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Hurry Up and Wait. In Reverse...

June 25, 2007 | | Comments (9)

Well, I'm impressed. It only took a week to get me

1. inprocessed with my new employer, to include Import/Export certification,

2. back up on flight status (took more time to find the doc's office than it did to get a Class II Physical),

3. up to speed on the country (customs, threat, food, threat, politics, threat, geography, threat, weather patterns, threat, language(s) and threat) -- *big* hat-tip to SOCOM,

4. qualified as a counter-ambush/counter-terror driver (glad I had previous experience commuting on I-195 to Ft. Monmouth), and

5. [entry not entered -- OPSEC and all that. Gotta keep you guys guessing about *some* things...].

Meantime, I've still got some flight gear to get from the Air Force; they had to order me a helmet, since they only stock XL and XXL. I refrained from commenting, for a change (I never snark someone who's gonna give me something and *hasn't* ordered it yet). So, I'll be tieing up loose ends for a couple of days -- meantime, I figured I'd show you a bit of Bragg that the tourist brochures don't include on the itinerary.

This'n is for John. After all, ADA *is* sorta-kinda artillery.

Little bullet, big sky my a$$...

But as far as I'm concerned, this thing is best viewed as a static display.

For the Soldiers Angels who drop in and visit (and all the Denizennes doing double-duty with SA), this retreat is tucked into a quiet corner.

Fisher House

Why'd I take a picture of it? Because. Just because...

Last, but never least, this'n is for the SB Brigade.

Anything I add would be superfluous...

Heh. That muffled thunderclap you just heard was Maggie enroute to sign up for Jump School...

See you guys later.

[Addendum: I keep getting Line 71 Runtime Errors in the Snarkback Comment box -- durnburn hi-tech 'trons -- so I'll have to do a John for replies. BTW, kat, *all* my posts used'ta get popped in just after midnight, but one morning I woke up at zero-dark-thirty still sitting in front of the monitor...]

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9 Comments

By Cricket on June 25, 2007 1:17 AM
Why SugarButtons Cuddlyness! Keep us posted. I was gonna snark a bit, but well, it is early for me and I don't wanna sound too mean. And did you hear the story of Ted Kennedy getting a flight helmet pounded onto his pointy head? [*striking patrician pose* I am *not* cuddly. John is cuddly, I am -- ummm -- "huggable." And *do* enlighten me about the Boston Beluga and the Brain Bucket...]
 
By kat-missouri on June 25, 2007 2:13 AM
The question for Sugarbuttons: did he get his massage from Iron Mike or Pretty Boy Floyd? LOL See, I am better at snarking when I am too tired to think straight. But, thank you for the picture of the house. I knew what it was as soon as you said "SA" folks. And, good luck. We are hoping to hear many years of TINS. [Haven't gotten massaged *that* way since I was 15 -- and all three of them had a couple of years and about twenny pounds each to their advantage. Still landed a couple of solid shots to number four, though, which is the reason there were only three left pummelling me.]
 
By BloodSpite on June 25, 2007 9:58 AM
Hrmm. That looks remarkably like the region in which John Kennedy's School of Higher Learning is located.....
 
By WereKitten on June 25, 2007 10:37 AM
ohhhh BABY. I could use a rub-down by Iron Mike. Ohhhh YEAH!!!! SB, you know us too well. So. Did the AF have to order you a special flight suit with a 27" zipper to go with the new helmet? [Nope. They just added a 25" extension to the standard USAF issue...]
 
By DougK on June 25, 2007 11:55 AM
Those Vulcan ADA guns were SO much sexier when mounted on M113's as the M163 vehicular mount. At least it had a chance of keeping up, unlike the ill-fated Sergeant York's which had the misfortune of being built on M48 chassis (and couldn't hit much on top of it). There's still an M163 on display down at Hood, or Bliss, I believe...I forget which.
 
By Cricket on June 25, 2007 3:02 PM
'Twas in West Germany, at Grafenwoer. The Beluga had come on a fact finding mission and had ridden in a tank (I don't know if it was specially rigged with water, but I digress), after being pounded into it...then rode in a Cobra. First he was zipped into the biggest flight suit they had...and he dang near burst the zipper at that. They pounded the helmet on his head, and then Teddy decided he didn't want to ride in the Cobra. So, the squadron commander turned to the ground cav commander and asked him if he wanted a ride, and he said no, but asked his driver if he wanted to ride. It was kewl with all the Upper Echelons, so the Engineer got to ride in a Cobra. [Haw! I wonder how they'd planned to get BB into the front seat -- axle grease and a shoehorn? I hope the pilot gave the Engineer a good flight in gratitude...]
 
By Neffi on June 25, 2007 8:48 PM
Chief, don't sweat the ZSU 23-4s... Carborundum and the gang are ready to plug them thar muzzles. Oh wait- he's got a bunch of FNGs this time 'round... prolly too young to know their SAMs from a hole in the ground (when, indeed, one follows the other- ahem). You've got the right stuff; do bring it on home soze we can have the TINS! Blue skies... err... black skies! [Neffi -- Iz *not* being Shilka! ZSU 23-4 is a SPAAG with Gun Dish radar plunked on a PT-76 chassis. This critter's a ZPU-4 quad 14.5mm bundle mounted on a ZPU-2 chassis. Don't know if it's a Saddam Special or a case of mix 'n' match the trophy parts after arrival home -- I took the pic on Sunday and nobody was home to provide me the answer...
 
By BillT on June 25, 2007 10:12 PM
Did the AF have to order you a special flight suit with a 27" zipper to go with the new helmet? Nope, they just put a 25" extension on a standard AF one, Sis... Cricket -- That's hilarious. I wonder if they planned to get him into the cockpit with axle grease and a shoehorn. Happy ending is that the right guy got the ride... Neffi -- Iz *not* Shilka! Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 23-4 is a self-propelled jobadoo with a Gun Dish radar and an optics backup. I took *that* pic because it's a ZPU-4 quad 14.5mm mounted on a ZPU-2 chassis. Maybe a Saddam Special, or it could be just a matter of mix-matching parts from a bunch of different trophies. That's not a WarPac tread pattern on the tires, either, but it's not unusual to put decent US rubber on something that's not a museum exhibit...
 
By Cricket on June 26, 2007 1:31 AM
Yes...and it started the Engineer on the love of Cobras. To this day, he thinks they are the ultimate and was grateful that Teddy passed when he saw the grease and shoehorns. He was Cav at the time, and was on Excellent Terms with the pilots down in Fulda.
 
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