Sharpshooters earn well deserved jet rides

[thedrifter]

Sharpshooters earn well deserved jet rides
Submitted by: MCAS Miramar
Story Identification #: 2004513173526
Story by Sgt. Kristen L. Tull



MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. (May 13, 2004) -- Marines and Sailors at Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 have a little extra incentive to always perform to the best of their ability. If they receive a quarterly or yearly award, they will find themselves suiting up and heading out to the back seat of an F/A-18 Hornet.

"The program is called the Incentive Program. It aims to recognize Marines for their work in a rewarding way," said Capt. Ryan Welken, safety personnel at VMFAT-101.

Once the Marine or Sailor has been designated as an incentive rider, the request is routed through the proper chain of command, they are given a period of instruction and sent up on an actual training mission with the squadron that lasts about 45 minutes.

"It lets them know how important they are, that what they do is critical to us completing the mission," said the Minneapolis native.

Petty Officer 1st Class Victoria Vanravenswaay, quality assurance representative for VMFAT-101, is no rookie when it comes to being a "back-seater." This is her first time going up for an incentive ride with VMFAT-101 for being Sailor of the Quarter, but she also got to fly with her last command as well.

"This time was neat because we went up as part of a four-man team to perform a mission called 'circle the wagon' which is used for bombing practice," said Vanravenswaay, a Grand Blac, Mich., native. "We also took off on afterburner, which gives them an extra boost to take off faster."

She said it is a great program to bring the maintainers and the aircrew together, and it really promotes camaraderie.

"They get to see what we do when we send the aviators out on the actual training missions," said Welken.

The program helps the maintenance side of the house to see the operational side on a firsthand basis.

The most recent Marine to receive a flight through the incentive program was Cpl. Gregory Slusher, airframe mechanic with VMFAT-101. Slusher said he strived to reach his goal of getting noncommissioned officer of the quarter not only for the pride, but also for the ride.

"We see hundreds of flights a day, and 90 percent of us will never be able to go up in one, so it's a really a great incentive," said Slusher.

When asked about the flight, Slusher remembered everything.

"Hearing all the air traffic control was pretty exciting, pulling G's to pulling negative G's and feeling weightless was a very weird feeling," said Slusher. "The pilot is doing a million different things at once, so that's where I gained a lot of respect. We really don't know what they do. We think it does a lot of stuff on it's own. But it's pretty crazy, back in the back, I was barely keeping myself from blacking out, and I couldn't do any more than that. I could barely flip the toggle switch to talk to the pilot, and he's up their flying, dropping bombs, communicating with the ground and all kinds of things."

Slusher said it was a great experience overall. "I never thought I would get the opportunity, so it really meant a lot to me," said Slusher.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2...D6?opendocument


Ellie