Your Military Photos.

[tom slick]

Here's me at Al Deid Air Base, Qatar in 2003. They made us mechanics haul flak vests, helmets and a bunch of other gear and do nothing with it but stuff it under our beds and take up space.

This is where I worked:

 

[Virtuoso]

You guys are the bomb! Thanks for giving your time to our country. Love the picts.

 

[crinkles]

nice pics tom.

 

[ls1mike]

Good stuff guys/gals, keep them coming!

 

[kkreit01]

Very nice! I've always admired our Military. Having worked for The USMC for 2.5 years now, really opened my eyes on what they do for our country.

 

[Hallmark]

Originally Posted By: tig1
We were on patrol in June of 66 in the Med. This is a P2V Neptune navy Patrol plane. I served as the second mechanic and rode in the cockpit handling the engines, fuel load, etc.

That's an interesting photo...the port engine appears to be missing a couple of prop blades.

As an Electronic Tech, I flew Charlie Dog 8 with VP-1 (NAS Whidbey Island WA;1956-58). Deployed to Marshall Islands for the H-bomb tests (Operation Redwing) and Kodiak-Adak (Bering Sea recon/intel).

 

[tig1]

Hallmark,
The R3350 used a 4 bladed prop. Notice carefully all 4 are there. Would have been some real action with 2 blades missing. In 56 were you flying the P2V5 or 7? Do you remember your tail number?

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01
Very nice! I've always admired our Military. Having worked for The USMC for 2.5 years now, really opened my eyes on what they do for our country.


Going a tad O/T, what do you do? I retired from the Marines last year after nearly 30 years (split about half-and-half, acdu and reserve).

 

[Hallmark]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Hallmark,
The R3350 used a 4 bladed prop. Notice carefully all 4 are there. Would have been some real action with 2 blades missing. In 56 were you flying the P2V5 or 7? Do you remember your tail number?


I joined the squadron shortly after their famous 1955 'Round the World' tour (depicted as a golden chain circling the globe on the PATRON ONE shoulder patch). At that time, the armaments (gun turrets) were being removed from the P2V5 models in preparation for the May 1956 deployment to Kwajalein...all ducts, intakes, sonabuoy tubes, etc. were sealed to minimize radioactive contamination. Prior to our November 1957 Alaska deployment, we received the reconditioned P2V5F (jet) models.
Tail number of CD 8 was 128415.

In hindsight, it appears that the Pacific-based squadrons most at risk during the 1950s cold war period were all assigned older P2V5/5F models while most of our foreign allies and my friends flying out of JAX, etc. on Med., Greenland, Caribbean, etc. deployments were flying new P2V7 models. Whidbey's FASRON had a single 7 model that we all drooled over.

 

[tig1]

Hallmark,
I was in VP11 from 3-64 to 6-67. We were called to Gitmo in 65 when Johnson sent the Marines to Diminican Republic. We were flying night patrol for gun runners from Cuba to the rebels on the island. Also deployed to Signella, Sicily and Rota Spain and back to Cuba. In early 67 VP11 began to transition to the P3 Orion.

 

[Hallmark]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Hallmark,
I was in VP11 from 3-64 to 6-67. We were called to Gitmo in 65 when Johnson sent the Marines to Diminican Republic. We were flying night patrol for gun runners from Cuba to the rebels on the island. Also deployed to Signella, Sicily and Rota Spain and back to Cuba. In early 67 VP11 began to transition to the P3 Orion.


I noted several pics of BuNo 147962 on the vpnavy.com website, including those taken at Sigonella. Also, enjoyed looking over VP-11's history, various nose-tail designations, reassignments of the #147962 airframe, etc. I'll have to check with my JAX shipmate (who will be joining us in Hawaii later this month)as some of his 'war stories' sound similar to VP-11 history...he may have been in that squadron during the 1956-1958 period.

I also noted some similarities between you & I, e.g. we both drive Fusions (mine a 2010 SEL) and hail from the Windy City (I was born there, enlisted from Lafayette Indiana).

 

[tig1]

Hallmark,
I am from down state across from STL. I enlisted in STL. I have the VPNavy web site in my favorites. VP11 was home based at Brunswick, Me. which has been closed down.

 

[Hallmark]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Hallmark,
I am from down state across from STL. I enlisted in STL. I have the VPNavy web site in my favorites. VP11 was home based at Brunswick, Me. which has been closed down.


Take care, shipmate. Nice chatting with y'all...good luck.

 

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted By: tig1
Hallmark,
I was in VP11 from 3-64 to 6-67. We were called to Gitmo in 65 when Johnson sent the Marines to Diminican Republic. We were flying night patrol for gun runners from Cuba to the rebels on the island. Also deployed to Signella, Sicily and Rota Spain and back to Cuba. In early 67 VP11 began to transition to the P3 Orion.


Of course, there was never any such thing as the "VMP" community (I was a Marine EA-6B guy), but still, the thought of flying a combat mission in a P-3 (or I suppose a P-2 just as well) always bugged me. We always had the option of using that yellow and black striped handle between our legs (and over our heads too). If YOUR mission went bad -- you were riding that baby in. . . As my youngest teenage daughter puts it today -- "ouchy-owww". Not good.

EDIT: Oh yeah, for perspective, I was with VMAQ-2, Det. X from summer-86 until fall-91. Moving on to the Reserve, I served as a Motor-T officer for several years, stumbled upon a chance to go to JAG school (as a Major, believe it or not), and retired as a full-bird Col last year. As I like to tell my friends, "stranger things have happened -- but not many of them..."

 

[tig1]

ekpolk,
The P3 had a much safer record than the P2, Hallmark and myself flew in. Also Helens husband flew in P2s as well, back in the day. While I was in VP11 we lost one aircraft off Brunswick, Me. in Dec 65. The crew ditched, all survived except the co pilot. The only option we had was to bail out, and that wasn't much of one when we were over the North Atlantic. Here's a link to the mishap page for VP11. Schroll down to the Dec 10th incident.

http://www.vpnavy.com/vp11_mishap.html