How Many Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines.......

[RabidAlien]

Are you signing up soon, Double? Which branch? What rating/specification? Or has the caffeine not kicked in yet and I'm totally missing something?

[Von Frag]

U.S. Navy 89-93 Operations Specialist. Deployed for Desert Storm on USS Truett FF-1095 and spent our time there stopping and searching merchant ships in the northern Red Sea. Got back and transfered to USS Virginia CGN-38 before I got out.

[beaupower32]

U.S. Air Force 2000-present. Jet engine mechanic on F-15, F-16, B-1, B-2, B-52, T-38, and now C-17.

[Corsair82pilot]

I put 27 years in the Air Force. Four enlisted and ten as an officer on active duty, then 13 years in the Air National Guard and Reserves.

[Sweb]

USAF 1974-1978 Crew Chief, KC-135A, Grissom AFB, IN and abroad. Tail number 56-3649 (63649).

[dreif13]

Reserve 2LT Dentist Brazilian Army

[Bill G.]

Active Air Force November 1971 to September 1984. I was trained as a computer repairman.

I was stationed at Griffiss AFB 1972 to 1977. Grissom AFB 1977 to 1980. Pruem AS West Germany 1980 to 1983. Ellsworth AFB 1983 to 1984.

Michigan Army National Guard September 2000 to January 2009. I was trained in communications. I was activated April 2003. Mobilized at Fort Riley April through June. June and July in Kuwait. Iraq July 2003 to April 2004. Back to Fort Riley for a very quick demob and then home also in April 2004. The Company was rated the BEST Signal Company for Guard, Reserve and Active Duty in the largest fielding of our equipment that will ever be done. And we brought everyone home safe in our company and battalion.

I retired from the Guard on the 19th of January, 2009. So not quite a month.

Hey Sweb, we were at Grissom AFB at the same time for a bit. Did you know a 305th tanker pilot by the name of 1LT Bruce Radebaugh? He was one heck of a modeler. He used to build models while he was on alert.

Bill G.

[parsifal]

Member of the RAN 1976-84. Seaman Officer, did not qualify for aircrew, but qualified as a Trainee Weapons Officer. Was assigned to various ships whilst completing my Seaman Officers "Task Book", including stints in a DDG the carrier Melbourne, Amphibious Heavy Lift Ships, and several patrol boats (mostly Attack Class) operating out of Darwin and Adelaide (for about two months) . Was on the Melbourne in 1980-82 during her deployment into the Indian Ocean, along with the HMAS Brisbane and 5 or six other ships, during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Volunteered to crew on the Antarctic Supply ship, but never made it to Antactica, Collapsed whilst on duty, and had to be rescued by chopper, by my old ship the Melbourne.

Most exciting evolution was being a member of the boarding party of suspected people smugglers, illegal fisherman and occasionally drug runners. Most boring was chipping rust off the Melbourne.....it was an endless excercise, and the old b*tch was just a floating bucket of rust. I still had a soft spot for the old girl....

[lesofprimus]

I did my time in the Navy from 1988 -1996 as a member of SEAL Teams 2 & 4...... Had my share of scrapes and bruises u might say... Did my share of VBSS as well Parsifal...

[Sweb]

Originally Posted by Bill G.

Active Air Force November 1971 to September 1984. I was trained as a computer repairman.

I was stationed at Griffiss AFB 1972 to 1977. Grissom AFB 1977 to 1980. Pruem AS West Germany 1980 to 1983. Ellsworth AFB 1983 to 1984.

Michigan Army National Guard September 2000 to January 2009. I was trained in communications. I was activated April 2003. Mobilized at Fort Riley April through June. June and July in Kuwait. Iraq July 2003 to April 2004. Back to Fort Riley for a very quick demob and then home also in April 2004. The Company was rated the BEST Signal Company for Guard, Reserve and Active Duty in the largest fielding of our equipment that will ever be done. And we brought everyone home safe in our company and battalion.

I retired from the Guard on the 19th of January, 2009. So not quite a month.

Hey Sweb, we were at Grissom AFB at the same time for a bit. Did you know a 305th tanker pilot by the name of 1LT Bruce Radebaugh? He was one heck of a modeler. He used to build models while he was on alert.

Bill G.

Yep. He was a co-pilot at the time. He came out on the flightline one day and asked me if I would let down the nose and main gear doors of my plane so he could get some detailed photos of the wheel wells. I remember it pretty well because I had just buttoned up the plane and would have had to put power back on the plane (external generator set) and charge up the aux pumps to bring the doors back up. Two guys could get their backs into the mains and slam them into the latches but the nose required cycling of the door cylinder. In other words, it meant another 20 minutes re-doing what I just finished doing. But, I frickin' did it anyway. He did ask nicely. He was a tall, lean guy with sandy-blond hair if I remember right. We never flew together. Grissom was a double wing (50 aircraft) at the time so all the time I was there I never saw the same crew twice on my plane. While I was on alert the officers and enlisted were bunked in separate sections of the bunker. If he was there I don't remember. Man, that was a loooong time ago.

[Bill G.]

Thanks for the reply, Sweb! Yep, it was a long time ago.

Bruce later became Captain and a pilot. When we had the severe blizzard in Jan 1978, he was stuck on alert. Heck, the whole base was closed and SAC was told to go to war without us! I was able to get to his house in base housing to check on his wife and kit. It looked like huge ocean waves going over the tops of the houses.

Bruce had a number of 1/48th models on display in a glass case in the Wing Command Post building (where I worked). One was the Monogram B-17G in 305th markings. I would sometimes just stop and stare at it. It so looked like you could climb into the nose, get into the pilot's seat, yell CLEAR, and start one! He built a vacuform KC-135 while I was there. He said that was a super pain!

