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June 23, 2008

Monday's Meme

And if this doesn't blow the new format right through the portcullis, nothing will.

Tagged.

Me.

Out of a galaxy of million-candlepower xenon searchlights in the blogosphere, she picks the neutron star in the bunch to enlighten all y'all. Of course, I wasn’t exactly a moving target.

"Yup. And 'midst the threshers and makos and Great Whites, some of us are just

*ahem*

pilot fish."

And some of us are nothing more than tomorrows SOS, stuff on a shingle, just waiting to be cut up.

*sigh*

So she Ginsus me with a meme.

However, before I spill my guts through an act of electronic seppuku, I believe I’ll tender my tender tormentor a peace offering -- something that will show her I understand why she expressed her repressed emotions by jerking me around with a %$#@! meme exhibiting curiosity about my mundane existence. Since her alter-ego, Princess Leia In A Sandpaper Thong Cheese Danish Bikini, has moaned

But then I have always had a weak spot for quiet, solid men.

and since I damnsure ain’t neither understand her need to bitchslap me cry out to me in this manner, I’ll dedicate this to her as a little warmer-upper for the seriosity to follow.

And now to the main event. The rules state:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog (easy enough -- not really necessary, though, since most of Villainous Company lurks here anyw -- Sly! *Not on the drapes*!!).

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird (easy enough -- everything about me is random, weird, or both).

• During my thirty-seven years in the Army, USAR and ARNG, I never had an Army Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (I *delivered* a whole bunch, though, and dished out cranberry sauce and stuffing on several occasions).

• All my ARNG Raters recommended “Promote immediately” or “Promote Ahead of Contemporaries” in the remarks block of my OERs -- and all my promotions were delayed, on average, by three years. I kept a file drawer full of promotion packets to replace the ones Higher kept *losing*. One time I submitted three -- and said that way they could continue to lose one each month and not have to bother me for a while. It didn't sit well with HRO *at all*...

• I was knocked on my keister by lightning three times within the same month (June 1971) -- and got a nice letter from a two-star (not for getting hit, for what I was doing when I got hit -- which, in turn, resulted in my getting hit, but nobody else).

• I’m a character in a book that’s currently in draft (it’s not about me and I made her promise she wouldn’t turn me into a water-walker).

• Horses and I have an agreement: I don’t drop onto their backs from overhanging tree limbs and they don’t bite me on the butt and drag me off.

• I can’t wear short-sleeved shirts (souvenir of Agent Orange called porphyria cutanea tarda -- the whole "bleeds through the skin" deal freaks people out, for some reason).

• I owe John a bunch of cartoons.

Hey, the requirement was that I share seven facts -- not that I share and *explain* them. Unless, of course, it’ll get John posting privileges at The Corner. And ry lets HF6 read the X-Men #1 he *thinks* he hid behind the adult novelties dispenser towel rack in the oubliette.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
As if. This place is the Meme Graveyard.

4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Not. A. Chance. But Argent, AFSis, ALa, Barb, Foxfier, Cricket and Michelle Malkin all dodged the bullet. Fuzzybee, HF6 and Maggie were previously victimized. And Murray would have tried to launch a rock at me (hey, we're practically neighbo(u)rs these days).

5. Present an image of martial discord from whatever period or situation you’d like.
That can be read on many different levels.

Hosting provided by FotoTime

This is only one of them.

And *that* can be read on many levels, too…

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Jun 23, 2008 | TrackBack (0)

June 18, 2008

The Eye of Horus

There's a surprising amount of wildlife sharing the base with us. The usual ants, scorpions, ants, camel spiders, ants, crested larks, ants, sparrows, skinks, toads, ants, rock doves, bats, ants and other smaller critters (including ants) are omnipresent, but the larger fauna are represented, too -- the hunters. Feral cats live in some of the old fighting positions in the woods and hawks nest in the higher branches of the willows. Foxes live in the graveyard behind my hootch and trot around the airfield perimeter after nightfall -- I see one every so often sitting by the bombed-out watchtower on my trek back from the office, waiting for me to pass so he can continue his rounds.

