Previously Held NEC AD-0000-Aviation Machinist's Mate
AD-6416-J-52 Jet Turbojet Engine First Degree/IMA Mechanic
139X-Unrestricted Line Officer - Pilot (In Training)
131X-Unrestricted Line Officer - Pilot
163X-Special Duty Officer - Intelligence
Best Friends Tom and Linda Hunt and Fred and Allie Schaad.
Best Moment First Jet solo. It was magical.
Worst Moment The World War II Link trainers we had to use. I won't say they were worthless, but they were close.
Our first son, Blake, was miscarried at Meridian.
Other Memories The beauty of the countryside and the base.
Horseback riding at the stables on the base.
Pool parties at various apartments.
Ground school. It was actually fun and exciting learning about the jet, the T2A and T2B, instrument flying and other things.
A student got in trouble for lowering the gear before slowing to the proper speed, and for his punishment, he had to create a safety poster for the ready room. This was before women flyers, and he got a Playboy centerfold and put a big sign on it that read, "Never expose your gear about 165 knots." It was a howl.
I have heard this next story several times from other people in other places, so it is probably just a joke, but I heard it at Meridian as a true story that just happened. This is the way I heard it. A student solo was returning to the field and forgot what his aircraft number was. It wasn't always posted on the instrument panel in those days. So, he calls up the tower and confesses that he doesn't remember his number. The controller in the tower, an enlisted man says, "Have you got a name?". The student responded, "My name is Fred.". The controller then said, "OK, Fred, cleared to the numbers.". About the time he gets there he remembers his number and says, "Tower, 314 at the numbers for the break.". The controller responds, "Is that you, Fred?". He replies in the affirmative, so the controller says, "You came in as Fred, you are going to land as Fred. Fred cleared to break.".
Then one week, the Navy opened a new T2C squadron at NAS Kingsville in Texas to try to punch out more pilots for the Viet Nam War, and transferred me and about a dozen others who had just soloed to Kingsville.
