F-18's in Colo.

[juslaxn]

A group of F-18's came in to the airport I work at about a week ago... three that i counted and saw. When I got a closer look they were from Louisiana... I believe the tail and markings said "RiverRats"...
Just curious if anyone knew someone or were part of the crew that landed into Jeffco/Rocky Mtn. in Broomfield Colo?...
*sorry mods if this is not in the right location*

 

[insanebikerboy]

I thought the River Rats were an Air Force squadron?

 

[Grant]

I believe you mean "River Rattlers". That would be VFA-204 from NAS New Orleans.

Supposedly... the River Rattlers were slated to be disestablished, but after Hurricane Katrina, the powers-that-be thought it would be demoralizing to the NOLA region, so instead they canned VFA-201 "Hunters", from NAS Fort Worth. How true the story is... I dont know.

 

[juslaxn]

Yeah, now that I think about it, I believe it was a snake logo on the plane... makes more sense.
Interesting how everything works...

 

[nittany03]

Yup. River Rattlers == F/A-18s.

River Rats == Minor League Hockey.

 

[Nose]

Navy uses Tailcodes for ID, but unlike the air force, they are not geographical. They are based on either Air Wing or Type Wing.

It is a two letter code. For TACAIR the first letter is either "A" (East Coast) or "N" (West Coast)

The second letter is tied to the specific air wing.

CVW-1 = AB
CVW-8 = AJ
CVW-17 = AA
CVW-3 = AC
CVW-7 = AG
Rags = AD
CVWR-20 = AF
(I'm pretty sure that CVWR-20 is gone, but the old TACAIR reserve squadrons - of which there are only three left I think-are "AF")

Not sure how the Non-CVW helos and the FTLSTP communities do it, but if follows some of the same logic

 

[phrogpilot73]

Not sure how the Non-CVW helos and the FTLSTP communities do it, but if follows some of the same logic

Wow, you guys are WAY more organized than the USMC CH-46E world...

For us, each different squadron has it's own MODEX. I think at one time it probably made sense, but it's not as logical now. Here's the breakdown:

MCAS New River, NC:
HMM-162: YS (now a VMM, bastards...)
HMM-261: EM
HMM-263: EG (now a VMM)
HMM-264: EH
HMM-266: ES (now a VMM)
HMM-365: YM

MCAS Camp Pendleton, CA:
HMMT-164: YT
HMM-268: YQ
HMM-364: PF

MCAS Miramar, CA:
HMM-161: YR
HMM-163: YP
HMM-165: YW
HMM-166: YX

MCAS Futenma, Okinawa:
HMM-262: ET
HMM-265: EP

If I was a betting man, my guess is that it used to be 1XX for a West Coast Squadron (combined with a "Y" MODEX), 2XX for East Coast (and "E" MODEX), 3XX for Hawaii (No idea of MODEX, but I'd guess "P"?). When the Phrogs left Hawaii, one squadron went East, and one West (hence each coast has one 3XX squadron). Then, when they went to Okinawa they grabbed two squadrons from the East Coast and backfilled with one 1XX squadron from the west coast. I could be WAY wrong, but that's just a guess. As you can see, it's mighty confusing.

 

[FlyinSpy]

(I'm pretty sure that CVWR-20 is gone, but the old TACAIR reserve squadrons - of which there are only three left I think-are "AF")

CVWR-20 is now the "Tactical Support Wing" (TSW); still call the boss CAG, though. Our jets are still AF coded.

http://navyreserve.navy.mil/Public/...ctical+Support+Wing/WelcomeAboard/default.htm

 

[invertedflyer]

^^phrog, is this the same for fixed wing in the Marines? I always wondered about that. Thanks for the info fellas!

Is it true that the Moonlighters are being decomed as well? I know VMFA-134 got shut down back in August. Sad to see them go. Why are squadrons going down left and right when we need them the most? I was talking to an Air Force buddy of mine and he said that, outside of A-10s and F-15Es (now suffering that standdown), hardly any Air Force squadrons are deploying. Now look at the Navy/Marine Corps. side of the house. Everyone either just got back, is preparing to go, or is already deployed. Is it just an issue of govt. spending? How can they justify decoming during this time period?

 

[Swanee]

Yup. River Rattlers == F/A-18s.

River Rats == Minor League Hockey.

Threadjack-

The River Rats are in my current line of work. Maybe the Rattlers are in my future career.

/Threadjack

 

[ftrooper]

VMFA(AW) 332- Put in Cadre status Mar 30, 2007. Supposedly coming back for the JSF, we'll see. Marine Fixed Wing squadrons use individual tail codes based on what the squadron was assigned when formed, so -332 is EA, -533 is ED and -224 is WK. The boat squadrons will wear the traditional tail codes when at home, but will change them to whatever Carrier Air Wing they are assigned to when afloat.

 

[invertedflyer]

That makes sense, since I've noticed the tail codes change on hornets here at Miramar. Thanks!

 

[loadtoad]

I was talking to an Air Force buddy of mine and he said that, outside of A-10s and F-15Es (now suffering that standdown), hardly any Air Force squadrons are deploying.

F-16's are deploying all the time. Both active duty and reserves. I would be willing to bet that more F-16's are deployed to the desert (right now) than A-10's or F-15E's.
There is just so many more F-16's than A-10's or F-15E's that is seems that way...


And the cargo guys are going non-stop!

 

[Gatordev]

Not sure how the Non-CVW helos and the FTLSTP communities do it, but if follows some of the same logic

Yeah, our TYPEWING would be the first letter vice the airwing. Not sure about how the second letter was chosen, but I always wondered. For LAMPS west it was "T." The RAG was TS. For my squadron, a relatively older LAMPS squadron, we were TH. Can't remember what the east coast guys were, but all the west coast seawall guys in San Dog were Tx, as well.

 

[HeloBubba]

Yeah, our TYPEWING would be the first letter vice the airwing. Not sure about how the second letter was chosen, but I always wondered. For LAMPS west it was "T." The RAG was TS. For my squadron, a relatively older LAMPS squadron, we were TH. Can't remember what the east coast guys were, but all the west coast seawall guys in San Dog were Tx, as well.

That's probably because TD was still in use by the LAMPS Mk I RAG (HSL-31) when HSL-41 established. TH is/was HSL-37. TG was HSL-35. TF was HSL-33.