This morning I was heading for my shortcut through the blast wall between my hootch and the main drag -- I got two steps from the opening in the wall and a sparrow flew from behind the wall and landed in the opening. I got one step from the opening and a falcon appeared from nowhere, pounced the sparrow -- and then looked at me. He snapped his head up, our eyes locked for less than a second and he vanished back behind the wall. Those amazing black eyes had enabled him to see the mottled dust-brown sparrow against the mottled dust-brown earth from hundreds of feet away.

Dazed, the sparrow hopped into a crevice in the blast wall.

I've developed a bit of a metaphysical bent over the years -- you don't wanna take the same path that I did to get there -- and I've always had a sort of empathy with animals. Here's a secret -- it's all about the eyes. Those of you who've never met me may find what I'm about to say a bit hard to swallow, but in the brief instant my human eyes met the twin pools of liquid midnight that were the falcon's, I *knew* what he was thinking.

"ooops"

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Jun 18, 2008

June 15, 2008

Round Four

I think I’ve got a pretty good sense for the absurd, but I couldn’t get this loony if I went without sleep for a week (and I have -- on several occasions).

Rounds One, Two and Three are here. I’ll hang loose until you catch up...

Got all that? Okay, here’s Round Four:

Subject: RE: Last Notice Action Required - CAC Reverification Warning - ticket [redacted]

From: [pentagonal dot mil addy redacted]

Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 10:35 [note the date]

To: [my dot mil addy redacted] , [same pentagonal dot mill addy redacted – yup, I guess they wanted an extra e-mail to build up their hit count]

William Tuttle:

Reply to email received on 05-27-08: [remember I told you to note the date?]

1. In most case a CAC Sponsorship Transfer Email is sent when a contractor is reassigned to another TA. Most sites have their own way outside of the CAC Sponsorship Transfer Email of informing the contractors of a transfer.

Ah. But that’s not what transpired. I wasn’t notified (and neither was my employer) that my Trusted Agent had been transferred. Matter of fact, the e-grams in Rounds One through Three were *addressed* to that transferred TA and the subject was, “Hey, TA -- verify that this guy tuttle (no caps -- how gauche) is still a contractor.”

No notice to my employer. No query to *me*. Just an order to the TA.

Who had already been transferred.

2. DOD require [sic] all contractors approved in CVS must be reverified every six months for their continued need for a CAC and affiliation with DOD.

Okay. I’m cool with that. It’s probably a good idea to check up on us contractor parasites just to make sure we haven’t done anything subversive -- such as return to Private Citizen Status without notifying the TA (that we’re unaware we have) via e-mail (which the TA apparently doesn’t even have to open). Although, since I'm a retiree, my continued "need for affiliation with DOD" is pretty much a given. Until I hit the brass rail at Fiddler's Green, anyway.

3. Your contract record, benefits and CAC will be terminated in DEERS. Your information will still be in DEERS but it will be terminated. [No signature block and minus the electron-waste of “Questions may be sent to redacted pentagonal dot etc." closing]

Ummmm – parsing that.

So far, I get “We’re flushing your contractor info from DEERS but we’re not flushing it. In other words, it will not be flushed, but it will be flushed.”

"This parrot's dead." "'T isn't."

My reply (and you just *knew* there would be):

Subject: Re: RE: Last Notice Action Required - CAC Reverification Warning - ticket [redacted]

From: [my dot mil addy redacted]

Date: Thursday, June 12, 2008 6:33

To: [pentagonal dot mil addy redacted]

Thank you.

However, I'd *still* like a response to my e-mail of 28 May in which I informed whomever at the help desk opens the e-mail that I had already accomplished the re-verification *prior* to the 30 May deadline to preclude my contractor data from being terminated.

V/r,

Bill Tuttle

Okay, [pentagonal dot mil addy redacted], the ball’s back in your court and I’m anticipating your reply to my 28 May e-gram sometime before the end of June. Meantime, if my CAC turns up hot during any of the checks around here, you can anticipate receiving a lot of e-mails with the subject line of Drearley Most beloveed You need Litlet bleu pill mAke stiCker peCk up.

