The trip Home

OK well I guess this is the last installment of Balad 2007. I made it out of there on the 17th of Dec and now I am back home in the arctic tundra of Cheyenne WY. The flight back was long and well just really long.

We flew 3 days in a row, logged 8 hours the first day another 8 the second and then 10 on the last day, yea lots of flying. I guess it would have been faster to jump on United or something but hey how many people get paid to fly there own plane around the world and check out the Alps?

Our first stop was Turkey for some gas and a nice sunset pic

then off to England. It was a lot colder in England then the 60’s that it was in Iraq. When we landed it was about 25F. It was late and everything was closed so we grabbed a 6 pack and headed to the hotel.

I really wanted to take a bath, not just a shower. I really never take bathes but after spending the last few months in a 2’x2’ shower stall I was ready for a bath. So I started filling the huge English tube and when I walked back to check on the tube the water was very brown and had lots of black things floating in it =( So I drained the tube then took a shower.

Then we were off to St. John’s Newfoundland. It was a nice flight but because the whole flight was pretty far north we didn’t have very much sunlight, get’s dark early. I read some and maybe dozed off a little before we landed.

It was even colder in Newfoundland then in England but at least the restaurants were still opened so I went and eat with Chris and it was nice to have a beer with dinner. I used to get shocked on how different it is when you leave the desert, you know seeing kids and families and being able to wear normal cloths. But as we were eating I realized that I have been doing this way too much because the adjustment period took only about 5 minutes.

Here you can see that it was a little on the cold side, we even had to park on ice =)

The flight home was the longest, just over 10 hours! You are right the mighty Herk is not the fastest plane out there but it will get you to wherever you are going if you just give it some time.

So I am home now and my first day back I went to Winter Park in Colorado and went snow boarding, AWESOME! It was great, sorry no pictures but maybe next time.

Till next time,
Aloha!

Jordan

Not a lot going on other then flying. I did have a fun trip yesterday, flew into Jordan and picked up a 2 Star General. He was the perfect passenger. He asked for a seat up front which we accommodated him with, then as I asked if he wanted a head set or anything to drink he said nope and turned on his ipod and fell asleep. Having big wigs is not uncommon but when they don’t want to talk or bother you makes our life so much easier. When he was done he handed us his coin and was off the plane in .2 seconds flat.

This was not my first trip into Jordan but it was for my copilot so she enjoyed seeing the sights. They have to have one of the world’s largest flags there in Amman, it is HUGE! I would have gotten a pic but I was on the other side of the plane and watching out for buildings was a little more important at the moment =) So I stole this one from the web, it almost shows how big the flag is.

As my time here this trip comes close to an end they want me to move into a temporary tent. I am not looking forward to that as there is nothing in the tent other then 10 beds, yea no footlockers or anything to put stuff in or hang stuff up. Plus it’s not a bunk bed so there is no extra space to put my junk. Not only that but there are 10 people in the tent on at least 8 different crews, ie waking up at different times. I don’t think that I will be getting very good rest with all the commotion. Also this tent is at least 300 yards from any shower facility =( OK I’ll stop complaining.

As far as the trip home I am getting excited, it will be nice to be out of here and then I can start working on my shop/garage/airplane factory. I don’t have any plans for going anywhere this holiday season other then getting the shop ready to keep building my RV7.

Aloha!

Fun in the Sun

Just another sun rise

Not much has been going on, just flying the line. I had an 8.9 hour sortie 2 days ago where were took off and landed on the same runway, just 8.9 hours later. Yea I would really like to complain about it but the flight was not really that bad. I brought a book, Deception Point by Dan Brown and let’s just say that I read a lot. As all of you know KC does not read but I started that book and read 350 pages that flight, well that’s all I did so hey I guess even a slow reader can make head way in 9 freakin hours!!!

