I’ll take Bluesman’s suggestion to start a veteran thread.
I was enlisted in the navy '79-85 and got out as an aviation fire control technician second class. On a three year sea duty tour I did 1-1/2 Indian Ocean cruises, the full one on the Connie and the second one on Danger Ranger.
I found an interesting bit of small world trivia, Chiefscott and I worked together in a professional capacity though we didn’t quite meet. I was catching some of the five gallon cans of firefighting foam he was throwing out the back of an H-46 the day we tried to burn the ranger down.
Photographic and Electronic Sensors Systems Specialist
(Infrared Target Designation System Monkeyboy to those of you who don’t know)
(Avionics Backshop to those of you who STILL don’t know)
Tech School: Lowry AFB, CO
First Station: Edwards AFB, CA - Flight Test Research with Martin Marietta, Developing the LANTIRN Targeting and Navigation Pods.
Second Station: Aviano AB, Italy - Operations Deny Flight and Deliberate Force - Bombing the oppressors!
Third Station: ETS
Pulled off trips to Red Flag and WESEP once or twice, too. It was a hoot, but flying a C-5 from Europe to the Florida panhandle with a bunch of hung-over, beerfarting flightline guys was a drag!
I posted on other thread too, just checkin’ in so I don’t miss formation. Gulf War vet, 37th Tactical Fighter Wing (F-117 Stealth), Khamis Mushayt, KSA.
Previous veteran’s life: Her Majesty’s 24th Regiment of Foot, Roarke’s Drift, Zululand. I was the one cowering under the hospital bed desperately putting on blackface.
(I’ve always wanted to say that. Remember Officer Mahoney in Police Academy?)
I’m not still in (details in other thread). I posted over there b/c other vets (and retirees) were. Hey, what can I say? Just following along–I was only E-4, ya’ know.
Padeye: What aircraft did you work on? I started out my USN career (as described in the other thread) working as an AQ on F4As. We had the old Aero 1 Able radar system (APQ-72 and the IR for the sidewinder) in those days.
hey dive, E-4 is not “just” anything. Don’t know 'bout the Navy or AF, but in the infantry, an E4 pulls just as hard as an E6 or an E1, and the rank don’t matter unless you’re losing men at the top or the brass comes around.
1989-1994. Orlando; Pensacola; Homestead AFB, FL; Orlando again, after Hurricane Andrew; NavSecStain DC; New Brunswick NAS, ME. Came out of the Navy a CTM2(E-5). That means I was an electronic tech with a clearance - worked in big buildings with no windows and repaired the gear of the guys who listened to Morse code and foreign languages.
Also, was extraordinarily happy when the Nav came out with an early out directive that I qualified for. If I could do it all over again, I’d have joined the Air Farce.
F-14As, AWG-9 radar, AWG-15 fire conrtrol and ASN-92 intertial navigation. I was with VF-24 on the Connie and the Ranger. We had TV sensors about the time I was getting out of the business. Neat system. It could read side numbers at ten miles and optically track someone walking across the flight line. I enjoyed the work, even on the boat, but didn’t want to do it the rest of my career.
That must have been some time back for F4As. We had a few former F-4 jocks but they were used to the AWG-10 in later Phantoms and didn’t trust the pulse doppler radar in the F14.
Padeye: I left the avionics world of the nav early on in my career, but I did hear a lot of grumbling about the AWG-10 PD like you mentioned. I guess it was difficult for some RIOs to discern the ground clutter from the targets or some such. I think the AWG-10 was in the F4J model. I believe it did increase the hit probability for both the Sparrow and the Sidewinder, though. 'Course the system on the Tomcat was Sierra Hotel, from what I heard. Multiple tracks and launches with phased array is pretty danged leading edge for that time. What model designator is the F14 up to now? If I remember correctly, it was the first front-line air-to-air fighter aircraft with configurable wings. Is that correct?
Oh, don’t I know it. Based on my intelligence, acumen, and use to my unit, I felt more like an E-8 than E-4. Thankfully, I was treated that way, too. Most of the lower enlisted, being in a MASH, constantly intermingled with the officer RNs/MDs as well as the upper enlisted LPNs and others. A few of us regularly payed poker with them, along with the First Sergeant and the E-8 in charge of the entire medical enlisted side.
The only two people to really get hung up on rank in our unit were the Hospital Commander and the XO (he was a real dick). We had one Company Commander who was really cool. Unfortunatley, he was replaced by a real bitch.
Just take my original comment as a weak attempt at self-deprecating humor.
Army, 92-99. First two years as an x-ray tech, the rest as a nuclear medicine tech. Started out in a forward support battalion (only x-ray tech in the 1st Cav for a year so i got to go on every brigade’s FTXs :() Then I got a posh assignment at Madigan AMC at Ft Lewis, WA.
USAF 1985-1999
2E3X1 Crypto Maint.
Basic/Tech School Lackland '85-'86
Cheyenne Mtn/NORAD '86-'87
2146 CG, Osan AB, Korea '87-91
Pentagon '91-'93
620 ACF, Osan AB, Korea '93-'96
303 IS, Osan AB, Korea '96-'98
Buckley ANGB, Co '98-'99