Community
Crew Chief Profiles
MSgt.
Gregory
"
Kwazi"
Kimoto
(Ret.)
My profile
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Name | MSgt. Gregory Kimoto (Ret.) |
| Country |
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| Unit | USAF - Air Demonstration Squadron "Thunderbirds" | |
| Crewing F-16s | from 1984 until 2005 | |
| Contact Kwazi | Send me a private message | |
| Website | ||
| 24 year retiree, Three different airframes, majority on F-16 | ||
My Jets & Assignments
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F-4 Phantom II | |||||
| Unit | 347 TFW, Moody AFB GA. | |||||
| Period | 1981 - 1982 | |||||
| The Phantom, made mechanics out of anyone who worked on it. Never been bit until you've been Phantom Bit! | ||||||
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Unit | 416th Flight Test Squadron | [History] | |||
| Period | 1982 - 1986 | |||||
| The young man's first experience at Flight Test. Back then was the 6515 Organizational Maintenance Squadron (OMS). Not being operational and stuck out in the desert of California was not good for a young airman. | ||||||
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F-111 Aardvark | |||||
| Unit | ||||||
| Period | 1986 - 1991 | |||||
| Upper Heyford England. One of the best assignments of my career. Great Britain was a great place to live. The 20th Fighter Wing is now an F-16 wing at Shaw AFB, SC. All of the Fighter Squadrons moved to Shaw as well. The "Fighting 55th FS", The Tiger's of the 79th FS (known as the NATO Tigers at Upper Heyford), and the 77th Fighter Squadron "the Gamblers". Went to Desert Storm on the F-111. | ||||||
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87331 | [Detailed history of this F-16] | ||||
| Unit | USAF - Air Demonstration Squadron "Thunderbirds" | [Unit History] | ||||
| Period | 1991 - 1994 | |||||
| Current: | 87331 | 
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F-16C Block 32 | [ scr] | ||
| The highlight of my career. Being a Crew Dawg on Thunderbird #6. Traveled to 47 of the 50 states during my 4 year tour with the Thunderbirds. | ||||||
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90774 | [Detailed history of this F-16] | ||||
| Unit | 36th Fighter Squadron "Flying Fiends" | [Unit History] | ||||
| Period | 1994 - 1995 | |||||
| Current: | 90774 |
USAF 36 FS
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F-16C Block 40 | [ act] | ||
| Great times and great friends. We all held it together supporting eachother away from families and loved ones. I was a part of a great team of mechanics. The best team of Crew Chiefs in one place during my 24 years. Rich "Quick Draw" Degraw, William "Howie" Howard, Pat Moore, Greg McClean, Matt Larger, Dwayne Dwenger, Pete McNutt. and a host of others. Just some of the Greatest F-16 Crew Chiefs I've ever seen! | ||||||
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Unit | 34th Fighter Squadron "Rams" | [History] | |||
| Period | 1995 - 1998 | |||||
| Flightline Expediter Many deployments for Operation Southern Watch. Was there on June 23, 1996 when Khobar Towers was bombed. Fortunately, our squadron escaped with a few critically hurt and many minor injuries. no deaths. 19 others were not so lucky! May they rest in peace. They truly made the ultimate sacrifice. | ||||||
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Unit | 421st Fighter Squadron "Black Widows" | [History] | |||
| Period | 1998 - 2002 | |||||
| Was hired as ANCOIC of the 12th AF F-16 West Coast Demonstration Team. Lots of travel and lots of good times. The 421st treated us like gold. Hard to run a combat unit and support a demo team as well the "Spiders" did it with style. | ||||||
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Unit | 36th Fighter Squadron "Flying Fiends" | [History] | |||
| Period | 2002 - 2003 | |||||
| My Return to Korea for the last time. Flight Chief and Production Super. Some old friends returned with me to the "Land of the Morning Calm"! | ||||||
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Unit | F-16 Falcon Hotline (F-16 SPO) | ||||
| Period | 2003 - 2005 | |||||
| Great job to fix some of the things you complained about while working on jets. Amazing place where a handful of people try to sustain the F-16 with engineering support. | ||||||
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