Veterans What was your best assignment/duty?

[WildBill]

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 but I went there once in a while. It was a very popular restaurant/bar on Moffett Blvd that was in business from 1967 until it burned down in 1998. http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-St-Ja ... 04?sk=info" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[terryg]

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.

[WildBill]

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.

Half of your buddies were probably over there.

[terryg]

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.

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.

[howdy]

Doing the "Duval crawl" in Key West, Florida, and trying not to smile in Olongapo City.

[Purplehood]

The place i enjoyed the most (ironically) for me was Afghanistan. I had been itching to go to war since i was about 15 years old. That's all i wanted to do. In fact, i was disappointed when my recruiter told me it would be 6 months before i could get into a combat zone. Turns out, i wouldn't be boots-on-the-ground for three more years. When i got my chance, i enjoyed every bit of it. From the time we dropped into Helmand Province in the middle of the night, until i got out of the heck hole 6 months later on a C-130. I went all over that country and met lots of interesting people. Some of them were the enemy and were greeted with cordial incoming fire, but, hey, everybody gets a fair welcoming.

My least favorite has to be Camp Johnson in Jacksonville, NC. I was stationed at Camp Lejeune for most of my time and was very, very dissapointed when i got my orders there. Eventually, i got over it and ended up liking the base and area. Heck, every once in a while, i miss it.

I was at Camp Johnson in 1976 and it was an unpleasant place to be back then...

[C-dub]

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.

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.

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Those pictures are hilarious.

[C-dub]

Doing the "Duval crawl" in Key West, Florida, and trying not to smile in Olongapo City.

In reference to the Belgian beer Duval, right? I like that beer. I've been to Belgium a few times and have some of the Duval glasses.

[terryg]

Those pictures are hilarious.

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

[stash]

Marine Security Guard, American Embassy, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, early sixties.

[SSGMWP]

France Field, 549th MP Co, Panama Canal Zone 75-78. Fantastic hunting, fishing and boating. Gatun Lake, cold beer and some of the largest bass I have ever caught.

[i8godzilla]

There are a few memorable places. As a single soldier, Diego Garcia was real cool. Being in the Army and stationed on a Navy base in the middle of nowhere was a real challenge. I would bet I have seen just about every square inch of the island. Also, being stationed at Vint Hill Farms, VA was a great assignment. It was literally an old horse farm outside of Manassas, VA. Lots of history and only a short jaunt from DC. Getting to see all of the monuments and museums was the highlight.

Once I was married, we spent five years at US Army Field Station Augsburg, located just outside of Augsburg (West) Germany. We were an hour from all of the best recreation areas in Europe. We started our family there (both are kids were born there) and for a while, even after leaving, always considered it home. Every weekend we had off was usually spent visiting a new village and participating in a Volksmarch. The locals always thought we were crazy for lugging the kids around on our backs. Because the kids also did the walk, we always received the 30K reward even if we only ever completed the 10K. It is almost impossible to put into words what you experience wondering around the countryside in the Alps. Our favorite getaway was the military recreation area on Lake Chiemsee. The main lodge was an old resort captured from the S.S. (If you have ever seen the movie The Dirty Dozen, this place was very much similar.) My wife and I spent our first anniversary in a castle turret in Berchtesgaden. We always joke that we have spent the night in just about every environment from castles to pup-tents.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

Not being a veteran myself, let me tell me about my dad's and brother's veteran experiences.
Dad was in the US Army Infantry during WWII, and chased the German Army northbound up the Italian boot.
His weapon was an M1 Garand, and he hated the loud pinging noise it made when the last round was fired.

After being wounded in combat and recovering in North Africa, they shipped him back to Italy, and put
him on the overnight shift in the Signal tent. He and 1 other signalman sent and received messages about 11PM-7AM.
But after a while they found out that only the 1st and last hours of their shift had much to do. So every other night,
1 of them would stay awake the whole shift, while the other one got a chance to sleep about 6 hours. Being a young buck,
my father would be well-rested and would spend the daytimes sightseeing around Pisa/Leghorn, Italy.

The war ended in May 1945 but my father didn't have enough time in theater to go home, like a lot of other soldiers.
The US Army provided transportation for the troops to visit tons of European cities. My father got to go to Switzerland,
the French Cote D'Azure (the Riviera), Rome, and saw the relatives in Vizzini, Sicily. While in Sicily he and his American
buddy were seeing some local girls and some local Sicilian guys were going to attack them. He fired one round in the air
from his Beretta, and that sent those troublemakers elsewhere!

My dad was able to return to the states in January 1946 after the US Army had provided him with war experience and a great
tour of Europe.

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My brother was a loadmaster on C-2 Greyhounds in VRC-50. He was stationed at Subic for about 4 out of his 5.5 years in the
Navy. He was landbased about 9 months of the year, and carrier-based for about 3 months each year. He went to Japan, South
Korea, Diego Garcia, and Kenya. He picked up Kenya's top leader, flew him out to the carrier, and then the Navy blew off a bunch
of ammo of various types.

While living in the PI (Phillipine Islands) he and his friends had maid service for very cheap rates. But the maids tended to help
themselves to various items around the house, so they kept changing maids. They also had to lay down the law to the maids,
because if they didn't the maids would turn the Navy men's house into the local clubhouse. They would invite hordes of their
friends over to the Navy guy's house to play the stereo and watch TV.

SIA

[C-dub]

There are a few memorable places. As a single soldier, Diego Garcia was real cool. Being in the Army and stationed on a Navy base in the middle of nowhere was a real challenge. I would bet I have seen just about every square inch of the island. Also, being stationed at Vint Hill Farms, VA was a great assignment. It was literally an old horse farm outside of Manassas, VA. Lots of history and only a short jaunt from DC. Getting to see all of the monuments and museums was the highlight.

I also had a good time at Diego. Mostly because I was unattached romantically and militarily. I spent 11 days there waiting for my MAC flight home without anything to do except play racquetball, drink, play darts, sleep, and lay in the sun.

[Valk]

Doing the "Duval crawl" in Key West, Florida, and trying not to smile in Olongapo City.

In reference to the Belgian beer Duval, right? I like that beer. I've been to Belgium a few times and have some of the Duval glasses.

Looks like I wasn't the only person taking souvenir glasses from Belgium bars.