Originally Posted by
BDGERJMN
That 4-5 also always included the MATSG staff and LSO school Marine if it was a Marine. For years it was 2 USMC CORE IP(Normally MAWTS/TG grads) at 106 with a Marine XO and MATSG CO/XO. Now there are 8-10 last I counted. A definite plus up. I think the premise had to do with what the squadron was putting out to the fleet in terms of Marine Cat I RPs vs what it was staffed to support in comparison to Navy manning at VMFAT-101 and navy throughput.
Maybe - - there was suppose to be some comparison to number of Marine RPs produced to IPs assigned but it was nebulous.
The Marine LSO billet wasn't even around till 2000/2001. Col Powers got it back on the books. It was there all along, but never filled. Remember the MATSG command is there for ALL Marines on the base, they just happen to be pilots. In my day (though long gone and rescinding ever more quickly
), that 4-5 I spoke of was in -106/-125. MATSG CO/XO was additional and at -125 did more flying with -122 in ther Supers. I thought USN manning at -101 was similar?
In any case - there were few enough Marines at the RAGs that you had to be asked to show up and it was a coveted position for the flying and QOL.
That is one reason I sacrificed (you know what I mean
), for that second tour!
On a different subject, check out the thread in the Photos/Video section and take a look for me if you get a chance for that low level that I thought started near Mt Shasta in NorCal and ended up near Fallon. I want to know if time is playing tricks on me.
Now -- back on thread track. The former Blues may seem like the regular guys back in the fleet after their tours, but there is no doubt that they are *different* DURING their tours! I'm sure that anyone who has met with them at one of the many social events, mixers, around the squadron at P-Cola or El Centro, during the actual show, and so forth know what I'm talking about in this regard.
USMCFLYR