Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Be happy the handle has been passed on to a good looking pilot.
Er, sometime please tell us the story of how Fifi got hung on you.
Please…?
But now… a girl named “Lex”
Still hard to get used to. Though they do look comfortable around all that iron.
I feel your pain…
Of course, only Lex can see why. Combo of first and last. Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt.
Shwing, Gspot, Rack…Hee, hee, hee, those fighter pilot chicks’ names crack me up. I recall a female flight doc years ago with the callsign ladyfinger. Wonder how this Lex got her name.
Lex is still very cool by comparison to most (dh is Pigpen, and I was evergreatful, as it followed Rosy and Gumby).
Correction…ever grateful. My callsign would be ESL.
Wear whatever you get with pride. RAN Observer (in Wessex ASW helo) was forever ‘Suzie’ Wong and insisted on being called no other – mine was ‘Sergio’ then morphed to ‘Luig/Luigi’ (due to the black beard effect I think in both cases). Out of our control always. Saw one chap have some success changing his moniker from ‘Fester’ to ‘Fuzzy’ but only because he was an S2 pilot.
FAA Rools.
I was “Difar Roach”. Good story. Later.
I well remember the Female Flight Surgeon. There I was, busy mentally working my way through the “Condition Two” checklist from the P-3B NATOPS and I didn’t hear her say “cough”. Rather a startling way to be brought back to the task at hand…
As long as she does not take over your blog.
I have the a desire to make a joke about this, but all attempts are either lame or easily -probably correctly given my less than stellar internal censor*- seen as racist, and usually both.
*Would you say that to another person face to face ? Yes ? Your cousin does not count, he’s worse than you. No then ? Good boy.
Cap’n, I think you mistakenly left “Frank & Beans” off of your little list.
Did you notice there was a FiFi Viper driver in that stack?
Fifi? Do tell.
Knew a Fluffy in the fleet. He fought it tooth & nail and it stuck like fly paper.
Whiz (Brian)
I KNEW you were a chick.
B2 – I win the bet, you owe me $5.
Yeah, well that isn’t quite as good as the ‘Cockpit’ to ‘Box Office’ pix I received recently of an all
babeslady C-5 Crew. Good Lord, are they really that young and…ummm…beautiful these days? Where the Devil have I been? ‘sigh’ If you’re interested, Lex, I’ll send along the pix. Quite captivating these ladies are…Went from Lurch to Baby Huey to me present moniker all on account of a dad gummed movie and somethin’ about chocolate. Well, it coulda bin worse…lots!
Knew a Fireball, and Boomer, and a Crunch back in the day. That couldn’ta been good…
Uh, Nose. Feet on ground there,Buddy…
Re. Hizzonner’s link:
Dude, we are soooo living in the wrong era. Wow! Totally sexist statement here, but those Babes are going to war? Pity the fool…
Got to Shaq and Helm rang bells for All Stop. OOD drop anchor…
Mongo,
Yes, they are THAT young. Somewhere along the line, we eternal 20 somethings grew older. I’m not certain how that happened. But I remember printing out a copy of a photograph of me on the rifle range at Fort Knox. I was 19 years old. I sent it to my son who was attending Benning’s School for Boys so as to learn the Infantry trade. It was hard to realize that he, too, was 19 years old. Bookends.
I have a picture of him in uniform, in front of a flag, and he is just so damned young. So are the others in his platoon picture. It’s not really fair, you know? I would like to have a do-over, please.
Count me in, Tim. Beast of it is, I still feel the same ol’ fire after all these years.
P.S. One these days, I’ll get over to to the NE and we’ll up end that Guinness…
If that gal has the real soul of a fighter pilot, I betcha she’ll show up here with a smart remark or two. I mean, you guys can’t be good at what you do without the attitude.
Wait, is that still allowed, these days?
Mongo: Saw the C-5 pic (with handbag) here is latest RAAF all girl team C-17:
http://www.defence.gov.au/media/download/2008/Dec/20081208b/index.htm
First all Female Globemaster crew for RAAF
An important milestone for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was achieved on December 8, when its first all-female crew took the controls of a C-17A Globemaster III aircraft at RAAF Base Amberley.
Inter-Galatic Crew USAFE:
http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z181/MSantor/AllfemaleC5Galaxycrew.jpg
Oops – was/is a KC-135 crew – KC & the Sunshine Band in previous photo.
I got stuck on that Fifi part too. Kind of hoping you’re going to tell that story…
I’m guessing someone caught him speaking French.
Very grateful, I am, that mine started as Yak, and ended as Yak.
Must admit, tho, that one of the funniest things I ever saw, was during a FOD walkdown on the INDY. Walking past a Hoover and looked up to see that the right front seat stencil was:
LT “Notso” Bright.
Snort.
