i am currently in DEPS till my ship date in Nov. and i got AO which i am interested in but i have done a lot of looking into AOs, and i was just wondering if any AOs could shed a little more light into this subject, just different expirences or opinoins of AOs, just some basic information would be nice.

I was not an AO but I was a plane captain and got to be around them a lot. From my view point they pick up a lot of heavy things and hang them on airplanes. 500 lb bombs. 1000 lb bombs 2000 lb bombs and they put a bar in each end and manualy lift them, not like the air force with fancy power equipment. Sidewinders and Sparrows are not light weight either. They are great folks and tight knit but they work perty hard.

Shockey

I'm an AT, never been an AO but, my wife is a former AO. Can't lie, I've seen AO's working hard, very hard. I've also seen them not doing anything. lol

The only thing I don't like about the AO rate is, you will have no real marketable job skill, my wife will tell you that. However, if you are looking at doing your 20, then the AO community is a good place to be.

Like I said, I'm not an AO but I have seen first had how they take care of those in the community.

Basically, you have folks who load boms, missles, and bullets onto and into the planes. you also have the ones who repair the guns, bomd racks, and missle racks. They also have people who repair the weapons handling equipment and those who actually build the bombs.

That's about all I know about the AO field. lol

Hope this helps at least a little.

AT2

AT, the only real related place of civilian employement for former AOs, would be a Weapons site or Arsenal. In the early eighties they had a 22 year old who had worked at one the Navy weapons centers. He joined up and took all the rating tests up to and including chief AO. He passed them and became one of, if not the youngest CPO, in the Navy, at 23! He was on the Ranger in 1980 the same time I was. We all thought he was an officer!

thanks for the info but either way i am really anticipating my leave i cant wait to get out there and do the best that i can, but thanks for the info and it helped getting peoples different opinions on what i will be doing

Because I was watching that Carrier show and it has a LOT of AO's.

My question is how is it different if you sign papers going in as an AO or you go AIRC do NACCS and end up as an AO? As an AIR AO do you still get a squad vs a carrier? Just curious.

I don't have a desire to be an AO but I head it was one of the ratings AIRC could end up (My pref is trying to get AW and on a P-3)

quote:

Originally posted by shockey:
I was not an AO but I was a plane captain and got to be around them a lot. From my view point they pick up a lot of heavy things and hang them on airplanes. 500 lb bombs. 1000 lb bombs 2000 lb bombs and they put a bar in each end and manualy lift them, not like the air force with fancy power equipment. Sidewinders and Sparrows are not light weight either. They are great folks and tight knit but they work perty hard.

Shockey

Those long bars were called Hernia Bars, and you are correct, The AO's were a tight knit Division. They had to rely on each other. One slip and something could go BOOM. Work hard, party hard, Work hard. I was an AO 48 years ago. Our aircraft had those things that went around and around, EH, oh yeh ,Propellers.

quote:

Originally posted by 06mintons:
thanks for the info but either way i am really anticipating my leave i cant wait to get out there and do the best that i can, but thanks for the info and it helped getting peoples different opinions on what i will be doing

You go ahead, Be an AO. It's a great rate. I was a small weapons repair specialist. 20MM,.50cal, I even got to repair some M-14's for the sea going Bell hops. I was a loader for a year and a half then went to armorer school. I loved every moment of my time on duty. You will be part of a close knit group. Take care of your Division Mates and they will take care of you. If you like guns and weapons there is a life after the navy. I was in to gun repair for 30 years ,a Gun dealer for 15 yrs. I had a ball in the Navy. Saw more of the world than half of the army & airfarce ever thought of seeing. Got tired of being on a ship for 6 to 8 weeks at a time but the Liberty in ports of call made it worth it. The Beat of Luck to you.

Thanks for the futher info, its all greatly appreciated and i cant wait till my ship date again thanks for the info

A lot of the AO's in my Squadron, VA-147, worked closely with the AQ's on testing & making sure the various weapons systems were OK. I was an ATAN, so my and many other pukes' "spare time" was apent topside helping out weps loading. The first day of it the dudes humping a 500 pounder on the opposite side of the SLUF-7E missed the locking hooks slightly and dropped it. I looked at the AO cheif in horror, until he smirked & laughed it off. WE had great teamwork up there, and it was better then scrubbing the heads or buffing the ready room tile. The hardest part was pushing those "square-wheeled" bomb skids and keeping them lined up for the ship's heeling to port or to starboard. I really enjoyed that work, and became strong as an ox in short time.
Later I was on NWL and that was totally cool. But I won't say much more, I was never debriefed when I went TAD to AIMD for keeps. BTW, did I mention that those dudes in our AO shop were "interesting & Colorful"?

Mintons,

I'm a retired AO, retired three and a half years ago and am still working on an air station in the ordnance rating. As far as not having any marketable skills after you get out, that's total BS and I'll leave it at that for right now. Any questions you have post them here and I will answer them as best as I can.

