I sat in the back and feasted on in-flight rations (back before MRE’s), drank their mud, and told a few war stories. But it was a long frigging trip and everything settled down as it is want to do on a P-3. Some of the crew read well used (and loved) Penthouse and others read equally loved comic books.
So we’re mid-Pacific in the middle of nowhere and I am looking out the window at the endless ocean. I ask one of the aircrewmen, “Is that what a snorkel looks like from this high up?”
OMG
Everyone just about swallowed their tongues. So they dropped a buoy or two to get a propeller signature and then went active on him.
Turns out it wasn’t Ivan, it was an Aussie on his way to RIMPAC who never expected a P-3 to be flying in the area.
Which reminded me of ‘another’ story…
This was Northern Japan, in February, in the late 70’s… Snowing to beat hell, windy as hell…
Standing the Ready One (max 1 hour from notification to wheels in the well), we’d preflighted and slogged over to the club to grab some lunch. As per usual, right as the food was delivered, the beepers started going off.
We drop lunch, jump in the truck and haul ass back to the ramp. Everybody grabs what they are supposed to, we man the airplane and get in the air under an hour.
The tasking was to go 2 hours Northeast and drop a pattern and see what was there.
So we ‘bounce’ along for about an hour and a half (P-3s are NOT known for their comfortable ride) through snow showers, clouds and occasional hail. About 1/2 hour out, we finally break through the front, and all of a sudden it is CAVU to the moon, seas laid down, and it’s actually a pretty nice day.
Spit the pattern, and we gain contact! Damn, THIS is unusual… Somebody actually guessed right! So we track for two hours and then get a recall notice. Slog back to base (weather was degrading), more wind, more snow, etc…
On debrief we’re asking how did they ‘guess’ right on this one, and they only say they had a phone call.
Fast forward four months, we’re back at homebase. I’m in the shop working on some training stuff and I get a call to report to the duty office. Trudge down there, and here’s a Squadron Commander wanting to ‘talk’ to me. WTF (thinking did I do something wrong, or worse, did I get ‘caught’)??? Turns out he wants to know about the flight on the sub above. I ask him why, and he chuckles and admits HE was the one that called it in, FROM HIS AIRLINER…
He’s a senior captain for a well known airline, was flying the polar route, bored and was looking out the window. He’s a P-3 guy, so he knows what a submarine wake looks like. He sees one, knows roughly where our guys are (he’d drilled the previous weekend), and decides to let somebody know. He has the forward base’s ASWOC number in his brain bag, so he does a phone patch via his base in Tokyo to the ASWOC, which is what prompted our launch!
We both start laughing at the incongruity of the situation, considering how often we launched on “BOREX” flights (hours and hours of nothing) trying to find the bad guys…
I think I told him something to the effect that he needed to look out the window more often… 🙂
Told the rest of the crew, and you can guess the reactions!!!
In truly SAD news, the HMS Bounty replica has been lost off the Graveyard of Ships. Kudos to the Coasties who went out and got 14 of 16 back… Those folks clank when they walk!
Minuteman has details up HERE.
Please keep those folks up North in your thoughts and prayers, they are getting 80+kts of wind up in NY/NJ now.
Birds are still flying, people are still walking their dogs, and it looks like Philly ‘wins’ the big hit with the eye of the storm…
Battened down, waiting to see what else is going to hit, but right now, we’re looking okay. However, those up North of Philly are gonna get REAL wet…
You folks up there take care! We’ll just continue to sit here, BSing, eating and killing time…
And my daughter reminded me…
Yes, the Old Guard is on the job…
As I’m pawing through, I realize one 1911 frame is only missing a grip, so I grab a grip and quickly screw it on, deciding I’m going to do a 1911 one way or the other. The matching slide is missing the sights, and the barrel. I look and find a slide with sights, but from a different gun, and a barrel and recoil spring and guide rod. I quickly clear the slide and confirm the firing pin is there, and put the springs and other pieces back in. I throw the rest of the stuff into the slide, as the announcer says THREE minutes.
I look for the matching frame, only to realize it’s completely stripped to bare metal…
I sit them down and look at the reloading table, and it’s set up for .45! Yea!!! I walk over there, and crank out 8 rounds.
The announcer says two minutes.
I take the rounds back to the table, and look for a magazine, only to realize THEY are in pieces too… so I assemble one mag, and load it with 1 extra round.
The announcer says one minute. And in a rather snarky tone, reminds me only ONE gun can be completely assembled…
And the banging gets LOUDER.
So, I’ve got a slide from one gun, a frame from another, and a magazine from a third. But what the hell, it’s 1911 parts…
Slam the slide on the frame, throw the slide stop in, lock down the barrel bushing and slam the mag home, rack the pistol, drop the mag, add the extra round and the announcer says I cheated, so I turn around and shoot the frikkin announcer…
At that point I woke up… And it’s 0445…
And now I can’t get back to sleep…
sigh… Morning world!!! (COFFEEEEEE)…
I have to agree with the last line at this point. I’m pretty much convinced the reason no response was allowed was the administration (DOS and President) didn’t want to ‘appear’ to be invading Libya… I think this is a pretty sad excuse, since almost 100 TLAMS were fired during the uprising to ‘support’ the uprising.
There is NO question in our minds a military response was possible, and could have gotten there in time. And Peter does a great job of dispelling the ‘conspiracy’ theory HERE about Gen Ham and the CSG RADM relief. That is just flat ‘noise’, and an attempt to pawn the blame off on the military.
I truly hate to think that a political decision over-rode saving American lives, but at this point I don’t know what else to think.
Comments??? Are we full of it???
Now the radio commentators on the other hand…
(Ahem- Best radio announcer voice)
The STORM is coming, but there is no cause for panic…
But buy generators, because the power is going to go out for DAYS…
But there is no cause for panic…
Buy toilet paper, buy bread, buy water, buy food that doesn’t need to be heated, fill your tubs, fill your trashcans, fill your…
But there is no cause for panic…
There’s going to be FLOODING, O.M.G. Elevensies… Move to higher ground! Move to the second floor!!!
But there is no cause for panic…
(cue breathless reporter, sounds of traffic in background)
Yes Mike, there are a LOT of folks out today, and they all seem to be intent on (sound of squealing brakes and crash in background) getting to the stores quickly. Ahh… ummm. back to you in the studio.
But there is no cause for panic…
Sigh… And yes the stores WERE that stupid, along with the traffic…
Line a half a block long to get into the grocery store, hardware store parking lot was full, and so were most gas stations.
I was actually on an ammo hunt, and needed to replace my Nemesis holster for my BUG, so I bypassed all that stuff and went to the gun store. IT was packed too!!!
And ammo prices are just STUPID HIGH!!! One guy was complaining that he’d bought the same ammo 6 months ago for $16/box and it was now $24/box; the counter guy said their wholesale prices were up $7-8 box average, so they had no choice!
Thankfully, I’ve got enough to tide me over for a month or two…
So y’all take care, and stay dry…