A *lot* of them….

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Jun 15, 2008

June 13, 2008

“They call us ‘Saddam’s Soldiers...”

“Because we were in the Army before -- during the war.”

When most of the Iraqi RW pilots talk about “the war,” they’re referring to the Iran-Iraq dustup -- they call OIF “the fight.” Most of them do, anyway…

“So, they call us Saddam’s Soldiers. Feh. We did not fight for Saddam. American soldiers do not fight for Bush. Soldiers fight for the land, the country, the people! Not for the leader! The leader always changes and the land remains! But they call us ‘Saddam’s Soldiers and look down on us.

"They don’t know.

“They don’t know…

“I was stationed here during the war. You know that old hangar over there, with the shrine on it? A thousand-pound bomb hit it. There were five pilots inside. We didn’t even try to recover them, we just left them in there and put up a shrine. There would have been no point in digging them out. A thousand-pound bomb -- there would have been nothing to find. Nothing.

“So, we just put up the shrine. Then we went into hiding, because that night, the Iranians came, looking to kill pilots, looking to kill officers. They took the L-39 with them when they left. And we hid until the Americans came, and then we came out, because we knew the Americans wouldn’t kill us.”

The L-39 that was being turned into a UAV. It’s not the first time that I’ve been told the Iranians had come across the border into Iraq and snatched L-39s during the confusion, but it’s the first time I heard it from someone who’d seen it firsthand and who mentioned it so casually.

Every so often, one will seem hostile. He’ll raise his voice, a *lot*, and get pretty agitated. It didn’t take me long to realize it wasn’t directed at me, or Americans, or George Bush. And it wasn’t hostility at all -- it was something else...

“Can you imagine what some of us feel, that we fought for our land and then when the leader falls, we are insulted by the ones we thought we were defending?”

“I know that feeling. I flew in Vietnam.”

“Ah. I though you might have done that. You know, then.”

“Yes. I know.”

The Silence that usually follows isn’t uncomfortable. It’s a mutual recognition that each of us can see the other’s soul and recognize the similarities that transcend the differences. Even if a change in politics dictate that we may one day have to try to kill one another, the similarities won't change.

Put a couple of old soldiers together, get us to shut the hell up for a while and you’ll know when the Silence happens...

You'll know...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Jun 13, 2008

June 8, 2008

The First Forty Seconds

The Iraqi helicopter pilots I’ve been training in the sim are a fairly mixed group, but they all have two things in common: they’re older (most of them are Iran-Iraq War vets) and they’ve had some training in instrument flight.

But, “have had some training in instrument flight” doesn’t necessarily equate to “have had some training within the past ten years.” Some accumulated actual weather time in Britain, France or Russia during an overseas aircraft qual -- I’ve heard a couple of interesting stories about the dimensions of thunderstorms in Russia and the severity of clear-air turbulence over France. And I can tell who’s flown in Britain -- the first time a Brit-trained pilot climbs into an overcast layer in the sim, he invariably mutters, “Oh. My. Gaaaahhd…”

Inadvertent Instrument Meteorological Conditions, or IIMC for the Acronym Aficionados (hi, Barb!), means you’ve lost visual reference without intending to do so. Although they’re all a tad startled that I can turn the weather to crap as fast as it can happen in the Real World, the pilots who’ve had a lot of actual weather time don’t get fazed much. The ones who are good settle right down. The inexperienced ones, wellllllll…

IIMC onset can be slow -- you keep pressing on and the weather keeps getting worse and the visibility decreases so slowly that you’re in the trap before you realize it (that’s how JFK Junior bought it -- and that’s how multiple-vehicle smashups happen in bad weather). Or IIMC can happen fast -- you’re flying at night and punch into a cloud or a dust / snow / rain storm catches you. The weather itself isn’t usually the killer, though -- it’s how you *react* to the loss of visual reference. If your control touch isn’t what it should be, if you fixate on one instrument instead of scanning the important ones, or if the startle reflex kicks in, you will probably -- make that *definitely* -- take the aircraft into what’s understatedly-referred to as an Unusual Attitude.

