We also could have restricted the amount of Rip It each pilot would be allowed to consume in a duty day. We may have had to drop or delay a mission, but it could have helped those pilots get some adequate rest. The safe and conservative answer would have been to reset those pilots who were relying too much on these cans of caffeine. We very easily could have been a safety brief, but we were lucky. We would be the unit that pushed our guys too hard for too long, which allowed the holes in the Swiss cheese model to align. If we had a mishap, I’m sure the legacy of our unit would be far different. Our unit took a risk by looking the other way and allowing those guys to keep flying. But that wasn’t a guarantee during the deployment.
In the end, we executed 100 percent of our missions and all of our guys made it home safely.
We all wanted to do our best, and everyone was doing the best with what they had.
We needed everyone to complete those missions, and no one wanted to turn one down. We all covered for those pilots because there were missions to fly. If you’re in aviation, I’m sure you’re saying, “Why didn’t someone say something,” or, “Why didn’t they reset those pilots.” We would talk about the bad situation those pilots were in amongst ourselves, but we never brought it up as an issue. This resulted in these pilots not getting adequate rest and starting the cycle all over again, using Rip It to keep alert and operational. These pilots would crush Rip Its throughout the flight to stay awake so much so that at the end of the mission day, a pile of empty cans would fall out of the door as they exited the aircraft.īy then, these guys would be so jacked up on caffeine that they would become insomniacs, unable to fall asleep until it was almost show time for the next day’s mission. The other pilots and crew chiefs would be sent to their rooms to drag them out of bed to fly. We had pilots that were so exhausted that they would miss morning crew briefs. For some, however, this energy drink became an addiction - a way to make it through the missions, quad charts, meetings and every other responsibility throughout the deployment. Rip It was a quick pick-me-up to keep us alert during the most mundane missions.
#Quad energy drink vs ripit crack
We would start our missions with crew Rip Its during the brief and before the long leg between Ramadi and Ayn al-Asad Air Base (a one-hour flight over the open desert), we would do “Ramadi shots.” The entire crew in each aircraft would crack a can of Rip It and chug it before Chalk 2 would make its beacon call before taking off. If you deployed to Iraq, you drank Rip It - whether it was in a guard tower during those hellish hours between 02 or on long convoys escorting KBR trucks between bases.įor us, a bunch of newly minted WO1s and junior CW2s in an assault company in 2011, Rip It was a way of life in the cockpit. In comparison, each can has about the same caffeine as a cup of coffee. Each can packs 100 mg of taurine, 100 mg of inositol, 80 mg of caffeine and 3 mg of guarana seed extract. For the Global War on Terror, that symbol was an 8-ounce can of Rip It energy drink. Accident Investigation and Analysis Course (AIC)Ī Company, 1109th Theater Aviation Sustainment GroupĮach war has an iconic symbol.3rd Quarter Tactical Vehicle Spike Campaign.Installation Rider Education Recognition Program (RERP).Defense Safety Oversight Council Mentorship Modules.Regulations, Guidance, Executive Orders.
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