VQ-3 CO Relieved

[a-6intruder]

cool -- always wondered what happened to him.

As for me, went to VA-36 before they de-commed (Deyke, McNally, and Himler were my CO's) then transitioned to TACAMO when the mighty Intruder went away.

I was crewed up w/ Rand McNally in my first squadron, VA-85. He always tried to play stump the dummy / NATOPS trvia while in the air - very uncool. One night @ Fallon before the massive gorilla strike (low-level terrain following pre-NVG days) we preflight and are starting to strap in, and he says "tonight looks like a good night to die." I tell him to shut the F up or I'd grant him his wish. After that he pretty much left me alone and we got along fine.

So Mike Campbell was in your squadron?

 

[Dradz]

yeah, we had Skipper McNally on cruise in 93 - I got along fine with him but a lot of the JO's didn't like him -- plus, it was a tough time -- essentially a few weeks after deploying, we got the news that the squadron was going away when we got back, the intruder was going away, and all the USNR guys would be out of a job -- so, it was a challenging time to be the CO.

Yes, Manny Campbell was one of our DHs -- I knew him also as the DRT at the RAG when I was going through -- I liked him, seemed like he knew his stuff and was a straight shooter, but I think he got out after that? His wife was an airline pilot?

sorry for hi-jacking this thread!

 

[HooverPilot]

sorry for hi-jacking this thread!

Sometimes the quality of a thread on AW can be judged by their hijackings. Newbies can learn from ya'll catching up! Not many on here were around for the RIF and decom of the A-6 so a retelling of the tales will help keep the lessons learned from that alive.

 

[NozeMan]

Sometimes the quality of a thread on AW can be judged by their hijackings. Newbies can learn from ya'll catching up! Not many on here were around for the RIF and decom of the A-6 so a retelling of the tales will help keep the lessons learned from that alive.

Exactly, this hijacking is the only reason I'm still reading the thread!



More A-6 stories???? A-4s doesn't indulge us w/ enough of them....

 

[PropAddict]

^^^^ Ditto for me.

I keep hoping my old thesis adviser "Bleach" Hallberg will come up in one of these A-6 discussions, but it hasn't yet. Guy had a million great A-6 stories, but they were all about other people.

 

[FLYTPAY]

How about the A-6 banner tower that was shot down by a Japanese frigate?...can someone close to the story tell it?

 

[Dradz]

I think that was a west coast A-6? Seems I heard that story from somebody that was close to it -- will have to ping on my buddy who has a much better memory for all this stuff. The story I heard was the Japanese CIWS started shooting the banner and kept going up the tow cable and started chewing on the A-6 -- they had to punch out?

...and the RIF was sad times - lot of good guys lost - and then the fear of the dreaded T-notch that became a non-event.

...and ther is no end to A-6 stories -- we can make more up if needed!
and what about the guys practicing for an airshow in Va Bch that either came close to Lynnhaven Mall or came back with tree branches hanging from the jet? That might be urban legend....

 

[insanebikerboy]

While this is sad, and I certainly don't know all of the details in this particular case, I would counter:

"When will people realize that no sexual daliance is worth your career?"

Keep it in your pants and it won't be an issue.

To add on, and while I'm not speculating about this specific case, a friend of mine who is a JAG said that frequently in cases like this they also try to lie about or hide what they are doing when they are asked/get caught.

 

[Pugs]

How about the A-6 banner tower that was shot down by a Japanese frigate?...can someone close to the story tell it?

Will Soper (sp?) nice guy. Met him at NUW at a mutual friends house and heard the story. Not a A-6 guy and have never towed banner so details are subject to that.

IIRC: Banner tow event for a CIWS shoot and there were chugging merrily along and over the radio hears the "cleared to fire" call he looks over at the B/N and says essentially "Did they say what I think they said" and about that time lots of noise and all the fire lights come on and the nose goes hard down (or was it up?). Next thing he sees his is B/N's boots at eye level and he follows.

Gets picked up by the same frigate who shot them down. Apologetic does not begin to cover how much the Captain apologized. No details on if he got the traditional fruit basket out of it.

Will was actually pretty beaten up by the ejection. I don't recall he was a great RIF victim or he just got out.

On the subject of the 91 RIF there was essentially a 2 year period where no USNR's got orders (which at the time was most of the AOCS and all the non scholarship ROTC). I went TAR and one of my jobs at the NAR twas reviewing FITREPS for SELRES boards and it was not at all unusual to see 1 of X competitive guys RIF'ed. An R meant gone no matter what a water walker you were. This was made worse by the A-6 going away at the same time. The #1 of 40 LT from VAQ-128 was riffed and picked up by VR. The change to all USN made things much easier for the Navy to keep the cream.

