"Make you cockerel crow" and other obsolete aviations terms

“Taxi to runway 23”

I believe that left the building with

“Taxi into position and hold”
 
Piperonca said:
Indefinite ceiling zero, sky obscured, visibility zero in fog. Did I miss one? It's been a while.
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Well pre 1996 that would be accurate. It can also mean “two sheets to the wind” or reference to an infamous room that used to be at the NAS Miramar O Club. ;)

Some other bygone aviation weather abbreviations.

IMG_9379.jpeg
 
I guess I spent too much time working various USAF surveillance programs...
 
Taxiways with names instead of alpha-numeric identifiers (for example KORD and the Stub, Lakeshore Drive, Bridge, New Scenic etc.)
 
Velocity173 said:
… an infamous room that used to be at the NAS Miramar O Club….
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As a young Lt in my first ops squadron, I had a grizzled Cold War era O-5 that once told me I was born about 30 years to late.

The context behind when and why he told me that is perfectly relevant to that era.
 
TCABM said:
As a young Lt in my first ops squadron, I had a grizzled Cold War era O-5 that once told me I was born about 30 years to late.

The context behind when and why he told me that is perfectly relevant to that era.
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Add "O Club" to the list of obsolete aviation terms. As Bob Hope said, "Thanks for the memories."
 
"Dude" did not exist, WW 2 or earlier with todays meaning. It was a style of dress.
 
luvflyin said:
O club ain’t a thang any more?? Has NCO Club and Enlisted Club gone by the wayside also ???
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iirc, HAFB basically combined the two facilities many years ago.

but maybe they did it because of renovations.... it was quite a while ago.
 
luvflyin said:
O club ain’t a thang any more?? Has NCO Club and Enlisted Club gone by the wayside also ???
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Most of the Army and AF installations I frequented have shifted to a combined/consolidate club. Benefits/drawbacks and cultural change, I guess.

Even Nellis is a combined club now.
 
TCABM said:
Most of the Army and AF installations I frequented have shifted to a combined/consolidate club. Benefits/drawbacks and cultural change, I guess.

Even Nellis is a combined club now.
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Call me old school but I don’t think combining alcohol and all ranks is a good idea in a club atmosphere. Now I get it, you can have that happen in a civilian club off base but to invite that type of gathering on base is looking for trouble. Plus, I think an E Club, NCO Club or an O Club, builds identity and camaraderie within similar ranks.

freebeacon.com

Military Making Officers’ Clubs ‘Inclusive,’ Open to All Ranks

The Army is changing the rules for one of its officers’ clubs to be more “inclusive,” opening membership at Fort Myer to service members of any rank.
freebeacon.com freebeacon.com
 
Velocity173 said:
Call me old school but I don’t think combining alcohol and all ranks is a good idea in a club atmosphere. Now I get it, you can have that happen in a civilian club off base but to invite that type of gathering on base is looking for trouble. Plus, I think an E Club, NCO Club or an O Club, builds identity and camaraderie within similar ranks.
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as long as it doesn't foster us vs them, right?
 
I’m assuming - as a civilian - that enlisted and NCOs would be more comfortable with their own clubs so they can do their thing, and they can talk all the smack they want about the officers. Yay or nay on that?
 
In the 19th century, the NCO's clubs were better than the Officer's clubs. The NCOs were career men, more interested in comfortable existence, while the O-clubs had a bunch or rowdy 2nd. Lieutenants who wanted cheap booze and consumed it quickly.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Funny scene in one of my favorite movies (The Bridges at Toko-Ri). William Holden shows up at an E Club looking for Mickey Rooney. MP at the front said Holden (Navy Lt) couldn’t come inside. They took their clubs seriously back then!
 
Old school, 1958, Army, Italy.

Officers Club, very nice, table cloth and servants (Italian) Details of the bar, I do not know. Never personally inside.

NCO club, Formica tables, very little food, burgers, dogs, fries, serve yourself from the bar. Drinks mostly beer and wine.

Enlisted men had to be guested at the NCO club. Otherwise, there was the PX or movie theater for the mostly draftees in the enlisted population, I was an E 4, Specialist 3, and not an NCO. E 4, Corporal, was an NCO and eligible to go to the NCO club. I only went once with a Sargent. When the pool and gym opened, that became the center of enlisted activity. We did our time, and went home. We dominated the Specialist ranks, the volunteers mostly did not go to the advanced raining, and were in the Corporal advancement track.



