Tant01

Sea stories anyone?

I served in the US Navy back in the early 1980's Not much for a war going on then but I hesitate to call it peace time considering the height of the cold war...

My squadron was recognized for "Excellence in A-6 Intruder Readiness And Employment" We broke records (set during the Vietnam war) for tonnage of ordinance dropped and the number of sorties flown during a 45 day long campaign near the Gulf of Oman.

I've heard all kinds of stories from all kinds of men, all over the world and I can honestly say the best ones are true.

There was a certain AO in the squadron that had a fly (the insect) tattooed on the head of his (A-HEM!) yes, on the circumcised end of it. WHY would a sailor get a tattoo of anything THERE? At the time it had some shock value, I imagine it's less rare these days but he won A LOT of bar bets with that particular tattoo!


Another bomb jockey (AO) was a reformed iron man athlete and steroid
abuser. He was biult like a concrete bunker at all of five feet four and nearly 350 pounds. He was one of a handfull of enlisted men (in the whole US NAVY)that became exceptions to the standardized weight limits for physical fitness because his body fat measurements were low enough.


Another AO in our squadron was recognized for designing a new quick disconnect device that prevented damage to the electrical wiring in the wing of the aircraft in the event that the pilot had to jettison a bomb rack from the wing pylon. Before he came up with his idea this emergency procedure would take entire wiring harnesses out of the wing with the bomb rack.

He made a nice chunk of cash with that idea...


A typical A-6 E can carry 32 500 pound bombs but you need to remove the front landing gear compartment doors to fly with that many. They won't close with the bombs that close to the nose gear...

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

BoarSpear

Well lets see we had an Ao who had f#ck you tatooed on the inside his bottom lip...he would get drunk and and hang upside down off the balcony of our fav hangout (number 1 piano bar) showing off his tat to all the new people...nicknamed psycho for obvious reasons. I rode around on the uss neverdock also called the numbnutz (nimitz) we spent most of our time bouncing between libya and lebanon depending on where the fleet was needed most. when we finally got to have liberty it was decided that after 181 non-stop days at sea without a port visit letting 6600 sailers loose on the french riveria was probably rather bone headed so get this they let us off on buses...which we were not allowed off of, for what they they called eyeball liberty....yeah thanx...then we finally got an offer from the army base in sicily to host us for a party...yeah that worked out can you say fight? some army guy commented on our dixie cup hat...yep you guessed it he called it a dog bowl...needless to say we got sent back to sea until they could schedule a stop to the armpit of the med....nipples italy....anybody remember humpty dumpty? its a funny place we couldnt send letters home or know where we were gonna be next due to security issues (1981) but the damn "hey joes" had our cruise jackets already made! "you go here next then here" we were like no way....they were right...even back then the hookers who followed the fleet from country to country knew where to meet the fleet....its an adventure alright my dumbest moment? i was tired of sitting on the boat it was christmas and chief asked for a volunteer to take red cross goody bags to seals on the beach...of course i thought anything is better than this...i was wrong...they put me in a freakin santa clause suit(provided by the officers wives)to deliver goodies in a muslim country on christmas day...i got to one group of them and they already had goodies i was like what the hell.... they replied yeah we took em from the marines...

eXcessiveForce

My brother was placed in an officer exchange program during the Nicaragua/Guatamlian conflict. The ship he was on was boarded. Being a U.S. officer he could not have a weapon during the engagement as we were not at war with them. the captain of the ship locked him in a closest tossed a gun on the floor and said "we'll knock first." and sealed him in. The boarding was repelled and they finally let my brother out of the closet.

A navy hydrofoil was crusing at a high rate of speed. Directly infront of them a whale surfaced and they hit it. The force sheared of the pins that hold the foils in place which are quite large. One guy was in the head at the time and was slammed into the wall and knocked unconcious. There was massive damage to the ship. When he awoke he crawled into the hall. "he said he was gonna be damned if they were gonna find him dead in the head." They limped back into port covered with blood and whale steaks. By the time they reached it Greenpeace had already called the base commander asking about the whale. his reply, "we do not have good communication with the whale at this time."

__________________
eXcessiveFORCE.

If you must use force, make it excessive.

Tant01

Phalanx CIWS (close-in weapon system) test.... and test again.

This little baby, http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/.../wep-phal.html can shoot more than 6000 rpm. That might be classified so lets just say 3500? It's a radar aimed, has computer tracking and FLIR to make it quite a formidable weapon platform. As if 20 mm. projectiles made from depleted Uranium weren't bad enough!

One way to test the weapon system for combat readiness involves 5 miles of steel cord with a missle shaped object attached to the end of it. Think fishing line on a big electric reel hanging from a wing of one of our (A-6) bombers.

The jet flies over at 500 ft. towing the target. Once the target is closer to the ship than the jet towing it the weapon can be activated. All by itself it will locate the target, lock on to it, track it and fire the pnumaticly driven chain fed M61 A1 cannon.

The first test was a confirmed hit as it destroyed the cable and pin that attached the target to the cable. The "missle" went over the bow of the carrier (USS Kittyhawk) just missing the tail of an A-7 parked there. It landed with a splash about a hundred yards away and sunk to the bottom of the IO. The second test went better. The target was reeled in and later analized by the weapon system operators. Being that is was slung under the wing of one of our bombers I got to take a look at the 5 foot long missle shaped object. There were more than 200 holes in it!