Rather than go through all the physiological explanations for what happens when your brain is deprived of it's primary sensory input for keeping you upright (and I *can*), try this little experiment -- make sure you’re near something soft -- stand up, extend your arms, close your eyes and tilt your head to one side.

Now lift the leg opposite the head-tilted side.

You’ve just gone into an Unusual Attitude.

However, when you’re descending sideways at rates in excess of 3,000 feet-per-minute, even *water* is hard as granite.

The FAA did a study some years back and found that most pilots killed themselves (and everyone else on board) within forty seconds of entering an unusual attitude if they didn’t get the aircraft level. Do that properly and you've solved your immediate airspeed, altitude, descent rate and bank angle problems and you can work out the rest in (relative) safety.

So, one of the things I teach *all* the guys who come up here from Taji is How To Survive the First Forty Seconds -- because if they can level the aircraft and get their airspeed under control within that time, they’ll probably live through the rest of the flight, even though it’ll still be pretty -- ummmmm -- exciting. The main problem they have to overcome is overcontrolling -- making the initial correction too large and then overcompensating for it. Then overcompensating for the overcompensation, then overcompensating for the -- you get the idea.

I show them unusual attitudes and why they happen. I show them how to recover smoothly and *fast* without overcontrolling the aircraft.

I show them how to fly with three fingertips, not their entire hands.

How well do the *really* inexperienced guys absorb that? Watch.

No, that's *still* not my normal, conversational voice...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Jun 08, 2008

June 4, 2008

Heh. Just. Plain. Heh.

Subject: -- DO NOT REPLY -- Action Required - CAC Reverification Warning

From: [pentagonal addy redacted]

Date: Monday, May 12, 2008 11:07

To: [my dot-mil addy redacted], [somebody else’s dot-mil addy redacted]

Cc: [my dot-mil addy redacted] (yup – I’m primary *and* secondary recipient)

Dear [somebody else’s name redacted],

This message has been sent to remind you the prescribed time to re-verify contractor (william tuttle) has arrived. Please complete the verification process as prescribed.
For the Contractor [IOW, * me *] -- there is NO ACTION required on your part [their emphasis -- remember that] unless you are aware that your TA above has changed. If your TA has changed, please ensure they get a copy of this message.

Questions may be sent via email to: [pentagonal addy redacted]

CVS [my note: Contractor Verification System -- I think. Vivisection, maybe?] TA [my note: Trusted Authority, gutter-mind!] Web Site [redacted]

Now, the only time I knew the outfit I work for had a TA (the Sergeant Located At A Fort Somewhere who processes contractor Common Access Card applications) was when I got a hotlink in an e-gram that said, "Go here and fill this out." For those who aren't familiar with the Common Access Card -- hereinafter referred to as a CAC (pronounced like a cat horking a hairball) -- it's the "Hall Pass" that tells Big Brother you are Who You Are, that you are allowed to be Where You Are and you have permission to be Doing What You're Doing.

No CAC, no entry to anywhere the military is. As in, *any*where. Especially *here*...

Okay, so the head's-up e-gram from the TA site said I didn't have to do a thing unless I *knew* my TA had been replaced. Seemed a bit odd to me, since I didn't know I still *had* a TA and I figured the TA Main Office would have a better handle on their TAs' whereabouts than I would. Finally, the only way I'd know that the TA-I-didn't-know-I-had *had* been replaced would be if I'd gotten an e-mail from either her or her replacement announcing the momentous event.

But I'm only a dumb contractor. Whaddoo I know.

