Major News!

 23 May, 1995

Some interesting news has come my way of late: 

1.) I found out I made Major! Field Grade Officer at long last. I subconsciously wasn’t too worried about it because I have all my squares filled – masters, SOS, medals, good, Performance Reports (OPRs), and lots of participation. The problem is when you don’t hear anything for almost 2 months, you begin to get that nagging feeling in the back of your brain, “There shouldn’t be a problem, but what if…?”

2.) Chuck Boivin (Chief Nav) called up the other day and asked me for my Civil Service score because the unit was going to put in for the list from AFRC for another NAV art position. I told him it was ‘95,’ but that I didn’t know what that meant.

Chuck said that was the maximum score you can get without being disabled Vet (you get an extra 5 points for that). But if you get the disabled bonus, chances are you’d have a tough time making the flight physical! 

That was good news, because it means I should show up on any list I put a preference in for. I probably will never get an ART job because typically they will pick the bums they know. However, I’d like to just get some interviews in and show my stuff around. Youngstown is opening up a new squadron in October; I should come out on the list for that one. Now, do I want to live around Youngstown? 

-.-.-.-.-.-

My ARA’s were 50-50 tonight – I flew a double: mission to Martinsburg, and the other other to Youngstown. My ARA at Martinsburg went real well though I relied on the SCNS to find myself and the landing zone at Youngstown. I bit off on the far side of the airport tree line and was about 1/4 mile off runway centerline.

To remember: ID the field, using the chart/and dividers to measure distances of significant landmarks. Works great for Martinsburg, or Parkersburg. Youngstown has the lake, but the same notion will apply.

Also, I need to buy more on the cultural returns. If we end up flying down the taxiway, nine times out of 10, the pilot can land on the runway out of that. Cheat towards the buildings!