"vincent p. norris" wrote in message

The Air Force pilot I mentioned wore an Air Force uniform. We also
had one RAF pilot at Pensacola when I went through; he wore an RAF
uniform. So I assumed that you would be wearing a Navy uniform while
on exchange duty with the Air Force. Shoes included.

We had Canadian exchange officers with us my whole time in VS-27 (we had
one, CAG-56 had one). They wore their regular uniforms IAW their rules and
we never had a problem.

Except once.

I was part of det that flew into Rota a day ahead of the boat. Our Canadian
was flying one of the other aircraft. We landed, got the aircraft squared
away, and were getting into the busses. I standing with a couple of guys
from our squadron when our Canadian put on his beret. The Warrant Officer
who met us from the NAS took one look at that, got big eyes, and said, "What
the Hell are you?" When he found out he was a Canadian he said, "Get that
damn hat off and get rid of those Canadian patches! The ONLY non-Spanish
military personnel allowd on the base were U.S. If the Spaniards see you
they WILL arrest you and they don't like the British or anyone from the
Commonwealth."

So we quickly surrounded him with a "screen," stripped him of his name tag,
VS-880 patch, beret, etc. I gave him my VS-27 ballcap, somebody else came
up with a VS-27 patch, and he went sans nametag. When we signed in to the
BOQ we signed him in as a LT not a CAPT bid not specify a service. We
didn't go out on the town that night, as he would have had to show ID to get
back on the base.

The next morning we met the first boat at the fleet landing and took him
back aboard. After a rather interesting "drill" it was decided to make him
(and our other Canadian) "honorary Americans." There were outfitted with
U.S. Military IDs, uniform items, told to surrender their other documents
(like drivers licenses, etc.), etc. It worked. Nobody got arrested and no
international incidents occurred. After we departed they surrendered their
"American" identities! :-)

I understand that a certain officer on the Admiral's staff had to do a REAL
impressive "rug dance" for not knowing of the problem ahead of time. But,
since I wasn't there, I can only guess...or speculate...or dream!!!! ;-)

Bill Kambic

Mangalarga Marchador: Uma raça, uma paixão