It was really a good book and it got me hooked. When I got home I kept reading and then had to go to bed. The next morning I woke up and finished the book. I finished a 550 page book in about 24 hours. He is the same author of The Da Vinci Code and I really like the way that he writes. It is very short chapters (and yes not big words either, a plus for me) and you are just hooked! I read Da Vinci Code the same way, started it in Japan, read it flying across the Pacific and then had to finish it before I went to bed in Albuquerque. So I grabbed another one of his books from the squadron rec room and well see when I get a chance to start it. I have already read all of my books about my RV over here and I have even ordered a book about a Dude that built an RV and flew it around the world, yea solo from Australia. I hope if gets here before I leave, if not at least they can add it to the growing stack of books that we have here.

I went to Bahrain and Bagdad today, it was a great flight! We had a blast and I think that the crew is finally starting to gel. I know it’s taken longer then I would have thought but hey it’s about time. We have about 120 hours of flight time so far and we are having a blast, ok at least I am. Today Chris cooked up some pizzas that were the bomb! Sometimes it’s hard to believe that they pay me to do this, I mean really I get to travel stay in exotic places, be it sandy but still… and even do what I feel is helping out. I mean don’t tell them but I would do this for free, or at least as long as they paid my bills and they seam to be taking care of that right now =)

Oh I almost forgot, this morning I found the worlds largest banananananana ever, yea this thing was huge. I don’t know how or why I allowed this pic to be taken but sense I did I figured I would let you get a good laugh.



Have a good one and I should be home soon.

Full Tummy

Well Turkey day was a blast, OK bad choice of words, it was fun =) I had to wait and hour and fifteen minutes to get food. There was plenty of room to eat, I thought it was due to lack of seating but it ends up it was due to slow service as the Chiefs and Colonels had to serve us and they were not as speedy as the normal servers. The food was great but they didn’t have green bean casserole =(

They went crazy on decorations, I wish they would have just worked more on the timely service, but enough about the hour wait outside in the sun to eat.


This is 20 min into the hour and fifteen minute wait, love that spelling!


Wow Iraqis spell like Hawaiians


Yes they think that the American turkeys are very big


Look it’s a mini Herk, ok its an Army Sherpa and yes the props are spinning!


Boy do they like frosting!

After lunch I went to the hospital and helped out by cleaning liters and getting the mail. It was nice and slow and they only had one helo come in with patients all day so that is always a good thing (I left at 1730).

My phone sucks and it barely worked, I’ll try again when I wake up but I need to go to sleep for an early mission tomorrow.

Time to rest my very full belly,
Night

Gobble Gobble

Happy Turkey Day!!!!

It’s another turkey day in the desert, I am sure that there will be a lot of good food today, they really do a good job on the holidays as far as feeding us goes. They did not cook breakfast this morning as they were concentrating all there efforts on the lunch/dinner menu. I bring the camera and get a pic for ya of the feast!

Well the last two flights were fun. First I did an aeromedical flight down to Al Udied Qatar, Bahrain and Ali Al Salem Kuwait then back home. It was fun because it has been a few years sense I have been back to the Deid were I had my first desert deployment back in 2004. It was odd because as I was taxiing in my engineer said exactly what I was thinking, “Wow if feels just like I never left”. Weird how I can go to some place that I have been before and feel like I never left. Sure the place has changed a bit but it’s all the same really.

It was fun for my Copilot because it was her first time to Qatar and Bahrain. I remember on my first deployment taking all sorts of pictures and video in every new country. I still do the same thing now but after being to over 50 countries I don’t get to go to new ones every flight. But I am trying to talk some pics though they all start to look the same after awhile.


2004


2005

2006

2007

Then our last flight was back to the Deid and then Baghdad. Nothing to exciting, we moved the Tops in Blue (Air Force band) for all the holiday festivities. There are quite a few celebrities starting to show up. None that I really care about but maybe I’ll have the chance to see someone.

OK well I wish that I could be back with all you but it’s also nice here, blue skies today and it is even cooling down, maybe low 60s this morning.


Yea I am in charge!

Well have a good one and I'll write later,
Aloha!

Done with Duty Crew!!!

