P-3's, per diem, old balls

[zuggerat]

what are the pro's and con's of the maritime community? what made you select P-3's, besides the needs of the navy, and why are you happy with P-3's? the P-3's main mission is a sub-hunter, since there very few, if any sub threats, what do u guys do when u go out on flights? do you do intel collection, or are you going to start replicating S-3 operations? what the hell is per diem?

 

[zab1001]

what are the pro's and con's of the maritime community? what made you select P-3's, besides the needs of the navy, and why are you happy with P-3's? the P-3's main mission is a sub-hunter, since there very few, if any sub threats, what do u guys do when u go out on flights? do you do intel collection, or are you going to start replicating S-3 operations? what the hell is per diem?

Ok, good, pointed questions.

(A) I was drafted into P-3s. While I was very interested in the community and had heard cool stuff from my instructors, no one had selected P-3s in 6-7 months due to a back up at the RAG. I totally thought I was helo-bound, and I was happy with it. The week I selected, P-3s opened back up, it was on my selection sheet, and I got called into student control for the news. I was fine with it, just suprised.
(B) Why am I happy. Well, first and foremost were the guys and gals I got to work with. I'm sure its a common factor in Naval Aviation, but the folks in my wardroom, the junior officers and senior alike, were really great friends. Part of that comes from flying a multi-crew aircraft. By the time I left I had flown at least 4 or 5 times with every other officer in the squadron. 10 hours together each time (just flying, not to mention preflight, brief, debrief).
Flying with aircrew, enlisted and officers. Very few platforms in Naval Aviation give an officer an opportunity to fly into harm's way and lead troops into combat zones. Very cool. You also get to work day to day with some of the smartest, funniest, greatest people int he Navy, from that 18 yr old E-3 Aircrew acoustic operator, to your 20-yrs in the Navy In Flight Technican Chief AT...
Travel. "When P-3s go somewhere, they GO somewhere!" As an O-3, being sent to far away airfields andyou are the senior guy. Pretty cool. For anywhere from 24 hours to 3 weeks at a shot. No boat to report back to, no shore patrol giving you heat...you ARE the US presence in that location...kinda cool.
The flying. Yeah, straight and level at 24,000 feet isn't that exciting. Taking a plane that big and making it do things at 200 feet AGL that it wasn't designed for is pretty sweet.
The missions. ASW SUCKS. No other way to put it. Time consuming, tedious, Awfully Slow Warfare....BUT....like I said, part of it is gettin down low and cranking that plane around, 60 degrees AOB, bomb bays open, power levers shoved up, which I really enjoyed.
I could go on and on and on...pointed questions help me.
Oh, by the way...this whole "there are no sub threats" thing...there are sub threats. Diesel technology is scary-quiet and readily available. The days of huge USSR subs n the open ocean are few and far between. There are plenty of NK, PRC, and Iranian subs to protect the fleet from.
ASW isn't all we do...Anti Surface Warfare (tracking military/commercial vessels, being able to take em out with missiles), Intel Gathering (super snooper camera in the nose), Spec Ops (uh....spec ops....). The thing is, you will probably never master all of them, you may get pretty good at one. Jack of all trades, master of none....
S-3s....uh, they don't hunt subs anymore. We really don't do much that they do.
Per diem. An allowance of money given to you daily (per diem) to cover your living expenses. When a P-3 is sent somewhere without government quarters/messing facilities (room and board), which happens 90% of the time, the gov't gives you a daily amount of money depending on the cost of living in that area. Now, if you get 100 dollars, and your room costs 50 bucks, then you have 50 left over for food. You can take that 50 bucks and buy a steak dinner or you can get a sandwich and a soda and pocket 45 bucks. Add this up over the course of a 7 day det...now you're getting it...Granted, 100 bucks is high end, but even 25 bucks a day for a month while on deployment adds up...(standby for smarta$$ comments about P-3 guys and per diem...)

To summarize...3 quick highlights (of many) of my P-3 experience"
1. Flying over the Indian Ocean, looking to my right and seeing one of my best friends since day 1 of API, and thinking, "how cool is this?"
2. 3 days after qualifying as a P-3 Patrol Plane Commander, and having my first flight on the plane as "the Man", 26 yrs old, the boss, and getting to take a full Tactical Aircrew from Okinawa to Thailand...man that's cool...
3. Eating Thanksgiving dinner in Oman, during the first weeks of OEF, with my navigator, before an Afghanistan flight. 3 dudes with beards, UDT shorts, black t-shirts, and a ton of scars come up to us. I'm thinking, "Great, these guys are gonna give us heat...".