The range of this weapon is classified also so lets don't say it can shoot targets at distances of more than a mile. If you think about a 600 MPH missle, one mile is only a precious few moments and it takes about four seconds to lock on and start firing...

One... two... three... four! Well it was at least how far away? Fast like thunder!


The weapon has a unique resonance. We went to GQ and and the test was announced so everybody was ordered to clear the flight deck of course (non essential personell) But a few of us had to get on the catwalk to see it anyway! It shakes the whole ship and sounds like the same guns found on Aircraft like the F14 Tomcat and the A10 Warthog..... Cant tell you, you just have to experience it. It shakes your insides at a warm and fuzzy 4000 hz. or so!

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_Phalanx.htm


Press on!

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

BoarSpear

great post tanto...i always thought ciws looked like R2D2 with a hard on ...

Tant01

Yup! LOL... http://navysite.de/weapons/ciws_3.jpg


More pics "loading" the PHALANX MK15 CIWS...
http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_Phalanx_pics.htm

Check out the 20 mm rounds!

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

BoarSpear

Can you say " gee i hope my IFF system is working right" ...its fun to watch r2d2 track friendlies as they approach and trap....

which reminds me...we were on blue water ops in the med when a b-52 spotted the nimitz...apparently they wanted a closer look they did a fly by about flight deck height on the port side then banked away...we could see the aircrew taking pictures and waving...apparently the air boss was bored...as he called for all non-essential personell to clear the flight deck so the b-52 could land... man you should have seen the newbees we all got a good laugh that day. speaking of non-essential personell leaving the flight deck ever see the whale land? Man i always wished i was non-essential at that moment...
i dont care how you cut it....thats not a landing...its a controlled crash.

Tant01

That's rich...

On the Kittyhawk out in the IO we observed a crewman with a long pole and a hook lying on the edge of the aft port sponson waiting for the "mail bouy" It was his turn at the duty and just happened to be filmed and simulcast live on the CCTV...

Yes the A-3 "whales" were regulars for a while. It seems they are history now so we must be getting OLD. The last carrier landing was August 25, 1989. (VAQ 33)

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

BoarSpear

hehehehe i always liked sending fng's for padeye wrenches, a bucket of propwash and as an AE you ought to appreiciate this one, an A.S.H. RECEIVER
Btw did you ever get to play line rat? this is the actual question from the plane captain test verbal section i was asked by a board of F-14 pilots....(Our skipper required all AO's to be qualified plane captains) Question " what would you do if the pilot gave you the hot brakes/ no brakes signal ? My answer...toss my trainee under the nose gear sir i passed

Tant01

Not to forget the ever popular canopy key, and 180 degree bearing grease LOL

Yes, I spent a few months doing that. I also spent almost a year at the ground support equipment pool. I only spent about 9 months actually in the AE shop... Doing what I enlisted to do.
I didn't mind too much, I got pretty darn good at parking jets. It was nice to wear a green shirt tho...

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

BoarSpear

funny thing about the navy, they spend a fortune sending you to school for something you are NEVER going to do...the first thing you always hear in the fleet....i dont care how the school said do it...in the fleet its done like this...like a turnaround inspection. LoL... by the book it takes 45 minutes period....you get 5 minutes while its being refueled and rearmed...by the book yeah right
the 1000 mph tape didnt get that nickname without just cause i can remember seeing a number of birds fly "patched" with gorilla snot and 1000mph tape.

Tant01

Here is an excellent image of the Skywarrior or beloved A-3 "WHALE"... http://www.a3skywarrior.com/A-3_Art/ea3bcopy.jpg

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

BoarSpear

yep..thar she blows...the inside was packed slam full of electronics...it was either a tweets dream or nightmare. i am glad they phased them out...it was no fun being anywhere on deck when that thing landed... i would usually duck into crash and smash and watch the "fun" with them. i would have to say the flight deck was the most fun job i ever had...if i could work the flight deck all day and come home at night, they would have to kill me to get rid of me. night ops blacked out were such a blast...its like great i cant hear shit for all the birds turning and now i cant see either! this is fun! so did you chew or dip? i pulled down my bandanna once and spit a big ole load of redman juice, only to have jet blast carry it down the deck to splat across some yellow shirts goggles **** em how many times did your gloves start smoking while hanging on a padeye after some dip yellow shirt turned a bird on you? i hated getting stuck with a bird in the 6 pack

Tant01

I got caught near the JBD one time (CAT 4) Under the engine bay door of one of our bombers... It was very hot for what seemed like a L..O..N..G time. The F-14 went to FMP w/ AB and sat there for a few moments before it shot down the deck...

That was enough of that...

__________________

"In all countries where personal freedom is valued, however much each individual may rely on legal redress, the right of each to carry arms - and these the best and the sharpest - for his own protection in case of extremity, is a right of nature indelible and irrepressible, and the more it is sought to be repressed the more it will recur."

James Paterson

BoarSpear

cat 4 whoooo boooy....how did you get so lucky? i thought they reserved that spot in hell for f-14s...i hated that spot...they always put up the tankers first since the tomcats are so fuel efficient so we got to wait around for all them to launch first...