first day off

on my first trip here, i did not take a day off in 5 months.  i do not plan to do that again.  i was supposed to take off monday but did not; i decided to do it today, so that i could sleep late after watching alabama’s loss from 1am-4am. 
when i did go in [...]

first call

unfortunately, the trend i referenced earlier in the week ceased, but it did allow our other aircrew from nashville to get a chance to fly a mission.  two of the med techs got their first sorties today, which had them excited.  the squadron DO (director of operations) asked at the beginning of the week to [...]

predator

MQ-1B Predator plane the AF uses for reconnaissance…these fly overhead every day and night to allow us to see the attackers and stop them before it’s too late. In the background is an F-16, of course.

“piloting” the Predator

not yammin’

when i was in the 7th grade, a friend of mine gave me a t-shirt for my birthday that had a cartoon of a potato figure on it; it was sitting on a sofa, watching some tv and listening to a jambox.  the caption said “couch potato” at the top and “yammin’” at the bottom.  for [...]

the gospel

It’s been a while since we’ve had some truly great news. Like 2000
years. That changed today.

I made plans to meet the close friend of my youngest cousin this
morning; her friend is an army intel officer who’s been here since
march. I was early, so I went ahead into the green beans coffeehouse
for a [...]

pics

this is the area in which we used to live and work in 2003

indoor pool

current residential area

the alley in which i live

my trailer–concrete barriers for mortars

latrines

showers

view from my truck

mosque on base–we’re not allowed to visit

area where combat support hospital and our tent were 4 years ago

patient onload

patient onload with c-17

princess moe

if they ain’t dying, we ain’t flying

That’s what we say when the tempo slows, and it’s true:  if we don’t have a lot to do, it’s good news, given our mission.  The last few days have had no aerovac missions for us, much to the ambivalent chagrin of our flight crews who want air medals (for which they need 20 combat [...]

lonely at the top

i know it’s a cliche, but i now know firsthand why it became one. since i arrived here, i have spent every evening after dinner alone. i exercise, bathe, read, and go to sleep. i invite others to come along, but enthusiasm has yet to become action. most of the guys [...]

images of living and work areas

From Atlanta to Balad, a few pics.
I tried to pack baby in my A-bag–she wasn’t happy.

This picture was taken as soon as my boots hit the
ground in Balad on the flightline at sunset. The bus driver, a large
civilian woman, said, ‘Don’t tell me you just took a picture on the
flightline.” To which I replied, “Okay, [...]

inside an AE mission

Shot of a medical aerovac on a C17 flight out of Iraq.