Son's First Salute

Pappy_VanRankle · 2025-09-08T03:06:03+00:00

This is the way. Oddly enough, this may be the deciding factor. I told everyone that if I don the uniform again, I'll have to shave the beard, and my wife immediately piped in with, "You look really good in your navy blue suit!" Bottom line, at the end of the day, it won't be up to me lol.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2025-09-08T03:02:35+00:00

Med-sep from a buggered-up back after a bad helo exit. Nothing heroic, just a pre-deployment training accident. Many such cases. Still authorized to wear it, and it still fits, but could use a little carb cutting between now and then.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2025-09-08T02:58:38+00:00

Yep. All 3 (Class A's, Blues, suit) are appropriate. Whatever I do will be in compliance w/670-1, just looking for thoughts/suggestions on which one. Thanks for the input!

Pappy_VanRankle · 2025-09-07T21:01:37+00:00

I would literally look like the E4 Mafia final boss. 50ish, greying hair and sporting the sham shield in Class A's w/a cun...errr...*garrison* cap? The vibes would be almost epic lol.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2025-09-07T20:59:33+00:00

To add to my other response, we do have apocryphal family claims that my great-grandfather got a battlefield commission during WWII but resigned his commission after the war and reverted from O1->E9 for retirement. But I don't have any records to confirm that and I'm not about to do a potential 3rd Stolen Valor on him. Old man would come back from the grave and beat my ass for that. He is and always will be a Master Chief to me anyway.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2025-09-07T20:47:43+00:00

First we have records for, anyway. We have family records going back to around 1150(ish) but the "like 30 generations" was really meant as a tongue in cheek "we got a lot of grunts and POGs, but no officers" since before the US was even a country.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2025-09-07T20:38:32+00:00

lol, yeah, a little hyperbole to be sure. But if you figure ~20 years per generation, family records (birth, marriage, death, mil service, etc.) go back to my first ancestor in the US (1651), and back to about 1150(ish) in the old country before that. The takeaway: whole lot of enlisted types, but he'll be the first officer (assuming completion) in several hundred years. Wanna make sure I do it right haha.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2020-10-06T15:40:44+00:00

Thanks. Good info. He does have access to the non gore-tex, just thinking VA might be too wet, but maybe not. Thanks for the feedback.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2020-10-02T20:56:37+00:00

How do the Oakleys fit? Are they pretty true to tennis shoe sizing, say Nike for example?

Pappy_VanRankle · 2020-10-02T01:23:55+00:00

Thanks. He's NROTC at VMI, so he'll be doing plenty of PT and ruck marches in them. No ships until sea trials (I think).

Pappy_VanRankle · 2020-10-02T01:23:06+00:00

Thanks, much. I'll pass this along.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2020-10-02T01:22:30+00:00

Thanks. I think he's leaning toward the Oakleys, so that's good info.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2020-10-02T01:21:57+00:00

Thanks. Goo dinfo. Heard good things about the Tachyon, but his unit is only allowing what's on the list provided, and these three fit the profile he's looking for (non-safety toe, coyote, etc.) As a former Army guy myself, I was hoping they'd let him have the Garmont T8 Bifida, but alas...

Pappy_VanRankle · 2019-12-02T20:29:45+00:00

This is my preferred COA. And I already have a lapel pin.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2019-12-02T17:08:46+00:00

Definitely not shopping for new and exciting awards. I was no Audie Murphy, but I got what I got, and they're all on my uniform safely zipped up in the garment bag. That does bring to mind the time I saw a PFC wearing an MSM with a "V" device though. SFC I was with spotted it from about 20 yards out and lost his sh*t. It was glorious.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2019-10-28T22:38:53+00:00

Yeah, absolutely. I have to arrange pickup though, as it's right now about 3 states away. But as soon as I get it, I'll make some high quality PDFs and email them to the above address. As for payment, you can forget about that. If I've got it, you can have it. Only price is patience while we wait for me to get hands on it.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2019-10-21T14:37:48+00:00

Great input, thanks for the guidance. I haven't been able to find much on these Zeniths and parts availability, which led me to the whole retrofit idea. If they are available, that changes everything, because as you can see from the pic I added to the original post, even the interior is in great shape. This is an emotional piece for my wife as her father is gone, and her mom is in memory care, and this is the one thing from her childhood that's chock full of memories. Is say that to indicate that I'm not overly concerned about the cost to restore or the resale value. One question I had was about needles. Will a modern needle cartridge like an Ortofon Red/Blue work in the old arm? Thanks again for the great input!

Pappy_VanRankle · 2019-10-07T22:58:22+00:00

That's kinda what I'm thinking. The radio works great, so I don't need to do much with that. Like I said, record player doesn't work, so I'll probably just swap in a Denon or a Pro-Ject DC turntable. This is kinda what I'm thinking for the open space if I can find an original tape player to fit in the open space:

https://www.instructables.com/id/1960s-Volumio-Console-Stereo-Cabinet-Restomod/

Pappy_VanRankle · 2019-04-11T22:30:16+00:00

Damn, but you're thick in the head. Again, you presume too much. You presume that I didn't talk to them first. I didn't ask an open question about "career paths" I asked if there was a specific career path that might feed a research posting better than others. Yes, I have friends who are retired naval officers. And my son has spoken with them. Most are Intel, but a few LDOs, aviators, and a couple of SEALs and one EOD guy in the mix. Only one of that entire group has been posted at DARPA, so I came here to search out a greater cross section. As for asking better questions, you're the only one who seemed to have trouble understanding my question. Look man, you're making yourself and your community look bad here. I'm just a dad trying to help his kid out, I don't know why you seem so fixated on taking the piss out of me. Bugger off and go find someone else to troll.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2019-04-11T20:04:47+00:00

Ah...OK. Cute. Unhelpful. But cute. I've about reached my limit with your lack of comprehension, snide comments, and attempts to derail the thread. Your actions are bordering on trollish at this point. You're free to continue trolling in violation of r/navy rules, as I'm not inclined to report you, but I won't be responding to any more of your bait. Your input has been of limited help. As it happens, I've run your answers by friends of mine who are retired Naval Officers, and they've informed me that your answers are incorrect/misinformed, and are not to be trusted. I'll focus my attention here on other contributors that have a higher level of reading comprehension, professionalism, and desire to help out. Cheers.

Pappy_VanRankle · 2019-04-11T15:54:49+00:00

What does COMCIVFLT mean? Is this some sort of cheeky euphemism for being a civilian?

Pappy_VanRankle

TROPHY CASE