 

[Flash]

On the subject of the 91 RIF there was essentially a 2 year period where no USNR's got orders (which at the time was most of the AOCS and all the non scholarship ROTC). I went TAR and one of my jobs at the NAR twas reviewing FITREPS for SELRES boards and it was not at all unusual to see 1 of X competitive guys RIF'ed. An R meant gone no matter what a water walker you were. This was made worse by the A-6 going away at the same time. The #1 of 40 LT from VAQ-128 was riffed and picked up by VR. The change to all USN made things much easier for the Navy to keep the cream.

My XO in Prowlers was an A-6 guy and in his squadron two USNR LTs got orders to separate in 30 days out of the blue. One was at 5 years 4 months and one was at 5 years 8 months, both were unceremoniously kicked out just like that just because they were USNR.

One of the things they all realized was the timing, apparently at 6 years or over they have to give you involuntary separation pay, they did it to these two guys partly because they would not have to pay them.

P.S. Don't you mean VA-128 Golden Intruders?

 

[Pugs]

P.S. Don't you mean VA-128 Golden Intruders?

Doh! Of course I do. A-4's'll have some sport with that

 

[a-6intruder]

^^^^ Ditto for me.

I keep hoping my old thesis adviser "Bleach" Hallberg will come up in one of these A-6 discussions, but it hasn't yet. Guy had a million great A-6 stories, but they were all about other people.

Eric & I started VT-10 together. Pretty sure you'd have to torture himto get any personal sea stories out of him. He held his cards pretty close to his chest at all times. He was in the RAG as an instructor while my wife was a TC-4C pilot there, so perhaps she knows more...

 

[a-6intruder]

yeah, we had Skipper McNally on cruise in 93 - I got along fine with him but a lot of the JO's didn't like him -- plus, it was a tough time -- essentially a few weeks after deploying, we got the news that the squadron was going away when we got back, the intruder was going away, and all the USNR guys would be out of a job -- so, it was a challenging time to be the CO.

Yes, Manny Campbell was one of our DHs -- I knew him also as the DRT at the RAG when I was going through -- I liked him, seemed like he knew his stuff and was a straight shooter, but I think he got out after that? His wife was an airline pilot?

sorry for hi-jacking this thread!

Mark is actually a very good friend of mine, but we had to get through the BS to finally get there.

Manny married an A-4 pilot from the Cubi Point squadron. I believe they met in NPA while she was w/ VT-4 and he was w/ the Blues. She flies (flew?) for Delta. When he got out they went to Atlanta and he works financial retirement programs down there.

I remember he told me he called a detailer (not our detailer) soon after we heard the A-6 was going away. He asked the guy to give him an opinion of the future based on his record, not on his reputation. (He was arguably the #1 or 2 B/N in his year group, depending on if he and Dee were in the same YG.) The detailer told him he might have a 50/50 shot of screening for a Special Mission CO. He told him thanks for the opinion, hung up, and then dropped his letter. Things were that bad back then. Have lost touch w/ him over the past couple of years.

 

[a-6intruder]

...and the RIF was sad times - lot of good guys lost - and then the fear of the dreaded T-notch that became a non-event.

...and ther is no end to A-6 stories -- we can make more up if needed!
and what about the guys practicing for an airshow in Va Bch that either came close to Lynnhaven Mall or came back with tree branches hanging from the jet? That might be urban legend....

The A-6 purge was a case study in how not to take care of your people. Big Navy made lots of promises that the Year Group 84 (ones most impacted as they were senior LTs) Department Head screen would put all 1310 / 1320 on the table, regardless of community, and they would select "the best of the best". Lots of people w/ good records took that on faith and made career decisions based on it. When the dust settled, I believe something like 40 out of 40 (or perhaps the top 40) F/A-18 pilots screened for Department Head, but only the top 4 A-6 pilots screened that year. Lots of people lost respect for the institution. If they had said they couldn't afford to transition guys, that's one thing, but to say you're going to select for talent, and then clearly do otherwise... Fortunately for others, I think Navy learned from that disaster and initiated Sundown transition teams to better take care of the F-14 and S-3 communities. Is this a fair statement, or did those communities feel hosed as well when it came time for them to standdown?

Regarding the Lynnhaven Mall, there's more truth than legend there. Pilot never flew again, B/N is now either the XO or CO of a Super Hornet squadron. I'll leave it at that. I believe the maneuver was a tuckunder break gone bad.

 

[FLYTPAY]

I think Navy learned from that disaster and initiated Sundown transition teams to better take care of the F-14 and S-3 communities. Is this a fair statement, or did those communities feel hosed as well when it came time for them to standdown?

I cannot speak for the F-14 bubbas but the S-3 transition board seemed to give most JO's a fighting chance to be successful in staying in for a healthy career. I did see some people get screwed, but I did see other people get hooked up big-time, yours-truly included. The moral of the story was to not turn down your transition and you would probably do ok. Of course the best story of someone turning down transition and getting the dream job would be a buddy of mine who turned down the transition and was offered a spot flying Tornado's with those limey Brits. The counter to that is the one that was sent on a 508 day IA to Djibouti.:icon_rage