Pranks pulled on newbies in the squadron

OMG forgot all about the jacking clearance

This one was pulled on me. It is a great one to pull on an officer or senior NCO.

I arrived at good old Hahn AB. It was December and snowy and cold. My Flight Chief told me to go ride around in the expedetor truck to get to know everyone and see where everything was.

Lamb to slaughter, I jump the expeditor truck. Grabbing a spot on the bench I noticed there are about five people there already.

The guy next to me says ....

"Hi, I'm Mike. Welcome to Germany."

Normal so far....

"I'm Walt, nice to meet you.", I replied.

The next guy holds out his hand. "Hi, I'm Mike."
The next guy, "I, I'm Mike."
"Mike's the name."

By the time I got to the fifth guy I said, "I guess you're Mike too."

"Yep".

A quick check of line badges revealed that they were all named "Mike".

Over the years we had a couple of sets of "Mikes", some "Joes", "Jims" and even "Davids".

Try it sometime. Great way to "Press to Test" the new Boss.

I've sent newbies to the Tool Room for Light Bulb Repair Kits,Turn Signal Fluid, and Windscreen Washer Fluid (I work on Hornets/Rhinos)

Yeah, I remember people posting a picture of a pinup on my locker, giving me a 30-minute verbal ass-kicking by Colonel Petterson..

In Alaska, (and other notoriously cold bases I assume) a classic new guy trick is to have them take the shop truck to Trans sometime during their first Fall to get winter air put in the tires--it helps them grip the slick roads better

What no 710 fluid? - turn it upside down

Concorde - supersonic grease and wax for the nose - guy came back hours later with turtle wax in a green container - sent back for white to match the nose paint !!!

2X4 alignment tool

Send someone to get a 1/2" socket or wrench in the toolroom, give them a 1/2" whitworth and stand back with a smile

if you are at a nuke base, the green glow sticks cut open and poured out, make great leaking plutonium

I was once sent up to admin to get a "Bravo Alpha 1100 November form with a string attachment". After about 3 different office visits, Someone too pity on me and showed me what "Bravo Alpha 1100 November" spelled out...balloon...with a string attachment.. I felt so supremely stupid...

How about relieving yourself behind one of the main wheels and having your FNG check out the mysterious puddle under the jet.

Or

Jumping the intake; disrobing in the intake with your A55 hanging out and asking either the Expeditor or Maintenance Officer to come over and check out a crack in the intake.

The two pranks I remember most while at Hahn was asking a new troop to go get an exaust sample with a mason jar while a jet was on the hot pit.

The best one got a newbie and an oldie. Pilot in the "Blue Zoo" (10th) told a new crew chief about the radar does not work in the "o-f-f" position. CC called it into job control. The controller called the radar folks about a radar not working on a jet. After AGE came out and dropped off a power unit and cones were placed, the tech read the write up. When the tech asked job control what the write up was over the radio, you heard "radar does not work in the" ................(very long pause)....! Radio guys loved it!!!

Told one kid (a guy I should mention) that he had an appointment for a pap smear...came back pretty pissed off!

Had another newbie going over his first BPO/Pre, and told him to make sure the pitot tube was clear by blowing into the tube and running his hand under back and forth...just then our 3 truck was driving by with a load for of other crew chiefs. Needless to say, the truck stopped and you could hear the laughter from 50 yards away.

Had some kid running all over between our support and phase looking for K9P. Someone over in Phase said he actually asked QA if they had any! Damn kids!!

I was on my first overseas flight, what we call your "Dollar Ride", because that's where you first make the big $$$. Knowing the FNG pranks from being in ACLS, and having heard several Dollar Ride horror stories of things happening to new pilots and loads, I was naturally a little apprehensive.

12 days go by...still no pranks. They couldn't have forgotten, right? We land back home and still nothing has happend, so I figure maybe they had forgotten. Well, I go to pick up my bags, and I notice that they're a little heavy...

I open up my bags, and they are filled with chains and tiedown devices, both the 10K and 25K varieties! On top of that, sometime while I was asleep, my partners had taken some PAX pillows, cut them open, and stuffed my clothes with wads of cotton, and then, took masking tape, wadded up all of my clothes, and rolled them up in several layers of tape.

It took quite awhile to clean up that mess. I ended up releasing the crew bus, and walking back to Ops once I had returned all to normal. Of course, they were all there to laugh at me, and say "Welcome to the Squadron, Junior!"

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As a sequel to that story, one of our LTs had arrived from PIQ a little too soon to the deployment to receive a "real" Dollar Ride, so she had to substitue a long mission on the deployment as her ride. Now, I must say, this LT is quite attractive, and very friendly, but perhaps a little naive...this of course, would make her the perfect mark for an FNG prank.

Now, coincidentally, I wind up as a Load on her crew, along with the partner from my dollar ride who put the chains, etc. in my bag. Of course, he does the same thing to her bag. You know, welcome rookie, that sorta thing. Well, of course, she knows she's been had.

A little later, I say "Hey LT, wanna get him back?" Of course she does, so before we land on the last leg where we're going to rest overnight, we get the idea to take his boxers out of his bag, and replace them with her lingerie. After we land, he goes to grab a shower, and of course, instead of a change of boxers, he instead has pastel pink panties!

As I'm laughing my butt off, and saying something to the effects of payback being a beeotch, we get a knock on the door, and there's the LT who says "Ummm, I believe you have something of mine." The LT and I still have a good laugh about that one.

Not so much a prank on a newbie, but the best way I've ever seen anyone "get gotten" was when I was TDY from Nellis to Tyndall couple years ago. Pulled a motor on our jet and left it in the hangar overnight. Come in early the next morning, open the hangar doors, and see that the local F-15 guys had put a large cardboard propeller on the pitot tube and a wind up crank in the IFR door. New LT didn't find it funny, but we all got a good kick out of it.

I was involved in the above incident

Had a co-worker who was telling me about his being sent for Striped paint... he disappeared for the whole day came back and told everyone he found blue n yellow, red n white, and white and green but no yellow and black...
We sent a new guy out for a Brass magnet.
Sent another out for the keys to the jet.
a lot that have been mentioned already.
Have to remember the BA-1100-N ...

William G