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That was a prety cool site Neil, and yes dad I wish I could be there with you to see all of the kool trucks,aircraft,watercraft, and rail. Love you dad.

Bob,
Nope I didn't own a VW Bug, did have an old Volvo and never wrecked it. Yes, Langley was a cool place to see new aircraft. I watched the YC-14 demostration from the LTA housing area. Much better view from that end. I also got pictures of the Northrop YF-17 when it came through. My dad's office was in one of those old hangers. I still have pictures of F-101, F-100, F-105 and some other old ones that came through somewhere. Used to hang out at the pool by the fishing pier all summer, one of the best views to have with binoculars. I also remember living there you had to get used to them ground testing the F-15's in those big green noise suppressor's. Didn't seem to suppress them that much. Lost interest in all that once I got into high school. Teenager in the '70's. 'nuf said.
Jeff, looks like your gonna keep pretty busy touring all these sites. Lucky you. Enjoy.

Joe D

I lived in the apartment complex between Bethel Manor & the base for a while and remember the F-106 ground runs more than the F-15s. The 106s were tested on the concrete Trim Circle out near the West gate ahere they just chained it down and ran it facing into whatever breeze there was. They used to have to adjust the afterburner engagement on the throttle and that big J-75 Turbojet had a singel stage afterburner. They would be running at full power and BOOM push it into burner. back it off adjust the throttle cable and BOOM. This would go on for an hour or so. It rattled the windows if they were facing in the 'right' direction and we lived almost 5 miles from base! I also remember the 106s occasionally coming out of the alert barn on a scramble. They would leave the barn at almost full burner and the moment they bad the slight curve onto the runway full burner down towards the river. That was probably interesting in LTA!

Yep,
Very beautiful sight when they took off at night. Be three at a time. Probably intercepting some TU-95's heading to Cuba. I always loved the lines of the old 106. NASA had a two seater there for a while. And yes, that damn testing was bad, went on all night. Constant BOOM and noise, BOOM, and more noise, went on forever. I think it made a lot of the dependents in the LTA area a little nutty. Armor content, Langley had a armored car the SP's used. I think they rolled it while I was there.

Joe D

Yea they rolled it. killed the crew. The Commando Gage rolled. There was a big inquiry because they were not using it properly. It was only supposed to be used to escort weapons convoys from the Alert barn to the Munitions storage area (That was when the F-106s carried 'Special Weapons' ). They were using it as an extra patrol car and tried to drive it like a regular police car.

Neil, I'll have to check out those sites soon. Visiting Langley is on my "to-do" list. I'd like to get down to the Navy area as well and check out the flat-tops there. I believe the George Washington, Eisenhaur, and Roosevelt are there currently, as well as the Battleship Wisconsin which is on display. Jeffrey, every time I see something neat, I always think about you and Morgan seeing it as well. Be good boys for mom.

Hi Jeff! Hi Folks!

It might be a bit far for you, but up in Philadelphia is the USS New Jersey, the USS Olympia (pre-WW I type battleship), a submarine and large sailing ship. The last three are all next to each other on the south or west side of the river. The New Jersey is on the other side of the river and a bit down stream.

Spot Report!
Sgt, Scouts Out!

Roy,
I think thats going to be a bit far for me. I don't think I'm going to have enough weekend days as it is to see everything I'd like to see. Had a PT test this morning as part of the curriculum of the school. I was one of only three that passed the test of the 14 soldiers re-classing. I was amazed at first but when you figure in some of the reasons they failed, its more clear. A few came straight from Iraq just two weeks prior. They are not allowed to go on runs or be in large formations for runs because they are always required to wear body armor outside the FOB's and because large formations make easy targets for Mortars. So all work-outs were basically done in weight rooms only. Then you have the Guard/Reservists that are notorious for showing up out of shape. Yes I can say this because I spent ten years in the Guard and know how they are. Then many of the rest were there like me, to re-class from combat-arms into Transportation because of physical limitations, and they aren't fully up to speed yet on their physical performance. Well they'll get their chance to get better fit now, as the soldiers that failed will have "remedial PT" each day after classes are over until they can pass a PT test, which is given each Wednesday till they pass. This isn't exactly the "easy" course I was told it would be, haha. Take care to all.
By the way, the Transportation School motto is; "Nothing moves till we make it move", and they're quite proud of that fact! I guess soon I'll have to be as well.

Have you learned how to call cadence in the Transportation Corps yet?


Clutch, Brake, Clutch, Brake, Clutch Brake Clutch



Of course you know how we count cadence in the Air Force?

WHAT you want us to MARCH!!!

We haven't had to march anywhere yet and I don't anticipate doing so. If that does happen, I'll delagate that to an E-6 or E-5. There are alot of soldiers from all the branches here, even Coast Guard. All the Air Force guys I've seen wear a Blue Road Guard reflective belt diagonally across there chests. Mind you these are all privates, so it must be to easily identify them in a crowd. Quite a few Marines and Navy personell here as well. I pass them in the Transportation Halls all the time. There are a million 2LT's running around that are going through TOBC. Most of them act like privates, literally, stepping aside of NCO's and not making eye contact. I saw one today that looked like a 10th grade H.S. student. Take care all and I'll keep you updated!

Hello from Ft Eustis. Classes are going quickly. I've had two exams so far scoring 90 on one and 91 on the other. No one in the class "aced" either test. Class average was in the low 80's.
Visited the Virginia Air and Space museum this past Saturday, real nice place. F84F, F106, F4F, UH-1M, F-16, etc... hanging from the ceilings but you could get very close and in some cases like the F4, touch them from the various leveled floors surrounding the displays. I took about 37 pics but since I'm here, I have'nt been able to post anything yet. However I'm sure due to the interest in armor here, my upcoming visit to the Virginia Military Museum this Saturday will be of more interest. Still want to visit the ship yards and USS Wisconsin before I leave here. Take care all.