Ode to the Mighty Herk-a-lerc

Oh mighty Herk,

You are more perfect than a spork,

You soar far above the clouds if they are low,

With strong tailwinds no one calls you slow,

You are awesome for adventures,

But not for those with dentures,

Oh mighty Herc.

I bet most of you didn't know I am an amazing poet, my sis rubs off on me from time to time.

I've been meaning to do this for awhile now, but it keeps slipping my mind. The C-130 is seriously one of the coolest planes in the AF's inventory. Funny thing about it, I distinctly remember on casual (waiting for flight school) returning from my first C-130 ride, calling dad and saying I still didn't know what I want to fly, but it wasn't the herk. By the time I left my mind had definitely changed and became my top choice. (you can read a previous post about how that happened. The C-130 is by no means the poster child of the AF, but it definitely is the workhorse along with the newer more luxurious C-17. And you wouldn't think so, but the 40 year older herk is FAR more gas efficient.

This past week I got to go Norfolk VA, Gitmo Cuba, St. Croix and back again, with a really fun crew, on a routine run to deliver supplies, mail, etc. Apparently this was a very common thing before the wars kicked off, but since then we have been pre-occupied. As we were making the return jump to VA I laughed and realized I needed to document how awesome the trip was. I'll try to be unbiased as well though.

I'll start with the obvious niceties of the plane that make it the ultimate roadtripper:

- it has a small oven, so toasted sandwiches, pizzas, and cookies are common

- we have water heaters, but usually prefer the cool drinks from the cooler

- after all that you'll be happy to know we have a sit down toilet

- we have 2 crew bunks, but can put in more litters for more nappers, we take turns for napping

- we can put music over the interphone

- we can bring our own ride by loading up a truck

- there are regular plug ins so guitar hero has been played in the back on longer trips (it was monopoly on the lap-top this trip)

To be unbiased: (with the secret pro behind the con)

- the auto-pilot is pretty shady so flyer beware (we actually get to FLY the plane)

- we couldn't climb above 30K because we didn't have necessary equipment, most of the time we can't climb above 24K the plane just can't take it

- we have 4 huge speed brakes called propellers, in strong winds we barely move

- we can't refuel in flight (the last three combine to mean we get to make more stops, seeing more of the world and stay over night in St. Croix)

- in the back you are either freezing or sweating depending on the location of your seat (both warm and cold blooded people are happy)

- we don't have fancy computers to communicate over the ocean, so we make hourly position reports to verify we are still there (you get to say hello to lots of different people)

- no fancy computers for navigation and systems monitoring (we carry a larger crew to party with, always a pro)

We also flew a retired family from VA to WY to go skiing (space A). It was funny to bring the kids up front and see them very unimpressed with the flight deck. Even more funny to hear them screaming in the back as we practiced a rapid descent into an assault landing.

Good first day back

I know I still need to chronicle the adventure that was making it home in time for Christmas, but for now I just wanted the thank God for the beauty of this place and for the joy of fellowship with solid Christian friends. We were getting a thin fresh coat of snow last night as I went to bed so the drive this morning was gorgeous. Just like the post-cards of sparkling frost covered hardwoods and white-tipped evergreens that look more blue than green. The sun was starting to come up and put its first rays on the tops of the mountains giving them a pink glow. The antelope were still somehow surviving the plains, but the buffalo must have been hiding from the snow. Then tonight I got to eat a made from scratch dinner and play games with a couple of really solid believers I work with and one of their wives. Its amazing what a blessing it is and how much joy it brings to be able to instantly connect with people, have that much in common, and build a friendship around that kind of foundation. I came home on a strange high, it was a good day.

Shortest Day Ever

I spent today farther North than ever before and it is the Winter Solstice (Dec 21) so I saw 6h 58m 38s of sunlight (actually never saw the sun despite being up and outside), officially making it the shortest day of my life. Since we were broken we hopped a train to Glasgow for my first international 24 hour period not in uniform. It was pretty awesome. I really enjoy my crew, spending time with them is always fun. (mom doesn’t allow always and nevers) so I have to caveat that with the fact that on every deployment you hit an irritable wall in which all you require is the most impossible thing to find: time and space alone. Sadly I wasn’t immune to this nasty disease and didn’t always have my party pants on, but I apologized, asked forgiveness and everyone forgave me, so I guess we’re ok.

ANYWAY, Iraq doesn’t get you in the Christmas mood nearly as much as you might think, and that bar is probably already set pretty low, so it was pretty exciting driving to our hotel last night seeing well lit Christmas trees in windows and snow on the ground. The Christmas carnival in the main square today helped too, but hearing Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas” in one of the shops is exactly what I needed to set me over the top (so I’m listening while I right this). While we were enjoying some haggis, napes & tatties my AC brought to fact that we weren’t flicking flies off of each other and our food, there wasn’t a constant burning poo smell in the air, and he didn’t have to get dressed last night to walk to the restroom.

