Funny the things you remember out of the blue just seeing a photo.
Specifically, if I recall the earlier skinnier one in flight deck jersey was on Wespac 85 early in the morning. Think I was getting sailor of month. That got me a 72 hr liberty which mean't no duty section in port Mombasa shortly after. Took advantage of that with some buds and got on a 3 day tour of Amboseli and Tsavo West.
The second later photo in dungaree shirt was on our BGE (Battle Group Eval) in Feb 87 somewhere south of San Diego off the coast of Baja. Kirb's and I were getting the NAS Miramar Safety Pro of the Month award for catching a hydraulic leak in the Port engine nacelle on a launch a month or so earlier and saving A/C from burning down in flight.
We were on the ramp at Miramar Hanger 6. I smelled something different just before closing the hatch after punching the codes into the radios. Pretty providential I'd say. Hard to smell anything out of sorts in the open hatch with JP5 turbine exhaust swirling around. Guess I was spending a lot of time in the A/C flying as IFT and also as AT troubleshooter on launches and something just didn't seem right.
I went out the hatch, waved and pointed two fingers to my nose to AMS2 Kirby who was outside on the human safety chain. Guess I was getting confident with a Wespac under my belt to make a call for an engine shutdown on a launch. Actually Kirb's seconded that so it was easy having another with me on the call. That call may have made me in the eyes of some. Didn't realize it till much later.
We had Flight secure that engine while Kirbs got up in the wheel well and started popping fastners loose on the bottom panel. He took a bath in hot hyd fluid. It just flooded down on him. Didn't do him any damage. Well, trashed his cranial and coat and we all had a good laugh at his expense back in the hanger.
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