Originally posted by rifleman_btx
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Ahhhh, but you are alive and enjoying this hobby:Cool:. Many of our brothers and sisters weren't as fortunate as we are. -
USAF 1968 - 1989. Spent almost all that time (except for training) as a weapons System Operator on an F-4 Phantom II.Comment
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Navy Seabees NMCB 23
1986-94
Cm2
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Originally posted by farmflyer View Post
Just the thought of appreciation coming from any and all non-military types, like yourself, farmflyer and others like you, in my opinion, warms my heart. There was a sad moment in time, when military personnel were frowned upon and disrespected(a few of us may understand what I'm talking about), I'll be glad when it's changed.
In a way, because of people like yourself, makes the healing(for those of us that may need), that much more tolerable ...
Thank You
(Sorry, I got kinda caught up in the moment)
Okay, back to the fun ...Straighten Up - Fly RightComment
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Mcriley.........yes there are still others on these pages that understand what you were talking about.
No apologies needed for remembering the moment bro ;)Warbird Charlie
HSD Skyraider FlightLine OV-10 FMS 1400: P-40B, P-51, F4U, F6F, T-28, P-40E, Pitts, 1700 F4U & F7F, FOX glider Freewing A-6, T-33, P-51 Dynam ME-262, Waco TF Giant P-47; ESM F7F-3 LX PBJ-1 EFL CZ T-28, C-150, 1500 P-51 & FW-190Comment
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My Senior Year in High School was 1976 - 77. The US Military was in the post-Vietnam enlistment slump, and the general attitude at that time was you only signed up for the military if you were a loser with no other prospects. Newly elected President Jimmy Carter considered reinstating the draft, in order to bolster the sagging rosters.Originally posted by mcriley2 View Post
While I could have attended the local University for free, since my mother worked there, I decided to enlist in the Air Force Reserve and learn electronics. I didn't really want another two to four years of classroom education, and if there was a chance the draft was returning, I preferred to not find myself in the Infantry. That isn't an insult to the Infantry, either as an organization, or to any individuals who served or currently serve in that capacity. I just never did well with fighting. I never aspired to it, I never liked even wrestling in gym class, and figured I would end up more as a liability on a potential battlefield, than an asset. I reasoned if my draft number came up, I would just go from active Reserve to Active Duty, and would already have my training and military vocation.
I spent 7 years in the Reserves, primarily at Norton AFB in California, working mostly Starlifters.Comment
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U.S. Army 82-86 / SGT. Cavalry Scout, 1st Squadron, 4th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Stuttgart, Germany. 86-88 HHC. 1st BN 40th ARMOR, 5th INF..DIV. Ft. Polk, La.Comment
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USMC 1994 - 1999 Avionics / Fire Control / Phase / CDQAR AH-1W & UH-1NComment
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US Army 1968 - 1970 - SGT E-5 - Ft. Ord, California - Ft. Bragg, North Carolina - Camp Friendship, Korat, ThailandComment
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USAF, '69-'73, SSGT, (E5) Munitions Maintenance, bomb dump and flightline delivery. George AFB, Victorville Ca. 479th FMS, supporting F-4C/D Phantom II A/G training. June'70-Dec'71 Kadena AFB, Okinawa. PACAF, all things that went boom, in any way, used in Vietnam by the USAF came through our base, in and out. 20mm relink for first 10 month, then EOD destroying old/damaged mines/rocket motors/flares/and many more items, larger and smaller. Was involved in the movement and storage of the bad lot of 500lb Mk82 bombs that caused three major bomb dump explosions in SEA in '70-'71. Returned to George AFB after Okinawa, 35th MMS, 35th TAC FW. Crew Chief Graveyard Flightline Delivery, getting the morning frag loads to the aircraft armors.
