DirkaDirka.RedGriffins.org

I had a recent viewer ask what does a Naval Aircrewman do?

For what I did in my time in the service I refer the gentle readers to this Naval Aviation News article: A Hunting We Will Go - Naval Aviation News, March-April 1997

In the S-3 Viking community, aircrewmen have the opportunity to fly on jets aboard aircraft carriers that deploy for six months at a time, sailing the world over. This is a major factor when it comes time for an AW to choose the aircraft in which to serve.

Accelerating from 0 to 140 miles per hour in 2 seconds provides an adrenalin rush all its own.

“I like to call it a kick in the pants,” quipped AW2 Thomas Bell, Sea Control Squadron (VS) 41, NAS North Island, Calif. “It beats any roller coaster you’ve ever been on.”

Assignment to a VS squadron also means greater responsibility aloft, because there is only one sensor operator who must be well versed in both acoustic and nonacoustic sensor equipment.

“The platform carries more responsibility with it in regards to the workload. In an S-3, one person does the job of three in a P-3,” Bell said.

As a post script to the article, “Zeebo” Zelasco, pictured on the first page, is sitting in the SENSO station in the S-3 Viking. Tom Bell, if I recall correctly, may have gone on to fly F-14s as a line officer. Can’t recall if he made Radar Intercept Officer or pilot, and don’t know where he is now.

Dramatic quote of the day from the article:

Imagine this. Leaders in the former Soviet Union, strapped for cash, decide to sell one of their older nuclear missile-capable submarines. Diplomats from the third world nation purchasing the sub are, in fact, a front for a fanatical, well-organized, well-funded group of international terrorists. It’s your job to help locate the sub and stop them.

You are an Aviation Warfare Systems Operator (AW), an enlisted Naval Aircrewman…

…and all of 20 years old.

Gives me chills. Ooh-rah. Thanks for the question!

Related Links:

The Cradle of Naval Aviation

So Others May Live | My Personal Heroes

So Others May Live | Personal Heroes Pt. 2

Military: Not a Social Program

Navy’s finest Combat Aircrewmen

I’ve lost a few friends while in the service. There have been times that I didn’t know if I would make it myself - whatever scrape or close call occurred I made it out.

Those who didn’t still deserve my remembrance. I have a few friends, some close, some not so close.

All were brothers

I recall five years ago I was at the gas pump at Costco here in San Diego and saw a helo patch and aircrew wings on the flight suit of the guy next to me.

I introduced myself, rattled off four names and he brightened when he recognized one. I told him that guy used to be my roommate off-base.

He stuck out his hand, saying, Good to meet you, Brother.

We all ran the seawall. We ran the obstacle course and the cross country course. We sweat together. We bled together. We learned our inner limits and then we pushed them farther than we thought possible.

In doing so, we grew up together and as such, we were brothers.

The first two fleet S-3 Viking AWs I met are both dead. Both died outside the combat zone by violent means. One as the casualty of a robbery in progress, the other from self-inflicted wounds, perhaps from scars we all share.

We all hurt when one of us hurts

I remember one fall day in 1989 Millington, Tennessee when I was in A School going out to the flight line to see the Viking. I had wanted to fly in jets since I found out it was possible for this 17-year-old volunteer to do so. McCracken and Mongo (at least I think it was Mongo) were standing by the jet.

Trevor McCracken - VS-38 Red Griffin Viking SENSO d. 1992

I remember Crack particularly because he was the one who let me, as an 18 year old sit in the SENSO station for the first time on a cold Sunday in Tennessee. Climbing in, I remember the smell of the aircraft I would later fly nearly 900 hours in, I remember the walkthrough he gave me on the ejection seat. I promised myself I would fly in one of those jets.

Crack served with VS-38 during Operation Desert Storm, got an air medal, and would later return to Millington as an instructor. It was his unexpected death only a few months after starting his first shore duty that shocked all of us who knew him.

Read the rest of this entry »

Watched this abortion that lived of an aerial flood rescue on TV yesterday. Couldn’t help thinking that a simple rope harness would have made life so much easier for everyone…

Quoted from ASRC Seat Harness

This is the webbing seat harness used by the ASRC. If you have a Commercial harness, by all means use it. The harness shown here is the best tied harness that we know of and works very well on all vertical and Semi-technical rescue.

