The day after returning the my squadron's WIC support TDY to Nellis AFB, Lana, Liam and I hopped on a flight to Edinburgh, Scotland for a much needed holiday. During our time at Aviano, Lana and I had wanted to make a trip to Scotland, but ran out of time before having to move on in our Air Force journey. Now with Liam, we could show him to family and also see a country we had wanted to for some time. Lana's father is Scottish, so it was very nice to have family to see and stay with as we traveled.
After a relatively short flight (6-7 hrs) from Newark, NJ to Edinburgh, we were drinking tea and enjoying a chance to catch up with Lana's Aunt Gillian who lives in Edinburgh. We spend the rest of our time that day napping and adjusting to the time change. The following was spent in downtown Edinburgh...a great city! It's a very old and well kept city that has not seen the past destruction of WWII, and highly recommended for a visit. Later that week we drove to visit Lana's Granny on the west side of Scotland, in Ayr. She really enjoyed seeing Liam and it was a great day for a visit to Culzean Castle together. Soon after we were on a small plane headed towards the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland to visit Lana's father who lives on the Island of Hoy. We flew to the Island of Kirkwall and then took the ferry to Hoy. It was his first time seeing Liam and he really enjoyed having us for a visit. One of our days there, we hiked to see the 'Old Man of Hoy', which is a famous free standing rock off the northwest coast. The weather that day was cold, windy and rainy but it was worth the hike. Before flying back to Edinburgh, we also spent a day touring Kirkwall seeing St. Magnus Cathedral, the Ring of Brodgar and where Lana spent the first three years of her life before moving to Munich.
The same day we left the Orkney Islands, we made our way to Munich. This was the first time Lana's German Grandparents and her brother had seen Liam, and they were all anxiously awaiting our arrival. During our time in Germany we visited Chieming, a nice Bavarian village where Oma and Opa live, and while there took a nice hike in the Alps near their home. Sadly, I didn't have too much time (5 days) in Germany but it was great being in Munich again...we both miss Europe very much. Since I had to fly back to the USA on our anniversary, Lana and I enjoyed our first evening out alone at a nice Italian restaurant near the apartment while Lana's mom babysat. Soon I was on a flight home to prepare for a month long work trip to Jordan while Lana and Liam stayed behind in Munich to be with family. We're not sure when we'll be back in Europe again but thankful for the time we were able to spend seeing more of God's World!
More Pictures:
The past couple of weeks my squadron has been back in Las Vegas at Nellis AFB for Weapons School support (pics above were taken from the tanker on our flight out). Weapons School is the Air Force's version of Top Gun...a cheesy comparison, but most have seen the movie. Weapons School is a six month "graduate" level course for pilots and other career fields such as Intelligence...if selected, the top in each field attend. It's a course I hope to be selected for in the next year or so. We departed Shaw AFB on 11 Sep after our squadron Director of Operations read an article about the attacks which took place back in 2001...a good reminder for all of us. We flew the 4.3 hours to Nellis on the wing of a KC-10 tanker aircraft (3 refuelings) with our route of flight taking us directly over the Grand Canyon...a very real picture of what the Biblical flood did many years ago!
During different phases of Weapons School, the fighter aircraft (F-15C, F-15E, F-16, F-22, A-10) require "red air" support. Red air is the term used to describe the opposition forces, whereas "blue air" represent the good forces. So, our job this trip to Nellis was to provide red air support...simulating varying Russian aircraft like the Mig-29, Su-27 and Su-30. It's not the most tactical flying, as there are certain maneuvers we're requested to fly in order to drive different training objectives, but the days are a little shorter than usual.
This trip was particularly nice because Lana and Liam were able to come along. Some good friends of ours from Italy, the Chandlers, live in Las Vegas now so Lana and Liam had a place to stay other than the small hotel room on base. This was Lana's first time to Vegas and has enjoyed the different climate and desert...although she's already missing the greenness of the Carolinas. We took both a day and night trip down to the Vegas strip to see all the lights and buildings. We also spent a Saturday touring the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the small old mining town of Nelson...a town who's mines produced 5 million dollars worth of Gold over a 40 year period starting in the late 1800s.
The day after flying the red eye (2330 departure) back to SC, we departed on a two week trip to Scotland and Germany...a much needed get away and a chance to introduce Liam to Lana's side of the family!
More Pictures:
Earlier this month, I returned from my second Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, NV...the first took place back in the fall of '06 (click here for that post) when I was stationed at Aviano AB, Italy. As with my first exercise, I flew as a wingman during the two weeks of training. This time it was not because I was new to the F-16, but because I was new to the Block 50 missions of SEAD and DEAD as previously discussed in early posts. Our flight from Shaw AFB took about 4.2 hours with two air-to-air refuelings before the runway at Nellis was in sight...it's quite the skyline when landing to the south at Nellis seeing the Vegas strip in the distance. It didn't take long to realize we were not in SC anymore after landing. As soon as I raised the canopy I was sitting in 110° heat, but this time without the humidity of the southeast! I was back in "Fighter Town USA!"