Built plastic models, and flew U-Control as a kid, and again when I got out of the Air Force. Got into R/C in '81, fly mostly semi-scale warbirds. Went total electric around '98/'99.Don
Currently flying FW F-4C Phantom II 8s PNP, GP Waco YMF5, GP P-6E Hawk V1, H9 Spitfire MkIX 30cc, EFlite Carbon Z Cub, EFlite Carbon Z Cessna 150, EFlite 1.2M Spitfire MkIX, EFlite 1.2M F4U Corsair, EFlite 1.2M T-28, EFlite 1.2M P-47D Thunderbolt v1.
On repair bench: ASM F7F Tigercat, GP Ryan STA-M, BH P-40C Tigershark
Building HK 60cc T-6 Texan, VQ P-82 Twin MustangComment
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Don, you wouldn't recognize the area around the old George AFB facility any longer.
Hesperia is bigger than Victorville now, by a LONG shot. Traffic up Cajon Pass is a mess nearly every day. They've widened I-15 up through the Pass, and it still jams up.
Highway 138 from the middle of the pass out towards Palmdale is now two lanes each direction. There is a signal at Mountaintop, where the road to Wrightwood meets 138.
We lived in Phelan, about 15 miles west of Hesperia, from '84 through '94. I was back up there a couple of months ago for my uncle's funeral, and couldn't believe how much it's changed.
I always did enjoy watching the Phantoms fly overhead while we lived out there, though.Comment
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USAF. 1976-96. Flew F4, T33, T38, T41 and T43. No combat time but with all the time in "T's", I had the enemy in the cockpit with me trying to kill me. I survived and help train a lot of the fighter guys of Desert Storm I&II. They done good!Comment
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Wow, I had to look up T-41 (military version of the Cessna 172) and T-43 (Boeing 737-200).PatComment
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Hey Hoomi. Yeh, I know about the condition of George AFB. Moved back to San Diego in '88-'95, and visited quite a few times. Also get by there every couple years because one of my daughters is still in San Diego. The bomb dump, where I worked, is a federal penitentiary now. Going back next spring for last granddaughter's graduation.Originally posted by Hoomi View PostDon
Currently flying FW F-4C Phantom II 8s PNP, GP Waco YMF5, GP P-6E Hawk V1, H9 Spitfire MkIX 30cc, EFlite Carbon Z Cub, EFlite Carbon Z Cessna 150, EFlite 1.2M Spitfire MkIX, EFlite 1.2M F4U Corsair, EFlite 1.2M T-28, EFlite 1.2M P-47D Thunderbolt v1.
On repair bench: ASM F7F Tigercat, GP Ryan STA-M, BH P-40C Tigershark
Building HK 60cc T-6 Texan, VQ P-82 Twin MustangComment
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Car accident ended my USAF obligations ROTC 1976.Took my pilot slot (2 per class) and gave it to the next guy in line as I had facial reconstruction.
Got an internship with NASA in the 80’s which got terminated when Sikorsky, McDonnell Douglas and several others floundered and NASA suspended the program for years. Would have been making models for wind tunnel testing.
Finally got into aviation in 2004.
But thank all of you who served, you have my deepest respect for doing the job and my deepest regrets for not being there to help you.Comment
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From what I read there, it wasn't for lack of trying. Considering the prevailing attitudes about military service in the mid-1970s, that fact that you were working towards military service is respectable as well.Originally posted by F22trainer View PostComment
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US Army 1982-1988. Had been enlisted and went back to school. I was injured in a training accident about one week before my commissioning and had to find a whole new career. Spent most of my time in Central America during my enlisted years.Comment
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USAF 1982-2007 (Comm/Network Engineer)Comment
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A.F. from 73-94. Comm weenie started in Nav-Aids with a switch to Satcom. Aside from basic and tech schools, assigned stateside to Eielson AK, Maxwell AL and Randolph TX. Special duty tour to FRG with LORAN. A fun time in the Mob (1st Combat Comm) in the FRG, UK, Italy, Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Israel and some I don't recall. And a final tour with WHCA.Comment
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USN 1983-2003, Information Systems Technician
USS Sacramento (AOE-1)
USS Eisenhower (CVN-69)
USS George Washington (CVN-73) (PLANKOWNER)
USS John C, Stennis (CVN-74)Comment
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