Another update

[trystinn]

Josh has been in contact on a regular basis, to which I am most grateful. He did have some specifics for us - his cranial has Cookie printed on the back bottom, along with 5T on the front and back, his green vest and a blue jacket with a red stripe along the left sleeve. He has not yet been up on deck for helio packing, but his turn is coming. They are taking shifts of volunteers to minimize exposure. *sigh*

Tonight, the VAQ-139 Squadron is hosting a Town Meeting to discuss the entire situation. There's a lot of rumor, I assume the signal to noise ratio is minimal at best.

Meanwhile, I'm out of dog food (the horror) and need more poultry feed, which means I must go to the feedstore. Where they might have chicks. Beautiful, fluffy, sweet little chickies. Pray for me.

Comments

Oh yes, I should have mentioned :D

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Mea culpa

The 5T stands for two things:
5 is for the 5th of 10 squadrons. In our case, the VAQ-139 Cougars, electronic warfare.

The T stands for Avionics Technician. The Avionics portion is understood.

He wears a blue Mustang survival jacket (what they wear on crab fishing boats in Alaska), so that if he should be tossed into the big blue, he can float and maintain body warmth. It also helps keep them warm on the deck as it blocks wind chill.

The green vest identifies him as plane crew. Every color represents a different job - from deck crew to firemen to guys who hook up the bombs. If you're working on the deck, your vest tells folks what you do. It also has an amazing amount of reflectors on it, as does the Mustang coat - some of which are ironically blocked by the vest. *snort*

The red stripe represents his rank - that he has earned 3 chevrons/stripes, which is a Petty Officer 1st class, so that he can be easily located as a senior NCO in case someone needs a supervisor.

Re: Oh yes, I should have mentioned :D

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

*Clarification: He's not a Senior NCO (that's a Chief).

Re: Oh yes, I should have mentioned :D

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

Just got a confirmation on another clarification.

The red stripe is a bit of a misnomer symbol-wise. His chevrons are gold - meaning he's had 12 consecutive years of exemplary service. Which basically means, he's not been to Captain's Mast - which is the disciplinary board.