You know, I just remembered something as I was typing this. I had 6 or so navy ships on display at the White House near the main gate. That was probably after you left.

Bill G.

[Sweb]

Originally Posted by Bill G.

Thanks for the reply, Sweb! Yep, it was a long time ago.

Bruce later became Captain and a pilot. When we had the severe blizzard in Jan 1978, he was stuck on alert. Heck, the whole base was closed and SAC was told to go to war without us! I was able to get to his house in base housing to check on his wife and kit. It looked like huge ocean waves going over the tops of the houses.

Bruce had a number of 1/48th models on display in a glass case in the Wing Command Post building (where I worked). One was the Monogram B-17G in 305th markings. I would sometimes just stop and stare at it. It so looked like you could climb into the nose, get into the pilot's seat, yell CLEAR, and start one! He built a vacuform KC-135 while I was there. He said that was a super pain!

You know, I just remembered something as I was typing this. I had 6 or so navy ships on display at the White House near the main gate. That was probably after you left.

Bill G.

I left Grissom on September 10, 1978. On January 1st of that year I had just returned from back-to-back 90 day TDYs on Guam. I got off the plane at Indianapolis Int'l Airport (Weir-Cook back then) and was in no mood to take the fast-ride back to Grissom. What a mess that blizzard was. You know, I was only in the White House once the whole time I was there! I never modeled while at Grissom. When I was pulling 30-days in England once and billeted at RAF Weathersfield I was picked up while hitch-hiking by a older gentleman on his way home. I was headed for Finchingfield to a pub I think was called The Three Tuns. Anyway, we went in together and turns out he was the electronics operator on a Beaufighter nightfighter in WWII. Man had some stories. He delivered school meals as a job and travelled that road every day. I went to a little shop in Mildenhall and bought an Airfix 1/72 model of that plane and completed it in a night scheme. I didn't build the 109E that was included with the (double) kit. Accuracy wasn't my motivation here. I hung out at the road on the day I was scheduled to rotate home and sure enough he came by and stopped. I gave him the model. It was a good day.

[parsifal]

Originally Posted by lesofprimus

I did my time in the Navy from 1988 -1996 as a member of SEAL Teams 2 & 4...... Had my share of scrapes and bruises u might say... Did my share of VBSS as well Parsifal...

Can be a bit exciting you might say. i am pretty sure our training is different to yours. I did my advanced gunnery (smallarms), comms and had to get my boat tickets. Also had to demonstrate good swimming skills...I doubt my stint as a general grunt will compare with an ex-seal. We did a boardex with the SAS once (I was a bad guy that time). They were told it was going to be unn-oppsed, and we were told to be "passively resistant". One of the SAS guys ended up in the drink after I threw the line back at them, with the words "no spekie engwish". When they finally got on board, I got the back end of the slr over the back of my head....hurt like sh*t

[Blaydon]

Three years Royal Marines and Sixteen Royal Air Force Two and a Half of that deployed, Kosovo x2, Gulf x4, Northern Ireland x2, Sierra Leone.

[Bill G.]

Sweb, boy do I remember the blizzard, January 1978 at Grissom AFB. Boy did that catch everyone by surprise. This is my memory of it.

I was scheduled to work days. I got up as normal in the BNCOQ, ate and got dressed. I heard the wind blowing hard, but that was about normal at Grissom! I left my room on the 2nd floor and got to the door at the end of the barracks. Then I just stood there looking at my little Ford Maverick. The snow was half way up the front bumper. It wasn't going any place! With the wind conditions were just above white out. It was about a mile and a half to work. With only a field jacket, that wasn't going to happen!

So I called the shop to say I wasn't driving in. I would see if anyone at the 1915 Comm Squadron Job Control could give me a lift in a 4x4 truck. The Controller said yes, but he was by himself and couldn't leave.

Well, before long the Base CO said where you is is where you stay. So I was stuck in the barracks. Then the base heat plant partially shuts down. It starts to get cold in the barracks.

I went to another guy's room. He was listening to a scanner monitoring the rescue effort to get the two Air Traffic Controllers out of the tower. They couldn't find the tower! Not with snow plows. Not even snowmobiles could find it!

For those that have never been to Grissom, the Air Traffic Control Tower is located on the other side of the runway from the rest of the base. And guess what, the first 60 feet is painted WHITE! Now you see why it was "lost"!

The tower has lost heat, water, electricity, and all but one phone line. The Controllers didn't have any really warm clothes. Finally the Base CO called off the rescue due to night coming on. And he told them they were to do what ever it takes to survive the night. They ripped up some carpet for blankets and burn some files for warmth. It was a long night.

The next morning, the weather had moderated some. A plow was sent to find them. The Controllers saw the flashing lights of the plow and had the plow stopped. The driver reported he still couldn't see the tower. The Controllers walked to the plow and hopped in. The driver headed back to base. Then the plow quit! So they all had to be rescued again!

That next day, all but my NCOIC made it to the shop. I walked in. What a sight. All the doors at the Command Post building were buried in snow. I helped dig it open. While digging my butt hit a window in a door and broke it. A controller from the Command Post said don't worry about the window, KEEP DIGGING!

We had a shop meeting and decided to go to 24 hour shifts for a few days. That way we would only do shift changes in daylight as the base was a super mess for getting around. After about 4 days we went back to 12s and then finally back to our normal duty schedule.

After the shop meeting I walked back to the barracks. I went through base housing. I wish I had my camera. Snow drifts up to 21 feet high. It looked like huge ocean waves breaking over the tops of the one story houses. And these weren't light fluffy things, they were hard as a rock! I could walk on them and barely leave a foot print! A bloody amazing! I have never seen anything like this since!

Bill G.