SGT. GREIGO'S FLAK JACKET

I've thought about this since Art posted it, and guys have been popping him for
not correcting Griego's behavior. Flying is full of superstitious people and
we had our share - some folks always wore the same gross/filthy/threadbare
flightdeck jerseys when they flew, others tied their boots a particular way or
refused to ever wear new equipment on a flight, etc. My inflight indescretion
was to unstrap 90% of the time - our radar station seat was positioned in a way
that even a mild impact would cleave off my legs because even at full retract,
I was too tall to get out from under the rack. Periodically, pilots would see
me digging around in back and ask or demand that I put on at least the
hurricane strap - while still "illegal", it would at least keep a large portion
of my body within the confines of a wreck, were it to happen. I would sullenly
strap in and wait for the GUF to turn back around and then :::clunk::: I'd drop
it back onto the floor. Most pilots I flew with would "order" me to strap in,
but understood I had my own reasons for not doing so; we got into one short
argument (that I won, btw) and other than that, they felt they were doing their
jobs by telling me to do it, whether I did or not. I never had a problem with
the pilots in this regard, primarily because I obeyed the other 99.99% of their
orders/suggestions - and I did a great job.

I didn't come up with that 'unstrap' idea on my own - we had a crusty old AW1
NATOPS Evaluator in my shop when I first arrived in H-2s and he wore a nasty
scar across his forehead - from not wearing his straps and impacting the radar
with a fair amount of force. As he was one of my initial instructors, I
listened to every point he wanted to make about my new ride - the H-2 had such
a horrible reputation among crews (and the Navy in general), that any extra bit
of help was something I thought could bale me out when the little red
"Extremis" light came on. I saw photos of his accident and if he had been
strapped in upon impact, that dude would be dead, no question. So, I got to
thinking about how much I liked running and swimming on my only pair of legs
and I decided I would follow every other order, but not -that- one.

When the drivers occasionally got stupid (115 knots at 20' above the sea), I
made it a point to climb up and gingerly sit on the radio panel between the
pilots - that got LCDR F____ into a tizzyfit, but I stood my ground and said
something to the effect, "If you're going to kill me doing something this
dangerous, I at least want to see it coming." After a few zingers back and
forth, he slowly brought us up out of the ocean spray and slowed down to a more
sane speed - at which point I went back and turned the radar back on: its not
like I could see anything on the scope when the nose was 45-degrees down and we
were screaming along within the wave troughs. Radar horizon was about as far
as the blade tips in that flight attitude anyway!

I think when your job is inherently dangerous, beyond the 'normal danger' of
flight, some decisions are more personal and the pilots/Ohs were human enough
to understand, if not agree. I think that is the situation for the officers
and the tailgunner on "Willie The Wolf".

v/r
Gordon
====(A+C====
USN SAR

Donate your memories - write a note on the back and send your old photos to a
reputable museum, don't take them with you when you're gone.