Month: August 2013

FlashBack Friday: Naval Aviation Observer Wings

This goes waaaay back, folks. Many of you have asked what exactly I did while I was in the Navy. Remember, it was in the last century and I was um, not as “seasoned.” I like that. Yes, I’m getting spicier as the years fly by!

Anyhow, I dug up this report of when I earned Naval Aviation Observer Wings. When I found it I had to giggle as I remembered my squadron mates putting stickies on the original hard-print of this article. “Nice make-up job, Krotow” was one of them. The photos were done for the news release, not during an actual mission when I would not have bothered with makeup and been more worried about the mission than what I looked like. In reality it’s the aircrew that earned me my wings–the patient Senior Chief who held my head in the garbage can while I puked during a rocky flight over the Bermuda Triangle during a storm, the dedicated weapons and radar experts who made sure I didn’t pull on the wrong circuit breaker during drills. The full story is on pages 18-19 of Naval Aviation News from May-June 1990.

Naval Aviation News May-June 1990

Have you ever found an old clipping, photo, or story from your past that makes you believe you lived a different life back then?