Good News Bad News Oreo

Good news: John is a dad, Linc & Valin are healthy

Bad news: running out here is kickin my butt, elevation is the same as Fort Collins so that can't be an excuse, its really not THAT hot, and there is zero humidity. It may be the inconsistent sleep cycles and training, or me being a wuss, but I am sadly coming to the realization as I get further behind on my schedule that the AR marathon may not happen. I can still do the 10K which will be a lot more fun, I did one marathon, that was enough.

Good news: Fun easy flight yesterday over the most extreme mtns I've ever seen (N39:28.90 E070:51.36). Today we have the day off and they are playing the new Tom Cruise movie Night & Day in the MWR building (big screen & lots of nice chairs) don't ask me how they got this movie, but its on VCR??? Apparently we missed the new A-team movie yesterday, but I'm sure they'll show it again.

Breakfast Smells

This morning wasn’t out of the ordinary but it was a great one, very refreshing and good prep for an all night flight. I woke up to a long run and had a very insightful quiet time. Amazing how God can use scripture in a daily study printed months in advance to address something so accurately. We were flying that night so I had time for a long breakfast and helped myself to the omelet bar, its hit or miss if its open and I haven’t been able to try it yet (prolly won’t be going back). Having just run and my PTs being a day or two old already, I was smelling pretty ripe but figured I would blend in with the local workers. My olfactories quickly alerted me to the presence of some females, I swear they soak their clothes in smell good, but it’s always a nice reprieve and I appreciated it while it lasted, because as soon as I sat down to eat about 6 of the locals also brought their food over and our smells mixed in a synergistic tornado of b.o. I did enjoy watching them as they watched the newest Indiana Jones movie on the big screen. You don’t have to understand the language to enjoy non-stop over the top action. They were pegged and almost missed their mouths’ a few times. I wish I could’ve asked them what they thought, but I they were content to get to practice “good morning” and proud it came out half-way understandable so I let it rest there. And huge topper to a great morning: after working out I found REAL FLUSHING TOILETS with water in the bowl. I know this sounds retarded but most all they have here are shelve toilets with no water in the bowl. Next part graphic: As the sign says: “place two squares of toilet paper on the shelf in the bowl, utilize the toilet then flush to wash waste down”

Like I said it was a great morning and the flight that night was good as well, we watched the sunrise over the mtns and got to see a gravel strip we’ve been frequenting for the first time in daylight (completely different than I thought) ignorance is bliss, while on approach there are ridges on either side that were previously invisible.

In the pic you should be able to make out the edge of the gravel strip, notice the line of defense from the local houses. Two little girls came out on top waving and dancing before their mother got them down. There were also young boys on top shewing away birds waving sheets and throwing dirt clods. By the time we took off we had a bit of a crowd.

Some have asked, so here is my address, I really like emails/letters about day to day boring sounding stuff the best. Save money on packages and go get a milk shake instead, just say a prayer for us before you drink it.

Independence Day Reflections

184 years ago today Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both lay on their respective death beds waiting for this day. Those tending to their final moments report them coming in and out of consciousness days and finally hours prior asking if it was here yet, holding out on death until it was. When they finally received an answer in the affirmative they smiled and slipped into eternity knowing what they had done years prior on the same day would secure freedom for generations to come. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the 4^th of July 1826.

Not nearly as dramatic or meaningful to securing the freedoms of our country, but closer to home for the writer, 6 years ago today I stood in front of 250+ fellow field training cadets

facing a heritage park for a July 4^th speech. In my line of site was the O-6 giving the speech, the US flag, the POW flag, an F-15, and the Arkansas flag. It was definitely a meaningful 4^th as we approached the mid-way point of field training and most of my stress was over. I had already completed most of the graded events and getting all 250 cadets across base in an orderly fashion on time for the speech was my last tasking as cadet wing/cc. After the speech I was told I had been “struck by lighting” and could only mutter one sentence to the in-coming cadet wing/cc as I was “rushed to the ER.” I also received an AF edition of the Bible from Mom & Laura dated July 4^th that day. It contains several famous speeches, prayers, hymns, anthems, and short passages where members of the military are mentioned in the Bible.

July 4, 2010 finds me in Bagram Afghanistan. Most of the crew is in bed (we are flying tonight, so we’re sleeping during the day) but I’m pretty pumped about my first church service here. In keeping with theme the message was on freedom. But instead focused in the freedom we have in Christ. Freedom from the sin we are born slaves to, free from its guilt as we continually fall short, free from death and its condemnation, and freedom to share his love for us and others. The freedom that Jefferson and Adams secured for us is given by man and can be taken away by man, but thankfully God’s freedom is secured forever and will never be taken way. That’s awesome…

You can call me DeSoto

Internet has been unreliable and business is picking up, I have stuff written, but behind in posting, here is one from the other day:

Part of the fun of a new base is playing Columbus/Magellan and finding new things, so my run this evening was exploratory in nature. I heard a rumor you could run along the perimeter, also heard you couldn't, so I decided to go for it. I was richly rewarded. The base itself is bare dirt and void of any low lying vegetation, with the exception of a few trees. But as I turned off the main drag and eased onto the perimeter I saw lush green fields with cattle, sectioned off with chest high earthen walls or brush acting like hedge rows. Some fields were cultivated with rows of crops, not vast fields I’m used to seeing thanks to heavy farm equipment, but small 30X30 yard plots of varying produce. The sweet smell of buds and blossoms were a nice change from the port-a-johns and manly war B.O. and there were even wild flowers along the irrigation ditches and a flowing creek possibly big enough for a tube. As the walls started turning into clay huts and images I've only seen on national geographic I started feeling uneasy but realized I could easily see a guard tower in front and behind. The feeling left just as quickly when a 2 year old waddled out of a doorway, tripped and seemed content just rolling in the dirt, a couple kids working their garden shouted and waved from across the concertina wire (they really don't know how to properly use a shovel). It was as if I had been running so fast I went back in time to another world, there were three story houses all matching the dirt they rose out of with courtyards and connecting houses with more people working more fields. I'll try to go back for pictures, really wish I could just walk out there and show them how to use a shovel...

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.