A week at AC Intermediate in 1996

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 4:42 pm

Well i've heard two diffrent things that it stands for in real life it Radar Intercet Officer but at AC i kept hearing it refered to as Radio Intercept oficer. In the Airforce they are ussualy known as wiso although i have no idea what that stands for. But anyway onto graduation day.

Well the last day at Ac began like normal except our squadron had Duty flight which meant we had to clean up the classrooms and bathroom which after last nights Pizza and cleaning up after E and E was a mess. We put on our flight suits for the last time since atleast at the time all trainees in Intermediate (Mach 3) wore their flight suits to graduation. We went to breakfast and while their passed around paper to get everyobes name and address and the few email addresses for those who had them at the time. Afterwards we came back to AC and had one last lecture this time by the AC base commander on aviation careers. We also had some time to take a few more pictures. then to try to stay cool we all went in the sim room where it was air coinditioned to wait for our turn at graduation. The lower two Ac levels had theirs first then the i believe it was 4 Intermediate squadrons came out and we were graduated one group at a time i believe we were second. Although i shudder to think what was going through the parents minds when they gave our callsigns. They also gave out the Top Gun and Right Stuff awards both of which went to pilot Rio teams from the Grim Reapers. Then Ac was effectively over. We said our goodbyes then turned in our flight suits. Then everyone who wasnt leaving imediately was taken over to the ward room to wait till either it was time to leave for the airport or lunch time, In my case lunch. We all went over to the space camp cafeteria ate then came back. Thankfiully i didnt have to sit their much longer because i was staying overnight. So one of the counselors came and got the 3 intermediate trainees who were staying the extra night. It was me a spanish guy and a girl from the Grim Reapers. We went and got out luggage and put them in our new room where we would be staying the night. Then we went over to the museum and went through their again and to the gift shop one last time before coming back to AC and watching a Few Good Men. That evening after dinner we went swimming for a while and had to put up with a bunch of anoying rich kids who were touring the kids with their parents. They weren't too bad just a little stuck up most of the time. Later that night we watched flight of the Intruder then the other 2 watched something else but i went to bed since i had to be up at 5 am to leave for the airport. Well thats pretty much the ;last Day although tommorow ill cover the trip home too.

spacecampaddict28 · Post by **spacecampaddict28** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:04 pm

Why oh why must the last day be so sad? I hate the last day of camp sometimes...its so sad knowing that youre gonna never see these people again (most likely). I thought I was getting away from Ben, but no I am surely mistaken. jk.

Benji · Post by **Benji** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 8:23 pm

Oh, you didn't know me that well. But I'll deal with that on an IM and I won't cloud up the forum with that (like some peole *cough*cough*).

Anyway, does anyone have a pic of an AC flight suit? I wonder b/c I just got a great gift from my brother's godmother: Her late husband's old Navy flightsuit.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 8:29 pm

Well i dont have a picture of one but the last picture i saw of one just had an american flag on the left sleave and the AC patch on the right breast same place as the space camp patch goes on the camp flight suit. The one you got is probably much nicer than the ones you would buy at AC. The ones they issue you at Ac are real flight suits but have no patches. If you go and you dont mind taking the one you got it would probably be good atleast you know where its been and if it has real patches it would look cooler.

Benji · Post by **Benji** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 8:56 pm

It doesn't have any patches or anything on it, but it is cool.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 9:01 pm

Well even so atleast it would be your own suit and you could always get whatever patches you wanted before you go and put them on.

Benji · Post by **Benji** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 9:14 pm

This is true, and it is something I'd do. It'll be my own little mix, NASA, Space Camp, AC stuff, whatever I want. It probably won't be at all conventional.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 9:21 pm

Sounds like a cool idea if you do that id like to see a picture of that flight duit myself. I have one i bought brand new for only 15 dollars at a gun show its in great condition i still dont know what i'm going to do with it though. I have both NASA and aviation patches and i have the right patches for my AC squadron i even found a place to get the official versions of the tomcat patches and name tag for my squadron so thats what i'm probably going to do.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 12:09 pm

