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Marines
Drones
Posted 11 mo ago
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PO2 (Join to see) It seems one of the concerns is that for training officers commit to an eight year enlistment while enlisted only have to commit to four years. If a Marine is in let's say two years already and isn't interested or qualified to go into the officer ranks, and is willing to commit to another six years I think an enlisted should be allowed to become an aviator. Of course, this is my opinion as an enlisted but maybe some officers don't feel the same thinking just because we are enlisted we are smart enough to qualify to become a pilot.
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Capt Jeff S.
When I was a young troop working in Avionics (which requires the GT of an officer to get into), a pilot came into the shop carrying a TACAN and he wanted me to fix it so he could go flying. I joked and said, "It takes a college education to break it and a high school education to fix it." He didn't take offense and laughed. He then looked at the test equipment, which for the TACAN bench looked pretty complex, and asked me if I knew what everything was. I answered yes. And I added, if you look at each section, it's not that complicated.
He then looked at me, sizing me up and just blurted out "I'm better than you." That kind of took me aback... but I didn't take offense because I sensed he was trying to tell me something. I guess I had this deer in the headlights kind of puzzled look on my face because I was trying to process his comment. I knew he had college and I didn't, but does that make him smarter? Or superior? I was a 300 PFT'er. I had 4.9/4.9 pro cons. I thought I was a good Marine. What was he getting at?
He broke the awkward silence and said, "Look, I'm not trying to insult you. It's just that I chose a different path than you. And by I'm smarter than you, what I really mean to say is that I was smarter for choosing the path I took because I get paid to fly helicopters while you get paid less to fix them and you seem like a smart guy. Maybe you should look into doing what I'm doing." I understood what he was getting at, and didn't get offended. He didn't ruin my self-esteem or make me hate officers. He was just trying to help me advance myself. I fixed his TACAN and he left. I believe it had a blown fuse. And that particular TACAN tended to do that if you turned it on and switched it to Transmit/Receive mode without giving the power tubes sufficient time to warm up... which was about 90 sec. So he probably was the one who didn't follow procedures and broke it.
[As an aside, I once got in trouble for fixing an IFF that was griped, "IFF does not work if OFF mode." There was nothing wrong with it. Of course it doesn't work in OFF mode. You have to turn it on! As the corrective action I put "A-799; Fixed short between pilot's headset." Production Control had a cow when they saw that, and I had to stand tall before my Supervisor who got reamed for what I wrote. He got over it.]
It wasn't till I got on Instructor Duty that I was actually pushed by my supervisor (a Navy AT1) to put in for the Officer program. The only thing I qualified for was MECEP so I put in for that and lo and behold, I got it on the first attempt. God answered my prayers. I was so old that the following year would have required an age waiver. I will forever be indebted to PO1 Rudy DeSoto for encouraging me to take college classes and later to put in for the Officer Program. He retired a Senior Chief and lives in El Paso. We still keep in touch.
He then looked at me, sizing me up and just blurted out "I'm better than you." That kind of took me aback... but I didn't take offense because I sensed he was trying to tell me something. I guess I had this deer in the headlights kind of puzzled look on my face because I was trying to process his comment. I knew he had college and I didn't, but does that make him smarter? Or superior? I was a 300 PFT'er. I had 4.9/4.9 pro cons. I thought I was a good Marine. What was he getting at?
He broke the awkward silence and said, "Look, I'm not trying to insult you. It's just that I chose a different path than you. And by I'm smarter than you, what I really mean to say is that I was smarter for choosing the path I took because I get paid to fly helicopters while you get paid less to fix them and you seem like a smart guy. Maybe you should look into doing what I'm doing." I understood what he was getting at, and didn't get offended. He didn't ruin my self-esteem or make me hate officers. He was just trying to help me advance myself. I fixed his TACAN and he left. I believe it had a blown fuse. And that particular TACAN tended to do that if you turned it on and switched it to Transmit/Receive mode without giving the power tubes sufficient time to warm up... which was about 90 sec. So he probably was the one who didn't follow procedures and broke it.
[As an aside, I once got in trouble for fixing an IFF that was griped, "IFF does not work if OFF mode." There was nothing wrong with it. Of course it doesn't work in OFF mode. You have to turn it on! As the corrective action I put "A-799; Fixed short between pilot's headset." Production Control had a cow when they saw that, and I had to stand tall before my Supervisor who got reamed for what I wrote. He got over it.]
It wasn't till I got on Instructor Duty that I was actually pushed by my supervisor (a Navy AT1) to put in for the Officer program. The only thing I qualified for was MECEP so I put in for that and lo and behold, I got it on the first attempt. God answered my prayers. I was so old that the following year would have required an age waiver. I will forever be indebted to PO1 Rudy DeSoto for encouraging me to take college classes and later to put in for the Officer Program. He retired a Senior Chief and lives in El Paso. We still keep in touch.
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