Operation MySpace

Before I get to Operation MySpace, I did have two medevacs since the last post. The first one was last Thursday when we flew as the wing aircraft of a two-bird formation that went into Iraq to pick up a patient. It was a really uneventful flight except that it was really dark, even on goggles. That was a planned hop so we had plenty of notice to plan for it.

The second medevac came at about 10PM on Saturday night while I was sitting in my PT gear watching "The Shield". That was certainly not pre-planned. I had to run to my room, quickly throw on my flight suit and then run out to the aircraft. Thankfully, it was just evac'ing a soldier from here to the hospital down south. Another dark night, but I've flown that route enough to do it in my sleep.

As for "Operation MySpace", it was one of the coolest and most humbling things I've seen since I've been out here. MySpace.com paid to hold a massive concert out here at Camp Buehring and then webcast it around the world along with celebrities messages about supporting the troops. We didn't get to see the videos of the messages, but we could hear the audio. The three top presidential candidates were among the ones who sent messages. I'll probably discuss my political views in some later post, but for now I will say that two of the candidates' messages were met by boo's.

Anyway, so the concert involved Carlos Mencia (from Comedy Central's "Mind of Mencia"), Filter, Disturbed, Pussycat Dolls (Dontcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me), Jessica Simpson, and a couple of others. They were all here at Camp Buehring. The coolest part about it is that the groups were here the day before the concert and were totally accessible. We even got a couple of the groups over looking at our helicopters. Here are a couple of pictures. I'll put some more up here later after I get them from the people who took them.

This is all of us with Carlos Mencia. I've got another one of just me and him, but I'll have to get it later. I have a pretty insane look on my face, but I was going on the better part of 30 hours of being awake at that point so it's understandable. Of course, this picture is pretty small so you can't even see my face. I'm on the left side toward the back next to the blonde with sunglasses.

This is the band Filter. They're best known for "Hey Man, Nice Shot" and, ironically, "Take My Picture". The cool part about them is that their original drummer left the band in 2002 to join the Army and is currently here at Camp Buehring. His CO got a call from the Secretary of the Navy asking about him before the concert came out here. Needless to say, the CO was a bit surprised. They had no idea that he used to be a member of a successful rock band. By the way, the Army captain on the end is not the member of the band.

The Pussycat Dolls. Unfortunately, since officers are supposed to lead from the front, I had to set the example for the members of my squadron by politely getting my picture taken with them. It was a harsh sacrifice, but somehow I was able to endure. The things I do for my country...

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll post the other pictures later. In the meantime, if you get the chance, visit MySpace.com/operationmyspace to see the concert. Also, give them props for doing something like this. A lot of effort went into it and it was done amazingly well. They really put on a great show for us.