32 Days and a Wake Up

We are nearing the end of our visit to Ft Sill. Last week was spent doing our big Bn ARTEP (final evaluated aviation exercise). It involved every person in every unit, lots of planning, and prep, and culminated in a large 15 aircraft (3 flights of 5) troop insertion, day, and a return to extract the same under nvg conditions. It was precisely timed, each company of aircraft landing 5 min apart. We were not sure what to expect, but the worst showed up. We wound up getting our rear ends shot up pretty bad on the insertion. I was one of the pilots in A Co flt lead...we had reports of bad guys with small arms in the LZ, and when we were on final approach, turns out they had rpg's (simulated of course). We took a few hits, made a go around, landed in a different place not quite as "unfriendly"...and dropped of the folks. Came back later in the dark and this time we could see the bad guys lying in wait and the doorgunners opened up on them(simulated) and we made it in and out with minmal damage. The debrief was an hour and a half long. We made a lot of mistakes, but there were great lessons learned. The worst thing we did during the night portion was, had our cockpit dashlites too brite. Someone with a night vision device on the ground can see the faint green glow of an aircraft approaching...so we have to turn those cockpit lights down some more...

So, basically we graduated from the aviation side of the house...Yeah! Got home by 0200, and right away the next day we are told we have to start packing. Now we have to pack our B, C, dufflebags and large Rubbermaid "tuffbox"with the stuff we're sending across the pond. Also, we are sending the majority of the helicopters to the port this week to prepare to be shipped on the same boats. Yes, all our extra goodies, tools and aircraft, are going to Kuwait by boat, roughly a 21 day "cruise". I was scheduled to be one of the pilots to fly down to Corpus Christi Tx, and complete my instrument checkride along the way, but then they re-did the list and put all the staff weanies on there instead, so Bradley doesn't get to see the port at all...oh well, maybe some other time. Once they land, the contractors take over and prep the helicopters (fold the rotor blades and fold the tail and shrinkwrap) and the gang hops on a bus and drive back all night. We still have a bunch of training yet to do, so it's really difficult to follow the packing lists...took most of the day, to figure out what we'll need. It's hard to pack to stay, I could be packed in an hour to leave for good, but we still have to go the FOB for a week, and have the proper stuff to leave for Kuwait about Aug 3rd. We are coming home for block leave the afternoon of Jul 23rd, and return here afternoon of Aug 1st. Our departure ceremony has been moved to Aug 2nd, here at Sill. We still don't know for sure which flight suits we"ll have, we hear "one piece tan, no, 2 piece tan, or maybe the new 2 piece ACU nomex"... Remember, we have to get all our rank and names and stuff sewn on, too, which takes some time... All of this takes a lot of time, and effort and we hope we don't have to go overseas with a bunch of extra flt suits, only to send half back home again.

Otherwise, I'm still doing laundry quite often, it's really hot, and we all smell rather bad at times. Only a "taste of whats to come". Getting a little more used to the extra weight of battle clothes, and drinking a gallon of agua every day, or more. There was an interesting event during the drill last week, we had a memorial service for one our pilots who was killed during the exercise...his aircraft was hit with heavy gunfire (simulated). It was a battallion size ceremony, memorial music, helmet and boots posted in front, and people spoke on his behalf, a female soldier sang America the Beautiful, and yours truly was asked to read the 23rd Psalm. The Chaplain directed the ceremony. It was rather moving, I took it pretty seriously, and was praying we don't have to do it for real. Some folks thought otherwise, and didn't see the relevance. Our Bn Cmdr is a religiuos man, and wants us all to not only be in great physical, but also spiritual health as well. To that I say,"Amen brother"! Having experienced a ceremony like this will reduce the shock of performing one for real.

Taking our shots...we had our 3rd and final anthrax shot, (we get 3 more in the series in country), and they suprised us with smallpox as well. Don't ask me why, I didn't know it was even a threat...I was told unofficially that Iran and Syria still have it around...I'm not sayin' , I'm just sayin'. I had to defer my smallpox til I get to Kuwait for medical reasons.