Subject: Last Notice Action Required - CAC Reverification Warning

From: [pentagonal addy redacted]

Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 6:00

To: [my dot-mil addy redacted], [somebody else’s dot-mil addy redacted]

Cc: [my dot-mil addy redacted] (yup – I’m still primary *and* secondary recipient)

Dear [somebody else’s name redacted],

This message has been sent to remind you the prescribed time to re-verify contractor (william tuttle) has arrived and that that action needs immediate attention. Please complete the verification process as prescribed. The time allotted for you to complete the verification will expire on 5/30/08 12:00 AM at which time the contractors Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting Service record will be terminated. [my note: Okay, *that* got my attention. I'm a retiree -- *all* my records are DEERS-based.]
For the Contractor--there is NO ACTION required on your part unless you are aware that your TA above has changed. If your TA has changed, please ensure they get a copy of this message. [my note: Hey, TA-guys -- TA-bilong-TA-Main hasn't answered two sternly-worded TA Main e-mails and you're asking *me* to send her a note?]

Questions may be sent via email to: [pentagonal addy redacted]

CVS TA Web Site [redacted]

"Questions may be sent via email"

Okay, so TA Main is snarling at their TA, but *I'm* the one gonna be bitten, so I think it's time for some action on my part, despite the *Contractor -- TAKE NO ACTION* directive in both preceding e-grams.

Subject: Re: Last Notice Action Required - CAC Reverification Warning

From: [my dot-mil addy redacted]

Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 5:25

To: [pentagonal addy redacted]

To Whom, etc.;

Reference the text in the forwarded message and your kind offer should I have questions -- yes, I have some questions:

1. I am presently deployed to Iraq and internet connection is spotty at times. I haven’t had contact with my TA except through a hot link directly to my CAC application (November 2007) for this contract – how do I find out if my TA has changed, if not by e-mail?

2. My CAC is valid until 30 November 2008. Is there a six-month review of contractor status?

3. If my TA [my note: Remember -- at this point, neither TA Main nor I have the *slightest idea* of the status of "my" TA] fails to act before the deadline, what information will be "terminated" from my DEERS file?

V/r,

Bill Tuttle

Chirp. Chirp.

"Questions may be sent" evidently does not mean "questions will be answered."

Subject: FWD: Re: Last Notice Action Required - CAC Reverification Warning

From: [my work addy redacted]

Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 5:35

To: [my PM’s work addy redacted]

Boss,

See attachment. Is [military rank and name redacted] still our TA? If so, she needs to act ASAP -- if not, the new TA will need to act ASAP.

Thanks,

Bill

Subject: CAC Renewal From: [my PM's work addy redacted]

Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 13:32

To: [my work addy redacted], [‘nother contractor’s work addy redacted], [stella ‘nother contractor’s work addy redacted]

Guys,

Here are your three renewals, need to complete ASAP; log on at CVS TA Web Site [redacted]

[UserIDs and PWs redacted]

This should take of your CAC issue.

Stay cool (ha!)

[PM's name redacted]

Subject: Re: CAC Renewal

From: [my work addy redacted]

Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 3:44

To: [my PM's work addy redacted]

Done! Thanks!

So, I got the renewal done (odd, since the card I *have* doesn't expire for another six months) under the wire, despite *not* having to have taken any action (I didn't find out our previous TA got transferred a few months ago until I filled out the app, which I wouldn't have been able to do unless I'd -- eh. Never mind) and there is now Great Joy In Mudville, right?

Subject: Contractor Reverification CAC Expiration

From: [pentagonal addy redacted]

Date: Saturday, May 31, 2008 4:12

To: [my dot-mil addy redacted], [dot-mil addy of former TA who’s been in some other job for three months redacted]

Cc: [dot-mil addy of former TA who’s been in some other job for three months redacted]

Dear [name of former TA who’s been in some other job for three months redacted],

The time allotted to verify contractor william tuttle has expired. As a result, that account has been revoked and the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System has been updated to reflect the change.

Questions may be sent via email to: [pentagonal addy redacted]

Yeah, I've got a question: "Does CVS TA determine a contractor's status by actually examining said contractor's completed application or by waiting to see if someone who may -- or may not -- be a TA replies to an e-mail?"

