Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for March 06, 2010

How are Roz and Mel going to make it back to the base, if their bird is picking up the VIPs?

I hope they don’t have to hump their way back.

If that were the case, why didn’t the VIPs stick around for the repairs? How much head start can they get in 18 mins? They seem to be getting ready to separate. When you consider the ‘tude, the final dialogue panels can be interpreted to say: “Get outta here. We’ve got more important things to think about.”

Boy Howdy, isn’t that like the military issuing senseless and incomprehensible commands. I guess it just goes to show that there’s chaos in both combat and the comix, and not to over think either one.

Good, then they probably won’t have to hump out.

That sure is a lot of “assets” tied up by Jeff’s bone headed move. Still I think he should get another chance. It’s not like malice was involved, he’s just a turkey. With Duke it would have been deliberate.

Somebody ought to tell Havoc to take a chill pill. I’m sure he was young once.

fairport, clearly you know your sh.t….and the joke about the pilot and the mechanic was a good LOL

now, the next time doonesbury does a strip about interceptors huddled in a room using old fashioned typewriters to copy down hastily or badly sent morse code through loud blasts of weather related interference off outdated ww2 radios ……then, I’m your man for technical advice

CAPS-only ‘mills’, with rolls of yellow teletype paper hanging behind them on a bent coat hanger, spooling out the traffic… Check!

What a slam? “Try not to get shot down by any more wedding parties.” It more than makes up for the Major’s rudeness.

It’s just friendly trash talk – and they give as good as they get.

No big deal…but then again, I grew up in New York City, where a typical good-natured greeting would earn you a punch in the nose anywhere else, so what do I know about it? :)

As a retired service “wench” my interpretation of the cartoon, particularly looking at the faint smiles on the soldier’s faces, is that the term “wrench wench” and the complaint “about time” are not meant or taken as insults.

When I was going to school on the GI Bill (thank you VERY much, Mr and Ms American taxpayer), I had a civilian friend who overheard to my study group – all former service personnel – talking to each other and said,”You don’t like each other very much, do you?”

She couldn’t have been more wrong.

wench Function: noun Etymology: Middle English “wenche”, short for “wenchel” - child, from Old English “wencel”; akin to Old High German “wankon” - to totter, waver and probably to Old High German “winchan” - to stagger. Date: 14th century

1 a: a young woman : GIRL 1 b: a female servant 2 : a lewd woman : PROSTITUTE

Source: Marriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary – 11th Edition

Guys, before some fly off the handle about “wenches”, let’s just agree that the chopper pilot meant as definition 1a, or at least 1b.

What, Joe, girls aren’t women?

BTW, it’s a joke, a play on words - “wench”/”wrench” - get it? Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar!

Using “field expedient” “100 mph tape” to get blades functioning enough to depart hostile territory, nobody really cared about long-term reliability. The women rock- no matter the moniker applied.

There was also a big difference between the USO “big time folks” who only appeared at huge events, and those who came out to us in even small LZs in ‘Nam. Martha Raye sticks out as one fantastic gal who showed up to give us some laughs in the middle of nowhere- USO does do a good job! Thanks to them, for yesterday , and today.

Odds are that Blackhawk pilot would be a Chief Warrant Officer not a Major.

As a retired Army Warrant Officer (non-pilot), I read the Major as being impressed with how fast the mechs got the job done. Everyone there knows they did a great job, and this is camaraderie. I would have avoided the “wrench wench” comment, but other officers weren’t as PC as me. Also, “Yeah, we’re busy” would have been disrespect at another time, but when you start an exchange like that, you got to roll a little with the come-backs.

My take is the USO group was moved to the bird that dropped off the mechanics because they didn’t want those three in an unsecured area any longer than necessary. Besides, when the second helicopter was dispatched, I doubt anyone really knew how long the repair was going to take, and that’s likely when the decision took place.

I also agree with Fairportfan2 that they would have wanted to bring the first bird back rather than continue mission because they didn’t know what damage had taken place, and what temporary repairs might be required in the field.

I looked up wench in the Urban Dictionary, and I don’t understand all these pirate connotations.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wench

They make the ISF look like a band of mercenaries. Could Trudeaux be referring to an old North Vietnamese slur? “Our patriotic forces have sent the imperialistic, running dog, air pirates fleeing.”

It looks as if wenches are good for not just pulling cars out of the ditch, but also for fixing helicopters. You can always feel secure with a stout and sturdy wench near by. That may be why so many people like to mount them on their bumpers.

stebon: There’s always humor, even in combat situations, no matter who your favorite it’s-all-his-fault might be. (Trudeau’s politics are what they are; he’s entitled to them as much as you are to yours.)

In fact, there’s always humor in dangerous professions. Have you ever heard police officers or firefighters enjoying their downtime? Maybe you wouldn’t approve, but it helps them deal with what they have to do.

Threw a monkey wench into the machinery.

I dunno how intentionally disrespectful that is… after all, I seem to remember the quasi-official job title of the person in charge the bathroom detail was NOT something clinical like, “Latrine Orderly,” but “Latrine QUEEN,” which was a bit risque, even before DADT.

I’m getting from Melissa’s story that sexism in the military is not exactly “cut and dried,” that there is a difference between the banter among the troops poking fun at each other, and the outright assault she’s suffered.

Those two “wrench wenches” were a lot more competent than most of the femmes that were with my group over in the sandbox.

On a side note, I see that the Navy will be allowing females to serve onboard submarines. I also see that the first women to get orders to boats will be Naval Academy grads. All I can say is that if the women Academy grads are much like the male “ring knockers”, this initiative will fail miserably. Very few of the better officers onboard the boats I rode were academy grads or military school grads. Most of those types seemed to come with “Niedermayer’s Syndrome.”