What's a nice guy like you doing in a war like this ?
This is a trip! Since I travel so frequently, i have found that i regularly work with same units at the same or different places. So i like to get contact info from some of the people i have come across. Kinda like the army Lt in the howitzer battery. We basically just fire off an email every now and then to let each other know wuz shakin' on the "other side of the fence".
This turned out to be a wicked cool deal, with all sorts of unexpected benefits. (guys who are reading....not those knid of benefits) I have found i get to do all kindsa cool azz sh!t.....that i never would be able to do other wise. Like this one time....at band camp.......we were at Ft. benning for BAC Jaats (basic airborne course, joint army airforce training) and i got to go rappelling with the basic infantry "joes" at sand hill. I'm probably the only airforce chick ever to get to do that. Rock On!!
Before i got activated, i was toolin' around the far east. We were in Thailand and we were sent to pickup some people at this one middle of nowhere location. We landed and didn't shut down the engines...we just opened up the back of the plane...and these guys with long hair, and bermuda shorts drive a truck right up to the back of the plane and start grabbing stuff out of the back of the truck and throwing it on the plane. I helped to tie it down, and then we closed up the back of the plane and we were off to the next location. It was loud, and i watched as i helped to tie down the guys equipment. Usually we only haul military, so i wondered who these guys were. They seemed to know what they were doing....with the ramp opened shortly after landing they quickly approached the plane,& one of their guys signalling the driver of the truck to approach. Something only our flight crew will do....either that or they will squash any attempt of people approaching before our own flight crew allows. But they didn't say anything to these guys. Then the guys helped to tie down their equipment.....something our passengers never do. They usually just stand there looking sorta confused waiting to be told what to next, while we finish loading the plane. These guy just pitched in and nobody even acted surprised. Well we flew back to base, and they went their way, and i the flight crew went our way.
The next morning we were fling to okinawa japan. I was at the hotel counter checking out and i saw the guys from the day before checking out as well. Then we went out to te airport and did our preflight stuff. One of the loadmasters cut his hand in the process of doing the preflight. A pretty good gash too....maybe 4" in long, and 1/4 " wide. Definately needed medical attention before the 8 hr flight we were about to have. But....only problem is if we were delayed much for the takeoff........we probably would not have enough duty day to complete the mission. Which basically means that if you add all the preflight time and the post flight duty time and flight time....i think it needs to be under 14hrs. becuz then our pilots will turn into pumpkins or something, and they can't complete the mission.
So if we took off too late.....the pilots might turn into pumpkins before we got there......and so we would not be allowed to take off .....because you can only extend the duty day requirements with a waiver in major emergencies.
One of the army guys was helping with fist aid for our loadmaster while the pilots stood by discussing the options. He looked just like the guys in the first aid training videos i have seen, surprisingly calm, his actions slow and concentrated, like he knew what he was doing. The army guy then offered, "if you wan't sir....i can stitch him up in flight....."
The pilot looked at him both surprised and confused, and reserved....and asked "you can do that?" Sorta asking because he was surprised at the confidence in the medics abilities, and sorta asking for permission ....or at least to ensure
that he wouldn't be in trouble for allowing the medic to do that in lieu of the base hospital which would take several hours (like all things military that should only take a few minutes)
One guy, a army captain asked...."do we have any lidocaine?" and the medic said.... "yeah, i was just thinking about that, we better numb this guy up."
They talked amongst themselves for a bit, opting not to stitch him up because the lidocaine was in the box with the other drugs at the bottom of everything tied down....and they had some butterfly bandages that did the trick until he could be seen by a doctor at the next base.
