Current or Former Military Service Poll

[Rampage]

Originally Posted by BirdTRD

USCG 1982 - 1986. Telephone tech (TT3) on the Cutter Gallatin (378') out of Governors Island, NY for 2 years and 1 year in Manasquan, NJ. I would go underway again in a heartbeat if they called me. Loved being out at sea bustin' bad guys!

I miss Governors Island. I had two stints there. One for ET school before going to Okinawa and then ET Journeyman school before going to Bermuda. Fond memories of Ferry Terminal pizza runs at two in the morning when studying or just partying.

[53Driver]

Originally Posted by woode

We don't really have issues with aircraft being accepted and then something popping up. If it does, somebody's gettin their **** slapped. But, we mostly just haul cargo (ya, refueler c-130 set up for cargo..) so not a whole lot of mission equipment to really break. The dual rails are what they are, and the winch doesn't really break much. If there are issues bigger than that, well, ...

I didn't understand supply either, so I went and learned their job for a while.. to be honest most of the time it's not really "them" and it's more the systems (ERP.. ugh) and processes in place. Still annoying as fuck though. The benefit of learning the system as a maintainer is huge though.. you can tell when they are being lazy and blowing you off. I've had instances where we NEEDED parts, and they told us the closest assets were across the country. I looked into it, found it much closer, and they were just being lazy and didn't want to make some phone calls to release the parts from a different branch (marines usually - they hog all the parts!).
Although, like everything there are those like you said that just have no sense of urgency.. but I work with a supply guy now who actually comes out and works on the birds with us even, just to get an understanding of where the parts are going and why etc.

As a former Marine aviator, I can answer your question about accepting aircraft. There's only a few instances where we actually accept an aircraft. The first is when they are coming out of depot level overhaul. Depot has it's own maintenance pilots on staff. Once the aircraft completes overhaul, the maintenance pilots and crew put the aircraft through what we call an "A card" which is a complete post-maintenance check flight. This can often turn in to a 1 to 2 week affair as "bugs" are worked out of the aircraft. Once the aircraft has completed this post-maintenance check flight, the crew from the squadron that is accepting the aircraft arrive to pick it up.

A complete review of the aircraft's book is done and a thorough pre-flight is conducted. If any issues are found during this process, the accepting flight crew will not accept the aircraft until the Depot resolves the issues. Once resolved, the receiving crew accepts the aircraft. Then, as an SOP, the accepting flight crew will put the aircraft through another "A card" to ensure that everything is indeed operating within acceptable limits. If an issue is found at this point, as a general rule the squadron receiving the aircraft now has to resolve the issue unless it is something above their capability, then it goes back to Depot.

Usually, this stuff goes rather smoothly as the Depot maintenance crews are also Marine aircrew so they will have any issues identified and rectified before the aircraft gets handed over to the squadron. However, there are exceptions to the rule.

Tho other instances where an aircraft gets accepted is when one squadron gets tasked with signing over an aircraft to another squadron, then a similar process as above takes place. The other instance is a brand new aircraft coming from the factory; this is unique as the accepting squadron will send aircrew to the factory where they will inspect and sign for the aircraft. Once signed for, the aircraft becomes property of the accepting service/squadron.

I can not speak to the Air Force's way of doing business, but what is described as above is how the Navy/Marines do business as a general rule. My understanding is that Air Force squadrons don't actually own the aircraft, that the Wing owns them and they are provided to the squadrons to support their daily flight schedules. I also understand that each Wing has a maintenance squadron that handles all aircraft maintenance, so if there is a problem the maintenance squadron handles the issue and the flying sqaudrons "borrow" the operational aircraft for missions.

[BirdTRD]

Originally Posted by Rampage

I miss Governors Island. I had two stints there. One for ET school before going to Okinawa and then ET Journeyman school before going to Bermuda. Fond memories of Ferry Terminal pizza runs at two in the morning when studying or just partying.

Good ol' Staten Island Ferry terminal pizza! Between that and chicken parm subs from the roach coach, I don't know what I ate more of! I spent 3 consecutive years there, first year in ET/TT school and then 2 years on the USCGC Gallatin...good times! I do miss working on the Model 28 Teletypes!

[Ultramaroon]

@woode, Navy still use the 5-part VIDS-MAF?
@Tcoat, I was an aviation electronics tech but when I was deployed it was all-hands whenever necessary. Done my share of engine changes, landing gears, blah blah blah.

None of the mechs or airframers ever helped me align an antenna pedestal, though! ...not bitter about it.

Oh, and supply? Half our parts came straight from the bone yard.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

@woode, Navy still use the 5-part VIDS-MAF?
@Tcoat, I was an aviation electronics tech but when I was deployed it was all-hands whenever necessary. Done my share of engine changes, landing gears, blah blah blah.

None of the mechs or airframers ever helped me align an antenna pedestal, though! ...not bitter about it.

Oh, and supply? Half our parts came straight from the bone yard.

For us it was more a case of you had to be more generalized as we didn't have the numbers to have too many specialties.
When I did a training exchange with the US, at the base in Mannheim, in the 70s the difference really stood out. That one base had more people, vehicles and aircraft then we had in the whole Canadian Forces put together at the time.
I worked with one guy that had been in for 6 years and had only ever worked a recovery wrecker and hadn't even been behind the wheel of another vehicle other then the old (new then) M151s that almost everybody drove. Whereas I, with just under a year in, had driven ambulances, fuelers, wreckers, semis, staff car and several other assorted vehicles and assignments.

