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OKay. A moratorium on picking on aviators today.

By The Armorer on January 26, 2005 | | Comments (18)

Somedays, the flight pay doesn't cover the risks.

Heck, I'll even lay off the Marines today.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance. In memoriam.


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18 Comments

By cw4billt on January 26, 2005 9:20 AM
Helpful tip: Don't do it for the pay--they haven't printed enough money in the world to make it worth the risk. Do it for the other reasons. You know what they are...
 
By Sgt. B. on January 26, 2005 10:52 AM
Lord bless them and keep them, Their pain is gone, their duty done... May we who remain behind be worthy of the gift they have given. Semper Fidelis, Marines. Sgt. B.
 
By Cassandra on January 26, 2005 12:18 PM
Thanks John. I keep wondering when this kind of thing won't hurt so much - half a day later and it still feels like someone just punched me in the gut. Damn. Just damn.
 
By AFSister on January 26, 2005 1:09 PM
Any word yet on the names or their units? I didn't hear about this until this morning, and my heart just sank. That's a lot of Marines.
 
By Sgt. B. on January 26, 2005 1:19 PM
Most of the Marines were members of the 1st Marine Division... My division, different time, different place, but it still hurts... On another note, my old battalion, 3rd Bn, 4th Marines, is on the ground in Iraq, for the third time... I wish them good hunting... I support the mission. I support the troops... What floors me is the nature of the enemy... Hell, even the Viet Cong were fighting for something I could begrudgingly respect (from what I've read; I was seven years old when we left VN in '73...) ... But not the nut cases who we're dealing with now... I dunno folks... Today isn't a real good day for ol' Sgt. B., but let's try to find the silver lining on this one: That CH-53 is part of God's Air Wing now...
 
By cw4billt on January 26, 2005 1:20 PM
AFSis - First Marine Division. No names will be released until all NOK have been notified.
 
By cw4billt on January 26, 2005 2:09 PM
Update: Navy lost one, too, but all aboard survived; 30 miles out from NAS Oceana, operating from the Eisenhower. Same airframe, H-53. Just finished reading a flurry of SOFs on problems with the UH-1H/V, OH-58D and AH-64. Thanks for the budget cuts, William J. Clinton. Excuse me. My gut hurts ...
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 26, 2005 2:19 PM
Ah, c'mon, Bill. Billy Jeff felt, and I'm sure still feels, your pain. That should be enough, shouldn't it? The bitten lip, the tear. Of course, he never realized anyone would actually *use* the military in any serious meaning of the term... especially not at a high optempo.
 
By Mythilt on January 26, 2005 2:20 PM
I don't think it is just the budget cuts. I think the effects of a military that has a tendency to drive away the best people with the most drive is also begining to show up. One is hopefull that is in the proccess of changing, but the DoD is a slooow beast to turn. May they serve with as much honor in their next assignment.
 
By AFSister on January 26, 2005 2:26 PM
Thanks for the updates all. I know they won't release names until NOK is notified, but it's been yet another busy day at work and I haven't been able to keep up. I figure you guys would, so I keep checking in when I can. Man, do I HATE Slick Willy. What a bastard...(can I say that, net nanny?) I still cannot believe how many people in this country and abroad (no pun intended) love that jerk of a president! Never in my life do I EVER want another lilly-livered, spineless whore of a president representing the United States. And that goes for his wife too. Echo that, Sgt. B.
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 26, 2005 2:30 PM
We prefer bustard or bast*ard on the front page, but in comments, it's okay. If we're really concerned about it, we just go in an edit. No First Amendment here!
 
By cw4billt on January 26, 2005 2:37 PM
AFSister - We're all adults, here. No need to sugar-coat it--go ahead and say what you really mean. =]
 
By AFSister on January 26, 2005 2:58 PM
cool, thanks guys. just checkin...
 
By Justthisguy on January 26, 2005 8:46 PM
What the man said, that is, flying is an unnatural act, and therefore inherently dangerous. You can mitigate the risk, a bit, by flying only when conditions are good and you feel like flying. If yer flying for a living, and flying militarily to boot, you don't have the option to refuse if things are less than perfect, whether such things be yerself, the mission, the equipment, "mean people who suck" or the weather. A damned shame and my condolences to all concerned. Yeah, that "peace dividend" cheapness chaps my ass too. Oh, one more: It's not Billy Jeff biting his own lip that annoys me as much as his biting of Ms. Broadrick's. Rapist.
 
By John of Argghhh! on January 26, 2005 8:50 PM
Well, trying to keep the level of discourse a step or two above the Rottweiler (may God smile upon his children, our first Big Blogger blogroll entry!). No, that's not a warning, really. Just an observation.
 
By Justthisguy on January 26, 2005 9:25 PM
Umm, sorry, there. Helicopters are horribly dangerous unless meticulously maintained, when they become the safest aircraft there are. On the Billy Jeff thing, well, that particular episode is just one of my hot buttons. As for the dead Marines, yeah I miss 'em, even not knowing anything else about them than what I've read here. They *had* to be in that helicopter and *had* to go where it was flying to, whether they liked it or not. I do feel for them, and their friends and families.
 
By Cricket on January 26, 2005 9:40 PM
I am so sorry...it hurts thinking about it and well, I am sure they were welcomed at their new assignement with open arms. Rest in Peace, you have earned it.
 
By LarryConley on January 27, 2005 12:03 AM
Helpful tip: Don't do it for the pay--they haven't printed enough money in the world to make it worth the risk. Do it for the other reasons. You know what they are... There are no cheap plots in Arlington... Bill Gates couldn't buy one.. Somethings money can buy.. for everything else.. there is the US Millitary.
 
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