Heyjoe, wow, a trip down memory lane! Really nice job combining these posts and threads.
.....
And, the website came online in 99.
Well, I started looking for a woman's perspective when I saw the query earlier and Vicki kept popping up at bottom of threads so I checked her posts not even looking at year they were first posted. It ended up taking awhile to select which ones to merge and split, but I was struck at the comradery amongst the earlier AW forum members interacting with Vicki and highlighted by this post:
Matt, and to all the others, thanks for keeping the Air Warriors Forum a place where people want to come and post comments in a professional and respectful manner. I have been away from any internet access over the last two months, and ran across this in the backlog of topics that you guys have been posting.
Thanks for the help in moderating the forum, and making it what it is.
John
Even if you think this was ancient, think of decade(s) when Catmando, A4s, Old RO, Renegade One and I (followed by our own Admiral G, Stalk and Nose) made our journeys to PCola and went through the rites of passage. Like A4s is wont to say, repeat after me now: "The more things change, the more they....." Little things may change, but the overall rites of passage and associated anticipation, occasional foreboding and setbacks, closeknit bonding of comrades undergoing same stressproofing and testing hasn't changed one iota. That's part and parcel of legacy and kinship of Naval Aviation that transcends the decades and generations of aviators who have aspired to wear wings of gold.