18 Oct

I switched to nights two days ago. It was actually quite easy to reverse out. I was at work at 7AM on Monday, stayed up until midnight then went to Green Bean for coffee, went to bed at 3AM, went to work at 4PM, flew a mission and got back to the room at 4AM. It took me over a week to get comfortable on the day schedule. In theory I like getting up early but in reality I am much more suited to a night routine. My missions the last couple of nights have gone very smooth. I’m certainly a little rusty on goggle flying. Last night I came in too high and fast on two different approaches. Those are the hardest thing to judge at night – speed and distance. Another advantage of flying at night – it’s cooler. Last night was the first night I got back not drenched in sweat. At one point we were up in Al Asad and I had to close my window (it was 68 degrees). Tuesday night our mission took us up to Balad – it was fun to see the place again but I’m glad I’m not stationed there. It was as busy as always and we had two Apaches fly right over the top of us in the traffic pattern. Monday afternoon a group of us went out to the firing range. Most of the group was there to qualify (promotion board or new weapon) but I just wanted to shoot. I shot 90 rounds with my 9MM pistol – it was a lot of fun and first time I have been able to shoot without trying to qualify. It also gave me a lot more confidence in the weapon and my ability to use it.

Cloudy H 98 L 70