BRlang
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C-130 Hercules News
Posts posted by BRlang
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Jim, I remember you. Admin was never my strong point. Did good to keep my tech manuals close to updated.
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RIP buddy.
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There has been a lot of discussion on here about proving boots on the ground. I suggest going through the Air Force and getting a letter from them acknowledging "Boots on the Ground". The VA is very difficult as you can see. Many of the evaluators are civilian and appear to go out of the way to turn you down. Reed through the forums and you will see several examples of getting"The Letter" from Randolph AFB..
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WE didn't pay anything at the Merlin..Direct bill. we just go missed meals..Half way through my tour they moved us on base at TSN...We lost two missed meals a day as they said we could eat those at chow hall...I preferred the NCO BBQ..2 bucks for a T-bone, beans and beer...Of course we all remember the No Hab Snack Bar.... I want a cheeseburger...."NO Hab Cheese". didn't matter what you ordered they No Hab something..
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E-3 when I got to CCK in April 1970 and made E-4 soon after. I spent every penny I made every month. Add separate rations and your per diem from trips and that bought lots of Mongolian BBQ. At the end of the month when things ran thin you could always throw on a flight suit and hit midnight chow for a quarter....if you were sober enough to walk over there that is...
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In Vietnam I got both. Combat Pay and Flight pay...I was double rich there. That's a lot of Piasters....
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I did find my orders putting me on Flight Status in my records.. The best part of these orders is you got a $50.00/month raise for flight duty. 15 may 1969 Aeronautical Order 111. I was rich. Recently I even went and ordered me the Enlisted Aircrew wings to replace the one I probably threw in the dumpster by the front gate at LRAFB on the way out. Heck, I threw everything else away.
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Thanks of the reply, Ken. I will submit my flight records and some other things from my records and see what happens. Thanks for giving us good airplanes. I just looked at my Flight Logs and see I did 4.1 Combat hours on 22 February, 1971 on 1804...I was getting short by then under 100 days...
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Those were Cambodians. They were trained in Nah Trang. We would haul them from Phnom Phen Cambodia, give them a couple of weeks of training and them move them back to Cambodia to fight the Khmer Rouge. This group here were on board when we had a tire blow up and into the aircraft. Most of the ones sitting by the Left wheel well didn't make it.
I loved working with the ROK folks. The ROK loadmaster was really good. Like you said he did everything and was right by the book.
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Thanks for the response. Seems like 30 was the number I remember. I noticed on your profile that you like Guitars. I am a Guitar Player as well. I am part of an organization called Soldiers Song and Voices. We give free guitar and song writing lessons to Veterans. Six of us run the Chapter. We have 8 Vets in the program. We meet one Sunday a month and talk, write songs and jam. We furnish free guitars to the Student Vets. If you attend 8 lessons you get to keep the guitar. We have a mix of Vietnam and the desert wars and some in between. We play for different units at the VA hospital and Veterans events. Our first student is now our Vice President and has written several songs that we perform. Most of them have one thing in common...They have all ridden in a C-130..Some even jumped..
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This may have been discussed before on this board but I searched and did not find any information. I am looking for the Qualifications or guide lines used to award The Air Medal during the Vietnam War. After a recent move my Flight Logs re surfaced. I was never issued any Air Medals while active in the USAF. I can now document the number of Combat missions flown while in the 345th. I am missing my last month of flights in my record. I know I flew 8 leaflet drops in my last in country shuttle. ( Crew Scheduler didn't like me). These are not in my record. But I can document 134 combat missions. Since my retirement I have become active in Veterans groups and my own activities. I am preparing a DD form149 to request my records be amended to include and award my Air Medals. I don't have an agenda just want to stick them in the drawer with my other "stuff". Can some one direct me to this information or tell me what you remember.