They say "Hey, are you the P-3 guys?"
"Uh yeah"
"Cool, thanks so much for flying top-cover for us the other night and looking out for us, we really appreciate it."
Talk about feeling pretty humble.

I'm rambling. Webmaster....get in here and write something coherent.

(I'm sure someone from my old squadron is reading this and laughing at me getting all sentimental)

 

[PropStop]

I went P-3s for the chicks!

uh, seriously though, multi-crew is the bomb. I like flying low too, pretty fun (and a good way to floss your butthole with the seat cushion). I have done little ASW, but honestly, that is why i really did want P-3s, the thrill of the hunt - seemed cool in the books anyhow. You defiantly will see the world. I got a free trip to Europe in the FRS!

 

[zuggerat]

What is the break down in ur types of missions, what percentage are you doing low level balls to the floor flying, and what percentage are u doing high level flights. Also where do u usually deploy to, is there a set rotation of places, are they all pacific rim types of deployments or can u get stationed on an atlantic run.
Ive been looking into the MMA project and it looks so awesome. made me think about P-3's more so than jets and i grew up with top gun in the VCR, so it was a big switch. If im picked up for BDCP ill be joining the fleet in 2009-ish, are they still goin to have P-3's or will the MMA start to trickle in?

I need chicks... P-3's it is

PS... im not saying i want jets and only jets, im not like that, i wanna fly for the navy and thats all i care about

 

[zab1001]

50/50 on the missions. You do a lot more surveillance/ASUW type hops in the Gulf. You do a lot more ASW in the Pacific. West Coast guys deploy out of Whidbey Island WA and Hawaii. 5th fleet deployment covers the Gulf and the Indian Ocean. 7th Fleet covers Japan and Southeast Asia. You rotate deployments each time you go out. East Coast squadrons deply to the Atlantic/Europe. I dont know much about their deployments.

You say joining the feet in 2009 ish, meaning wings or starting API? The projection for MMA is 2012, I'd bet on 2015.

 

[zuggerat]

2k9 is winging, if i ever get in... API start would be 2k6 or 7... thanx for all the swift replies

 

[El Cid]

I know I'm going to sound ignorant but what is MMA?

I'm with zuggerat... I'll fly anything with Navy painted on the tail!

 

[zuggerat]

its the replacement for the P-3... it's a new 737 with a lot of cool avionics and weapons hanging off

 

[ben]

MMA = Multimission Maritime Aircraft

 

[theblakeness]

Zab,

loved your post man. Definately gave some insight to an airframe I wasnt all that familiar with.

Thanks duuude!

 

[El Cid]

Does anybody have a weblink that gives any info on the MMA? I'd really like to see some photos or prospective specifications. It sounds like a really interesting platform!

 

[EODDave]

I hate seeing guys that say oh I'll fly anything. Come on, you must have an idea of what you want to fly. Some guys are hard core helo, jet, etc.. What I'm saying is dont bow down to some guys that say your an officer first and a pilot second. Personally for me, if I wasnt flying, I wouldnt have come back in to the Navy. For me its flying first and everything else is gravy. Now dont get me wrong. I love being an O. Way to many years as an enlisted guy. But if you have something burning down inside you then don't be afraid to tell someone. My best friend always wanted the P-3 gig. No boats and a good bed every night. For me it was all about the jets but, everybody is different. Anyways fight for what you want, study your but off and give it your all.

 

[El Cid]

Well, since you brought it up... I'd prefer Helo's (as you can tell by my pic). Though on the other hand I've been in for a few years now and I've seen the needs of the Navy trump hard core desires one to many times. So I'm keeping an open mind to whatever platform that I might be presented.

To be honest with you, I'm institutionalized. I'm an honest to God hardcore Navy digit. I mean I named my dog Decatur, for the love of pete! I'm in the Navy for more than a job.

 

[sublime259]

Will the MMA be able to maneuver at all like the P3 can ( 60 degreee banks at 200 AGL)? Its just kinda crazy picturing a 737 doing all that!

 

[Thisguy]

What I'm saying is dont bow down to some guys that say your an officer first and a pilot second.

That's a good point. Anyone who tells you that, is to some degree, full of crap. When your department head can say to you "Can this wait? I have to brief in a few minutes" he's clearly an aviator first, with his ground job coming in second.