Tailhook Daily Briefing

Another Recap from the Tailhook National '07

From LCDR Kevin "Proton" McLaughlin (Colorado Strike Force)

Back from all the hard work and lack of fun in Reno this past weekend.  For those concerned, my liver transplant yesterday was successful, but I am rapidly running out of tee-totaling benefactors in the greater Colorado Springs area.  If you know of any organ donors, please pass along their info.

The event was a HUGE success.  Over 2500 registered attendees (and many,
many more "unregistered") and the largest airlift support contingent
since 1991--over 350 active duty personnel from both the East and West
coasts. 

The highlights, as always, were the Bug Roach mixer on Friday night and the Flag Panel on Saturday.  The mixer had over 1,400 folks in the large banquet room and easily another 1,000 in the admin suites surrounding the space.  For the number of people and amount of "conviviality" there were surprisingly ZERO incidents.  VFA-122 and VFA-125 shared an admin suite and it was going STRONG when I went up to bed just prior to 0600 on Saturday morning (which, incidentally, made Saturday one of the longest hangover days on record--somebody call Guinness for me).

The Flag panel was chaired by VADM Kilcline (AIRPAC/Air Boss), and consisted of (left to right on your radio dial) RDML "Guads" Gaudagnini(CNATRA), BGEN "Whaler" Walsh (DC Aviation), RADM "Waldo" Emerson (NSAWC), VADM "DJ" Venlett (NAVSYSCOM), RADM "Goody" Goodwin (AIRLANT), RADM "Santee" Clingan (N88), and RADM Jeff Lemmons (CNAFR).  Some solid,pointed questions were tossed at them with the primary recurring theme of letting "Jointness" take over Naval Aviation (my fellow Joint-serving O-4's feel that particular pain) at the seeming expense of Tactical development and leadership.  All-in-all, a good solid exchange between the crowd and the Flags.

Colorado attendees included Hans and Kathy Schmoldt from GJT, Spook
McFillen, Black Bart Flaherty (who got the crowd in a frenzy with a
pointed question to the Flag panel--NICE WORK!), Lipper Lee, Rusty
Barber, Dick Trickle, and yours truly.  If I forgot anyone, I apologize--if we chatted, you were probably looking at/talking to my evil twin Neutron.

Finally, the speaker at the Banquet was Gene Cernan, retired CAPT and the LAST man to set foot on the moon.  An UNBELIEVABLE speaker, aviator,astronaut, and gentlemen.  He brought a PowerPoint brief with him that
had his own personal pictures from Apollo XVII and they were astounding.

He got very choked up a few times, but none
more so than in his final remarks when he said that of all the groups / societies/ associations he is associated with, the one he is most proud of is the fraternity of Naval Aviation.

Hear, hear.

 

Thanks Proton [Ed.]

Tailhook National Symposium (Photos from the Front!)

More from our freelance photographer at large, Kathy Schmoldt.  (By the way other photos and stories are welcomed!  Simply e-mail them to me (or a link to your gallery) here: Send me an email.

From Kathy the first portion is didicated to VFA-94 The Mighty Shrikes! In the pics are: (in no particular order)...

Snuffy, Tonto, "11", Metro, Coma, Coach, Molt, Gloop, Sully and Spider.

 

Along came another "Spider"! 

Spider Webb and his wife Jan.

Part 3 on the way...

Photos from the Tailhook National Conference

As I am unable to attend the festivities in Reno this year...  I have enlisted the freelance reporting and photography skills of a few Tailhookers to help me fill the "Daily Obligation" of the Briefing: 

I am in debt to Kathy Schmoldt for her ready supply of photographs from the front lines of the conference.

Below I am providing a number of photos from the first few days of the conference:  Captions welcomed, if you can assist in identifying the players, please let me know in the comments and I will be glad to edit the images to reflect accurately. 

 

  

 

 

That's the end of part one...

Part two on the way!

Tailhook '07 Annual Reunion/Convention Schedule

 

It is finally here!

Reunion Schedule in a Downloadable and Printable PDF: Click Here

Naval Aviator Boat Pennants!

From the "Hey I Want That!" department... I was alerted to these via another Tailhooker, Kathy "The Boss" Schmoldt.  I subsequently contacted Nick to see if he would like a little more exposure for his idea, to which, like any good entrepreneur, he replied... "Hell Yeah!" 