Good to go and next we were off on our 8 hour jaunt. Mostly everyone stretched out and slept for the first half of the flight. Army kinda on one side and the airforce people who didn't have crew duties on the otherside. i was tired and the plane was crowded but i fond a spot just big enough for me in the middle of the cargo compartment, by all their equipment. After awhile everyone started waking up and then i was talking to oe of the guys, the captain. A tall thin guy,with the build of a crosscountry runner. He had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that sorta slanted down at the corners like Nicholas Cage. He kinda looked like a younger blonde haired Nicholas Cage. but with a smaller build. I asked him where he was from, and he said Atlanta in that very distinct sort of georgia accent. I told him i had been to Atlanta, but i didn't get to see that much because i was too busy.I had gone to engine Run School there......." He said he liked atlanta and he asked where i was from. I was sorta surprised....usually guys will talk but not reciporcate.....but he was pretty talkative. I asked him what he did. And he said "Special Forces"......And i thought i didn't ask where you worked i asked what you did.....like what is your job?.........but i didn't want to sound dumb, because the way he answered sounded like i should know what he did from that answer. And then something clicked.......and i asked "is that kinda like a green beret?" And he sorta smiled and said "yeah...sorta"
Yeah i had no idea how clueless i was then. I have learned alot since then. We contnued to talk and i asked all the stupid questions that everybody asks when they first meet a green beret......"have you ever killed anybody?" He was a oung captain.......his time on the team nearing an end. A little frustrated by the buerocracy of the army and how the conventional commanders seem to be trying to push special forces to being more conventional. (like haircuts and stuff). He is the team leader and he spoke of situations that i found surprising similar to mine. A young captain in charge of people with way more time than him in, at times sorta challenging him. It's a brotherhood that every team member would not hesitate to give there life for another........but like an any family...there is still a bit of competition amongst siblings. He was not sure if he would reinlist ecasue his time on a team was nearing an end. Yet he spoke very passionately about the army. I asked if he had gone over to the desert for the waron terrorism. He looked a bit disappointed when he answered "no......that's not my AOR" I asked what an aor was, and he said ..."area of operations".......and i said "Ok". I guess he could tell that i was still confused because he elaborated that the SF guys get language and culture trained, for a specific region or AOR. He spoke tagalag. I asked what that was .....phillipeano, I guess there was 12 guys on the team and they spoke all spoke a different launguage... japanese, thai, tagalog, and i guess they could pretty much cover all the orient. He said he needed to get some of his guys emmersion trained again because they have not gone to all the countries enough to stay proficient. He said he was getting rusty on his tagalog too. I was simply amazed by these guys. There was a certain sorta "gel" between the team members that i have not seen in observing other army guys interact with one another before. And a major difference in the professionalism. Though they had long hair, now weraing uniforms....they were easily the most professional unit i have seen....just in how they carried themselves. With about 1 hour left into the flight , the guys got up and wlaked to the back of the plane and began to help one another put on their chutes. Tugging straps and checking their buddy until every one was good to go. Nobody for a second looked like they were doing anything out of the ordinary. So i asked the captain in amazement...."You guys are gonna jump?" And he said, "yeah".... sorta smiling at my surprise in that. Then he explained that sometimes it was hard to keep his men quallified because of aircraft availability and weather. So i was a little disappointed that these guys were jumping and that our conversation had been cut short....because guys were just very different from the "rambo" movies i had seen. But then the jump was cancelled because winds and seas were too high and it would be too dangerous. We were just gonna dump them off in the middle of the ocean, and a navy boat would come to get them.
So i got their email and wrote every so often. I lost touch for about 6 mos. and then a few weeks ago i emailed my family and when i went thru the list of addresses who i wanted to send the email to i added their address just for the heck of it. And wouldn't you know it, i got a response. And just guess where they are these days..........(not their aor) Small war huh?
This turned out to be a wicked cool deal, with all sorts of unexpected benefits. (guys who are reading....not those knid of benefits) I have found i get to do all kindsa cool azz sh!t.....that i never would be able to do other wise. Like this one time....at band camp.......we were at Ft. benning for BAC Jaats (basic airborne course, joint army airforce training) and i got to go rappelling with the basic infantry "joes" at sand hill. I'm probably the only airforce chick ever to get to do that. Rock On!!
Before i got activated, i was toolin' around the far east. We were in Thailand and we were sent to pickup some people at this one middle of nowhere location. We landed and didn't shut down the engines...we just opened up the back of the plane...and these guys with long hair, and bermuda shorts drive a truck right up to the back of the plane and start grabbing stuff out of the back of the truck and throwing it on the plane. I helped to tie it down, and then we closed up the back of the plane and we were off to the next location. It was loud, and i watched as i helped to tie down the guys equipment. Usually we only haul military, so i wondered who these guys were. They seemed to know what they were doing....with the ramp opened shortly after landing they quickly approached the plane,& one of their guys signalling the driver of the truck to approach. Something only our flight crew will do....either that or they will squash any attempt of people approaching before our own flight crew allows. But they didn't say anything to these guys. Then the guys helped to tie down their equipment.....something our passengers never do. They usually just stand there looking sorta confused waiting to be told what to next, while we finish loading the plane. These guy just pitched in and nobody even acted surprised. Well we flew back to base, and they went their way, and i the flight crew went our way.
The next morning we were fling to okinawa japan. I was at the hotel counter checking out and i saw the guys from the day before checking out as well. Then we went out to te airport and did our preflight stuff. One of the loadmasters cut his hand in the process of doing the preflight. A pretty good gash too....maybe 4" in long, and 1/4 " wide. Definately needed medical attention before the 8 hr flight we were about to have. But....only problem is if we were delayed much for the takeoff........we probably would not have enough duty day to complete the mission. Which basically means that if you add all the preflight time and the post flight duty time and flight time....i think it needs to be under 14hrs. becuz then our pilots will turn into pumpkins or something, and they can't complete the mission.
So if we took off too late.....the pilots might turn into pumpkins before we got there......and so we would not be allowed to take off .....because you can only extend the duty day requirements with a waiver in major emergencies.
