Don't mean to butt in, but Bunk, I just saw your helmet last wednesday. It's there.

Awesome museum. (Though I wasted $20 on the hornet 'sim'. Not so much a sim as it is microsoft flight sim stuffed into a cheap cockpit mockup. )

Almost makes me seem cool or like I did something cool. Not so much

How did it come to pass that your helmet is in there?

I'm sure Bunk has a better story, but at least for other ready rooms - requests went out for donations - especially if you had ever deployed on the USS Midway.

USMCFLYR

Being a part of the E2/C2 community, I had heard there was a ready room being created as part of the museum. Once it was completed, I noticed all the helmets from jet squadrons. So I emailed the folks who were in charge of the E2/C2 ready room and told them that my helmet had just been declared unserviceable by the PR's for some damage to the foam lining and they should put a helmet used by E2/C2 folks in their ready room museum. They agreed and thus, there's my old helmet. So USMCFlyer was correct, not sexy by any means. I created my own graphics for my new helmet but my PR's used simple reflective tape for that one, a bit old school. So it looks a bit rough.

As your profile doesn't have much information, I'm rather curious as to what your "Personal Experience" might be that would lead you to write such a post?

Bunk22-you flying the T-45 yet?

Nope, I leave Korea in July, have to go to P-cola for water survival then report to TW-2 in August. So whenever they let me start the ITU, probably September or so is my guess.

I've always wanted to be a military pilot.

But, alas, I have a rather fragile disposition, I throw up very easily, my eyesight is poor, my kidneys are in even worse shape, I am slightly argumentative, I tend to overanalyze things, I am afraid of heights and open spaces, and I still can't tell what zulu time it is where you are.

Sure would like to have cool name like bunk or hacker or something.

Are you sure you weren't in the military? You sure sound a lot like my first fleet CO.

Brother,
There are no cool call signs. The guys running around with call signs like "lazer" or "death ray" gave themselves those names; and they usually won't stick. (they will be the only ones refering to themselves as such). Names like "torch" (for overtemping an engine on start up), or "pucks" (for landing long and overheating the brakes), or boner (never mind about that one) are the ones that follow you around and stick. No different from any other nick name you got from your buddies.
Semper fi,
Aloha