JarheadBoom

I'm gonna ask a stupid-but-serious question....... Is this REALLY an official, government-funded, "entertainment" organization within the Air Force???

Would be sweet. But it's bigger/more powerful/more expensive than what the AF seems to want. Of course, the RFP may change again...

That's a Corporal in the Marines; the first of the NCO ranks; paygrade E-4. Thanks, Rainman. Minor point: Marines in Utilities (we/they dont have "BDUs") or flightsuits are permitted to make "brief, essential stops off-base". That's by Marine Corps Order (USMC's version of AFI's)... but local commands can always make the regs more strict. [sarcasm] And now, it's time for some Joint Service training! [/sarcasm] 1. The Marine Corps does not have a "Class A" or "Class B" uniform. 2. The green coat and trousers, with khaki long-sleeve shirt & tie (Jack Nicholson's uniform in court during A Few Good Men) is called the "Service Alpha" uniform. Take the coat off, and it's the "Service Bravo". Green trousers and the short-sleeve khaki shirt is the "Service Charlie". All 3 are authorized for wear during leave/liberty. 3. The dark-blue high-necked coat with blue trousers is the famous "Dress Blue" uniform. "Dress Blue Alpha" is with fullsize medals, "Dress Blue Bravo" is with ribbons & badges. "Dress Blue Charlie" and "Delta" is what you normally see Marine recruiters wearing - Charlie is the long-sleeve khaki shirt & tie, Delta is the short-sleeve khaki shirt. Bravo, Charlie, and Delta are authorized for wear during leave/liberty; Alpha is not.

My last Marine Corps squadron's callsign was "Hustler"; i.e. "Hustler 404, cleared for takeoff". So we're in the lead aircraft on Day 2 of a 3-day, 2-ship X/C from MCAS New River to Edwards AFB to trade aircraft (CH-53E's) with our sister squadron. We're somewhere over Texas, headed to Kirtland to RON, and my pilots are talking to someone (I forget who) to request VFR Flight-Following. The controller can't seem to grasp the request; comes back like 3 times asking us to "say again your callsign?". Finally, my copilot, who is the squadron OpsO, says over the radio "It's HUSTLER, just like the magazine!" Dead silence on freq for like 5 seconds... meanwhile, we're laughing our asses off in the back, and the pilot (the squadron CO) is shaking his head and saying "I can't believe you just said that on the radio"... but at least he was chuckling when he said it. Finally, the controller comes back with our (correct) callsign and squawk, accompanied by plenty of laughter in the background. ------------------------ Same X/C, next day: Departing Kirtland, we had some comm issues (common in the -53E) and Tower tells us we're weak & unreadable. Same copilot flip-flops the Tower freq into the other radio in record time, and says on-freq "Can you hear me now?" just like those annoying Verizon commercials that had just started airing a couple weeks earlier. Tower comes right back with "Good!", just like the commercial.