Well here it is the last day of AC. Graduation was over all of my team was gone and now it was time to head ome again. My day started very early when 2 counselors came in and woke me up before dawn. One of them was my old space camp counselor Kenn, We went over to hab 1 and had a cold cereal breakfast with an orange and juice. Then it was off to the airport with a hot looking female counselor and a kid who had gone to space camp that week. We got their checked in and went to our gate. After she took the kid to his she came back and we watcvhed the sun rise together. I was sure theis would probably be my last space camp trip thankfuly i was wrong. It wasnt long before i was on the plane flying to atlanta which as most of you know a very short hop. Then after a short layover in Atlanta i was on another plane headed for Norfolk. We had a long wait in line for takeoff so i ended up falling asleep till after we were in the air and the flight atendants were serving drinks. Well after that i was awake till we landed. I got off the plane and was met by my dad and my girlfeiwnd at the time and we went home. I took another nao when i got home i was exhausted then went over to my girlfriends for mostof the day. And then my AC week was over.

Benji · Post by **Benji** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 12:41 pm

I always hate the last day or the ending of anything fun. Space Camp, Homecoming, Family Reunions (these are the worst, I think). I think the best time to leave is when about half the people are left. When you're the first to go, it stinks because you think you're missing out. When you're the last, you're sitting there by yourself after all the fun is gone, thinking 'bout the week and what you're gonna miss.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 2:36 pm

Well thats so true. The last day of camp is always the worst. Escpecially when your the last one and all your new friends you just spent a week with are gone. Oh and one thing i forgot from yesterday was a suprise our day counselor gave us before graduation. Someone during the week had asked him who the bsest team he'd ever had was so on the last day of ac he got the whole team Dog Tags that said Red Rippers you're the Best Aviation Challenge 1996.

Benji · Post by **Benji** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 10:53 am

There was some discussion about this thread in another post, just bringing it up...

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Wed Feb 25, 2004 10:58 am

Thank you Benji for pointing this out - saved me some time searching

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:52 pm

Ok i'm bored so i'm bumping this post up since tommorow will be 19 years since i went to AC and since there has been alot oif talk of that time period at AC recently.

Sandrat · Post by **Sandrat** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:55 am

I think that's 10 years and not 19 - I'm not that old yet.

Two quick things from previous posts:

RIO stood for Radar Intercept Officer given the Tomcat's powerful radar system and the capability of the Phoenix missile system it carried. Now I believe that the backseaters in the Super Hornets (since the F-14 has been all but retired) are called Weapons Systems Officers just like the Air Force. Spanky will correct me if I'm wrong I'm sure.

The briefing back to the counselors? I was in that group. And yes, we tore everyone up that summer.

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 12:03 pm

Oops my finger must have slipped yes thats 10 years. 19 years ago AC didnt even exist ofcourse except maye as an idea. But i doubt it was even that far in 1987.

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:54 pm

Ah, we still have Hornets up here... I love Hornets... (not the insect... I despise those hornets...)

We call our second man the Flight Navigations Officer, or FlightNav.

WSO sounds familiar for some reason though...

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:07 pm

I've seen the CFA-18 perform at airshows here in the states but still doesn't beat the maneuverability of the newer super hornets which are incredible. I was always a tomcat fan but those new superhornets are amazing thanks to their thrust vectoring.

SpaceCanada · Post by **SpaceCanada** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:25 pm

Oh yeah, the superhornet is definitely an improvement on the original. And such a beautiful plane... dreamy sigh...

Speaking of which, I missed the Maple Flag airshow (Father's Day weekend) but I wonder when the Edmonton International Airport is having their next airshow... hmmm...

Next year my husband wants to take me to Cold Lake (Air Force central base for Western Canada) during Maple Flag so I can see all the cool planes and their international air show. Woot!

Boomerang · Post by **Boomerang** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:56 pm

Well i don't know where in Canada you are or if you are anywhere near the us border or where along the border you would be but if you are anywhere near the state of Wisconsin you might want to consoider going to the osh kosh air show its pretty much the biggest in the US. Always wanted to go but havent had the chance, But atleast we have 2 good local air shows here. One at Langley Air Force Base the other at Naval Air Station Oceana