I'm *really* tempted to send [pentagonal addy redacted] to the largest internet café in Lagos, Nigeria, with a "Spam Me" sign stuck to its back.

Heh. Just. Plain. Farkin'. Heh...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Jun 04, 2008

May 22, 2008

The Inheritors

Every so often, something kicks me in the memory in a *good* way -- usually, it's the sight of a desert cammy patch or an in-print reference to a current unit with a callsign originating in My War.

Outlaw. Tiger. Blue Max. Ghostrider. Warrior.

'Way-cool callsigns. Neat patches with vampiric skulls or heraldic beasties designed to instill combat fervor in the heart of the wearer and great trepidation in the heart of the foe.

Now, the 162d didn't have 'way-cool callsigns, and our patches were stark, but to the point. "This is who we are. Period" Of course, Gunnies will be Gunnies, so Third Platoon insisted on a bit of flair for their patch (remind me to tell you some time about the REMF who found their motto *offensive* -- heh).

We didn't have the trappings, but we did have a reputation among Those Who Knew. One day I asked a doorgunner about his CIB and he told me, "When I was in the Ninth, we never worried when the Vultures were supporting us. Whenever we needed you, you came for us, no matter what. When I re-upped, I did it just so I could come *here* to be a gunner, because I wanted to be a part of that."

We came. Sometimes, when the party got lively, we even stayed to help clean up.

Flight 1 -- Suspect combat damage to engine

Heh. I got my wallet paddy-soaked more than once, too...

Evidently, our rep stuck, because out there in today's Friendly Deployed-A-Lot Skies, along with the Outlaws, Tigers, Ghostriders and Warriors, there are Vultures.

These kids were the first of the New Vultures.

Hosting provided by FotoTime

Now B Co, 4-227th wears the patch.

But us Old Vultures have to be content with being museum relics.

Oh, yeah -- that museum just happens to be the National Air and Space Museum. If you're in DC and you have occasion to tour the Vietnam display, look in the left crew well of the UH-1H.

Eat yer hearts out, Ghostriders

If you give Bob Shine enough notice (and say nice things about Vultures), he might even ask his cousin Carol to be your tour guide. But be polite -- she's got about fifty Big Brothers, and most of us are *armed*...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on May 22, 2008

May 15, 2008

Operation Lion's Roar

That's the name of the ongoing combined push against al-Q in Mosul. The Iraqi troops stepped up their OPTEMPO against the terrs and they responded in typical fashion -- they lifted another page from the VC Playbook.

Baghdad/Mosul, 15 May 2008 (Gulf News)

Spokesmen for both the US and Iraqi military have confirmed that a girl strapped with explosives was the cause of a blast that killed an Iraqi captain and injured four soldiers south of Baghdad. Iraqi Army Lt Ahmad Ali said the explosives were detonated yesterday as the girl approached the Iraqi commander in Youssifiyah.

Ali said from the scene that "the bomb was detonated by remote control, killing Capt Wassem Al Maamouri and injuring four soldiers."

He said authorities imposed a curfew and American troops are searching for those responsible.

The girl was eight years old.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki ordered a new assault on Al Qaida in the main northern city of Mosul yesterday, the jihadists' last urban bastion in Iraq according to US commanders.

Al Maliki travelled to Mosul with top aides to take command of the US-backed drive against Al Qaida in the province, defence ministry spokesman Maj Gen Abdul Kareem Khalaf said.

"Operation Umm Al Rabiain (Mother of Two Springs) has just started against those threatening the civilian population and attacking Iraqi forces in Mosul," defence ministry spokesman Khalaf told AFP.

"This operation is targeting terrorists and criminals," he said, alluding to Al Qaida, which has been accused of a string of major attacks across Nineveh province of which Mosul is the capital.

Maliki is Boots On The Ground up here -- he just lifted the curfew that's been in effect for the past few weeks. *That* tells me

a. the commanders know where the nests are and

b. they're confident they've got a good handle on terr exfiltration into the civilian population.

