This is one of our more interesting landing zones - on top of a dam. It actually works really well but the area is a little tight and with high winds it can be tricky because the currents change so much as the wind goes over the dam. Other guys have said it is disconcerting taking off over the water on dark nights because it appears that there is nothing below you but I have only been in there during the day so far. It is another one of those spots that I would love to shut down and have lunch but I don't think that is ever going to happen. The last thing they want is a helicopter stuck on their deck.

This is me trying to listen to a radio call. At some of the smaller FOBs they just use hand held radios that don't have much signal strength. It would help if I pulled the straps on my helmet tighter but over a long period of time that gets pretty uncomfortable so this works well as long as I am not the one flying :)

Looking back towards the uplands. Some of the formations remind me of the Arizona desert, just on a smaller scale.

Picture of Crow (one of our newest PCs) as we fly from the canyons to the flat plains down below.

There are several areas out west where the flat plateaus drop away into canyons hundreds of feet deep. You can see all the evidence of water and erosion but as dry as it is it really reminds me of the pictures sent back from Mars. In a lot of the bigger canyons we see goat and sheep herds eating what little grass there is.

Flying over the desert out west. At some point in the past my camera developed a spot on the inside of the lens that is just about dead center of the picture - rather annoying.

The three crew members (Bagley, Palmer, Serio)from the lead aircraft staying warm by standing in the engine exhaust while waiting for their cargo to show up. It has been around freezing in the mornings and in a lot of the aircraft the heaters aren't working (not a real focus for parts over here). Besides, we fly with the ramp down and the cabin windows open to mount the machine guns so the heater doesn't help much anyway.

This was an interesting cloud pattern that I saw a couple of days ago just before sunset. The lighting only lasted for a few minutes.

21 Jan

Things are just clicking along over here - we just passed over 3000 flight hours since our arrival and in that time we have flown over 2 million lbs. of cargo and 30,000 passengers. Not bad for eight aircraft. I had a good mission yesterday – it was relatively standard but the weather was nice, I had a good crew and everything went smoothly. It made me appreciate again how much I enjoy flying.
I don’t talk very much about my faith here. I never intended this to be the type of journal where I record my thoughts and emotions. Of course there is some of that but I was more interested in showing what transpires in the physical world or what I do on a day to day basis. I have avoided the introspective for two reasons – First, I lack the eloquence or writing ability to do justice to my experiences and more importantly so much of what we think or feel in reaction to an experience is the result of previous experiences so I am not sure much of what I said would translate. Now I am sure there are those who would like to know more about my opinions or reactions to events (Alice) and for you guys all I can say is wait until I see you or at least have a good phone connection :). For the rest I will continue to relay events so at least you know I am still alive. That being said, I am a little concerned lest anyone should interpret from my entries that my Christian faith is not a big part of my day to day existence over here – it is. My faith defines who I am and as a result, all my experiences are seen through that lens. As an example – every time I fly I am very aware that I may not come back (which is why I always make my bed in the morning – I would hate to have somebody think “he was a nice guy but what a slob”:). To me this isn’t morbid – just an acceptance that God is in control. My concern is doing what God has called me to do (and I don’t mean flying) – the outcome is His problem, not mine. I don’t talk about it much because I think one thing we have enough of in our culture is religious talk and what we are sorely lacking is that talk manifested in people’s lives. While over here I have focused on being a peace-maker which has turned into pretty close to a full time occupation as Wendi has heard - probably more than she cares to. Much of what Jesus did and said was radical but what was the most radical then and now was his treatment of the individual regardless of worldly status or condition. If we all acted like that in our daily encounters we would see real change in this world. OK – that is all you are going to get from me - back to what a test pilot does for 15 months in Iraq. :) Love you guys.

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Jackson and English on a cold, wet, January day. It felt a little like Alaska - at least Alaska of several months ago.

A desert Chinook with snow - not a sight you see every day. It didn't last too long but it was something different.

They are squeezing the last of the Tri-walls on. At least it was a nice day to stand out there and watch them :)

This is a Chinook fully loaded with tri-walls. We thought the limit was 12 but but this crew proved us wrong - they got 15 on. All the different airfields love us because we manage to take all of their extra cargo.

This is the action shot Steve took - pilot's don't do a lot on the ground. Except for paperwork which is exactly what I am doing.

Steve said I had to have at least one shot with me and the aircraft. He really gets into taking pictures of people and he has a good reason - he says people always take pictures of other things and never of themselves which is usually what people back home want to see, so I have added a couple of pictures of me. You can thank Steve.

12 Jan

Still pretty slow on the day cycle at least mission wise. We have had a nice bout of maintenance problems the last couple of days, so that has given us something to do. Once again it seems like the aircraft talk to each other – once one breaks they all want to get in on the action. After several days of frenzied activity we beat them down and they all behave for a few days. This slow time has allowed me to get back into exercising again. During this deployment I have noticed several indicators that I am getting old and my body’s response to exercise is one of them.:) I find myself satisfied with a much shorter workout than I used to be and the funny thing is the pain level is just the same. We did have a little excitement a couple of days ago – for the first time since we have been here we got measurable precipitation and by morning it had turned into snow. It didn’t last long but it was wild seeing it snow in the desert. The guys flying that night ran into some of the bad weather and had to climb up into the clouds and fly home on instruments. That caused a little anxiety but it actually all worked out just like we plan for. I found out my leave date for next month – the 7^th. Just having the date has made me a lot more excited – I just hope the days don’t start dragging.