Thanks, Galley is set
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They have a grid where they enter your readings from the test. It has to equal a certain number to be compensated. I just want to get something from my ringing. My ears been buzzing since I got blown out of the back of a C-130. They said since I didn't report it at the time they could not take that into consideration. I had several casualties and some that didn't make it. I wasn't bleeding and nothing broken. Did they expect me to wave down a medic and talk about my ears when the are trying to save the poor guys that were sitting where the blast came into the aircraft...It's in a appeal. Maybe some one with common sense will review it and make the right decision..
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I guess we do all have memories of the great people and the not so great we crewed or worked with. At 19 years of age I was too young to understand true leadership and how much responsibility my A/C had. I flew with some great A/Cs in my day. The best teaching moment was with Maj. Cherry. He was not only a fantastic pilot but a great leader as well. I loaded us out with three pallets of 175 rounds. 30,000 lbs and a very routine load. I was a month into my in country tour and feeling pretty confident about my self. As the first pallet rolled on I locked it in two locks too far forward. The next two same thing... How can 18 inches make that much difference? LOTS!! 30,000 lbs X 18" is a lot of moments. Cant remember the field but know we did have 10,000 feet in front of us. We started take off roll we hit airspeed and the plane would not fly. as we increased speed it finally pulled off the ground. Yoke in his lap and full nose up trim we were airborne. Maj Cherry "Load Pilot". "Go Pilot"..."What was our CG." I grabbed the slip stick and re figured the load. 12% of MAC???? I knew I was busted, grounded and kicked off flight status. Maj Cherry said he knew we were nose heavy and would add a few knots to the touch down speed. Once on the ground and off loaded I was waiting for my ass chewing. Maj Cherry came back to the ramp and sat down beside me. He calmly told me that no load was routine. He probably helped me become a very good loadmaster. He was calm and reminded me how much precision was required to be a crew member and we all had to do our jobs with precision and we must verify every load and CG. As I moved on in my professional life I used his approach with great results. Thank you Maj Cherry for that great lesson in life..
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Robert, let me make one more observation. 44K is 22K in and 22 K out. Not big loads. Maybe 5 Pallets.. I am sure they said it was ready to leave for Miami when they locked in the last pallet. 9 minutes is really not that impressive. I bet a bunch of us will agree.
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Well I never timed our off loads but on particular day we did 9 sorties and never raised the gear or flaps. We moved 27 pallets of 175 rounds in 9 sorties from I think Song Be to a dirt strip on the north side of the mountain. After take off check list right into before landing. If my math is correct that was 270,000 lbs. Many time we taxied into ramps. Did speed off loads and plane never stopped moving. Thinking about 3 minutes ground time. In a civilian situation I would say they broke plenty of safety rules to do that. I managed several FedEx Ramps and we did 30 minutes ground time on thru flights and that was pushing it to the limits. We followed EVERY safety rule to the letter at FedEx.
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This board has re kindled so many memories. For almost 40 years I had not even given a thought to my 4 years as a C-130 LM or how lucky I was to be assigned my job in the USAF. Only 1 in 50,000 enlisted in the USAF are on Flight Status. As I look back after 40 years I recalled one particular mission that displayed just how much my A/C protected his crew. Our mission was 2 hour low level route then drop CDS and finish with touch and goes. Shortly after I arrived at the Aircraft I was greeted by a very grumpy Check Ride LM. He introduced him self as MSGT A$$ H@@.
He advised me that I was getting a no notice check ride. He went through my flight bag, checked ever TO for the latest up dates then inspected my O2 Mask and helmet. Let me add being a jerk as he did it. The Duty Loadmaster had dropped off the drop kit and I started to rig the CDS for the drop. One of the key pieces of the kit was not to be found. It was part of the pully that cut the load free. The ILM continued to hound me and I noticed the A/C watching him as we prepared the drop. As we approached departure time and still missing gear he said "your busted and you failed your check ride". He started to collect his gear and asked the FE to call for crew transport. To this day I am sure he came out here to bust me and leave the flight. The A/C had been watching his very un professional conduct. The A/C asked him where he was going. He said "home". The A/C said in about 5 hours. You just became the primary Loadmaster. We scrubbed the drop. We went out and did 5 hours of touch and goes. He wore the head set and I strapped in on the crew bunk. I think he said "Galley set" about 40 times....3 days later I had a re check and passed with no issues. It felt great to see the leadership and how my A/C went to bat for me.....
