On my only little Far-East tour, prior to Vietnam ramping up, I asked my old man why the USAF didn't have those fancy orange flight suits like the Navy guys had. I think that was when he explained that his flight jacket was reversible and had an orange lining that served the same purpose?? Loved those old sage green nylon jackets, but the old man was so stinkin honest?? he turned his in when he mustered out of the USAF in 1972, tried to give them his watch, and the Sarge said, Col, you keep that, I'd say you've more than earned it?
My Dad always kept a staff job, either in base supply, and finally as a maintenance officer, he knew the C-130 inside and out, he always had a great flight engineer when we lived in Tenn. I don't remember him feeling that way about the flight crews after Vietnam. He was up for Bird Col, but was sick of all the politics and non-sense, would have had to give up his flying job and be a desk jockey, so he retired to the farm, his real first love anyway