One of the army guys was helping with fist aid for our loadmaster while the pilots stood by discussing the options. He looked just like the guys in the first aid training videos i have seen, surprisingly calm, his actions slow and concentrated, like he knew what he was doing. The army guy then offered, "if you wan't sir....i can stitch him up in flight....."
The pilot looked at him both surprised and confused, and reserved....and asked "you can do that?" Sorta asking because he was surprised at the confidence in the medics abilities, and sorta asking for permission ....or at least to ensure
that he wouldn't be in trouble for allowing the medic to do that in lieu of the base hospital which would take several hours (like all things military that should only take a few minutes)
One guy, a army captain asked...."do we have any lidocaine?" and the medic said.... "yeah, i was just thinking about that, we better numb this guy up."
They talked amongst themselves for a bit, opting not to stitch him up because the lidocaine was in the box with the other drugs at the bottom of everything tied down....and they had some butterfly bandages that did the trick until he could be seen by a doctor at the next base.
Good to go and next we were off on our 8 hour jaunt. Mostly everyone stretched out and slept for the first half of the flight. Army kinda on one side and the airforce people who didn't have crew duties on the otherside. i was tired and the plane was crowded but i fond a spot just big enough for me in the middle of the cargo compartment, by all their equipment. After awhile everyone started waking up and then i was talking to oe of the guys, the captain. A tall thin guy,with the build of a crosscountry runner. He had blonde hair and piercing blue eyes that sorta slanted down at the corners like Nicholas Cage. He kinda looked like a younger blonde haired Nicholas Cage. but with a smaller build. I asked him where he was from, and he said Atlanta in that very distinct sort of georgia accent. I told him i had been to Atlanta, but i didn't get to see that much because i was too busy.I had gone to engine Run School there......." He said he liked atlanta and he asked where i was from. I was sorta surprised....usually guys will talk but not reciporcate.....but he was pretty talkative. I asked him what he did. And he said "Special Forces"......And i thought i didn't ask where you worked i asked what you did.....like what is your job?.........but i didn't want to sound dumb, because the way he answered sounded like i should know what he did from that answer. And then something clicked.......and i asked "is that kinda like a green beret?" And he sorta smiled and said "yeah...sorta"
Yeah i had no idea how clueless i was then. I have learned alot since then. We contnued to talk and i asked all the stupid questions that everybody asks when they first meet a green beret......"have you ever killed anybody?" He was a oung captain.......his time on the team nearing an end. A little frustrated by the buerocracy of the army and how the conventional commanders seem to be trying to push special forces to being more conventional. (like haircuts and stuff). He is the team leader and he spoke of situations that i found surprising similar to mine. A young captain in charge of people with way more time than him in, at times sorta challenging him. It's a brotherhood that every team member would not hesitate to give there life for another........but like an any family...there is still a bit of competition amongst siblings. He was not sure if he would reinlist ecasue his time on a team was nearing an end. Yet he spoke very passionately about the army. I asked if he had gone over to the desert for the waron terrorism. He looked a bit disappointed when he answered "no......that's not my AOR" I asked what an aor was, and he said ..."area of operations".......and i said "Ok". I guess he could tell that i was still confused because he elaborated that the SF guys get language and culture trained, for a specific region or AOR. He spoke tagalag. I asked what that was .....phillipeano, I guess there was 12 guys on the team and they spoke all spoke a different launguage... japanese, thai, tagalog, and i guess they could pretty much cover all the orient. He said he needed to get some of his guys emmersion trained again because they have not gone to all the countries enough to stay proficient. He said he was getting rusty on his tagalog too. I was simply amazed by these guys. There was a certain sorta "gel" between the team members that i have not seen in observing other army guys interact with one another before. And a major difference in the professionalism. Though they had long hair, now weraing uniforms....they were easily the most professional unit i have seen....just in how they carried themselves. With about 1 hour left into the flight , the guys got up and wlaked to the back of the plane and began to help one another put on their chutes. Tugging straps and checking their buddy until every one was good to go. Nobody for a second looked like they were doing anything out of the ordinary. So i asked the captain in amazement...."You guys are gonna jump?" And he said, "yeah".... sorta smiling at my surprise in that. Then he explained that sometimes it was hard to keep his men quallified because of aircraft availability and weather. So i was a little disappointed that these guys were jumping and that our conversation had been cut short....because guys were just very different from the "rambo" movies i had seen. But then the jump was cancelled because winds and seas were too high and it would be too dangerous. We were just gonna dump them off in the middle of the ocean, and a navy boat would come to get them.
So i got their email and wrote every so often. I lost touch for about 6 mos. and then a few weeks ago i emailed my family and when i went thru the list of addresses who i wanted to send the email to i added their address just for the heck of it. And wouldn't you know it, i got a response. And just guess where they are these days..........(not their aor) Small war huh?
posted by militarybrat at 2:54 PM
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