Bill T checks in from Somewhere In a Desert. Okay, Kuwait.

2007-12-15T15:52:23Z

Well, I can get pretty much anywhere on the 'net from our crash pad here in Kuwait except for MT. MT doesn't deny me access, but the server here evidently thinks the login page doesn't exist.

Farl (ask Barb to define that).

We've made a *lot* of people happy over here. The AF has eleven IPs teaching the Iraqis in Kirkuk and the Army's doing the same thing with -- ummmmm -- one. Of course, since the training airplanes are brand new and in flyable condition and the training helicopters are in "Third World -- Used" condition, it's not like the Army IP is drowning in overwork. The Air Force IPs aren't wild about ground school instructing (no flying hour credit for teaching Aerodynamics or Meteorology) or playing in the sim (you can't get hurt in the sim unless you bump your head getting in or out, so there's no "Impress the Gurls" factor) and the Army IP wants to spend more of his time mentoring a couple of guys with Helicopter Sky God potential. Heh. Our interpreter is a former MiG-21 pilot and a huge Vietnam Air War buff -- his first comment after meeting me was, "How did you guys *survive* all that sh*t?"

The students think it's cool that we'll be available for additional tutoring. Bear in mind that a couple of the students are in their mid-thirties/early forties and a couple of them have scads of MiG-21 and Su-7 time (no Mi-24D types have shown up, yet, but I've heard a rumor that a couple have applied for the school).

Hassan: "Where will you be staying when you come back to teach us -- the Green Zone?"
*note: the Iraqis consider living in the Green Zone the equivalent of living in, say, the gold vaults at Fort Knox*
Me: "Nope. The school is here, you guys are staying here, so we'll be staying here, too."
Hassan (grinning): "Here? Even with the rockets and mortars?"
Me: "Sure. We're all retired Army, so we're used to that stuff."
Hassan (still grinning): "You're not going to show your wife the pictures of the craters on the ramp, are you?"
Me: "Ummmmm -- no."

Heh. He told his wife he works for a bank and his job requires him to travel a lot.

Tsk. The things us guys say to keep our SigOthers from going all jittery.

Or buying multi-million dollar life insurance policies...

Comments for Bill T checks in from Somewhere In a Desert. Okay, Kuwait.

Bill T checks in from Somewhere In a Desert. Okay, Kuwait.