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This is a picture of some of the houses right around the airfield. A dramatic change from the palaces just a few miles away. I am constantly amazed at what a dictator can do and still say he is looking out for the best interests of his people. Power really does corrupt.

Steve at the end of the day. Somebody attached two Christmas stockings to his bike helmet. It was a good look so he ran with it.

Kidd putting a safety on the forward engine mounts. He said I had to make sure I got a picture of him working so the guys back here would believe his story about how critical he was to the mission.

It was pretty hazy when we were flying so this picture didn't turn out very well but this is one of Saddam's water palaces. There are 3 different man-made lakes with palaces and other little island buildings. This is the Victory over America palace that was built after Desert Storm (it was Uday's palace). As retaliation for the name this was one of the first places to be bombed in 2003 - you can see the gaping hole on the left hand side.

Steve on his famous tryke that he rides back and forth to work. I rode it around a little bit and it is actually very comfortable - not to mention the handy basket on back.

Winsor and Kidd with one of our engine guys (Stephenson) in the background. At this point they are putting the finishing touches on the new engine to get it ready to run.

Steve's arrival out at 172 in Baghdad. On the right is Kidd - one the flight platoon sergeants. He doesn't get away from post very much so he took the opportunity to get out and see something different.

5 Jan

This past week things have really slowed down at least on the day schedule. We joke about how we must have moved everything so it’s time to go home, but if we have to be here it sure is nice to be used. We are coming up on a big Marine rotation so I think the units are pulling back a little and getting everything ready to move - we should get busy in another week or so. The night missions have been going steady but a lot of it is moving Army units back east. It is a nice bit of variety and I wish I could do some of it but I’m pretty much stuck on days until J.R. gets back from leave and even then both he and Brian rotate through nights before me. I would love to fly missions over Baghdad again just to see how much it has changed. I have had some excitement these last couple of days. On the morning of the 3^rd when I came in to fly a mission I found out that 172 had torched an engine and was sitting at Baghdad International waiting a new engine and test pilot. Right away I volunteered because Steve K (a test pilot who left Alaska after we got back from our last rotation) is stationed there with the 3^rd ID. After I got back from the mission I packed a bag and jumped on one of the mission acft that was taking the engine over. They dropped us off and we met up with the crew from 172. They were already on the night cycle so we left them with the task of installing the new engine (the old one had already been removed by the 3ID guys during the day) while we went to bed. One thing that being there did was make me appreciate what we have here. They live on one side of the airfield and work on the other so they have to ride a bus back and forth every day. The night guys rolled in about 7 in the morning (it has been a long time since the flight guys have changed an engine) and we headed out around 8 to finish things up. We were ready to run by 10 and aside from some interesting electrical problems, due to a bent pin, things went pretty smooth. I had Steve fly with me since he knew all the local flying procedures. It sure was great to see him again. I really miss having him in the unit and I don’t think the people he is with appreciate him enough. It was interesting to see Baghdad during the day (even though it was just the area surrounding the airport) and we were able to get a good view of some of Saddam’s palaces. That evening I was able to spend time with Steve and we went through a lot of his photos from our last deployment (we both thought we looked younger then). Later that night we linked up with one of our missions and they escorted us back home. I got to bed about 4 this morning but it was well worth it to see Steve. On another note I played my first game of horseshoes over here with the set I got for my birthday.

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The two guys on the left (Clay and Jeff) are the instructors for the enlisted guys. They are the ones that train the new crewmembers and give check rides for the ones already signed off. On the right is Nick and Tim with Vic in the background.

More guys at the meeting (it was actually about the most I have ever seen there due to Walls saying goodbye). L-R Dennis (he runs the other internet system), Rieck (our operations officer), Streva (sitting, one of our Marine medics), and Dave (killer Dave as he is know, due mostly to the fact he is so quite people assume he must be dangerous).

Three of our pilots hanging out at the daily 4PM meeting. (L-R) Mark, Steve, and Tony (who is doing the thankless job of running the internet system I am typing this on).

The crews that flew the USO tour with (L-R the people without uniforms :)Ms. America, Lewis Black, Robbin Williams(kneeling), Lance Armstrong, and Kid Rock(kneeling).

This is Barnebey and Brazell kissing Ms. America. This photo is posted on ABC's website with their report on her tour over here. By the way she had no idea they were going to do that.

Walls with Ms. America. As you may have guessed I got these pictures from Walls but I'm not against posting a good picture from another source :)

This is one that Mike and Russ will appreciate - that is Lance Armstrong on the ramp with Terry Walls. Walls said Lance was actually very relaxed and seemed pretty comfortable on the helicopter. Maybe that comes with risking your life on the Tour :)

A sunrise as seen from our flightline. It can be beautiful here but those moments stand out even more since most of the vistas are rather monotonous.