Hi! I've been flying DCS since last October. I flew the Harrier for a few months with virtual Carrier Strike Group 1 on Discord. I am a low time R-22 helicopter pilot and fixed wing as well as a real life hobby. I retired from the Marine Corps in 03/04 after leaving OIF. My background is as a Marine Scout/Sniper in both STA in 3/6, Recon Co 9th Marine Regt, and both Bn and Force Recon Companies. I would like to participate in multi-Huey ops, slicks and/or guns. Grey Rider was my Force callsign although I was WUD? at CSG-1. History - I tried to show off to my wife and forgot to drop the gear on the Harrier. Oops! Wheels Up, Dumbass? = WUD?. Lesson learned - showing off when you aren't that good will probably end badly! We had a good laugh at that... I really enjoy the P-51D and of course the Huey kand I also have experience in the Harrier, FC3, and A-10C. I have pre-purchased the F-18. My rig is: i7-7700K, 32GB DDR4, 525GB SSD, 1TB HDD, GTX 1080Ti 11GB, Liquid Cooling, Win 10, Warthog HOTAS, Combat Pedals, Oculus Rift with Touch, Home built cockpit under constant construction, development, and improvement
"If you fly helicopters you absolutely HAVE to buy Andre's Jetseat KW-908, you'll never fly without it again!!"

Welcome Grey Rider. Cool life and impressive rig. Thanks for your service; I look forward to flying with you!

Welcome I hope you have fun

I hope so too! When do you all get together and fly?

Welcome Grey Rider

Thanks, happy to be here!!
Are there any SOPs or helpful reading to get spun up? I saw a Medevac section, I think. How does one get into that outfit? Edit- never mind, found it. I'm looking forward to the challenges ahead!

Welcome to the 229th Grey Rider. You've joined a group of very talented and dedicated pilots that can pass valuable training on to you. It's great to have members with RL military experience...and knowledge of helicopters, like yourself.
Thank you for your service.

First of all....GR.....WELCOME! Great bunch of guys....sounds like you'll fit it very well with this rabble of "muggers and thieves"! BTW....35 year B767 Captain at Delta and I crashed like a wet-pantied 10hr PPL student when I was showing my lovely bride how "cool" I was flying the Harrier (or as I call her...the "satan's bitch"). Of course, I was about 3-4 beers into it by then....

Secondly....FLYER!!!!!! MIA doesn't begin to describe you sir! Did you pay the ransom and escape? J/K-ing of course....good to have you back!

GR....God bless you for your service (son of a Vietnam helo driver and proud father of an active duty ARMY Captain), and again...WELCOME. LOTS of dudes around here who'll steer you straight (CHIC and GIZZY to name a few...any questions...they'll have the answer).

See ya in virtual skies!

Welcome Grey Rider / WUD

thank you for your service & congratulations on making it through the mincer
from a fellow x-grunt (Aus) also recon, snipers were seperate but also worked with them occassionally
you may find that there are a number of grunts lurking in the shadows here.

scout/sniper - much respect sir

thanks for joining the group, no doubt you will enjoy yourself here

I'm also a low timer (commercial) helo pilot (lost medical)
i have to say within this dedicated group you will find some outstanding gentlemen
with real life experience (& not) who are happy to help and eager to get you up to speed to increase the numbers of skilled pilots

in all honesty, many of the guys here whom have never set foot (or backside) into any aircraft, let alone a helo
can fly better than I can with 200+ hrs real life flight time (which we both know is just enough to make you a disaster waiting to happen)
but you'd also appreciate the amount of time and effort that goes into learning to fly

there are some real world pilots here too, whom are without doubt some of the most generous guys (with their time and knowledge) whom have helped build this group form the ground up

they know their stuff here and will expect the same of you, because once we get in the air, especially on a large co-ordinated, potentially multi-unit mission ( we regularly fly with other similarly dedicated online groups), you knowing the SOP's and being able to act correctly and spontaneously without direction will make a big difference to everyone.

but you should be used to that - sempre fidelus

all that said though, very informal and relaxed, you can organise to do your training ad-hoc pending yours and the IPs availability
or co-ordinate to schedule some fixed slots to check them off. theres no rush and i have been constantly reminded - "slower is better"

welcome & enjoy

PS: if youre wondering about the avatar.....that's how I look in the cockpit (trying to keep up with these guys - i shit you not)

Hey Grey Rider,  sorry for the delayed formal welcome dealio.
I've been away for a few days drinkin beer while pretending to play golf.
I activated your enrollment in A Company.  You have full forum access.
Your call name is (A/229) Grey Rider.  You can change it if you want.
You'll use this call name on the forum, our servers, and TeamSpeak.
I'll be sending you an introductory Doc Pack.
Come on TS when you can and we'll get ya oriented and modded up for access to our servers.  Once your settled, you'll get introduced to our training program (self paced/low key).
PM me with any questions or let me know when you're likely to be on TS and I'll try to get there.
Have fun.

Welcome grey rider this place is so relaxed especially compared to csg1 no rush to get up to speed like some squads .  Hope to fly with on some of those missions you suggested