Kingsville or Meridian?

[MikeD]

I've been reading up on the Cobra, 135 degrees of roll and 90 degrees of dive, 190 knots right off the deck... I suppose I could pick up the pieces of my broken life and find a way to enjoy that . As for the ccx hookup, I overheard a couple buddies in the ready room talking about how they felt like they F'ed away every flight but ended up getting 4-5 fives on each hop and no 3's. I felt I did a solid job, and I felt I got fair grades. Water under the bridge. Gen. Peter Pace spoke to us after TBS and said when the Marine Corps disappoints you with an assignment, take 24 hours to complain about it and be unhappy, then shut up and dedicate yourself to being the very best you can at that job; there will be Marines depending on you.

Cobra's is where all the guys who didn't their Hornet end up. And some of their crews Ive dealt with, make our Eagle pilots look like non-ego, humble as hell guys.

Needs of the Corps.

 

[///AMG]

Not saying you aren't right Mike, as I've met some of the above, but I have also seen Marine studs nearly break into tears when they got jets instead of helos (so they could be skid kids). But then again, maybe that is just another symptom of the personality type you describe.....

I prefer to cruise the Carlsbad bars with my trusty battle phrog friends.....good guys and their community seems to be built on the lack of annoying ego.

@ BAMCIS, I'll just say that I have yet to meet someone who went HT's and didn't have a good time. I won't speak anymore to it, as I don't have any personal experience with that syllabus, but the impression that friends have given me is that it is a lot of fun. And as a Marine helo guy, I would argue that you will most likely be contributing far more to the ground scheme of maneuver on a regular and more direct basis than most of your pointy nosed friends will ever be....

 

[Hacker15e]

I have also seen Marine studs nearly break into tears when they got jets instead of helos

What can be said....some people just crack under the pressure.

 

[MikeD]

Not saying you aren't right Mike, as I've met some of the above, but I have also seen Marine studs nearly break into tears when they got jets instead of helos (so they could be skid kids). But then again, maybe that is just another symptom of the personality type you describe.....

I prefer to cruise the Carlsbad bars with my trusty battle phrog friends.....good guys and their community seems to be built on the lack of annoying ego.

You'll always have the guys who want to go helos, and I suspect the above would be true with them. Btw, how much longer are Marine Phrogs going to be around?

BAMCIS, go -53 Deltas and hang out in Hawaii.

@ BAMCIS, I'll just say that I have yet to meet someone who went HT's and didn't have a good time. I won't speak anymore to it, as I don't have any personal experience with that syllabus, but the impression that friends have given me is that it is a lot of fun. And as a Marine helo guy, I would argue that you will most likely be contributing far more to the ground scheme of maneuver on a regular and more direct basis than most of your pointy nosed friends will ever be....

Speaking towards what you do know, I heard something regards Marines in the jet syllabus that you can confirm or deny.

Supposedly, when it comes to jets, Marines who finish #1 get their choice. If you finish top in deck qual grades, you'll get EA-6s. #2 and 3 generally get AV-8s, and everyone else tracks Hornets. Any truth to that?

 

[bunk22]

Speaking towards what you do know, I heard something regards Marines in the jet syllabus that you can confirm or deny.

Supposedly, when it comes to jets, Marines who finish #1 get their choice. If you finish top in deck qual grades, you'll get EA-6s. #2 and 3 generally get AV-8s, and everyone else tracks Hornets. Any truth to that?

As a Kingsville IP and wing guy, I'm going to say no on this. Marines needs come first then ones desires.

 

[///AMG]

You'll always have the guys who want to go helos, and I suspect the above would be true with them. Btw, how much longer are Marine Phrogs going to be around?

Looks like for another few months anyway.....a good friend of mine is going on a westpac in them later this year, and I think they are going to be one of the last 2 squadrons to make the transition. He already has a wooden stick model of a V-22 next to his Phrog, so I doubt it is too far away. I'll have to ask him what the current sundown date is though.

BAMCIS, go -53 Deltas and hang out in Hawaii.

This

Speaking towards what you do know, I heard something regards Marines in the jet syllabus that you can confirm or deny.

Supposedly, when it comes to jets, Marines who finish #1 get their choice. If you finish top in deck qual grades, you'll get EA-6s. #2 and 3 generally get AV-8s, and everyone else tracks Hornets. Any truth to that?

That wasn't exactly how it worked when I went through. When Marines finish the syllabus, they all gather in a conference room with a couple senior Marine IP's (generally the senior Marine and a couple others), and they have a formal board. The members go through the stud's training jackets, and then ask them their preference and why. I'd say the actual selections probably depend much more on the needs of the service, just like us Navy guys. When I selected, the vast majority of them got Harriers, with a few guys getting Hornets and no Prowlers. From what I saw over a year or so, it seems like the middle of the pack guys, like you mentioned, tended to get AV-8B's, at least if they were above the Harrier cut (IIRC that was 45 NSS or something around there). The guys who were rockstars generally got their pick, though that could certainly slant towards Harriers as well if guys were needed. I think the bottom of the pack suffered more from quality spread than anything else. In my specific winging group, the top guy and the bottom guy got Hornets, a couple other guys towards the top of the stack got them too, and then most everyone else got Harriers. I don't think anyone got Prowlers, but generally those seats tended to be reserved for guys who had significant difficulties in the strike syllabus. I'm sure there are exceptions to this rule though. Oddly enough, one of the guys who got it a few months before we finished had a lot of trouble at the boat, which seemed strange to me since the Prowler has such a reputation for being a handful there.....though for Marine EA-6 guys, it is only a RAG qual and then they will be forward deployed in the fleet so maybe it isn't such a big deal.