Recollection----I appreciate all the Service braches!

[mp's son]

Being in the Air Force Reserves, I run into other airmen that used to be in the Army (like myself), or the Navy, and even the Marines. Some of the fondest memories I have from my Army years are in working with troops from other services.

 

One such memory for me involved an Air Force C-141 crew. I had gotten a flight out of Panama on emergency leave to be with my dad during his open heart surgeory. I did not realise at the time that this flight would only take me to some ANG base in Alabama. There I was, broke at the time, flying in my dress greens and dumped in Alabama, trying to get to Seattle, with no place to stay. The aircraft landed and I stood on the tarmac not knowing what I was going to do for the night. The air crew had open billeting arrangements with a local motel and, digging through thier gear, they suited me up in an Air Force flight suit, patches and all, and the flight commander told me to keep my mouth shut and play along. They got me a room for the night without me having to pay a dime!

 

Another memory involved a few Marines from a Recon outfit from Rodman Naval Station, near by to Howard Air Force Base in Panama. One night after flying all day, myself and others from our Blackhawk crews wanted to get a beer at the HAFB NCO Club. The Air Force folks didn't like us Army types using thier club and wasted no time telling us. One thing led to another and a fight started. We were outnumbered and were near to having our rear ends handed to us. Suddenly, back up arrived to save the day, like the Calvary in an old western movie. It was a bunch of Recon Marines that we knew from flying them around. The worst we got out of the evening was a severe butt chewing from our First Sergeant and Battalion Sergeant Major (they didn't appreciate getting woken up late at night and having to come sign for us at the Cop Shop...couldn't call our platoon sergeant because he was with us!), but it would have been alot worse if those Marines had not been there to help. Those Marines played hell with the Air Force boys, and seemed to enjoy it as well!

 

Not wanting to leave the Navy out, my friend broke his ankle on a joint-service field exercise in Panama while trying to jump from his Blackhawk while it was still pretty high off the ground. Our medic was no where to be found, but a Navy Corpman who was flying with us splinted up my buddy and got him ready for a Medivac. Needless to say, we gave our medic a full ration of grief for quiet a long time for allowing the Navy to save us!

 

I have fond memories of my Army buddies, as well as though from other services. Even though it seems that we are silently trained to poke fun at each other, when push comes to shove, it seems that we are all always there for each other. Let's here it for all the services!

 

Later,

Matt