RCAF - 'Inappropriate' fighter pilot nickname
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Temporarily missing from the Joe Louis Arena
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Anyone remember the NY ANG 174th Fighter Wing (now Reaper unit 174th Attack Wing) known as the 'Boys from Syracuse'?? And because of a female pilot , a pentagon pin up complained,
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/w...-from-syracuse
the name got changed but in the article from the other side it was implied she was crap at her in operating the F-16C...in fact very serious issues.
cheers
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/w...-from-syracuse
the name got changed but in the article from the other side it was implied she was crap at her in operating the F-16C...in fact very serious issues.
cheers
Baltimore Sun Newspaper Article re the results....with no link to the Official Investigative Report(s).
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs...031-story.html
The Female Officer's Career leading up to her being assigned to the 174thFW in Syracuse, NY.
https://www.ctie.monash.edu/hargrave/parker.html
An article quoting Major Parker re her experiences.....comparing the date of the interview against the time period of the events that led to the the investigations and allegations of Command Prejudice by the Officers punished by their Chaiin of Command might prove interesting.
https://web.archive.org/web/20121116...cle.asp?id=675
https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs...031-story.html
The Female Officer's Career leading up to her being assigned to the 174thFW in Syracuse, NY.
https://www.ctie.monash.edu/hargrave/parker.html
An article quoting Major Parker re her experiences.....comparing the date of the interview against the time period of the events that led to the the investigations and allegations of Command Prejudice by the Officers punished by their Chaiin of Command might prove interesting.
https://web.archive.org/web/20121116...cle.asp?id=675
Last edited by SASless; 30th Nov 2022 at 22:27.
I would like to point out the obvious here - it is not just fighter pilots that get nicknames, but they are perhaps the only group with an egotistical need for them.
OK - theirs are 'official' and become callsigns, but that is only because they need something to show the world how important they think they are and an attempt to justify their existence. Do Surgeons have callsigns? Do Nuclear watchkeepers? Do Prime Ministers and Presidents (maybe amongst the secret service). No. They do not. The reason is that they have genuinely busy and engaging jobs with daily value and don't need to try to justify their existence. However, 'Fighter Pilots' the vast majority of whom have never been in a fight, do have the biblically enormous ego of a 'Fighter Pilot' to pander to. They are self-actualizing narcissists.
Look at the RAF. Want to speak to guys who have seen action up close, been shot at, had rounds through the cockpit more than once, seen death up close?...Then go to Odiham or Benson and listen to the Support Helicopter guys. The warfighters in the RAF fly helicopters, and everyone knows it. Fast jet guys fly fast jets, not fighters, because they do not fight and have not done so for years. They have no idea what true combat is like - it is all ego and bravado...go to an Odiham crewroom and you will soon know what a 1000 yard stare looks like.
The sharp end of the RAF has rotor blades, not wings...and they don't need callsigns to show the world their worth...
OK - theirs are 'official' and become callsigns, but that is only because they need something to show the world how important they think they are and an attempt to justify their existence. Do Surgeons have callsigns? Do Nuclear watchkeepers? Do Prime Ministers and Presidents (maybe amongst the secret service). No. They do not. The reason is that they have genuinely busy and engaging jobs with daily value and don't need to try to justify their existence. However, 'Fighter Pilots' the vast majority of whom have never been in a fight, do have the biblically enormous ego of a 'Fighter Pilot' to pander to. They are self-actualizing narcissists.
Look at the RAF. Want to speak to guys who have seen action up close, been shot at, had rounds through the cockpit more than once, seen death up close?...Then go to Odiham or Benson and listen to the Support Helicopter guys. The warfighters in the RAF fly helicopters, and everyone knows it. Fast jet guys fly fast jets, not fighters, because they do not fight and have not done so for years. They have no idea what true combat is like - it is all ego and bravado...go to an Odiham crewroom and you will soon know what a 1000 yard stare looks like.
The sharp end of the RAF has rotor blades, not wings...and they don't need callsigns to show the world their worth...
Look at the RAF. Want to speak to guys who have seen action up close, been shot at, had rounds through the cockpit more than once, seen death up close?...Then go to Odiham or Benson and listen to the Support Helicopter guys. The warfighters in the RAF fly helicopters, and everyone knows it. Fast jet guys fly fast jets, not fighters, because they do not fight and have not done so for years. They have no idea what true combat is like - it is all ego and bravado...go to an Odiham crewroom and you will soon know what a 1000 yard stare looks like.
I know first hand about the helicopter side of this business called War....and shall leave it to young "Gums' to offer his comments re your post as he certainly knows about the FJ side of the joint venture called Air Warfare.
Yes we on the helicopter side have seen the Dragon up close and personal but then I would suggest going "Downtown" to Baghdad and Hanoi in a FJ might somehow acquaint those Pilots with another version of that same Dragon.
Basically I hold no regard for anyone that disses others who put their Lives on the line for God and Country without setting forth some bonafides to prove he knows at all what he is talking about.
Does it matter if you get killed at 30,000 feet going supersonic by a BVR misslle or an RPG while at a hover.....different means can still have equal outcomes.
What matters is putting your Life on the line and doing so willingly that earns those folks our respect.