Rescue Swimmer,RSS,SAR,flood,swiftwater rescue,climbing,knots

Quoted from FOXNews.com - Submarine Carrying 5 Tons of Cocaine Seized off Guatemala

A submarine-like vessel filled with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine was seized off the Guatemalan coast, U.S. officials said.

Where’s the S-3 Viking when you need it?

Navy,submarine,ASW,DEA,Cocaine,War on Drugs

Andy Brewer passed away this year. I just wanted to put this up here in case anyone wanted to share sea stories about Andy so I can put them up on the main site. Leave a reply with your memories.

I got enough time recently to put an email I recieved up as a memorial page on the site.Two of Andy’s shipmates in that picture, Dewey Thompson and Keith Poole, were instructors of mine as I went through VS-41.

As a personal note, I met Andy at the 2004 decom ceremony. He may have passed on as a civilian, but he will always be an AW, and his legacy lives on.

Ironically, I first met Andy a week prior to my son being born and they share the same name - Andrew Charles.

Quoted from Knoxville News Sentinel:

Charles A. (Andy) Brewer

BREWER, CHARLES A. (ANDY) - age 43, of Holtsville, California, passed away Sunday, March 25, 2007. He served in the United States Navy 10 years and most recently with Homeland Security as a U.S. Customs Officer.

Preceded in death by his father, Bill Brewer. Survived by wife, Linda; daughters, Elise and Carley Brewer, Courtney and husband, Leo Jimenez; son, Devin Brewer, all of California; mother and stepfather, Bobbie and Bill Laugherty of Knoxville, Tennessee; brother, Greg Brewer and wife, Vicki of Colts Neck, New Jersey; brother, Jeff Brewer and wife, Dixie of Wheatland, Wyoming.

Family and friends will meet at Woodlawn Cemetery on Monday for 11:00 AM graveside services, Dr. William Sheil, Pastor of First Baptist Church presiding. Arrangements by Berry Funeral Home, Chapman Highway

www.berryfuneralhome.com

We have a memorial letter from an attending AW that was published on redgriffins.org.

THE HANGAR - website for AWs

Space for the RedGriffins.org site has been donated by 3nW Corporation. Here’s a little about the company.

3nW Corporation - Focusing On Disruptive Technology:

Disruptive Technology is defined as any technological advance that attempts to meet at least two of the three following conditions: be ten times cheaper than any alternative, provide ten times higher performance, or provide ten times higher functionality. Meeting all three conditions is optimum.

Disruptive Technology is typically not favored by the previous controlling interest or monopoly, and potential users must learn of the benefits through cooperative business development marketing strategies. Disruptive Technology is highly valued by the business or consumer who benefits from lower costs and higher profits. We believe the goals set forth in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) focus of the United Nations will disrupt global operations and business strategy in such a way where within five years, the markets that have held conventional influence will be irrevocably changed.

3nW Corporation has a relentless commitment to quality and seeks to provide clients with new and innovative methods of solving unique problems with the application of new, disruptive technologies. 3nW Corporation remains dedicated to bringing these concepts to the mainstream markets, providing its clients with an edge in the early adoption phase of technology and procedures. Researching and developing new Disruptive Technologies is the internal software development focus of 3nW Corporation.

The project involving veterans is called Vets2Vines and is located in Solano County. 3nW Corporation is a privately held California C Corporation that qualifies for Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise bidding preference by California state, county, and city municipalities.

I’m finally jumping into the blogosphere. I’ve got several projects going on, and it’s only two weeks until election time.

Ranch stuff - we’re trying to build a fourplex to live in up near Vacaville and Fairfield, California. This is getting to be quite the project since there is a piece of legislature called the Williamson Act which takes some working around. You’ll see more about that as I continue working on the project.

Iraq war - I’m continually surprised at the viewpoints of people around me. Of course California is a very Democratic state, however there is a serious disconnect between military families and the ‘rezidents’ of CA. The problem is in information assessment. The latest polls show that the military families are overwhelmingly backing Bush because they feel he’s a better leader.

I’ve decided to put a letter together for my friends, and send it with a book called ‘Dirty Bomb: Weapons of Mass Disruption’. I will publish it here later.