Well, here I am nearly two weeks since my last post. Again, it isn't that nothing has happened in the last two weeks, it's just that I'm a neglectful blog keeper. Thankfully, Tricia has been doing an awesome job of keeping the family blog http://wherearetheallens.blogspot.com/ . The pictures of her and Michenna are much better looking than anything I have here, anyway.
In the last two weeks, I've flown 4 Medevacs, including two into Iraq. The only really interesting patient we had was a guy listed as "Urgent" (the 2nd-highest priority we have) with chest pains. So we landed at the pad to pick him up and a few minutes later I see him walking out to the aircraft carrying his own bag. Those chest pains must have been pretty severe.
We also took part in a much-beloved semi-annual Naval tradition known as a PRT. PRT stands for Physical Readiness Test. It consists of sit-ups, push-ups, and a 1.5 mile run to check and make sure that we are within standards of physical fitness. This year was made especially exciting when the person in charge of laying out the 1.5 mile run course used his GPS to drive exactly .75 miles away from the starting point and declaring that as our turn-around spot. The problem was that he failed to account for the fact that his GPS was giving him straight-line distance while the course was laid out over a couple of curving roads. It turned out to be the longest mile-and-a-half that any of us have ever run. Unfortunately for me, my stress fractures that I picked up at Officer Candidate School flared up once again after the run and I have now been told by our flight doc that my distance-running days are over. Swimming, anyone?
Last night we had a no kidding thunderstorm come through. This wasn't one of those "Is that thunder? I think I felt a raindrop." type of storms. It was a full blown sky falling "Who are those four guys and where'd they get those horses?" type of storm. There were even tornadoes reported in Kuwait City (30 miles south of here). We all felt lucky to be spared the tornadoes, especially seeing as how we live in trailer parks and everyone knows that tornadoes are attracted to trailer parks. When it wasn't pouring rain, it was nice to go outside and watch the light show. Obviously, we weren't flying. There's an old Aviation saying (I don't remember who said it. Check that. It's attributed to a sign at Davis-Monthan AFB. Thank you, Google) that says "There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime." All right, I'll grant you that this isn't really peacetime, but I'm not really keen on testing the turbulence resistance of my aircraft anytime soon. I ended up getting caught in a downpour on my way back from dinner, which wasn't really pleasant, but overall the storm was a nice diversion from the norm out here.
Today I am on the 1st Up alert. It's a beautiful day outside. So of course I haven't launched yet. Maybe later.
In the last two weeks, I've flown 4 Medevacs, including two into Iraq. The only really interesting patient we had was a guy listed as "Urgent" (the 2nd-highest priority we have) with chest pains. So we landed at the pad to pick him up and a few minutes later I see him walking out to the aircraft carrying his own bag. Those chest pains must have been pretty severe.
We also took part in a much-beloved semi-annual Naval tradition known as a PRT. PRT stands for Physical Readiness Test. It consists of sit-ups, push-ups, and a 1.5 mile run to check and make sure that we are within standards of physical fitness. This year was made especially exciting when the person in charge of laying out the 1.5 mile run course used his GPS to drive exactly .75 miles away from the starting point and declaring that as our turn-around spot. The problem was that he failed to account for the fact that his GPS was giving him straight-line distance while the course was laid out over a couple of curving roads. It turned out to be the longest mile-and-a-half that any of us have ever run. Unfortunately for me, my stress fractures that I picked up at Officer Candidate School flared up once again after the run and I have now been told by our flight doc that my distance-running days are over. Swimming, anyone?
Last night we had a no kidding thunderstorm come through. This wasn't one of those "Is that thunder? I think I felt a raindrop." type of storms. It was a full blown sky falling "Who are those four guys and where'd they get those horses?" type of storm. There were even tornadoes reported in Kuwait City (30 miles south of here). We all felt lucky to be spared the tornadoes, especially seeing as how we live in trailer parks and everyone knows that tornadoes are attracted to trailer parks. When it wasn't pouring rain, it was nice to go outside and watch the light show. Obviously, we weren't flying. There's an old Aviation saying (I don't remember who said it. Check that. It's attributed to a sign at Davis-Monthan AFB. Thank you, Google) that says "There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime." All right, I'll grant you that this isn't really peacetime, but I'm not really keen on testing the turbulence resistance of my aircraft anytime soon. I ended up getting caught in a downpour on my way back from dinner, which wasn't really pleasant, but overall the storm was a nice diversion from the norm out here.
Today I am on the 1st Up alert. It's a beautiful day outside. So of course I haven't launched yet. Maybe later.
Here's just a random photo of the "conquering heroes" returning home after a trip to Iraq. You can tell that we were in Iraq because most of us (except for me) are carrying our M-16s. I promise you, we only take the things flying with us when we have to. I'm the one 2nd from the right. It's a small picture.
2 comments:
vWhy should you be different than the rest of us?
I was sort of close you last month but couldn't figure out how to get up to see you. I guess you could have scheduled a cross country navigation flight and got down to see me.
I was in Ras Laffan, Qatar for a few days and Abu Dhabi for a couple of weeks. I bet my accomodations were better than your's are.
Enjoy the flat heat.
Uncle Jim
Spencer,
Well I guess it is now official, the message came out yesterday listing you as authorized to put on the rail-road tracks on 1 May. Congratulations, LT Allen! Actually, the title is not that exciting, but the pay raise is very nice! Keep up the good (although scarce) work out there!!
Jason (the origional LT Allen)
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