We do not have to like FJ Pilots and their need for ego stroking but we do owe them the same kind of respect we give everyone that goes into direct combat with an armed aggressive enemy from the Infantryman in the mud to the Crew of an SR-71 at 80,000+ feet going Mach 3.25+.
The sharp end of the RAF has rotor blades, not wings...and they don't need callsigns to show the world their worth...
Thread Starter
Times change but there is a subset of “leaders” who willfully don’t get it. There are many many humorous call signs possibilities that are not overtly racist or sexist. The senior officers in the room had an opportunity to redirect the conversation of junior personnel in a positive way and chose not to. They failed as leaders because they are supposed to value every member of their organization equally, not just white males.
The truly maddening thing is this is a perfect example of shooting yourselves in the foot. The RCAF, indeed the whole CAF, has a huge recruiting problem. Thanks to a few troglodytes we now get an avalanche of bad press. Great job there guys 🙄
The truly maddening thing is this is a perfect example of shooting yourselves in the foot. The RCAF, indeed the whole CAF, has a huge recruiting problem. Thanks to a few troglodytes we now get an avalanche of bad press. Great job there guys 🙄
In this case, the sources said, a young, recently-arrived second lieutenant was singled out over a rumour that he'd had a sexual fling during training with another second lieutenant — a woman who was in a committed same-sex relationship.
Think that the CAF probably has more pressing matters to attend to that actually matter. Heck, just imagine if they had a serial killer as a base commander or something like that being done with complete outward calm and serenity. What? When? Really? They did? A Colonel commander of a base? Really, oh well, perhaps compared to having a serial killer in the rarefied ranks of command, maybe an inappropriate nickname is indeed the end of the world as we know it.
(Helicopter pilots have no need for nicknames, they merely need more ceramic and Kevlar and lucky charms, and a couple of inches more collective)
Salute!
Thanks for the nice words, SAS. For those that have not seen our previous discorse, SAS almost got to pick up my A-37 and haul it back to Bien Ho after I "crash landed" the shot up thing at Saigon Intrernational Airport. The thing only weighed about 6,000 pounds empty and we had several brought home by Chinooks to fix the holes and fly again.
I always thot the rotorheads had bigger cojones than we did, and one great example was a MoH recipient here in the Panhandle named Mike Novosel, so look up his citation and read associated articles. He was a Dustoff down in 4 Corps, that SAS knew that area well. I covered many helo inserts both in-country and in Laos, then later in North Vietnam.
On my "tip of the spear", I personally know more POW's than anyone on pPrune unless they were in my class at USAFA. That's because '64 had more than any USAFA class, and then I knew guys that were not Zoomies, but spent some time from 1966 to 1973 at those neat vacation venues like Dogpatch, Plantation and the Hilton. My timing for three tours was excellent!
Oh well, those days are gone, but not the memories. And I never did anything other than my job and help grunts that were in trouble when they named me "Boy Wonder".
Gums sends...
Thanks for the nice words, SAS. For those that have not seen our previous discorse, SAS almost got to pick up my A-37 and haul it back to Bien Ho after I "crash landed" the shot up thing at Saigon Intrernational Airport. The thing only weighed about 6,000 pounds empty and we had several brought home by Chinooks to fix the holes and fly again.
I always thot the rotorheads had bigger cojones than we did, and one great example was a MoH recipient here in the Panhandle named Mike Novosel, so look up his citation and read associated articles. He was a Dustoff down in 4 Corps, that SAS knew that area well. I covered many helo inserts both in-country and in Laos, then later in North Vietnam.
On my "tip of the spear", I personally know more POW's than anyone on pPrune unless they were in my class at USAFA. That's because '64 had more than any USAFA class, and then I knew guys that were not Zoomies, but spent some time from 1966 to 1973 at those neat vacation venues like Dogpatch, Plantation and the Hilton. My timing for three tours was excellent!
Oh well, those days are gone, but not the memories. And I never did anything other than my job and help grunts that were in trouble when they named me "Boy Wonder".
Gums sends...
I did fetch one back from Vinh Long to Bien Hoa arriving late one evening....having experienced a bolt failure on the four point lifting device provided by Cessna.....was told it was the same as used for the O1E Bird Dog.
Interesting days those were.
I learned I was not bullet proof but was protected by lots of good luck and a Guardian Angel who earned his Hazardous Duty pay and an excuse for his excessive consumption of strong drink.
Odd....most of us always thought it was the other guy that had the bad job.
Interesting days those were.
I learned I was not bullet proof but was protected by lots of good luck and a Guardian Angel who earned his Hazardous Duty pay and an excuse for his excessive consumption of strong drink.
Odd....most of us always thought it was the other guy that had the bad job.
I don't own this space under my name. I should have leased it while I still could
A quick search does not turn up a not uncommon RAF nickname BOOTS assigned to those allegedly landing with feet on the brakes.
I also knew one CRASH.
I also knew one CRASH.
Ah....but you had on your Army Issue Olive Drab Green Tee Shirt and underwear issued In those days that were bullet proof....right!
My foot was on that left pedal when the .51 Cal round passed through severing the hydraulic lines and igniting a fluid fueled fire. Another inch and I would be called "Peggie" for the wooden leg the Army would have issued me. Instead I am just plain "Lucky"!
Or so we were told anyways!
Last edited by SASless; 2nd Dec 2022 at 13:41.