I didn’t read the entire article, but I assumed that someone with a call sign would be an aviator. Do submariners or surface warfare officers have call signs in the Navy? What for?
Our call signs in the USAF were usually the squadron, the aircraft’s tail number and our crew position. For Example: I was normally Blade-38 Charlie. Blade=37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron; 38 - the tail number of our chopper; Charlie=third crew member.
I left the Marines over forty years ago, so I can’t tell you about current call signs. But most of the ones I see in the professional journals sound rather juvenile, IMHO.
Back in the day, we used the aircraft squdron tail number for the radio call sign. If you flew in the skipper’s plane, even as a junior officer, you were DR-01, for instance.
The clue that made me read the orinal article was the fact that the officer was an Ensign. Not likely in today’s Navy, with vitually all aviators being college graduates (no more cadets) who have been through 18 months of flight training before joining the fleet. I’d guess the most junior aviator in today’s Navy would be at least a Lt(jg).
The subject of this article is the squadron Admin officer, an LDO. He’s a former chief.
Don’t trust my recollection, though. I also remember marksmen in the rigging.
We had a pilot in my flying squadron who’s name was Major Upp. Guess what his nickname was: That’s right> “Tits”
And for an Ensign to have that many ribbons, he had to be prior enlisted for several years.