President Bush on the USS Lincoln Pictures

US Navy Newsstand ^ | May 1, 2003 | US Navy

[Seeking the truth]

You might enjoy this one!

Character Counts

[ThinkingMan]

Quality Assurance (Safety) and Landing Safety(?) Officer.

That last one I am not sure about- it has been 11 years since I got out.

[ThinkingMan]

Landing Signals Officer- the guy with the paddles showing the incoming pilot the alignment of his wings to the deck.

[elbucko]

Thanks.

[RJL]

I hope I don’t run afoul of the mediators . . . .

What would they do? Bring you to a compromise?

Ya, Ya, You are one rude boy!

LOL, You mean I have to type correctly, spell correctly, punctuate correctly....AND use the correct word too?

[RJL]

How the heck did an ANG F-106 jock get 2000 hours total time to qualify for Senior Pilot wings?

I was hoping someone knowledgeable would answer.

I suspect that being President and Commander in Chief of the armed services pretty much makes him senior grade at everything military. Having said that, I wouldn't be too surprised if he truly did qualify for Senior Pilot wings.

[El Gato]

How the heck did an ANG F-106 jock get 2000 hours total time to qualify for Senior Pilot wings?

Hmm, don't know how that one managed, but lots of ANG pilots do it completely by the book, it just takes then a little longer. They fly almost as many hours per month as active duty pilots and must the fly the same minimum number of hours to stay current.

[El Gato]

Not the President, but just as heartwarming. A WW-II Marine (a corporal) gets his somewhat delayed purple heart.

Col. Steven M. Keim, Commanding Officer of Marine Aviation Training Support Group Fifty Three stationed at Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island, pins a Purple Heart Award on the chest of World War II veteran Cpl. John Wright. The Purple Heart was awarded for injuries he received on the island of Saipan 58 years ago. Cpl. Wright planned to make a career in the Marine Corps when he joined in the 1940’s, however, the injuries he received in battle led to an arduous 18 month recovery and did not allow him to return to active duty. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Mike Larson

The fact that he was medically discharged probably means he was medically retired, if so, being retired, he has every right and duty to wear the uniform on "special occasions". He looks pretty good, don't you think? Wonder if "high and tight" is his regular hairstyle? :)

[RJL]

A WW-II Marine (a corporal) gets his somewhat delayed purple heart...He looks pretty good, don't you think? Wonder if "high and tight" is his regular hairstyle? :)

Well done Marine. He sure does look sharp, especially when he has to be pushing 80 years old real hard.

[CommandoFrank]

I don't see any senior pilot wings...

When I was active duty you also needed 7 years to qualify. I had 3300 hours, 6 years, no senior crewmember wings...

[Grut]

When I was active duty you also needed 7 years to qualify.

The 7 years runs from when he was originally rated, which was, what? thirty years ago. So he's got lots of years. My problem is that single-engine guys 'way back then didn't get all that much flying time (at least, outside of 'nam) and he wasn't in the ANG all that long.

[CommandoFrank]

Check out the pictures. Those are not Senior Pilot Wings...

[Grut]

>Those are not Senior Pilot Wings...


I'm not up to posting pictures, but check out:
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20030501/capt.1051818326.bush_abraham_lincoln_wxs307.jpg

That sure looks like a star on top of his wings to me.

[Grut]

...although now that I look at them I'm not sure they're USAF wings at all....

[CommandoFrank]

I'm looking at the same picture and not seeing the star. As I remember, the star was bigger and slightly above the top of the wings. Guess we need a better picture. If you find one, let me know and I'll do likewise.

[courky13]

Cpl. John Wright is my grandfather. He's 82 years old. He was the only grenade launcher for his company. He was shot in the back by a sniper, but since he was the only grenade launcher, he continued to fight for another 8 hours. Doctors say that his backpack probably saved his life by slowing the bullet down. When he was brought back on board ship he went into a coma for 5 days, and the trauma of the whole incident turned his bright red hair to white. The wound was so severe that the doctors had to leave the bullet in him, or else he would have died in surgery. He has the bullet in him to this day.
He actually already had a purple heart, but the government lost the documentation, so they gave him a second one. :-P Papa John gave the second one to my dad. :-)
I'm definitely proud of him, and wish he lived closer to home so that the family could take care of him. (He's originally from the SF Bay Area)He's had Parkinson's Disease for the past 10 years and now lives at the Veteran's Hospital in Seattle.

[El Gato]

Wow! You be sure to thank your Grandfather for his service. And tell him he still *looks* like a Jarhead. I know you're proud of him. But you aren't alone. I'm proud, but also humbled, to have served in the same U.S. military as people like him.

[courky13]

Heh, he still acts like a Jarhead too.

[El Gato]

Heh, he still acts like a Jarhead too.

I guess that's because he is still a Jarhead. Once a Jarhead, always a Jarhead. No such thing (with a very few exceptions) as an ex-Marine.