A replay, I know. But I met one of the Hornet jocks jockettes in Reno last weekend – callsign “Jax” (think: 904 code, for the cognoscenti) – and it tickled my fancy. As did the knowledge that NR melted down over the chicken suit, and got all hissy and everything. And yet, here we are.
Tickled.
We’re funny that way.
I’m completely amazed at the amount of nuclear power stuff shown at the beginning of this vid.
Especially the guy in Anti-C’s.
Eh, any nuc info was most minor. It ain’t like the Russians can’t figger out how to make a nukelear wessel (said that in my best Pavel Chekov voice).
And it’s a great vid. I hate the diversity bullies as much as the next guy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the hard work so many young women do in defense of our nation.
Two of my Sons are nukes – before they went in the Navy they couldn’t dance or sing… Now with the added math they can two step.
@XBradTC – lol, got it before I saw the voice suggested.
SOOO much different than when I was aboard the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, CVA 42, in 1969.
I am from a Navy family. Brother retired CPO, same as Dad. Dad was old school, no women in certain jobs. I think it is great to have women do it all. I loved the one where the two pliots say “so you have a car” while in their planes.
By the way my Dad started WWII at Pearl Harbor. His ship was tied up by USS Utah.
I love the blog. I did a very short stint at Pensacola ( 10 days then DOR) and you know what I mean.
Yeah, it’s too bad the CO and the RO had to go talk to the Admiral over a few nukes having some fun on the job. And they wonder why they have to throw tens of thousands of dollars at us to stay in (and we still have manning issues).
Anyway, the nuclear information was bogus. The only part of the plant visible is the vestibule that anyone can see through the window in the ellison door (that’s the grey door they put the “reactor operating” sign on). You have to go down a couple of decks before you even see anything, and that’s not terribly interesting.
Furthermore I would like to counter the scandalous lie that ELT’s use calculators. You can tell the various nuke rates apart by asking them “What’s 2 + 2?”
EM: “Answering that’s not my job.”
MM: “2? +? 2?” ::bangs valve with wrench::
ET: ::whips out calculator::
ELT: “What do you want the answer to be?”
Off topic-but since you guys love girls with guns………
A brave new world. Clearly, I am out-of-touch and old-fashioned, but here goes anyway.
Somebody help me. I last cruised in 1985-86, back when crews were all men.
I am trying to reconcile those memories, that situation, with current reality.
What I remember is a crew of young men, mostly in their 20’s, in peak physical condition, working under crowded high stress conditions, in an isolated environment, separated from families, wives, and girlfriends for months at a time.
Now, I am trying to imagine now the introduction of a bunch of equally talented young women into the mix.
And you know, with the sexual tension and all that testosterone, how exactly does that work?
I can’t even conceive of the wardroom dynamics, much less the ship.
Pros and cons? Be especially interested to hear from anyone who bridged the two eras.
Ahh Skippy. You are truly THE MAN. Once again you make an old man laugh.
Flatlander, you don’t want to know. You’d probably cry. Think MEDEVAC.
Dirtyblueshirt, re: 2+2, truer words have never been spoken. Except now with all the mandatory integrity training, I’m sure an ELT would never ever say such a thing. You know, in front of an officer anyway.
Flats -
“…in peak physical condition….”
What Navy were YOU in?
RE: Dirtyblueshirt
Yep, not my job!
I exercised twice a year-whether I needed to or not. If the minimums were not good enough, they would not have been minimums.
Funny, since I knew her from the Academy when we were both in the Bagle Corps together though she was one of the 2/c when I was a plebe. And I actually ran into her and her husband when I was in Bahrain doing my two weeks.
OK, OK, so maybe results vary on the peakness. But the general point still applies.
904’s blow doughnuts. Each time we popped a 904, CAGMO whined to CAG who blamed me! Had to work pretty hard to train my Hornet pilot in how to fly their own jet.
This video reminds me of the old VP addage:
“Your MOM goes to the boat!”
Uh, Nose, her call sign is Jax, and the Jacksonville, Fl. area code is 904 so…
Cool lady…If I were 10…uh, 20…no, dammit, ok, 25 years younger, I’d like to have met her. Maybe she could sit down with me and my wife one night over dinner
Which only adds to the delicious sense of Irony, naval aviation-style.
A hard landing springs a 904 code in the aircraft’s computer. Which causes the airplane to be placed on jacks. Which sounds like JAX. Which has an area code of 904.
Thus was the callsign made perfect.