The nearby Italian Airforce base had a very nice NCO dining room, white table cloth, and table service by recent draftees, very unhappy guys, the equivalent to a month of KP in our military. A liter of wine for each table, choice of red or white voted at the table, good food. I was the guest of a Master Sargent.
 
Velocity173 said:
Call me old school but I don’t think combining alcohol and all ranks is a good idea in a club atmosphere. Now I get it, you can have that happen in a civilian club off base but to invite that type of gathering on base is looking for trouble. Plus, I think an E Club, NCO Club or an O Club, builds identity and camaraderie within similar ranks.

freebeacon.com

Military Making Officers’ Clubs ‘Inclusive,’ Open to All Ranks

The Army is changing the rules for one of its officers’ clubs to be more “inclusive,” opening membership at Fort Myer to service members of any rank.
freebeacon.com freebeacon.com
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As a practical matter, it probably doesn't much matter anymore. I got out of the AF in 2007, and at most of the bases I was at, pretty much nobody went to the clubs anyway. Typically just some retirees at the lunch hour. They were constantly having membership drives to boost membership. The decrease in membership can be attributed to many factors, but these are the ones I saw, and heard people commenting on:

1. Back in the day, many bases were out in the middle of nowhere. In other words, not much else to do for recreation. So you go to the club. Now, the towns have generally expanded and there is lots of stuff to do off base.

2. Changing housing culture. As an officer, I never once lived in base housing. I lived 15 minutes to an hour away. So the club wasn't really "local" to me, and wouldn't be where I'd even think of to hang out.

3. Changing culture and rules and enforcement on alcohol. During my time, any kind of alcohol incident became almost an instant career-killer. We're not just talking DUIs, we're talking almost any kind of buffoonery that used to just be laughed off. So it became "safer" to drink off base in many people's opinions.

4. Changing perception of the base as a whole. In the past it was everything - your workplace, where you lived, your social center, recreation area, where you went shopping, everything. You literally never needed to leave for anything. So the club was a natural place to go. Now, many more people live off base than used to, many base facilities are open inconvenient hours, etc. So anymore, the base for many people is simply a workplace. You go there in the morning and leave in the afternoon.

Some other reasons, of course, but those are the big ones I saw. I acknowledge that my experience ends in 2007 or shortly thereafter, so it may not be relevant anymore, but I'm guessing not much has changed.
 
RussR said:
As a practical matter, it probably doesn't much matter anymore. I got out of the AF in 2007, and at most of the bases I was at, pretty much nobody went to the clubs anyway. Typically just some retirees at the lunch hour. They were constantly having membership drives to boost membership. The decrease in membership can be attributed to many factors, but these are the ones I saw, and heard people commenting on:

1. Back in the day, many bases were out in the middle of nowhere. In other words, not much else to do for recreation. So you go to the club. Now, the towns have generally expanded and there is lots of stuff to do off base.

2. Changing housing culture. As an officer, I never once lived in base housing. I lived 15 minutes to an hour away. So the club wasn't really "local" to me, and wouldn't be where I'd even think of to hang out.

3. Changing culture and rules and enforcement on alcohol. During my time, any kind of alcohol incident became almost an instant career-killer. We're not just talking DUIs, we're talking almost any kind of buffoonery that used to just be laughed off. So it became "safer" to drink off base in many people's opinions.

4. Changing perception of the base as a whole. In the past it was everything - your workplace, where you lived, your social center, recreation area, where you went shopping, everything. You literally never needed to leave for anything. So the club was a natural place to go. Now, many more people live off base than used to, many base facilities are open inconvenient hours, etc. So anymore, the base for many people is simply a workplace. You go there in the morning and leave in the afternoon.

Some other reasons, of course, but those are the big ones I saw. I acknowledge that my experience ends in 2007 or shortly thereafter, so it may not be relevant anymore, but I'm guessing not much has changed.
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Yeah in Okinawa I went to the E Club all the time because I lived on base. Like on deployment, when you can’t go out in town, you congregate in a make shift club on base. In the states there are far better places to go and if you live out in town, there’s not much point in driving back to base to go to a club.
 
Back to obsolete terms:
Uncontrolled airport/field
 
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