7/31/2008 @ 1618

There are all my guys in the S6 department, From left to right SGT Cruz, are fearless leader SSG Griffin, and SGT Richardson. The second picture down is the first known picture of SGT Cruz smiling so I’ve made sure to send the picture to his family as proof in case they never see this blog. Everyone is very happy because these are the last of our tri-cons that need to be packed up and shipped to Alaska. Since SGT Cruz was in such a good mood we took advantage of his size to pack the last of our laptops in the far corner.
Basically here in a few days we will have nothing to do but stay in our rooms reading our books, watching our movies, and counting the hours down for our plane to take us back home.

7/31/2008 @ 1600

Our last Landry turn in day, basically every Monday and Thursday were turn in our laundry before 0600. A few select individual get tasked (usually supply) and they drive all our bags of laundry (usually anywhere from 80-145 bags) to turn in and then individual pick up the 80-145 bags last dropped off. The Above picture is of Dave Lyons filling in his inventory paperwork before placing the bags in the drop off area.

7/31/2008 @ 1555

On my second to last flight I was privileged enough to fly with our Task Force Commander MAJ Dimon. We were lead and before I knew it we had flown 5.9 hours.

7/30/2008 @ 1610

Our final Two Aircraft awaiting the day to take off and head to Port. The ROCK looks lonely these days with the other six on their way.

7/30/2008 @ 1602

This picture is amusing to me in a few reasons: one – he’s a toothpick and once he sees a camera he puffs out but mainly it’s because every morning my roommate and I meet Jeff for Breakfast at his room at exactly 0515 +/- 2 minutes. 9 out of 10 times this is the way we find the guy; know where near ready to go.

7/30/2008 @ 1550

I came into work early one morning to find these gentlemen sitting quitely in front of the TV watching Yoga of all things. Wonder if that count that as their PT for the day?

7/26/2008 @ 0450

Some have asked about what it may be like landing in the desert with the sand sometimes being the texture of flour. What I love most about my job is that we can be called up at any time, given a grid coordinate, and have to fly to a FOB (Forward Operating Base) in the middle of nowhere for resupply. Just so happened to come along and find pictures for this mission so hope you enjoy. Always feel free to ask and I’ll try to explain as well as I can. The key things that go through a pilots mind before landing a 32,000-50,000 pound aircraft into a LZ (Landing Zone) are: 1.) Which way is the wind blowing to help in pushing the dust away from the aircraft upon touchdown 2.) Landing with forward airspeed - This helps again keep the dust cloud away from the cockpit windows and usually right at the cabin door behind the pilots until we hit the ground and start applying bakes 3.) Good Crew Coordination, we have three other crewmembers that have a lot of experience and are in charge of calling the aircraft to the ground and where the dust cloud is in comparison to the cockpit so that the pilot knows if he’s landing to slow or too fast. With all these things taken into account a successful landing to the ground can be assured of.

7/22/2008 @ 2035

Today was a big stepping stone for my unit today and the moral was high. Today we all came together and laid out personal gear, marines inspected, repacked everything, and sealed our tri cons for shipment. The process took about 4-5 hours in the blistering heat but this stepping stone is now out of our way and were continuing to move forward. The marines that have come to replace us have begun signing for most of our gear (computer, vehicles, transformers, etc.) So each day that goes by the more stuff we notice disappearing which is always a good site. As of today, I fly another few missions and just finished my last 4 hour NVG (Night Vision Goggle) flight last night.

7/22/2008 @2020

7/20/2008 @ 0453

A few random pictures take today. The bottom picture is of Mr. Chamberlin, I don't know what it is about that car but knowone can go around it without smiling.

7/20/2008 @ 0441

With things at the unit drawing down the morale of the troops continue to grow. Most are always in a cheery demeanor and throw out their countdown as you pass them by. Here are a few of the guys doing the WMCA.

7/3/2008 @ 0832

Here are a few more pictures from my last flight. I'm trying to take as many as I can before I go back to flying at night under Night Vision Goggles. The weather has been really hit and miss and were doing everything we can to go out and fly even if it is waiting 8 hours throughout the day for a weather window for us to complete a few hours. The tempatures have been in the 110-115 pretty regular so that has somewhat of an impact on the motivation factor. Our crewmembers work hard at their job and at times are loading 500 plus pound boxes in and out of the aircraft numerous times a day. The pilots have it pretty good getting to fly all day and not having to do much manual labor and there are sometime I just wish I could get out and go help but know in the long run that I would only cause more problems then help; at this time of the deployment they know what needs to happen and the execute nicely. The morale of the troops seems to be doing well with the packing and days ticking by. I'm especially looking forward to tearing down this internet and getting away from it all. I love having it in the room but the constantly monitoring and correcting people get old and just need to get away from it. I have a few more day mission so I will make sure to take as many pictures as possible. I hope that all is well back in the real world and look forward to joining and seeing you all soon. Until that time, enjoy the pictures, and take care.

7/3/2008 @ 0829

7/3/2008 @ 0825

7/3/2008 @ 0821

7/3/2008 @ 0817

7/3/2008 @ 0807