[The Proud]

Well, coming from Aircrew Candidate School in Pensacola my orders were to Loadmaster School for C-130's. But talking to a couple of SSgts that were Loadmaster about their job, I decided it wasn't what I was after. They rack up tons of hours but it is all from thousands of feet in the air.. They don't have a major combat role, Loadmaster don't mech very much....it wasn't me. You have to know what is right for you. Being covered in engine oil, huffing JP-5 fumes, popping up at the enemy from 75ft AGL and blasting away with a .50cal is me. Being a Loadmaster is challenging and requires you to use math and they also do some cool stuff like air drops and mid air refueling, but it isn't as good as flying nap of the earth at 70knots and then hitting 60 degrees AOB and just feeling the aircraft shudder from it all and listening to the deafening WHOP WHOP WHOP of the blades as they beat the air to maintain flight. And that is just the cheesy training stuff. Spy rigging, DACM's, Gun Runs during low light conditions...Hueys Rock! So I did what you should always do when you need something big - I went to the Gunny and he graciously changed my orders.

As for swimming, try to get the strokes down as best you can in boot camp. P-Cola guys are very picky about how you do the strokes. It's all about the strokes. The whole point is to be able to swim long distances. In the end you have to swim a mile in a flight suit in under 80min using only the strokes they teach you. Don't try too hard now, it will only cause you to develop bad habits that you will have to unlearn.

The lifestyle of aircrew or of a Marine? For aircrew each platform is different as to how you are treated. All I can speak to is Skids because that's all I know. It sucks when you first check in. You have no life. Working all the time and studying when your not working. Seriously - you have no life. You pull all the worst jobs too. But once you start picking up quals (Huey and/or Cobra plane captain) learn how to test and become an asset to your squadron the later you come in and the earlier you leave.

Like I said before, if you want to be a Crewchief you had better have an exceptional work ethic, good study habits, and be able to multi-task your ass off. In the air you are listening to multiple radios, scanning gauges, keeping an eye out for obstacles, always knowing where the other aircraft in your section are, looking out for other aircraft, trouble shooting jams on your gun, calling your approach into your zone, shooting....all at the same time. On top of it all you could be doing these things at night on goggles during low light and/or dealing with guys on the ground talking you onto a target that have limited to know experience calling air support and get everything messed up.

Then on the ground you are expected to be as good as the mechs who devote all their time to being a mechanic and don't have to think about anything else. Trannys have to be replaced, engines need to be rigged, gearboxes have to serviced, rotors have to be tracked and balanced, tested for vibrations, things need to be greased, Daily and Turnaround inspections have to be completed.........plus you need to know a little about other people's jobs too like ordnance - you will know more about and maintain the crew served weapons than the guys that work in ordnance. We shoot em we clean em. Avionics - electrical systems go down all the time and you may not always have Avi guys there to fix it. You have to troubleshoot the problem and get back out there and complete the mission. Airframes - our flight controls run by hydraulics and if they fail you better have atleast some knowledge of the system and how to fix it or work around it.

Obviously other rotary wing platforms will have different challenges and pressures and fix wing is completely different but in the end aircrew is aircrew and alot is demanded of us. There is a reason the school has the third highest attrition rate in the Marine Corps. It's all you. What kind of person are you and what are you looking for? One of my best friends from boot camp was more of a C-130 guy so he stuck with that and loves it as much as I love my job. When I was here a year ago there was an Army WO pilot who came here. He could give you a pilot's perspective on crewchiefs.