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My claim is in the "Black Hole" as they call it. From reading this memo it should be approved. I'v been denied. I asked for a re determination and it was denied as well. I have now appealed and are waiting for a response. I think it is still a couple of years out. Thank you for that memo. I will use it if I get turned down this time. I feel good about this appeal. I think they turn you down the first time and hope you will go away.
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I was able to prove my case to both the Air Force and to the VA. When you order your records you should request the entire file. If you ask for individual items they may or may not even go through the file looking for it. Once you get the entire file you can go through each item your self and look for any document that might mention your TDYs to Vietnam. I found all my travel vouchers showing each TDY from CCK to TSN, CRB and Danang. From this I was even able to document the numbers of days spent in country. The next valuable document was my copies of my Airman's Performance Report. The remarks section talked about then number of Combat Missions flown and Flight hours. It also documented my TDY days.
I wrote a cover letter and discussed why I was TDY (almost all C-130s were based off shore from Vietnam). I wrote about the missions I flew and what a typical TDY 16 day rotations was like. I had several photos included as well of me in Saigon and at airfields in Vietnam. I put to gather the most complete packet possible. Keep in mind that the person that reviews this stuff may not have even been borne when you were in Vietnam.
I sent the packet to USAF at Randolph AFB. In about 3 weeks I received a letter that acknowledged my TDY missions in Vietnam. At the same time the VA approved my Agent Orange claims even before the Air Force sent my letter to use. So you can get direct VA approval with out a corrected DD214 if your packet is complete and you explain your case.
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Thanks for giving us a good airplane. I just went through my Flight Records and found several combat missions on 1855. I was in the 345th at CCK...
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Weakness and the inability to deploy mass troop movements invites conflict. 32 closed squadrons is a mind blower...
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Hopefully we will re build our Airforce and re gain the ability to Move more than one fighting unit to more than one theatre in the world... WE used to be able to move the entire 82nd to one location and move the 101st to another at the same time. Now it is one or the other. The world we live in today could call for movements both east and west...I hope we get back to that ability.
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Did by chance did he file a travel voucher for his TDY. All my vouchers were in my records and clearly showed all my in country trips. Also read the APRs as the comments section might mention his TDYs into a combat zone. You will have to find a document that mentions it or someone that can add a statement..
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I'm calling marketing bull. 463L pallets were 108"X88". That became the standard for the foot print even applying to the containers we used at FedEx. The forward cargo door will not take 463L pallets or rolling stock. While it would give the ability to bulk load there is no where to bulk load to until the pallet in position one is unloaded. I think it gave a better angle to wench or pull loads into the cargo compartment using a cable attached to a vehicle or wench attached to a vehicle out side the aircraft. If it was such a great idea then why did they seal up those doors and discontinue making the C-130 with the door.
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I loved the early morning Milk and Bread run. Think we loaded up in Ben Hoa. I would requisition a couple of cases of milk and put way back in the tail. It would cool down pretty good back there. When we hit forward fire bases I would toss the Aerial Port guys fresh milk... They loved it. I didn't spend much time at CRB. My last 12 missions in Country was leaflet drops up close to Laos out of CRB. I don't think my crew scheduler liked me very much. My Nav was a guy we called Woodstock. He would give me his flight jacket with his Lt bars and get me in the Officers Club at CRB. You guys had better Chow and Beer...Heck, we did all the work. All you had to do was drive the bus...
Air Medal Qualifications
in C-130 General
Posted
Yep,I was not that creative. I had a little note book I kept in my pocket. I wish I had it back right now. You know, for 19 and 20 year olds we had a hell of a job... I look at 19 year olds now and they are babies...They still go to Mother for their allowance....