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Fighter Pilot Call Sign Protocol.. dumb question?

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  • #16
    Re: Fighter Pilot Call Sign Protocol.. dumb question?

    I'll just toss my .02 in as well, Wayne. 100% on what Randy said about the callsign. If someone essentially 'uses' it in correspondance with you, that is kind of the unspoken green light for you to address them that way.

    Your call sign is usually something of a 'personality quirk', or a badge of '(dis)honor'.....and you've got to be able to take it. Ask Randy why "Hacker". Or for that matter, why it was "Homer" before that.

    My first callsign was "Wheels". Why? Because I landed gear up in the simulator on a checkride (Don't ask.....) But you can't 'hide' mistakes like that, and you've got to be able to take the ribbing. So it becomes a 'personna' that you take with you. And believe me....there are some callsigns out there that are just plain brutal. There's none of this "Maverick" or "Iceman" crap from Top Gun. Too much chest beating there. Most of the time it's stuff like "Meat", or "Nob", or "Papa Smurf"....or something less than flattering. My favorite, of course, being Larry Packer's callsign...."Fudge". (Larry is a former Blue Angel, and now flies F-15's with the Oregon Guard).

    For most of my career, I was "Big Daddy", and I still have people call me that whenever I run into them across the country. And to think of it, whenever I've seen them, their callsign is usually what I use to address them too.

    There's no disrespect in it, unless you've never met/corresponded with the person. An 'out of the blue' reference to someone by their callsign would definitely be looked at with a slanted eye....but in your case, I think it's 4.0.

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