I can't speak for Navy squadrons, but I know the Marine squadrons had enough to do to keep up the Flight Schedule, not to mention the test and rework schedule. Didn't leave a whole lot of time to visit the wash rack. About the only time a bird got a good bath was when it was coming out of an Annual. The rest of the time, it was up to how well the Plane Captain assigned to that bird wanted to wipe his plane down between refueling, daily inspections, turn arounds, etc etc.
Another factor that entered into it, in Yuma, anyway, was that come the afternoons, especially in summer, touching the upper side of a plane could lead to 2nd degree burns.
And the dust in Yuma got everywhere. It stuck like glue too. Turn around, and the dust has settled everywhere. Very difficult to keep a plane clean in Yuma.
Just my 2 cents worth. To me, a clean plane is suspect. Is it new? Just come from Depot, or what??
Pat☺
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