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on May 15, 2008

May 14, 2008

Hussayn's Story

The visual-only sim can be a stomach-churner, but a couple of the IqAF Fling-Wing pilots who have come up here from Taji are pretty tough – the only thing that gets to them is my coffee.

Hussayn was recovering from a cup of my extra-strength double espresso with a bottle of tamarind soda (if you’re curious, take a can of Doctah Peppah and add a couple of ounces of OJ, then sip, cautiously). He gave me a bit of perspective on what it’s like to have Crusader Myrmidons roaming your neighborhood.

“After Baghdad falls to the US, I am cashiered out of the Air Force and take a job in one of the markets in my neighborhood. One night, some of my friends are visiting, and we have a barbecue and are watching videos of cowboy movies. There is a knock on my door. I open it and there is a US patrol. They ask if they can enter my house and I say, 'Sure, come in.' I offer them some barbecue, because we see them on patrol; we recognize them and know how long they are out before they return to base. They say, 'No, thank you. We have eaten recently.'

"Then they ask if I have weapons. One of my friends says to me in Arabic, 'Tell them "No" because they will take your guns and you will be defenseless.' I tell him in Arabic, 'I will not lie to them or they will not trust us.'

"So I say, 'Yes, I have a submachinegun, an AK and a pistol.' The patrol leader says, 'Bring them, please. We need to see them.' So, I bring them out. The patrol leader examines them, the submachinegun, the AK and the pistol. He tells me, 'The lubricant you have been using is bad quality.' But I know he is really checking to see if they have been fired recently.

"Two of his men strip the weapons, clean them, give me new lubricant, show me how to use new lubricant, re-assemble the weapons and return them to me. They say, 'We must leave now – thank you for allowing us into your home.'

"They return every night, the same patrol, and ask if my family is well. I offer them food, tea, they say, 'Thank you,' and sometimes they stay for a bite to eat, or a cup of tea. I see them in the marketplace, we say 'Hello, how are you?' and ask about their families, too. They are friends with all the neighborhood.

"One day, everything changes. The patrols are all in Humvees and they travel fast. The soldiers all look at us with suspicion from the Humvees and we do not understand why. Then I hear of Wahabi in the neighborhood, but I do not report them to the patrols – I cannot, the Humvees travel fast and no one comes to my house any more. More and more, we hear shooting down the street, and one morning a bomb destroys the market where I work. I could get another job in another market, but that market might also be destroyed by a bomb. Only a few Wahabi are where I live, but there is no one to tell – no patrols, no police.

"So I come back to the Air Force. I come back because I want to get the Wahabi out of my neighborhood, get them out of Iraq.

"One month ago, the patrols are back, and they are walking, not in Humvees. Different soldiers from the soldiers in the first patrols, but behaving like them – very courteous, very watchful.

"When the patrol knocks on my door, I say, 'Please come in – I would like some lubricant for my pistol.' The patrol leader looks at me with a funny look, then he smiles, then they all come in and drink tea and I draw a map of where the Wahabi are..."

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on May 14, 2008

May 5, 2008

The Sandstorm Finally Stopped

And the airplanes are getting some exercise.

Immediate parking available

Last week was solo week for a lot of the kaydets. Us 'Structors usually stop work for fifteen minutes to watch the last of the three required trips around the traffic pattern airfield circuit for each of the kids, but the last flight on *this* particular day had everybody -- US and Iraqi pilots and staff, contractors, refuelers, mechanics, folks who work for Three Letter Organizations nearby, and every student in the Flight School -- either waiting on the ramp or standing on the berm overlooking the runway.

Two trips around the circuit and two low passes in a pretty brisk crosswind (student's options for two of the three include touch-and-go or rejected landings, but he *must* land on the third pass). The pic below shows this particular kaydet's third approach.

Third time's the charm...

He touched down a bit long, but he didn't balloon or bounce. I haven't OPSECed the pix yet, so you'll just have to take my word that he was wearing the world's biggest grin when he taxied past me on his way to the traditional mud-douse and fire-hose drenching.