How in the H did a guy from ‘Ole Virginny get the call sign Cajun? Must be some kind of a story there…..
The good Captain’ll have to come out of the “closet” if you want to figure that one out.
Wing Commander here at Iwakuni (MAG-12) is COL Mark “Notso” Wise.
Lex has told the story of his callsign before. I remember a casual reference to “Fifi” where he said “it’s a last name thing”; in the days before we knew his last name.
So Lex I have a question for you: in your new work-world, do they call you Lex or your “real” first name?
Nose,
Don’t drag me into this. I’ll gladly pay you $5 if you let ME off the hook.
As for A-LEX-andra, personally I like “FiFi” better. A fighter pilot named Fi-Fi is rich. Lex woulda thrived, even with that.
b2
B2, Nose, I wouldn’t stand in line waiting too long for that autographed copy…
It’s funny, most the people who I work closely with call me “Lex,” while those I’ve only corresponded with through email or telcons end up using my first name.
As for “Cajun”, well, I was living in Meridian, MS and one of my IPs said with a last name like mine that sounded French – but didn’t really have a French equivalent (which is this whole other story) – I just had to be a Cajun. Showed up at another squadron in California, and they already had a Cajun (who was really just a Lousy-annan. “Cujo” I’m not quite ready to share with an amazed world. Got to work the statute of limitations out on that.
And “Fifi”? Well, that’s just some more of the good ol’ fashioned “JO love” snuggled up to a French-sounding last name.
I smiled and said it suited me to a tee. Because you never want ‘em to see where it hurts. While desperately praying for something memorable to happen. And you’ve heard about that.
Heh.
I’ve always wondered what people in the *real world* called you. Now I know. Thanks, Kris. Although I will confess it seems to me that you “should” be Lex to everyone, not just those you work with. But I suppose your lovely wife might disagree …
Now I wonder just how long I will have to stick around to get the Cujo story?
One callsign that didn’t pan out I won’t repeat in public. The instructors in VT-86 Ops hung “Rev. Jim” on me, but luckily it never left the Ops board, as I would have seriously considered fighting that one. I don’t really have a problem with being reminded that I’ve needed a psychoproctologist’s services, but I have no desire to be associated with that Jonestown SOB.
I’ve been called “Dr. Jones” while working on my Master’s, and since my dad was Henry and we share the same middle name, it actually worked out. But yeah, it’s just too manly to be allowed.
Some of my former coworkers yclept me “Mr. Holland”; apparently I bear a striking resemblance to Richard Dreyfuss. Since complete strangers have noticed that, I guess it’s true.
Dr Jones: “Indiana” would have been better. So can you share how it turned out?
I remember the the origins of “Lex’s” call sign (I’m a long time LORC) but initially guessed it was something a little more dramatic—-like after the USS Lexington.
Wilko,
Sortof; I never had a dog named Indiana. When I moved on, the moniker stayed behind.
Speaking of uniforms and the role they played in Lex’s final monnicker, I remember that when our Sq Flt Surgeon in my Sq in England made Major, this former fellow Captain “subtlely” showed up the next morning at the Sq Cmnd Post duty desk bright and early with his new rank gleaming on the collar of his “Suntans” or short-sleved 1505′s for we Captains to bask in……Only problem was that he had the oak leaves pinned upside down.
‘Course the Docs ain’t considered real officers anyway (nor do most of them want to be, btw) so we all passed it off with good-natured ribbing about out-to-lunch physicians without sticking him with a name.
BTW, in my day (back when they rubbed sticks to make fire and the football was round and the basketballs square) we in the USAF did not give personal call-signs to anyone–wasn’t part of the culture, and they weren’t used. Those that did have them more or less gave them to themselves. (e.g., one mathematical genius Nav who was a compulsive gambler came to be called/ went by “Numbahs,” but I think HE started it.) In fact, individual rank, names and/or nicknames were not only forbidden but impossible to use as we flew whichever bird was avail at the time, so everyone flew every airplane
on daily basis. No dedicated aircraft with name, rank and nickname painted below the cockpit rail in my (your Father’s) USAF.
I’m cool with addressing Lex as “Cap’n.” Works for me.
As a “looser-anna” man myself. It always kind of makes me wonder when I see a “Cajun” around. Just being from Louisiana doesn’t make you Cajun, but if all you know about Louisiana is gumbo and mardi gras, I guess everyone is cajun.
Lex has described how he earnt the moniker ‘Lex,’ but seems reluctant to link back.
Got something important back to front, IIRC.
http://homepage.mac.com/lexl/iblog/C744401703/E1606549687/index.html
I remember attending a 3rd Fleet conference a few years ago and C3F asking the audience if AIRPAC had sent a representative. The CO of TTGPAC said that, “Lex was on his way,” and the Admiral nodded. Somehow I can’t see, “Fifi is on his way,” as having quite the same impact.