Guess the same sort of thing applies to carriers as the resources are more limited so everybody has to multi task.

Funny you said about the mechs though as I just had to deal with a millwright that refused to move a battery powered insect sprayer about 4 feet over on a wall because it was "electric powered" and should be an electrician's job.

[woode]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

@woode, Navy still use the 5-part VIDS-MAF?
@Tcoat, I was an aviation electronics tech but when I was deployed it was all-hands whenever necessary. Done my share of engine changes, landing gears, blah blah blah.

None of the mechs or airframers ever helped me align an antenna pedestal, though! ...not bitter about it.

Oh, and supply? Half our parts came straight from the bone yard.

The VIDS-MAF "green maf" is a backup for the computers, which is basically a fancy electronic VIDS-MAF and record keeping.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by woode

The VIDS-MAF "green maf" is a backup for the computers, which is basically a fancy electronic VIDS-MAF and record keeping.

DISCREPANCY: Pilot's relief tube too short


CORRECTIVE ACTION: Could not duplcate gripe. Checks good on enlisted man.

[woode]

Originally Posted by 53Driver

As a former Marine aviator, I can answer your question about accepting aircraft. There's only a few instances where we actually accept an aircraft. The first is when they are coming out of depot level overhaul. Depot has it's own maintenance pilots on staff. Once the aircraft completes overhaul, the maintenance pilots and crew put the aircraft through what we call an "A card" which is a complete post-maintenance check flight. This can often turn in to a 1 to 2 week affair as "bugs" are worked out of the aircraft. Once the aircraft has completed this post-maintenance check flight, the crew from the squadron that is accepting the aircraft arrive to pick it up.

A complete review of the aircraft's book is done and a thorough pre-flight is conducted. If any issues are found during this process, the accepting flight crew will not accept the aircraft until the Depot resolves the issues. Once resolved, the receiving crew accepts the aircraft. Then, as an SOP, the accepting flight crew will put the aircraft through another "A card" to ensure that everything is indeed operating within acceptable limits. If an issue is found at this point, as a general rule the squadron receiving the aircraft now has to resolve the issue unless it is something above their capability, then it goes back to Depot.

Usually, this stuff goes rather smoothly as the Depot maintenance crews are also Marine aircrew so they will have any issues identified and rectified before the aircraft gets handed over to the squadron. However, there are exceptions to the rule.

Tho other instances where an aircraft gets accepted is when one squadron gets tasked with signing over an aircraft to another squadron, then a similar process as above takes place. The other instance is a brand new aircraft coming from the factory; this is unique as the accepting squadron will send aircrew to the factory where they will inspect and sign for the aircraft. Once signed for, the aircraft becomes property of the accepting service/squadron.

I can not speak to the Air Force's way of doing business, but what is described as above is how the Navy/Marines do business as a general rule. My understanding is that Air Force squadrons don't actually own the aircraft, that the Wing owns them and they are provided to the squadrons to support their daily flight schedules. I also understand that each Wing has a maintenance squadron that handles all aircraft maintenance, so if there is a problem the maintenance squadron handles the issue and the flying sqaudrons "borrow" the operational aircraft for missions.

Ah, the bit about the Air Force and plane custody makes sense now. When he said "accept the aircraft" I didn't think he was referring to actually accepting the bird, being as that happens only every few years at most. On the maintenance side after it's accepted from depot is post-depot inspection (a shortened phase/isochrono inspection sorta), ground turn checks, mission equipment gets installed, then another full FCF, then fix everything and she's an up asset again. Can take anywhere from a day or two to a few weeks.

Usually we send a few maintainers w/ the flight crew to accept the bird. (Probably isn't the case with smaller birds? Although 53s aren't exactly small lol) We actually had a bird get the wrong paint scheme out of depot not too long ago - that was interesting. We ended up accepting it anyways, though.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by woode

Ah, the bit about the Air Force and plane custody makes sense now. When he said "accept the aircraft" I didn't think he was referring to actually accepting the bird, being as that happens only every few years at most. On the maintenance side after it's accepted from depot is post-depot inspection (a shortened phase/isochrono inspection sorta), ground turn checks, mission equipment gets installed, then another full FCF, then fix everything and she's an up asset again. Can take anywhere from a day or two to a few weeks.

Usually we send a few maintainers w/ the flight crew to accept the bird. (Probably isn't the case with smaller birds? Although 53s aren't exactly small lol) We actually had a bird get the wrong paint scheme out of depot not too long ago - that was interesting. We ended up accepting it anyways, though.

totally unacceptable

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

DISCREPANCY: Pilot's relief tube too short


CORRECTIVE ACTION: Could not duplcate gripe. Checks good on enlisted man.

HA HA HA
Hey wait a second here....

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

HA HA HA
Hey wait a second here....

LOLs

[Tcoat]

Now I know there has to be more than just 2 Marines that drive these cars!

[the puppet master]

I don't have the car yet.

United States Marine Corps

1989-1993 Communications.

For the last 5 years or so, I work for the Marines as a civilian contractor.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by the puppet master

I don't have the car yet.

United States Marine Corps

1989-1993 Communications.

For the last 5 years or so, I work for the Marines as a civilian contractor.

Well at least you have tied up the score with the Coast Guard!