First Couple of Days

We've been here a couple days now, its been a crazy blur of briefings and studying up for our first flight (which has been delayed twice now). I think they want to ease us in before giving us the real deal. The briefings included ur standard "wash your hands" brief and "keep your pt shirt tucked in/don't wear black socks with your tennis shoes/always wear your reflective belt" stuff vitally important when at war. My favorite was "don't let us catch you throwing a bottle over the fence with a $20 in it, in hopes the locals will throw back a bottle of heroin" which apparently happens. We did however have more of the "half-time" briefings mentioned in an earlier post, so now I'm really ready to tackle somebody.

Its amazing, in my very short career I'm already running into guys out here I haven't seen in a couple years, friends from UPT and my previous deployment (small AF) We also got to see the crews we are replacing. It’s a good feeling to get to see friends you work with, and know they get to go home now to see their families. Also cool is that they have already done all the recon on the base. They let us know which showers have the best pressure, which bathrooms actually flush, and which chow-halls have the best options vs least crowded. I'm still sticking with the "bad showers" so half way through I can upgrade, its the little things... The previous crews also left behind any games they made to include corn-hole, hillbilly golf (ladder toss), and a driving range into camo netting. Also, my crew has already learned canasta, and PIT is becoming a crowd favorite. I think we'll be able to fill down time.

I tried up loading pics, but the internet connection is lame sauce, sorry. It is really pretty here.

On the Road Again

I don't remember it being this bad last time, but our schedule going over this trip has really messed with my head. Six months ago I spent the shortest day of the year farther north than I ever had. This time, 2 days after the longest day I was even further north. We never saw darkness as we flew through the night. 0200 landing in Iceland for gas was a bright dusk, the sun set and rose again within two hours. How are you supposed to sleep in your hammock with that kind of light - COME ON! Another great feature of the herk, room to put up hammocks in the back, just have to know where the hot/cold spots are cuz air doesn't move around much. Its also been fun to see the same places in the early summer compared to last winter, amazing the difference. Romania didn't look so bad this time, maybe since I was in the capital this time (geography quiz for the day) On a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being a standard bombed out, eastern block, formerly communist country, I'd give it a 7.2 compared to last time's 9.2

Descending into Afghanland was beautiful I woke up in one of those confused states and I swore we were back in CO. After I straightened my head & climbed down out of my hammock I didn't have time to find my IBA (interceptor body armor) so I just sat between two really big guys. Very uneventful and safe mom.

Its Go Time

Well I know its been awhile, but writing about working in the scheduling office isn’t as exciting as you may think. The long anticipated time has come, we’re on the road again. This time on our way to an all expense paid two month stay on the western edge of the world’s tallest mountains. The highest in AFland is over 24,000ft, yesterday flying here ATC cleared us up to 23,000 but I had to bashfully admit, “Denver Center, Teton 37 here, I don’t think we’ll be able to make that today, we can give you 21 though.” Turbo props do have their limits compared to jet engines, but I prefer to emphasize the opportunity this presents for excellent sight seeing as we weave our way through valleys.

Everyone is excited and chomping at the bits to be there and get going. Two weeks ago we received a briefing getting us ready for what to expect. Things learned from the crews we’re replacing and differences from what we would expect to be normal desert ops. Apparently Iraq and Afghanistan are two different places… WHO KNEW? While Iraq has a well-established infrastructure with 12,000’ runways you can see popping out of the sand 20 miles away, afland doesn’t. Instead you have trails etched out along pre-existing goat trails leading to 4,000’ dirt strips surrounded by aforementioned peaks. And with the lack of infrastructure comes the need for more airdrops to resupply troops moving into the backcountry. You combine these needs and have a herk’s sweetest dream and why it was built, an airdrop platform/cargo plane that can land on short dirt strips.

I came out of the brief with the same feeling I had after the half time “brief” from coach Mann against Clarksville my senior year. He let me know what I was doin wrong, what I was gonna do to fix it. It was a strange mix of encouragement behind a stern mask of “get your butt in gear” we had (have) the skills, just have to put them in gear. I came out pumped up and ready to tackle somebody, but that is slightly frowned on in a professional office. I’m REALLY looking forward to the next couple months.