Night Qualification

by on October 8, 2005

I flew last night from about 2300 - 0030. It was my first flight in the desert with night vision goggles. It was simply an introduction to this type of flying. It was a great flght. I have only had a handful of flights since I started this craazy endeavor where I walked away feeling like I was really on top of everything. This was one of them. Everything clicked. The crew worked together seamlessly. The desert was beautiful in the green glow of the goggles and I enjoyed moving along 100 feet above the sand. As expected, I had to watch the instruments very closely to be sure I was not climbing or descending because there are no visual references to let you know altitude, especially under goggles. Whenever I saw a vehicle driving across the desert I would, for practice, treat it as potentially hostile. We would avoid a direct overflight. The door gunners, also for practice, would announce "hostile fire from the vehicle, suppressing!" and then make machine gun sounds over the intercom. We got into a contest to see who could make the best impression of the door gun. It was a fun flight but with a very serious purpose. The more I work were these guys the more confident I am in the team that is going to Iraq. Other than the occassional flight life has been uneventful. The Kuwaiti evenings are cool enough to go running so Ive been getting 3 to 6 miles in each night. Ive also been going to the gym most days. The rest of the time is still spent mostly waiting for meals and sitting around the tent. I think we are all ready to move on to our more permanant homes.

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3 Comments

flying in the desert

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote a book that I enjoyed... i would send you my copy but it is already in real rough shape... what is your address again I will get you a copy sent to where ever you can get it. ... here is the Amazon link to it.

here is a review by some guy in australia :

As an office worker I often find myself escaping to books of adventure and travel. Amongst such books the works of Antoine de Saint-Exupery are amongst the finest. Saint-Exupery was a pilot in the fledgling airline industry in the 1920's and 1930's flying mail routes in exotic locales such as Spain, France's African Colonies and South America and then an officer in the French and Free French Air Force during World War Two. But equally importantly Saint-Exupery was an amazing storyteller and philosopher who between tales of plane crashes and amazing escapes reflects on questions such as why do men put their life at risk, when can we say that we truly experience what it means to be alive and what is mans relationship with technology and progress.

If you are interested in the 1920's, aviation or simple want to read the thoughts of a man who led an extraordinary life, you will enjoy Wind, Sand and Stars.

What *I* liked about his story, I actually was sharing this with PDM (8yr old daughter) while we were looking at the big dipper, little dipper, and casipoia and the milkey way... was the part where Antione crashed on a butte in the desert and was looking at the stars and felt like he was floating in the vastness of the desert night.

so.... what is your address ... i will get a copy to you!

Rock on Garth!

Submitted by Justin on October 8, 2005 - 10:01

cool book list

I went through the book list there Jay and wow... I have read some of those and some not and there is some good stuff there ey. I mean... Hobbes and his make believe friend Calvin! OMG the best.....

;-)

Thanks re the Amazon list, James... some books are heading out to find you. Enjoy.

Submitted by justin on October 9, 2005 - 09:03