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C-dub wrote:Those pictures are hilarious.

Thanks C-dub! They sure do bring back memories.

C-dub wrote:You were I-level, cool. Always thought I might like that side, but really liked the flight deck. Makes me wonder where the Hornet guys I sailed with learned about the system and what they did when one went down at sea. If our shops at sea were able to repair them I don't know why you wouldn't have been sent to the same school. Or maybe you were.

I know that our NCOIC, who arrived six months are so after me was re-trained onto FLIR systems and they also sent him to Moffett.

I liked working I level repair. But I must admit sitting in the cockpit to troubleshoot the mounted FLIR pod was pretty cool too. It always made me wonder what O level would have been like. We got more of a taste of it than most other systems.

C-dub wrote:Maybe the Marines didn't get the Hornets until 1988 and wanted to set up their own shops. I guess they would need to, so they wouldn't have to send everything to the Navy to be fixed.

I think they started to role out in the early and mid 80's. It seemed like we might have been a little behind the curve in Hawaii. I know they had spent some time de-commissioning the F-4's. I heard stories about them finding beer cans that had been used to patch up wings. They had probably been flying the 18's for a little while before I arrived. I think, perhaps, the FLIR's were a fairly new system to our birds though. Maybe the Corps bought the planes first and other systems later. Can't say for sure - I was pretty green.

And as for a getting a little help - it works both ways. We had more than one navy bird land at our airbase during Desert Storm needing a few repairs. We always sent out those pods with personal message to our squid-ly buddies.

WildBill wrote:

terryg wrote:

WildBill wrote:

terryg wrote:Best time: C-School training in Moffett Field, CA.

Did you ever happen to go to St. James Infirmary?

I did not. Should I have?

I would have thought so. I wasn't in the Navy or Marines and I did. http://www.pubcrawler.com/Template/Revi ... rID=101390" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ah, well - perhaps that explains it as I was but 19 years old at the time ... lol. I did sneak-in to the enlisted pub on base on a few occasions - but never tried my hand at local bars or pubs.

C-dub wrote:Your dates might be a bit off, or not if you're referring to the Marine Corps. For the Navy,the first F/A-18's started hitting the fleet in 1980. My Carrier Air Wing (14) was the first to sail with F/A-18's on a full West-Pac deployment in 1985 on the Constellation. VFA-25 and VFA-113. The insignia used on Ice Man's Tomcat in "Top Gun" was actually VFA-25's. The fist holding a lightening bolt. They did filming for this movie while we were out and they used my squadron's hanger spaces since we shared our half of the hanger with Top Gun. The other side of the hanger had VF-1 and VF-2 at then NAS Miramar.

Anyway, my confusion is regarding your statement about the schools not being set up yet. All the schools I went to for avionics were Navy and Marine and they were well established when I was in those schools in 1983-1984. My Tomcat's didn't have FLIR back then, but the Hornet guys sure knew a lot about them in 1985. Of course, we learned plane specific systems from the training squadrons at our respective bases.

Well, I can't speak to the experiences of your peers. I can tell you that after leaving boot camp in San Diego, in May 1988 I headed to NCAS Memphis for Avionics Basic training with all the other Sailors and Marines. But when my C-school started in November of 1988, I learned all about the P-3 IRDS system as a substitute for the FLIR system. The heart of both systems - the actual infrared detection unit was completely identical - but much of the rest of the system was different.

When I arrived at MCAS Kaneohe Bay, I was the first 6466 billeted Marine in the I-level shop. We didn't have any test gear for the FLIR system yet, so we did most of our troubleshooting in the cockpit using service codes.

But then, you have to remember, the Marines always end up doing more with less - including the other branches left overs.

Edited to add:

WildBill wrote:

terryg wrote:Best time: C-School training in Moffett Field, CA.

Did you ever happen to go to St. James Infirmary?

I did not. Should I have?

Best location, Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Oahu Hawaii.

Best time: C-School training in Moffett Field, CA. My MOS was FLIR Systems (Forward Looking Infrared Cameras) on F/A-18 aircraft. Trouble was, the fleet was just getting them in '88 and so they didn't have a school set-up for them yet. So they sent us to IRDS System (Infrared Detection Systems) school for the P-3 Orion with the Navy at Moffett Field for 6 months.

We were the only three Marine Student at the whole facility. In fact, they sent our records to a local reserve unit in San Jose - so we had zero Marine SNCOs or Officers in our chain of command on the base. We would line up for inspection with the Navy boys and girls and get a quick glance over by the chiefs. There were lots of WAVES in our barracks (but I don't think the Navy refers to female sailors as WAVES any more).

We were actually on per-deim, so we paid for our space in the barracks and our meals at the chow hall. After the 6 months was up and I arrived at my duty station, I was surprised to get a check for about $4k in remaining per-deim.