Why all the excitement over one Iraqi student becoming the IqAF's newest pilot?

Because of what we promised if he soloed. We're gonna teach him to drive a car.

He's never even *been* in an automobile...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on May 05, 2008

April 27, 2008

A Dissertation on Getting It Right

I'm now working with my second group of IqAF helicopter pilots -- evidently, I didn't scare the first group that badly one single bit. These guys were evidently well-briefed before they came up here from Taji, because they opened the door to our office, looked around grinning and said, "Good morning!", made a beeline for yours truly and promptly introduced themselves. I saw two familiar squadron patches, so I've got a good idea who described me to them...

After the initial sim period (our sims are visual, non-motion, so there's a whale of a cognitive disconnect between what your eyes tell your brain and what the seat of your pants conveys), we were decompressing in the shade and started trading aviation background info. I thought you might like to know that there was one part of the Basra op that was planned *right* and went according to plan from Day One all the way through. I'll let Ali tell it -- it was his story, after all.

"So, on the first day, we knew the troops will be needing the ammunition, the food, the medicine for casualties. The C-130 [an IqAF Herky, BTW] lands and offloads the ammunition first. We put the ammunition into the Huey IIs and fly resupply. The Bad Guys shoot to drive us off, but we shoot back and continue into the area to land because the troops, our troops, need ammunition.

"More ammunition and food go on the Mi-17s because the packages are large and heavy, only ammunition goes on the Huey IIs. We all go, Huey IIs and Mi-17s. Again the Bad Guys shoot and try to drive us off, keep us from landing. Again, we shoot back and go in and land, we offload the ammunition and the food.

"Then we all go back to where the C-130 is, and we get more ammunition, more food, and fly it to the troops. The Bad Guys shoot, but not so much, because the troops are moving around in the city now, and we don't shoot because the Bad Guys are close to the troops, close to the people of the city and we land, again.

"My copilot says to me, 'This is not as bad as the Vietnam films on the TV, but now *I* will have a "Hey, No Sh*t" helicopter war story to tell!' "

Heh. Fast learners...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �

by CW4BillT on Apr 27, 2008

A Dissertation on Getting It Right

I'm now working with my second group of IqAF helicopter pilots -- evidently, I didn't scare the first group that badly one single bit. These guys were evidently well-briefed before they came up here from Taji, because they opened the door to our office, looked around grinning and said, "Good morning!", made a beeline for yours truly and promptly introduced themselves. I saw two familiar squadron patches, so I've got a good idea who described me to them...

After the initial sim period (our sims are visual, non-motion, so there's a whale of a cognitive disconnect between what your eyes tell your brain and what the seat of your pants conveys), we were decompressing in the shade and started trading aviation background info. I thought you might like to know that there was one part of the Basra op that was planned *right* and went according to plan from Day One all the way through. I'll let Ali tell it -- it was his story, after all.

"So, on the first day, we knew the troops will be needing the ammunition, the food, the medicine for casualties. The C-130 [an IqAF Herky, BTW] lands and offloads the ammunition first. We put the ammunition into the Huey IIs and fly resupply. The Bad Guys shoot to drive us off, but we shoot back and continue into the area to land because the troops, our troops, need ammunition.

"More ammunition and food go on the Mi-17s because the packages are large and heavy, only ammunition goes on the Huey IIs. We all go, Huey IIs and Mi-17s. Again the Bad Guys shoot and try to drive us off, keep us from landing. Again, we shoot back and go in and land, we offload the ammunition and the food.

"Then we all go back to where the C-130 is, and we get more ammunition, more food, and fly it to the troops. The Bad Guys shoot, but not so much, because the troops are moving around in the city now, and we don't shoot because the Bad Guys are close to the troops, close to the people of the city and we land, again.

"My copilot says to me, 'This is not as bad as the Vietnam films on the TV, but now *I* will have a "Hey, No Sh*t" helicopter war story to tell!' "

Heh. Fast learners...

Reporting As Ordered, Sir! �