Ramin Talaie for The New York Times
Chief Warrant Officers James Freeman, of Stony Brook, N.Y., left, and Steven Derry, of upstate New York.
Posted on 02/26/2005 8:52:08 PM PST by neverdem
Ramin Talaie for The New York Times
Chief Warrant Officers James Freeman, of Stony Brook, N.Y., left, and Steven Derry, of upstate New York.
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
Dad, what are you doing in Iraq? Did you remember to take your heart medication? Remember that mom told you to lay off the Viagra out there!
The lenses on those glasses look awful big!
There's gotta be a catch somewhere, this is from the NYT.
I don't think that you can be rated as a military aviator if you require corrective lenses. Somebody correct me if qualifications have changed.
That wasn't the case during the Vietnam War, or I would have probably flown choppers. IIRC, an aviation recruiter gave us a pitch after we had a Huey familiarization flight during Infantry AIT.
When I was still in the Infantry, I checked the Air Force and Navy. Their qualifications would have restricted folks with corrective lenses who wanted to fly to the navigator/bombadier position in a two seater.
Yeah, these old boys sound wonderful--but at this point in time the only thing they should be flying is a desk!
Can military aviators wear corrective lenses to the best of your knowledge of the Air Force?
Not necessarily, they maintain unit cohesion and have experience, but their wisdom might be useless if they don't maintain their own familiarity with current equipment. IIRC, the category of warrant officer was created because of their technical expertise.
BTTT
Absolutely. In my later career, I flew both HH-60 helicopters and A-10 Warthogs with the requirement to wear glasses or contact lenses. The "catch" is vision must be correctable to 20/20 and there is also an uncorrected limit which cannot be exceeded. I don't remember what the uncorrected limit is.
I recently spent a 90 day deployment flying into Iraq with a 59+ year old Air Force Reserve C-130 pilot. He had flown C-130s in Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the Balkans. He wanted to make it to this one before he reached mandatory retirement at age 60.
You gotta look at the fine print. Of course it's the NY Slimes.
You are an idiot. Those guys (and me) fought to keep this country free. Walk a mile in our footsteps before you post assinine remarks.
YES!
IIRC, in February 1970 corrective lenses were not allowed for admissision to Fort Rucker's flight training school. During my second tour, I volunteered to be a door gunner in Charlie Troop, 2/17th Cav while I was still in I Corps. I wrote a letter to General Creighton Abrams for help. IIRC, in December 1971, I received a letter back from him commending my request, which also said that I should be tranferred soon, after I was tranferred to Echo Company, 2/5th Cav, 3rd Bde(Sep), 1st Cav Div (Airmobile) in III Corps. I still have a copy of the letter. I finished my service as a grunt.
Of course you had to pass an aptitude test for Aviators, perhaps therein lies your problem.
During a subsequent enlistment, I took that aptitude test again, just like my first enlistment. I did well enough that they thought I cheated. I finished that enlistment as an E5 in 1983. I had to go to medical school and get a scholarship from the Army for the last three years of medical school to get a commission.
Probably not the best way to introduce yourself on day one.
Hmmmmmmmm....my hubby's BN the 106AVN have many pilots that flew in VN and have now flown Chinooks and Blackhawks in Iraq....they did a great job and have now served in two wars...
Hey, I'm the one that was doing the walking. And I'm guessing that you were whizzing by overhead. Relax in your flightsuit there, gunner.
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