He was a giant of a man, a steel pot (one size fits all) sat on top of his head like LT Fuzz.
I've found it interesting how various military members find their way back to their units during war time. Thumbing rides, catching medevacs, etc. The American troop always seems to find a way to buck the system trying to steer them clear and go back to be with their unit. Mine was way easier, I was given the chance to spend the rest of my tour in the TOC or any S shop I wanted. I told them I was going back on mission the next day and no problem.Another memory popped up while I was making a ham sammich for lunch. Have no idea what the connection is, but...
One of my buddies that I graduated from AFROTC at Indiana U. with went on to become an A-10 pilot. We kept in touch during our first assignments, but then I went to Germany and he went somewhere else and I didn't see him again until right after the first Gulf War -- ran into him in The Netherlands at an American base just across the border from where I was stationed. He had a NATO assignment at one of the air defense bunkers in the area and had just arrived a day or two earlier.
Turns out he had gotten the NATO assignment the summer before, PCS'd out of his A-10 squadron at England AFB, LA, and was on leave-en-route when Saddam rolled into Kuwait. His former squadron deployed to Saudi Arabia. He heard about it and instead of going on to Europe like he was supposed to he started taking Space-A hops until he got to Saudi Arabia. (Space-A travel in general was suspended during the US buildup in Saudi, but apparently since he was traveling to join his unit he was able to talk his way onboard). He found his squadron stationed at a forward base out in the desert, close enough to the Iraqis that they kept all their vehicles fueled and bags packed in case they had to evacuate. Since it was only a few weeks since he had checked out, he was still current on his flying skills so the squadron issued him flight gear and he spent the war hunting tanks and such. He flew in the Battle of Khafji plus a bunch of other missions, had some crude tapes of some his missile shots. Had some interesting stories.
I always thought that was a pretty awesome decision on his part, to punt the NATO assignment and thumb a ride to the war.
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(Which I thought was why AMR2UL limits being lower than the ELT limits were silly).,,
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It just struck me as I re-read this: Why are radiation exposure limits different for different jobs? Are ELTs tested and selected out of boot camp for the their genetic resistance to radiation mutations, or does the Navy just not like ELTs or...?
I work with a guy that used to work at a nuke power plant. He would install scaffolding and shielding for other workers.
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I never did say thanks for the explanation. So, "Thanks for the explanation!"
And also -- I just realized that on this date in 1982 was my first day on active duty. Tinker AFB Oklahoma, 552 Airborne Warning and Control Wing. Largely a great assignment!
I never did say thanks for the explanation. So, "Thanks for the explanation!"
And also -- I just realized that on this date in 1982 was my first day on active duty. Tinker AFB Oklahoma, 552 Airborne Warning and Control Wing. Largely a great assignment!
...Clark AB, Philippines from when the volcano blew in 1991.
Speaking of which...
I was at NATO Airbase Geilenkirchen When mount Pinatubo erupted and buried Clark AB in soggy ash. A couple months later we had a family PCS in that had come from Clark airbase. The wife told me that they had been quickly evacuated to the US prior to the eruption and had to leave behind nearly all of their household goods. After The volcano calmed down the US military brought in troops to go through the housing area and pack up the household goods for shipment to the United States.
While they were in San Diego they happened to run into a sailor at one of the base exchanges And discovered that he had been on the HHG packing detail. In talking to him they found out that he had worked their neighborhood had helped pack their house, and their stuff was undamaged. That was the good news. The bad news was that the packedcrates had sat on the dock for weeks while it rained.
When their crates of HHG Finally arrived in Germany and they opened them, everything in them that was organic had about an inch of green fuzzy mold on it. All their clothes papers books and furniture were destroyed by the mold. The only thing they salvaged were some electronics – – her husband took them apart, dried them out with a hairdryer, and most of them still worked.
How many people worry about toilets?