Better than the scenic train ride across the highlands was learning that some of the guys had flown the other plane to pick up the spare part and maintenance already changed it out and it was ready to make the hop across the pond. They are pretty amazing, just another advantage of the 130, we can carry our own repair team.

Happy Birthday

The Air Force gave me one of the best birthday presents a guy could ask for: A ride out of a combat zone that will eventually take me home (fingers still crossed). It may have had a slightly delayed T/O for weather at our destination taking it to the 20^th instead, but hey.

It was kinda weird getting ready to leave, suddenly things annoying as sandpaper toilet paper weren’t that bad. One Army Lt we saw often in the gym (on a 15 month deployment) couldn’t believe it. When I told him, he just stood there staring off into the distance repeating “WOW” over and over. He never stopped, I finally had to walk off and leave him in his own world of disbelief. Its funny how quickly you create a bond with TCN’s (third country nationals that work on base, mostly from India) you could easily note the tone of longing for home in their voice as well. We have it very nice in the Air Force, I am extremely thankful.

We hit up the capital of Hungry for a gas stop (geography quiz for the day) on a divert from what was our primary stop due to the same poor weather. Brian sent me an email asking if I was ready to trade blowing sand for blowing snow. I thought he meant Cheyenne/Ft. Collins, little did I know he was psychic and knew we would be sledding down a snow covered taxiway. It was so powdery my head had a hard time convincing my eyes it wasn’t sand. It was odd being inside a clean hard walled/floored building again with restrooms big enough to turn around in. We hit the sky again on our way to our next stop and I quickly became educated in the amazing 20* temp change from the top to bottom litter in the back of the plane (four high bunked cots we snooze on). At one point my face was almost sweating while my feet were going numb. Upon landing we received the best news you can get when trying to make it home for Christmas “Your plane is broken and won’t be able to fly tomorrow, maybe longer since getting the part could take awhile considering the weather and time of year.”

Whoops

I don't know what happened, but I just realized I haven't posted at all in Dec. I guess nothing new or exciting has popped up. We still have over a week here but flying is about to finish up, since we brought in all of our own support we have to take it all back with us. This differs from most deployments where there is a constant 130 asset and we just rotate out as crews, so there are some logistic situations to work out.

The Harlem Globetrotters were here last night, they are hilarious and put on a very entertaining show, I just can't say enough about those who come out here and do show after show for very little pay, for small crowds that are far less than motivated to give positive feed back.

Lastly, I have had several people ask about acronyms they have seen, so here you go:

DFAC = Dining FACility

NVG = Night Vision Goggles

WX = Weather

UAV = Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

ATOC = Air Transportation Operation Center (best guess) the people who give us our cargo/pax

Pax = passengers

if there are any others just let me know and I'll get 'em up here

New Job

We've been flying fairly consistently and am happy to say we put a major dent in the war on terror the other night. AFN (the armed forces network) is the sole source of life here for a lot of people so when our TV went down right before college football saturday the General called out his A-Team. Needless to say it is now up and running, and since we are on a night schedule we've been able to watch a few games.

Since we've been flying more than others, the guys working the office jobs jumped on our flight to stay current, which meant I got to learn more about how the guys in the back operate. It was pretty awesome, dad I'm gonna blow you away with tie-down knowledge. We ran out of seats at one point so Mike & I rode in the hummer which provided one of the softest rides I've had, extra suspension and noise muffling. Thanks to an unfortunate 24 hour bug that has been ravaging its way though our crew I also got to sit in the spotters seat. There have been copious amounts of Imodium passed around and the 50 yard dash to our bathroom has gotten pretty exciting. Luckily the DFac has soup, baked potatoes, and 7up.

Thanksgiving

My first major holiday overseas was a good one. We have made pretty good friends with a Sgt that runs the DFac and we were excited we didn't fly today and got to be there to see all of his hard work. Its amazing how much hard work and how much of a difference individuals can make. He and his battalion are from Hawaii, so his wife sent up some street signs and other decorations to make the place feel at home for them. Half the DFac was Hawaiian, half was traditional thanksgiving, they had ice sculptors (how they did this blows my mind), a cornucopia filled with fruit and lays, a giant mayflower ship they served eggnog from, workers dressed up as indians, pilgrims, elves, and reindeer, a gingerbread city, all the traditional food (which was pretty good), and what blew my mind the most, they had baked several large pieces of bread to the shape of the Hawaiian islands and laid them out on a blue table cloth. Our AC is also from Hawaii so he gave us a geography lesson and showed us where all the cool spots were. It was great to see everyone so happy all from a few individuals hard work. I went with peach cobbler for desert in honor of missing hamburger-ala-foil last night at deer camp.

Great Day topped off with a late night work out and mid-night breakfast, trying to get ourselves adjusted to an evening/night flying schedule.