So today, I am presenting Nick Nickerson's Naval Aviation Boat Pennants (burgee's) to the Tailhook Association (and all other interested visitors).  These would make great additions to your boats as well as your "Love Me" walls.  Not to mention... A great Gift!  But MOST IMPORTANTLY!!!! Nick has graciously agreed to donate 5% of his proceeds for the Burgees to the Tailhook Educational Foundation!  So here are the details in Nick's own words...

 

Boating has been in my family ever since I can remember, and when I acquired my first boat after I became a Naval Aviator, I always thought a burgee with Navy Wings on it would look great flying from the bow.  I never came across anything similar being advertised or offered for sale in Navy oriented publications or museum stores or exchanges.

I asked my wife if she could come up with something like that on her sewing machine.  She told me, "Maybe in your dreams". 

I then contacted a local yacht club, and they told me where they had their pennants manufactured.  Over a phone conversation with a company representative, he told me to scan a set of Navy wings and send it to him, and he'd see what they could do.  Later, he emailed me back an artist rendition of the wings on a burgee, one with a navy blue background and one with marine red.  The wings would be embroidered so they would show on each side as opposed to a less expensive silk screen production.  They looked good, so I asked him to mail me a swallow-tailed finished product as an example.  It didn't have the right colors or detail I wanted, so I sent it back with further recommendations. 

Two weeks later another example arrived, and this time it was perfect.  Ordering one or two with the additional set-up charge was going to be prohibitive, so I got on my computer and began emailing other Naval Aviators to see if there was any interest. Yes, there was.  A couple replies inquired about Naval Flight Officer winged burgees.  So, I went through the same hoops again with the manufacturer, and now there are both types available.

The pennants are 12" X 18"  and they are of high quality material with the wings emblem embroidered in three colors.  They'll look great flying from your boat, from your flag pole, or maybe on your "I LOVE ME" wall.

I really have no way of tracking the orders, whether from the Daily Briefing, from my emails, or from word of mouth.  I just get an email from the interested party saying he'd like to buy one or more pennants, and then sends me a check.  Upon receipt of an order, I guess I could ask the party how they became aware of the offer, and if it's from your Briefing, I would allocate about 5% of the proceeds or $3.00 a burgee to the Educational Foundation.

So! Naval Aviators, Marine Aviators and Naval Flight Officers if you are interested the pennants, they are $65 each (postage and handling included). If you'd like to order one or more, advise what type of wings and background color along with a shipping address.

Email Nick if interested, and send a check to:   

Nick Nickerson
2240 Front St.  #302
Melbourne, FL 32901
Tel:  321 373 4452
Cell: 772 485 5502

ceilingzero@cfl.rr.com

Nick Nickerson received his Wings of Gold in 1958, stayed in the Reserves flying tailhook jet aircraft until he retired after twenty years.  From that time forward he flew with Northwest Airlines, from which he retired in 1995.  Presently living in Melbourne, Florida with his wife, Shirley.

The Scholarship Season

                              
January, February, and March are the months to consider completing your application for a Tailhook Educational Foundation college scholarship.

Completed applications are due at the headquarters not later than 15 March 2007. Send all completed applications to:

The Tailhook Educational Foundation
Scholarship Applications
9696 Businesspark Ave.
San Diego, CA 92131-1643

Last year we received around 200 applications for our merit-based scholarships and were able to award scholarships to 51 very deserving students. For the 2006/2007 season scholarship awards for one and two year periods ranged between $2000 - $10,000. Award levels may vary from season to season. Awardees and those not selected are eligible to re-apply for follow-on years. The scholarship application will be available on the Tailhook Association web site, www.tailhook.net. For review, the eligibility requirements are listed below.

Scholarship Eligibility: To be eligible for consideration for a Tailhook Educational Foundation scholarship, an individual must be:

• A high school graduate
• And the natural, step, or adopted son or daughter (or grand-son/grand-daughter) of a current or former Naval or Marine Corps Aviator, Flight Officer, or Aircrewman.
• Also eligible are individuals or children (or grandchildren) of individuals (both officer and enlisted) who are serving or have served on board a U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier (CV, CVS, CVA, CVN) as a member of ship’s company or the air wing.
  

Eligible applicants must be accepted for undergraduate enrollment at an accredited college or university.

For an application, click on one of the following if you are a:

• High School Student
• College Student
• Enlisted Applicant