Today was a great day, it was my last day of duty crew! Yea my week of sitting behind the desk is over. I guess I did get to do some neat things this week. I had lunch with Lt Gen North, he is the big boss over here in the Desert. He was cool, he let us (about 30 other officers) get our food first but then he blew it when he started using a lot of fighter lingo. He had some really good insight and I actually learned a few things. Then he toured the squadron and he talked about more things that are pertinent to my job.

Then other DV that I met was (I believe) the Surgeon General for the Air Force, or maybe just CENTCOM. He had lots of questions and I felt he was really interested in what we do. He not only asked about medevac missions but about all of the other things that we do over here.

Then our own base commander, Gen Fields took some time today to ask me how things were going. I thought he was trying to be as thoughtful as he could be, when I told him my sister flew F-15C’s then he stared to listen to what I was saying. Yes he is a fighter dude too.

I expect a few more DV’s to roll through the squadron as it is getting close to Xmas and all the people fighting for votes and in charge always tend to want to shake hands in front of the camera this time of the year. I wonder who else we will see. I have flown many 4 stars and congress men and women around and don’t forget the “Hollywood Stars”. I just missed Chuck Norris, I really would have liked a picture of him doing a round house kick to my head =)

I saw my first movie over here, The Kingdom. It was about the US presence in Saudi Arabia and really fits into what I am doing over here right now. It was odd after the movie was over hearing everyone pick up there M-16s, M-4s ect off the floor. I couldn’t tell if it was still part of the gun battles from the movie or what. For a second I almost forgot I was over here in uniform with a loaded M-9 on my side, but then I was back in reality and the movie was over. One sad thing was that when you looked down the rows of seats there was almost as much trash as you would find in a theater in the states. Just more proof that the military is just another small sample of society and that we are really getting lazy in teaching our kids to pick up after themselves, so disappointing.

Well that’s about it, life in the desert continues I’ll chat later.

This is a pic of a book that I like to read when there is some drone time, yea look for my other blog in my about me page, I am building a plane!

Duty Desk Blues

Well today was pretty boring. I was sitting the Duty Desk and that means that I answer the phones and radios for 8 hours, yuck! Yea it was hard to sit in front of a computer for that long. I guess that shows that I could never have an office job, or at least one without anything meaningful to do.

I guess things could be worst but I am not looking forward to sitting there all week, yea it’s a Sunday to Sunday job. Oh on the bright side I got a box from Uncle Bill with all sorts of yummy treats, thanks!

Well that’s it, time to get off of the computer and head to bed, Happy Veterans Day!

Welcome to Balad

OK well I guess I will try this out and see if I can let you all know what I am doing. As some of you know I am currently enjoying my all expenses paid trip to Iraq right now. It is not the first time I have been here nor do I imagine that it will be the last.

I am living on Balad Air Base just north east of Baghdad in a lovely room shared with my new best pal Dan. I get the pleasure of walking about 100 meters to use the bathroom / showers so it’s not to bad. We have arranged the room 12’x12’ room so that we can each get a little privacy but it’s still a 12’x12’ room.



Yes it's bright!


Top bunk is for storage only, roomie has his own bunk bed.

The daily grind is fly one day then get one day off so it’s pretty hard to complain. I don’t have as much down time as previous deployments so that is good. Being stationed in Iraq has it’s benefits too as or crew day is limited due to the combat nature of flying in and out of this place.

In my off time I volunteer at the hospital where I walk around and talk to people and wait for the helicopters to land and I help unload the patients. They are willing to teach me to do about anything but I really don’t want to be giving IVs or drawing blood or anything that involves needles. The hospital can use all the help it can get and I know this doesn’t sound right but it is a fun place to be as I feel that I am actually doing something.

I also have volunteered with the base safety shop were I help out with there BASH program. That means that I get a high powered .22 pellet gun and walk around the base and shoot birds! Yea it feels kinda weird walking around a little city with a gun, ok I do that every day, but being able to shoot it at birds is different. But don’t worry it’s for a good cause, we don’t want our multimillion dollar planes hitting birds and crashing now do we?

Well now that I have got this started I’ll try and update it whit what I can and let you know how I am doing.

I’ll leave you with a nice sun rise over Baghdad! Tell next time, Aloha!