We are back in a strange rainy cycle here, no one's ever seen this much rain here before. They are way ahead of normal, and there has been a lot of flooding. We've barely missed some big storms just east of here...hope we get the aircraft out first without any damage. Sure would like to get some folks from the DNR at home to design a better drainage here - suddenly there's 4' of water in these small creeks, and it blows everything downstream. Little tough on the ecosystem here.

Now you're up to date, sorry it's been a while. The pace continues, some days really suck...I wish it was already over and done. The Col reminds us that we are our" brothers keeper". To that end I am grateful for everyone here, even though some days some folks don't play well together, we are one big happy military family (sort of). We have a job to do, and thus far we've done well. God Bless, and thanks for the prayers, and comments. See ya...

Things are heating up...

We finished up our training in Alabama, and returned to Ft. Sill on the 3rd. It's been really busy since and I've had difficulty getting near the 'puter to do an update. As much as I hate to admit it, getting back to Sill was like returning to "home plate"... I miss my air conditioned room at Rucker, but the days were very long (11-13 hrs). Basically it means that we have one more thing checked off of our list before we "graduate" in July. I flew some more nvg training a couple nights, and some day training as well. We are now in the phase that all of our operations are directly monitored and notes taken of all our missions. Then we all meet afterward for a debrief of the entire flight, to include the whole mission planning process, etc. Most of the time the debrief goes well, we definitely know our jobs, and we are safe...but the nitpick stuff these guys come up with... Most of us, especially the more "senior aviators", realize that if all they can do is nitpick, there's not much real stuff to hit us on, so bottom line is, we're doing well. We're just tired of playing the game, and would prefer to tell them to take a flying leap... What are they going to do? Stamp my mealcard "no dessert" and send me to Iraq? We're going anyway, whether we do well or not. Sorry, just a little black and white venting.

It's been really warm (trying not to say hot, that will be Aug in Kuwait) here and we are wearing our battle armor wherever we are traveling to and from. 93 has been the high so far, and we are actually starting to acclimate. That means getting used to being fully clothed, and the extra weight of our armor...60 lbs, and a camelback water carrier, to try to stay hydrated. I'll have to get a pic of me in our new IBA, indiviual body armor, and our new only slightly lighter Air Warrior armor we wear while performing flight duties. Its Hot! Our schedule is prety much 24/7, like it is overseas, so on Fridays we've adopted the saying, "Oh good, only 2 more work days until Monday"...

DNR notes- I saw an anusual tree in Al, I think its called a Mamosa tree...has fern like leaves, and really flowery buds, colorful too. The locals liken it to a weed, since after the flowers drop off if you park a vehicle near it, you'll get sap all over Billybubba's car...he don't like that. I got to see one of those Miss Kites the other day, not too many left, I think they've moved into their summer range. Fun to see different flora and fauna around here... Boy I sure do miss the smell of my Coppertone...at home about now, I'd be wearing it everyday, working on that "healthy tan"... Don't wory, I checked with a doc a couple years ago and I'm not a likely candidate for skin cancer... He recommended I go up from my Coppertone 4 to 15, so I did that. Did you know that an spf of 15 blocks out 93% of the bad rays from the sun? So don't waste your money on much higher. (Thank you Dr Brad)

Not much else to fill you in on, we're all tired, and anxious to get out of here. It's a bittersweet thing though, how difficult it will be to leave for part 2 of our gig... Which reminmds me of something, our last night at Rucker, we got to go to a local hole in the wall restaurant and had a very good Korean meal brought in for the 65 of us. It was good... Then the Col said general order #1 was temporarily repealed, and those who desired could enjoy a 3 drink limit...which most folks turned into a 3 drink minimum....pretty funny. I was sitting there watching all the people mingling, and trying their hand at karoake. We really haven't had a chance to visit much, it's been kind of all business since we got here... It was great to just sit and look at all the folks who've volunteered to put their lives on hold for about 18 mos, and help out in this cause. Reminded me how blessed I am to be a part of this new"band of brothers".
A special "hi" and thanks, and I love you all, to my family and relatives. Stay safe, be alert. God Bless... See ya..