The AH-1W

-
This is the Marine Corps' AH-1W "Super Cobra" attack helicopter. It's an impressive piece of hardware. It carries all kinds of weapons, and is typically used for close air support. My cousin Tim tells me "everything we do is based on supporting the Marine on the ground with a gun." In the next 30 days, the Marine Corps will hand Tim the keys to one of these bad boys and teach him how to do just that. Between now and then, Tim gets to attend SERE training. That's Survive, Escape, Resist, Escape training. Sounds like not a lot of fun, but compared with other things he's done, I'm sure he'll do fine.

I attended Tim's winging ceremony this weekend and it was a real eye opener into the life of a Naval Aviator. In short, I am amazed at what these guys do, and so far they've only been in training helicopters. They learn the basics of flight in a T-34 airplane, then they fly the "mighty sea ranger" bell trainer helicopters. The "mighty" part is their own sarcasm of course. They have nicknames for the other helicopters too - things like "God's Chariot" and "The Battle Frog." This training can take a year or more and involves a lot of testing and flight time. They learn to use night vision goggles, for example.

The graduates of the program this weekend entered the ranks of the 29,000 other Naval Aviators. That's not the current count, mind you. In the history of Naval Aviation, there have only been 29,000 sailors and marines to earn the title of "Naval Aviator." That's a pretty short list when you think about it. Tim is #29586 or something like that. Nice. There were 24 in this weeks graduating class, and they have a graduation like this every couple weeks.

Now they all get to go fly Hueys and Chinooks and Cobras (among others). Let me tell you they are all very excited about this. Tim requested the Cobra, and that's what he got. He wanted to fly them out of California too, but they're sending him to North Carolina instead. It is the Marine Corps, after all - you can't get everything you want. Naval Aviators walk with a certain swagger. I'm not sure if that's an official part of the training or not, but they do it very well. Considering what they do and what they've accomplished, I think they've earned it. If I were the marine on the ground with a gun, I'd feel pretty good about knowing that these guys are just a radio call away.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

hot dog buns

-
The secret to the bread pudding at Keeneland is hot dog buns. My friend Matt tells me this and his sources are absolutely reliable - he heard it from the chef himself. I was fortunate enough to have some of this excellent bread pudding this week, as Ella and I attended day 1 of the Keeneland fall yearling sale. The top sale of the day brought a mere $5.2 million, as compared with $11.7 million for the top horse the following day. There are so many great things about the Keeneland Association, just one of which is that 99% of their activities are free (or at least inexpensive) and open to the general public. Try popping in for an auction at Sotheby's, or Derby day at Churchill downs - it's just not going to happen. The Keeneland fall yearling sale is one of the premier thoroughbred events in the world, and it's free and open to the public. Heck, all you need is a letter of credit on file, and you too can plunk down $11 million plus for a 1-year-old never-raced-before p
Read more

Some thoughts on impeachment

-
We've had a few days of the impeachment circus so far, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. For sure, impeachment is always a political process, so it's divisive and disrupts the national dialog whether we like it or not. So I'm writing this piece mostly to try and wrap my head around what I've learned from the witnesses so far. For background, I'm looking at the current proceedings in the broader historical context of impeachment. We've only done impeached 2 presidents in the last 250 years, so it's kind of a big deal. Nixon left office before Congress actually had a chance to impeach him, though they almost certainly would have. So what is the "standard" for impeachment as it has been applied in these other cases: Andrew Johnson defied Congress. The "radical Republicans," as they were called at that time, wanted to punish the southern states and the Confederacy. Johnson disagreed, as he basically thought that approa
Read more

88 Keys

-
My loving wife bought me a piano for my 30th birthday. Our local piano store was having a good sale, so I got this present early - it was delivered last week. I understand that other family members have also contributed to this gift, making it that much more special. I've wanted my own piano ever since I left home, where I had one available to me at all times. That was just over 10 years ago. Playing piano is something I've always enjoyed, so to have it back in my life after so long is really a shock to the system. I walk by my new piano every day now, and it still hasn't quite settled in that it's mine, and it's here to stay. I have no idea how to say thank you for a gift like this. I did make my way to the music store last week as well, and picked up 3 books: 1) 19 popular works by Chopin 2) Norah Jones' "Come Away with Me" words and music 3) A book on jazz theory, specifically chord structures Let's just say that cracking open some she
Read more