Marine Observation Squadron

This is mostly for the Officers and Senior Enlisted personnel...I was just curious if some of us lowly enlisted men and women ever made an impression on any of y'all?  I have many fond memories of what I consider "my" officers and SNCOs...the ones that I busted my butt for, worked long hours with little sleep, so they could fly "my" planes...I'm sure all the other Mechs and Techs agree, we put our blood, sweat and tears into those broncos, and I loved to watch y'all fly 'em!  The senior Enlisted men that took the time to teach us all we needed to know, who put up with the antics, the pranks, the trouble we got into...there was always a fierce sense of  loyalty among the ground crew, we knew we had the best pilots, and I remember an occasional scrap in a bar, defending our "Bronco Riders"...just curious if any of us made an impression on you all... 

Even though it's been over 15 yrs since I have been on active duty, I still miss all the times I spent of the flightline.  All those hours sweating in the heat and freezing in the winter to make sure our "babies" flew the next sortie.  I remember like it was yesterday, laying across the wing, up to my armpit in JP-4, checking the lines on a potentially bad fuel bladder.  Strangely enough, I still remember all the plane captain hand signals and most of the components of the engine.  Being an OV-10 power plants mechanic and having the grand honor of working with all you guys and gals was by far, the best 4 yrs of my life.

I'll never foregt the stalwart determination of the maintenance department throughout the 12 years I served at VMO-2. We were underfunded, undermanned and underloved by the rest of Marine Aviation but our aircraft stayed aloft. WIthout a doubt, the hardest working folks were in the flightline division and avionics. The hardest part of my job as a SNCO was keeping you guys reined in so you were safe on the ground and not dropping centerline tanks on your foot or electrocuting yourselves. It was all done in the interest of operating the best unit in the Marine Corps.

Semper Fi

Keven Webb