TexasCHLforum.com

I just think it's sad to see the Lady Lex relegated to a tourist attraction.

Her last duty station was as a training carrier in the Gulf of Mexico. UPT students from Navy Corpus and Navy Beeville flew out to her to do their carrier quals. While she was in training status, she remained a fighting ship, ready to respond when called.

The Marines from her Hornet (F-18) squadron frequently visited Harlingen, where I was working as an Air Traffic Controller. There was nothing quite like the wakeup calls we'd sometimes get.

You'd be sitting there fat, dumb and happy on a Saturday morning, working our usual light air-carrier traffic, and suddenly get a call on the radio:

"Harlingen Tower, FIST6, flight of four, FEET DRY, for initial to the pattern...."

That was usually followed by three more flights of four checking in.

For the next hour, the traffic pattern would be full of Hornets turning TIGHT patterns, maximizing the time to get as many touch and go's in as possible. Then they'd land, go to the Confederate Air Force O'Club for lunch, tank up, and head back out to the Lex.