A replay, I know.
I’m ALL up for re-plays like this… anytime… Cap’n!
As a Zoomie aside, I was ol’ school, too… retiring in ‘85. It was much the same in the AF when we integrated the fairer sex into previously male-only fields (beginning around ‘75, or so). But… read between the lines here… we didn’t have NEAR the institutional limits put upon the inevitable fraternization “issues.” Yeah, there were rules, and they were widely disregarded. It was a wonderful time to be young, alive, and in the right place, at the right time.
I understand your limitations, what with the close quarters at sea and all. Choices, Gentlemen… choices.
Oh! Dang!! Forgot to mention… the Milbloggies are up and running. You got my vote, Lex, in the Navy category.
Now the REST of you Lex-O-Philes should git yer asses over to the Milbloggies and VOTE!
Hey, Buck – I appreciate the sentiment. But if was up to me, I’d a whole lot rather that folks voted for Sean Dustman or CDR Salamander, or anyone of the folks still in the game and on active duty.
Beats voting for just another biased political blogger.
The head of our division where I work is a retired skimmer 0-6, former skipper of USS O’Bannon. He asked me one day why I always insisted on calling him, Captain, when he was clearly retired. I told him, anytime a naval officer has worn a command pin, in my books he is always a Captain. So you’re stuck with it, Cap’n Lex, now and forever.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a toss up between you and the CDR.
Beats voting for just another biased political blogger.
Can we agree to disagree? I’m a big fan of the “still serving” school of thought… and ya ain’t all THAT far removed from AD, what with still being on terminal leave. Right?
And I read the other guys, too. But… it’s all about “the quality” in my book. About which: ’nuff said!
Hrrmph!
I posted about the Milbloggies over on TFD a couple of days ago … but me thinks the place might just be full of cobwebs. Just as long as we keep out the spiders, I suppose.
BTW I love the video, but I could swear … the last time Lex posted this, didn’t it result in more than a few peoples getting their skivvies in a knot? Then again, maybe I was just dreaming.
I’d a whole lot rather that folks voted for Sean Dustman or CDR Salamander, or anyone of the folks still in the game and on active duty.
If I may be so bold… The Destroyermen and Lt. Nixon are also very good–and they’re within striking range of the prize (LT. Nixon just got back from Iraq, and The Destroyermen is a group blog of a U.S. Navy Destroyer).
This is worthless w/out pics!
Is this Jax you speak of in the aforementioned video?
I actually think the main LT is kinda cute, in a slightly thick kinda way.
And the female CAPT wasn’t bad, either. For a CAPT….
thebronze, “Jax” is at 2:37 sitting in her cockpit, and high-fiving “Eeyore” in the lower split screen. I think she’s also the tall blonde who can be seen in the group dancing on the flight deck periodically.
Instead of reaming the creators/supporters, the Admiral should have forwarded this video on to Voice of America so these images could be translated and transmitted/distributed to all the Islamic Fascist areas around the world.
Awaken their women and they will crumble.
flatlander,
re “Now, I am trying to imagine now the introduction of a bunch of equally talented young women into the mix.”
I ain’t Karnac, but I think all the male aviators today are gay. No shoot. BTW, I cruised long before 1985 and a decade after.
b2
Isn’t this video about the women wanting to be seen as women? It’s a tease of sorts, after all.
(b2, your explanation that men must act “gay”, which I assume you don’t mean literally, but rather that they cannot respond as hetero men.)
“You’ve got the look, but have you got the touch?” Daring (the neutered) to cross the line!
All in good fun, I am sure.
I think male naval aviators of today are the same as they ever were. The big difference is that they have, of necessity, learned to play the PC game and say the right things at the right time. All but one of my cruises was single gender, and it is my belief that folks could be more unguarded in that environment.
Now they have to watch out what they say. To Naval Aviation’s detriment IMHO.
Depends a lot on the woman, Skippy. I work in a mixed office, and the gal in there gives as good as she gets. Just last week, she took a picture of her making a one finger salute, and emailed it to me, with a header of “Important Information! Must Open Now!”
Now if you get one of those hypersensitive ladies from Hell, you got another kinda story.
My fossil status completely prevents me from getting my mental arms wrapped around the female factor on active duty. In my day we had them in Intelligence, Admin., etc., but little else–and they were a distraction even in those roles if they were good-looking enough–and we didn’t have the close quarters problem the Navy has. I don’t envy the modern service environment and all the PC crap–ALMOST makes me glad I’m a fossil.