All the excitement crams itself into a couple of days surrounded by days of everything running smoothly. At least that is my experience with maintenance and this week is true to form. The last week had both aircraft and mission running like clockwork. We have an engine change planned on one of the aircraft but we postponed it to line up with some other inspections. It now is going to be tomorrow night but other problems have added on like a fuel cell and window change. Which is no problem except the pod on the other aircraft started acting up so now we fly one then have to switch pods to the working aircraft. As you can imagine this set off a flurry of emails. We have a new pod tech and his first comment when he heard the problem was that it would be down for a week. He was quickly informed that you could squeeze a week’s worth of work into two days since that was how long he had. It reminded me of a Star Trek episode. So it looks like I have a few busy days ahead of me but at least it makes the time go by. In a week or so it will all be over and things back to normal. I have started to think of all the things I need to pass on to the guy who replaces me. I tell myself that it is too early but it’s hard not to focus on the end. I keep updating my handover book because it is really all about knowing the right people to talk to for the problem you have. And those people keep changing as troops rotate in and out of theater.
The missions have been steady and last month we flew the most hours of any month since this program started. We had a busy mission today – it started with and exfil of special forces troops which went early so we thought an early day but then we got re-tasked to two separate TICs and stayed up until we were out of gas. For whatever reason the locals were active today with a lot of firefights. All the aviation assets were busy jumping from place to place with the added challenge of dodging thunderstorms over the mountains.
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Thunderstorms are prob. seasonal. Is this the season? Are you allowed to say who gives you weather info? (Other than God (: Dodging storms...seems you have small playground to work in. Do you just sometimes stop playing and go in? No recess? (Continuing with school analogy...in case I lost you) About air to ground pictures. Are the drop offs really as steep as they look? Houses hanging in almost air? All the straight lines around each building must be walls. Are they only property demarcations or are they that plus "Keep Out and This Means You" with broken glass or wire on top? "Locals" is a good neutral expression. Is this standard new army usage? Rather than something more aggressive? Like enemy? Read that opium production is way down. Like down to i/4th. Short article, no explainings. Also read that a Boise goat herd has Q fever. They are quarantined. Am hoping this was not the goat herd, under city contract, that chomped thru Pendleton last week eliminating dike foliage along the Riverwalk. (: Any local warnings about protection from local diseases? Like Q fever? A bug that thrives in Afghanistan would be tough. (:
ReplyDeleteLots of good questions - I will attempt to answer them in order. Thunderstorms are seasonal and from my understanding this is the tail end of the season. Jun and July are the driest months of the year but there is still enough moisture in the air to cause buildups as the air lifts and cools over the mountains. They very rarely produce rain but they do get in the way of flying. We get our weather briefs from the Air Force. That is the same worldwide - the Air Force provides all weather briefings for Army aviation. I guess it is a deal they worked out years ago. A couple of days ago was the first time I have not taken off due to thunderstorms because they were supposed to be right over the field. They never materialized but our mission was cancelled anyway. The drop offs are pretty steep but I think the perspective does enhance the effect. Those straight lines are walls and they are used as property markers and to provide privacy for the women in the family. The few walls I have seen close up do not have anything on top - just the standard adobe wall.
DeleteI liked the word locals even though that probably isn't very accurate and it certainly isn't standard Army usage :) I think the most accepted term is insurgent which basically covers anyone doing something we don't like.
I also read that they had a very poor poppy year due to bad weather but I don't know what was bad about it.
That is interesting about the Q fever - I didn't know it was in the US. The only diseases we really hear about are rabies (a very widespread problem)and malaria. I guess they have a high number of cases here every year. We are all issued pills that we are supposed to take every day but most people don't. People get tired of taking all the drugs the military gives you. Who knows maybe I can add malaria to my list of diseases :)
Speaking of drugs..which we weren't except indirectly..Pre-Nicaragua with Andrew I took a quinine request to the nearest Chicago pharmacy and got a bottle of pills for $600. What?!! Found out pharmacist had mis-read dosage, but for a minute I was thinking I would have to take my chances with malaria. (: Bad think about malaria is that it is with you as long as you have a body. Which I am sure you know. (:
ReplyDeleteYep that is the same stuff we are taking over here. I stuck with it for a couple of months but I have been slacking lately. It would be a pain to have malaria (after reading about Teddy Roosevelt's experiences it doesn't sound like fun) so I may get back to it.
DeleteDo you have much contact with special forces guys? Maybe you can't answer that and no problem because my basic question is more indirect. There are a lot of books out written by various special forces guys. I am thinking that if I were a special forces guy I would not welcome the fellow soldier who spent a lot of time basically telling how great he was. These books are not team focused. Any thoughts?
ReplyDeleteInteresting analysis. As for me I have almost no contact with SF guys except on the radio and seeing them in the chow hall. I think you end up with books like that because of the type of people who join the special forces. The focus is on the team during training and in operations but you have to think a lot of yourself to even make it. All the training reinforces this so you end up with a team of guys who think they are pretty good (which is true). The majority of guys don't want a book written about them so you have an egotistical author writing about what he experienced. At least that is my best guess :).
DeleteThank you for your best guess. My only (and brief) contact with anyone who was even close to special forces was in Germany with a paratrooper who kept flexing his biceps while he talked..."Hi! (flex, flex) My name is...."(flex, flex) Strange but true. (:
ReplyDeleteI can't think of anything to add to that :)
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