The beginning of August I volunteered (not a tough decision) for a 5-day cross-country in the F-16 throughout the Mediterranean region, and thankfully I was one of the 4 pilots allowed to go. Our route of flight took us through Sicily, Crete, and the a couple different places in Spain. As we flew from place to place, I remembered the fact we were flying over many of the places talked about in Biblical time...specifically as Apostle Paul traveled around. Here we are approximately 2000 thousand years later retracing some of the same territory in an F-16! We didn't spend much time in Sicily other than to get gas on our way to and from our different locations. Flying to Crete was my first time in Greece and I'd really like to go back to visit Athens or Corinth if I have time. We flew into a US Naval Station, Suda Bay, on the island to leave our jets so we could enjoy a night out on the town checking out some sites.
After one night in Crete, we took off to head over to Spain for three days hitting Sicily on our way for gas. Our first stop was a the Spanish Air Force Base, Torrejon. We used to have F-16s stationed there back in the early 90's, but they've since moved elsewhere. The Spanish military was very hospitable and gave us a ride to our hotel in downtown Madrid. Madrid is a cool city, but I need more time to check everything out. Lots of history and great buildings. After a night in Madrid, we were on to another Spanish / US Air Force Base (USAFE) called Moron. We spent a couple days there so we could fly against the Spanish Eurofighters at the base. It's a very capable aircraft and much newer than the F-16. It was great for me to see something different since the last time was during the B-Course at Luke AFB. Of course, we think we kicked their butts...but, we didn't get into the classified stuff in our debrief to really see the outcome. Hopefully I'll get the chance to do the same again before I leave Italy. While at Moron we stayed in the nearby city of Seville. I personally liked Seville better than Madrid because it was a smaller and very nice.
Flying around the Mediterranean in the F-16 will be one of my highlights while here in Aviano, and I hope to do it again next year. I've done some other traveling since getting back from Iraq and I'll try to post some pics on here in the near future. I hope all you flyer types are doing well...congrats to those I've talked a little with about getting at pilot slot to OTS! Keep up the hard work and Buzzards Rule!
More Pictures:
Cross-Country Sep '07
