Those are the magic numbers. As of Friday afternoon, I’m officially our country’s newest Harrier pilot. (7509 is the official designation for a Marine AV-8B pilot)
It has been a long time coming, but my “schoolhouse” training is officially over. I still have a laundry list of qualifications I will need to get once I arrive to my fleet squadron, and I will be training until my last day in the Marine Corps, but I can reasonably say that I am no longer a student. I took a little longer than my classmates to finish up due to all the family issues going on, but I finished strong and really enjoyed my last group of flights. Most guys finish up doing an air-to-air sortie, which is cool, but the reason I wanted to be a Harrier pilot was to drop bombs.
My last flights were all air-to-ground sorties and the final flight was a Close Air Support (CAS) mission. It’s pretty neat to see everything you learn come together on a flight. One aircraft acting as a forward air controller on the ground radios us with target information and a time for the bombs to impact. It’s a great feeling when you can make it all happen and put bombs on target and on time. I’m still a nugget, but on flights like that you can really see how far I’ve come since I arrived here.
Icing on the cake was when I got to pin on my captain bars the day after my last flight. My mom is here helping with Faye and she did the pinning.
So all in all it has been a great week for me. Perhaps the best part is that now I have some time to take leave and visit Sonia and Shannon in Philadelphia.
Congratulations, Jason! I am so proud of you and all of your accomplishments!! Glad to hear you will get to visit Sonia and Shannon very soon!
Congrats. It is soooooo much better being a Captain instead of a …F*******….Lieutenant. You know what I mean. Now there is no difference between a Captain with 1 day in grade and a Captain with 8 years and just about ready put on the scrambled eggs. You have arrived Jason. Hooah (thats Army talk you know!) You will immediately see the difference in the way that NCO’s treat you.
I am so proud of you honey! Our girls and I are really lucky to have a man like you taking care of us.
Congratulations, Jason! I know you’ve worked really hard to get to this point, so enjoy all the rewards of this major accomplishment.
Congratulations, Jason!!
You are so deserving of any honor you get. Now you and Shannon can be a closer family with more time to spend with them.
I was very ignorant of the harrier but your explanation was outstanding. Thanks.
YAY!! Great job Captain Rubin! That is so awesome. Congrats on the promotion and on officially becoming a Harrier pilot! Much cooler then being a “mail officer” which is what our son says his Dad does. He just sits in his office and mails stuff to other Marines on his computer.
Congrats!
Brooklee
Mazal Tov and Semper Fi
you’re a freakin stud. let me also say… thank you for your service. Sunette and I appreciate what you do for us and our country.
Nice job, Sir -