that was never available to you. And I'll admit , I never really needed the soft bunk that They so thoughtfully spoiled me with (as I could have just as easily slept on my feet, and often did). But you're right .I was spoiled . And I'd have killed anyone to kept my job. I spent nealy six years refusing promotion (it would have meant changing rate) just to keep that job. People pointing missiles and guns at us (unarmed and unafraid) fighters wearing the Red star and other emblems giving us an "escort" to make sure that we went away safely (nice of them wasn't it) . We didn't need or want air conditioned space (but it would have been nice in Pueato Rico and South America) or a safe and secure space. Frankly I really didn't want a carrier (I trained for SH-3's) as I really wanted to be more than a airborne Lifeguard or mailman.And those of us lucky enough to be top of our class to get those orders were very, very lucky.

Jimmy Dolittle entittled his biography "I could never be so lucky again". And that man knew something about flying. So I guess that you're right. We were spoiled. And ya know something? I'm not gonna apologize about it. In your face! So there!

I still hope that you'll let me buy you a beer next time your up this way (hopefully before May).

Now I'm waiting for Pas to come over and tell us all about the hardships of being an attache in San Marino, or something.

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

In your face! So there!

I still hope that you'll let me buy you a beer next time your up this way (hopefully before May).

I will ALWAYS let you buy me a beer, shipmate!

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

In your face! So there!

I still hope that you'll let me buy you a beer next time your up this way (hopefully before May).

I will ALWAYS let you buy me a beer, shipmate!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

In your face! So there!

I still hope that you'll let me buy you a beer next time your up this way (hopefully before May).

I will ALWAYS let you buy me a beer, shipmate!

Theres some sort of strange naval bonding thing going on here that I'm not quite in tune with.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

Nope...They were Regulus cruise missile boats. The Regulus was basically a unmanned airplane on a one way mission . They launched on the deck , but had "hangers" that could carry five birds. You live near NYC. Go visit the Growler at the Intrepid!

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
But my lunch always knows where it's going.

quote:

come on out and we'll go sailing AND flying!

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


[image]http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/upfiles/20142/199349037E094C2A908F65C1A8CD59BA. jpg[/image]

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

It's easy Yuri. Sailor=beer. Repeat.Many times. Now you got it!

Of course Mike and I were getting a little 'testy". Although we were both that weird form of sailor called "airdales" Mike was a "Maintainer", and I was a "operator". If I did my job right , I often broke the gear that Mike would have to fixed, therefore cutting into his "free-time". I broke a lot of gear. Maintainers tended to call me and my flight engineer the "black clouds". We broke a lot of gear , and airplanes. Mike instinctively senses this. So , to make amends, I buy beer. Savy?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve
But my lunch always knows where it's going.

See, to me its always a surprise. And the attractive green hue on my face usually comes as a surprise to others.

quote:

come on out and we'll go sailing AND flying!

Do you really think you'll be able to find a place to sail )bigger than your bathtub) over there?

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

but "frost biting" gets pretty rugged. You need good gear , and you don't want to capsize. It gets ugly real fast.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

It's easy Yuri. Sailor=beer. Repeat.Many times. Now you got it!

Of course Mike and I were getting a little 'testy". Although we were both that weird form of sailor called "airdales" Mike was a "Maintainer", and I was a "operator". If I did my job right , I often broke the gear that Mike would have to fixed, therefore cutting into his "free-time". I broke a lot of gear. Maintainers tended to call me and my flight engineer the "black clouds". We broke a lot of gear , and airplanes. Mike instinctively senses this. So , to make amends, I buy beer. Savy?

Sure, and Marines have something similar that involves a coin. I never understood the need to exchange currency for favors. Always struck me as somewhat unsavory.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

In your face! So there!

I still hope that you'll let me buy you a beer next time your up this way (hopefully before May).

I will ALWAYS let you buy me a beer, shipmate!

Then hurry up and get up here before I have to move. I do have a nephew getting married soon near Kitty Hawk. But I don't belive thats anywhere close to you.

Mike

"Good times will set you free" - Jimmy Buffett

"They need more rum punch" - Me


Artwork by The Amazing Dixie

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

but "frost biting" gets pretty rugged. You need good gear , and you don't want to capsize. It gets ugly real fast.

Freezing AND being seasick.....sounds quite intriguing.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


[image]http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/upfiles/20142/199349037E094C2A908F65C1A8CD59BA. jpg[/image]

You have a space between the "." and the "jpg". Take that out and it should work fine.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

Oh btw, about that green face? 1St lesson involves "leeward" and "windward". Very important to understand before "projectile vomitting occurrs". Otherwise you'll also learn why some of my friends in high school who sailed with me used to call me "captain blood".

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


Actually , I think you are talking about a "Challenge coin". That was originally US Army. It's spread somewhat toother services and even branches of government (civilian).

Don't think of it as "exchanginging favors". More like , "sorry I made you work late, let me make it up to you". Or call it a peace offering.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

Oh btw, about that green face? 1St lesson involves "leeward" and "windward". Very important to understand before "projectile vomitting occurrs". Otherwise you'll also learn why some of my friends in high school who sailed with me used to call me "captain blood".

I prefer to do it off the back. That tends to avoid most unfortunate incidents.

quote:

ORIGINAL: USS America

You are almost as close, time wise, as Kitty Hawk.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


Naw.....whenyou freeze, you forget about being seasick. Then again , there's always snakebite medicine. It does a stomach good!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


Actually , I think you are talking about a "Challenge coin". That was originally US Army. It's spread somewhat toother services and even branches of government (civilian).

Don't think of it as "exchanginging favors". More like , "sorry I made you work late, let me make it up to you". Or call it a peace offering.

I was attempting to bust the chops of any Marines within earshot.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


Naw.....whenyou freeze, you forget about being seasick. Then again , there's always snakebite medicine. It does a stomach good!

Thats a euphemism I'm not familiar with.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve


[image]http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/upfiles/20142/199349037E094C2A908F65C1A8CD59BA. jpg[/image]

You have a space between the "." and the "jpg". Take that out and it should work fine.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

Thank you Yuri! It does work. Now I'll reload photoshop and shrink down my avatar so that I can load it again. I was thinking of replacing my old pen and ink rating badge logo with my AW1 rating badge after I scan it in. I'd like to have the gold color.