Similar to '06, there were many foreign countries participating in the exercise looking to grown and learn from our training tactics...the parking ramp full of fighter jets, which is always a cool sight to see. International flags are sometimes frustrating as communication and tactics can be difficult/different, but in the end of the day flying in a large force exercise (LFE...with 50-60 aircraft) is always a good learning experience. It was especially good for me to fly and execute the new missions in such an environment. Upon returning to Shaw I started the Block 50 instructor pilot upgrade (IPUG), so this training has helped as I brief and fly in an instructor role.
While at Nellis we had a squadron naming (an event where new pilots to the squadron get their first name, or keep a previous name if coming from another active duty base). There were five of us total who were named, and I kept "Nuke" which for those who don't know stands for "no understanding kills everything" from a bafoonerous thing I did as young wingman back at Aviano. Tradition is if a pilot has flow with a certain callsign in war and dropped bombs (Iraq for me) and served in all three US Air Force Commands (USAFE, PACAF and ACC...which I know have), they cannot be renamed. So, naturally I kept Nuke.
Now that I've been in the Air Force for almost 7.5 years, the circle of friends Lana and I have has grown quite a bit. Two couples we know well, one from Aviano and the other from Kunsan, are now stationed at Nellis and I was able to meet up with both of them for dinner. Here in a couple of weeks I'm flying back to Nellis, and this time Lana and Liam will accompany me to catch up with our friends there. It will be good to have them both rather than separated!
Today I took over as C-Flight Commander in the squadron; a job that I have been looking forward to for a while now. As in all military organizations, a fighter squadron has rank structure...setting the chain of command and letting everyone know who the "boss" is from top to bottom. In all squadrons is the Commander (1), Director of Operations (1), Flight Commanders (3), Shop Chiefs (6) and then those who work in the respective shops (about 20). I have about 7.7, Double Down, pilots in my flight who I'm responsible for. This includes writing their performance reports and awards packages, taking care of their weekly simulator / flight training, working with the director of ops to facilitate a smooth operating squadron, etc. It's a chance for me to put aside my Air Force goals and desires to help those in my flight reach theirs. It's a leadership role many, but not all, pilots will find themselves in at about the 6-7 year mark in their career and one I appreciate the opportunity to have!
Since I had a four day weekend for the 4th, Lana, Liam and I took a trip to Savannah, GA and Hilton Head Beach. Savannah is a very nice and old town (1733) with many small park-like squares, outdoor restaurants and shops. On the drive down, Lana called some good friends of ours, who we met in Korea, just to see how they were doing. Little did we know, they had stopped in Savannah on their way to Florida, so we naturally met up for dinner downtown. After dinner, we took a walk along River Street before calling it a night.
The next day Lana, Liam and I went to Tybee Beach about 30 minutes east of downtown Savannah. It takes a little more time now with Liam, but we still enjoyed the beach. As long as Liam has a full belly, he usually sleeps. So, Lana took care of that and laid him under an umbrella to sleep. Each one of us took turns swimming while the other watched Liam.
Later that night, we made our way back to the same restaurant we had eaten at the night before since the food was so good. It was also the 4th of July, so we also made our way back to the popular River Street. The firework show was pretty good and Liam enjoyed it too.
The next day we make a 45 minute drive north into South Carolina again to Hilton Head Beach for 3-4 hours. The routine of one watching while the other swam was the same, until an older lady near us said she'd love to hold Liam while we swam. It was an offered we accepted and appreciated. Our weekend trip, Liam's first mini holiday, was an enjoyable one which was hope to do again sometime. Actually, Lana enjoyed Hilton Head Beach so much that she has made a three day reservation for her and two of her friend's from Germany in August.
After a relatively short flight (6-7 hrs) from Newark, NJ to Edinburgh, we were drinking tea and enjoying a chance to catch up with Lana's Aunt Gillian who lives in Edinburgh. We spend the rest of our time that day napping and adjusting to the time change. The following was spent in downtown Edinburgh...a great city! It's a very old and well kept city that has not seen the past destruction of WWII, and highly recommended for a visit. Later that week we drove to visit Lana's Granny on the west side of Scotland, in Ayr. She really enjoyed seeing Liam and it was a great day for a visit to Culzean Castle together. Soon after we were on a small plane headed towards the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland to visit Lana's father who lives on the Island of Hoy. We flew to the Island of Kirkwall and then took the ferry to Hoy. It was his first time seeing Liam and he really enjoyed having us for a visit. One of our days there, we hiked to see the 'Old Man of Hoy', which is a famous free standing rock off the northwest coast. The weather that day was cold, windy and rainy but it was worth the hike. Before flying back to Edinburgh, we also spent a day touring Kirkwall seeing St. Magnus Cathedral, the Ring of Brodgar and where Lana spent the first three years of her life before moving to Munich.