Fish82
IYAOYAS

Fish
Thanks for the info yeah i have a ton of questions i am shooting for AO but i just spoke to my recruiter and hes trying to get my ship date pushed up and i told him that i was open for any job placement thats open but i was just wondering if i don't get AO the what would closely relate to an AO career field

In my opinion there really isn't any other rating that comes close to doing what AO's do. In the airdale world AO's are the tightest rating. As an AO you will work hard and spend more time on the flight deck then anyone else in the squadron if you get orders to a squadron. As a AO you can learn basic wiring/wire repair skills, electronics, basic airframe skills, mechanical skills and of course weapon/explosive skills.

I'm not trying to convince you to stay AO, do what you feel is right, just don't think that there is no life after being an AO. Even if you don't want to stay in the Ordnance career field if/when you get out the Navy can still offer you a ton, just think college.

Fish

Excuse me Fish82, but you learn almost all of those as an AD also. We also hang droptanks, bulivits and during Vietnam we slung bombs too. ADS have to have a working knowledge of ALL the aircraft systems and how they are effected by the engines.
As for being the tightest group, well I've seen some other shops that were pretty tight, also.
There's no doubt about AOs being tight, but don't short shift the rest of us.

J,

Didn't mean to short shift anyone. I was merely pointing out that AO's don't only load bombs, just like AD's don't just work on engines.

And as far as other shops being tight, you are correct. Most shops are tight, but from my experience the AO shop is the tightest, we stick together more then rest of the squadron.

The purpose of the post was to educate, not to belittle.

Fish

I was in during Viet Nam also, and was an AT. I also take offense with the AO's are the greatest stuff.

During all the time on the line, all the other shops sent about half their guys to help the AO's load bombs on the planes. We rotated people, and the few left in our shop had to do twice the work. The AO's never helped any other shops.

Of course, the name of the game was 'complete the mission', and we did the work because it had to be done. All the shops have to do their work, cooperate, and help the other shops, because if the planes can't fly, you don't need any of them.

Fish, Then educate. how about something like this; For me AO has been a rewarding time. I have learned other systems and parts of our aircraft that help make it perform its mission. This makes Navy Aviation special in the fact that all rates work together, have a working knowledge of all the systems on our aircraft. This gives us a depth of maintenance ability that is hard to find elsewhere in military Aviation.
As for the closeness to my comrades, I couldn't ask for a better group of people. We are really tight! I feel we are the closet group of people manning a shop in our squadron.
It can be worded not to offend others.
Some people are more tender about those matters than others. Some of us have had some bittersweet memories when it comes to AOs, as written by tinker fixer. I remember an AO Division Officer, A mustang JG, that hated, yes hated, everyone else that wasn't an AO. If you made a mistake the first words out of his mouth were "Court Martial, the Arsehole!" The man was a real nut case! Truly!
He would never provide AOs to help wash aircraft, they always had their own work that was more important.
So see it can be, so a great a memory when it comes to certain rates for some of us. You know I still dream about loading 500 pounders some nights, and its been 35 years!

Gentleman,

I think both of you are reading more into my posts then what is really there and combined with some bad experiences from the past you have developed a chip on your shoulder.

I too have meet and worked with some poeple from other rates who have wronged me and left a bad impression on me but I didn't hold it against their rate. I'm tired of tap dancing around here because someone's feeling might get hurt, that is the reason why I took a break from here in the first place. Now being back for only two day I have to sit here and try to make amends for something that happen to you before I join the Navy, get over it.

I believe this thread is about AO's, what they do and what it's like to be an AO TODAY, not what they were like or how they teated someone 20-35 years ago.

Like you said, the name of the game is complete the mission so I and rest of the AO's I have served with have done our share of washing airplanes, hanging drop tanks, pulling panels for other shops, and everything else under the sun not related to our rate just like you. What happen to you in the past is just that, the past, we weren't there and we can't go back and fix it so let it go. Don't hold how some Gunner treat you 35 years ago against the Ordies today, also it's time to get rid of that chip.

I was merely trying answer some question about AO's and what it's like to be an Ordie TODAY, not what it was like back in day.

As far as how tight the AO shop is, I'm talking about how tight the AO shop is in TODAY's squadrons as compared to other shops. I did not say or mean that other shops weren't tight. Just that the AO shop is the tightest when compared to other shops in a squadron, which is a fact in most squadron.

Now, can we get back to the subject at hand, which is answering this young persons questions about the ordnance rating and helping he/she make the right choice about their career. Can set aside our personnal differences? Are we here to help or rehash old differences?

Fish

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Fish82,

quote:

Now can we get back to the subject at hand, which is answering this young persons questions about the ordnance rating and helping he/she make the right choice about their career.

I can agree with that statement. Save the rivalry for the Marines.

Good to see you Fish. Welcome back.

Thanks Gerry, nice to be back.

Fish