A request from Gordon ....

Dave, "Safety Standarounds" were a part of Navy life, usually scheduled
far in advance (think: dental appointmens) but often brought on by the
loss of a Squadron aircraft or a string of problems Navy-wide dealing
with that type of a/c. The scheduled ones were "Long periods of
boredom, interrupted by moments of stark boredom"; sitting through the
same decades-old flight deck crash movies, Forrestal and O-boat fire
movies, and the like, punctuated by long, rambling efforts to teach us
all some bit of safety knowledge that we usually knew better than the
pilot-forced-to-become-a-safety-officer-forced-to-become-a-public-speaker-guy..
Think twenty minutes of good gouge crammed into 9 hours seated on
uncomfortable folding chairs. Pins for your eyes were manditory.

Of a completely different nature were the Standdowns that occurred
after the loss of a squadron a/c, which in our case usually meant loss
of friends. They were somber and thoughtful lectures and briefings
with a little opportunity to ask questions and try to heal, as much as
learn from the mishap. Often, the mishap board wouldn't have answers
for months after the event, but we'd typically get surprisingly close
to the truth of what happened during the first few days, so it wasn't
uncommon to use these standdowns as a way to reassure everyone and get
the right word out - the worst thing in these cases was usually the
rumors that flew about in the hours after the loss.

"The Man From LOX" was a staple part of the safety diet for people who
flew or worked around aircraft; it was as much a part of life as the
flight deck crash movies and aircraft carrier fire movies. Every
Airdale in the Navy knew what was about to happen and watched the first
few moments of the Forrestal fire tape with the same anticipation.
Everyone knowing that shortly, they would see that brave muther****in
Chief in the Crash&Salvage silver suit dragging a large firebottle
toward the flaming A-4. In another moment, the hellfire of bombs
exploded and vaporized him before our eyes. Long before the rest of
the world knew who Senator John McCain was, generations of "grapes"
(fuelers), final checkers, and plane captains had seen his A-4
immolated in super-slow-motion on the flight deck of the "Forest Fire"
a hundred times.

That same ingrained training, just like the hideous last few moments of
"LOX", penetrated the hours and hours of boredom to program a response
out of each and every one of us.

When there is a fire on the flight deck on a Navy carrier, you know
what you see? Hundreds of sailors dropping what they are doing to dash
toward that blaze, in exactly the same manner as that long dead but
never forgotten Navy Chief. Every last one of them instantly knowing
precisely what they are going to do, and how. Whether they remember
that Chief at that moment or not, he is right there with them.

I hope those pilot/safety officers/public speakers are still boring the
**** out of young squids today...

yf
Gordon
PS, "LOX" should be a Stile video - its THAT gruesome...

LOX. I remember a grizzled 8-striped Line Chief at Homestead AFB
savaging a young rookie who was caught stomping on spilled LOX drops to
hear them bang between his boot and the tarmac. The LC was so eloquent
I wanted to take notes.
BJ

wrote:
LOX. I remember a grizzled 8-striped Line Chief at Homestead AFB
savaging a young rookie who was caught stomping on spilled LOX drops to
hear them bang between his boot and the tarmac. The LC was so eloquent
I wanted to take notes.
BJ

Would someone refresh my memory?

IIRC, "The Man from LOX" had been filling bottles on Kitty Hawk and lit
off in his bunk from O2 absorbed into his coveralls?

Rick

Yofuri wrote in news:11hcvfa18rsvf67
@corp.supernews.com:

wrote:
LOX. I remember a grizzled 8-striped Line Chief at Homestead AFB
savaging a young rookie who was caught stomping on spilled LOX drops to
hear them bang between his boot and the tarmac. The LC was so eloquent
I wanted to take notes.
BJ

Would someone refresh my memory?

IIRC, "The Man from LOX" had been filling bottles on Kitty Hawk and lit
off in his bunk from O2 absorbed into his coveralls?

I have no idea. I don't recall ever seeing anything official that told "the
rest of the story". I heard a couple of different rumours about what
happened, but don't recall hearing that specific one. I would think that
getting from a LOX handling area to one's bunk would take long enough to
dissipate whatever gaseous oxygen that managed to collect in clothing.

Dave in San Diego