Green Flag & Red Flag - Nellis AFB, NV

I'm currently at Shaw AFB, SC as the squadron makes it's way back to Germany after a month at Nellis AFB, NV near Las Vegas.  We're here at Shaw just for a day, long enough to grab a couple meals, drive by the house to see if it's still in one piece, and sleep to reset up for the long F-16 flight...departing at 0100 tomorrow morning.  I'm leading the third group of jets as only six are allowed to fly along with a single tanker crossing the Atlantic.  After 8 hrs, 30 min and 10 air-to-air refuelings, we'll be back at Spangdahelm where Lana and the kids eagerly await my return...it will be great to see them again!  Part of our return flight path takes us over Scotland, so if I need to divert I'll have some of my Scottish relatives to hang out with.

We spent the last month at Nellis taking advantage of the good weather, airspace, and bombing ranges not available in Germany...or most places in the world for that matter.  We're training for our upcoming deployment and this is one phase of the spin-up plan I put together with the squadron commander and director of operations .  We flew local flights just as the 480 FS early in January, and also participated in a simultaneous Red Flag and Green Flag Exercise towards the end of the month.  This was my fourth Red Flag and first Green Flag.  Red Flag had participants from the US (F-16, F-15E, F-18, EF-18G, F-22, B-1, B-52, KC-135, AWACS), the Netherlands (F-16), Singapore (F-16), UAE (Mirage 2000D), Sweden (Gripen) and the aggressors ("enemy fighters") flying F-16s, and F-15Cs.  Red Flag focuses on the integration of all these aircraft in large formation exercises (LFEs).  Green Flag is focused on close air support (CAS) of Army soldiers on the ground, and we participated in this with A-10s.

As the Weapons Officer, I was able to have each deploying pilot drop an inert (no explosives) GBU-12 (laser guided bomb), two GBU-38s (GPS guided bomb), and shoot a lot of 20 mm bullets at ground targets day and night.  This was really important for the guys since it's not often we get to actually drop / shoot ordinance from our jets.  Especially important as we train for our deployment.

I'm now a few hours away from getting back to the family!  Liam and Lilli continue to grow like weeds and I'm blessed to have such a great wife and kids!  Lana does really well with the kiddos while I'm gone on my Air Force trips (and when I'm around).  Love you Lana!

 

 

Christmas 2012

Lana, the family, and I stayed home for Christmas 2012 since we took a holiday earlier in December and I had to travel with work on New Years Day.  Lana's mother and brother came up from Munich to spent Christmas with us and I had a guy from the squadron over as well to enjoy Lana's good cooking and relax around the Christmas Tree (a nice real one Lana picked out of a German farmers field).  A few months back, Lana and I bought a nativity scene made of stuff woolen figurines and it was nice to read and explain the Christmas story to Liam for the first time.  I heard the phrase, "Papa, Jesus is dah" (Jesus is there) may times as Liam pointed to the baby in the manger.  Lilli also enjoyed her first Christmas and did a pretty good job pulling the paper off some of her presents.  It was a time of good fellowship and being thankful for God's gift to us over 2,000 years ago!

We also enjoyed more Christmas markets, this time in Trier and Trauben-Traubach.  Both we pretty cool, especially the one in Trauben-Traubach as it takes place underneath parts of the city in old wine cellars.  The best part was a French vendor selling great tasting olives and cheese!

We'll see where Christmas 2013 takes us, but I have a feeling we'll be in France visiting my sister and brother-n-law while there at French language school...looking forward to it!

December Holiday...Before Christmas

We're back in Wittlich after a week holiday in southern Germany.  Our trip took us to Munich, Garmisch, Chieming, and Rothenburg ob der Tauber.  We stayed with Lana's Mom in Munich for a short time in order to visit family and enjoy the Christmas market, Christkindlmarkt (Christ child market) or Weihnachtsmarkt, in and around the city center of Marienplatz.  As mentioned in the last post, they are generally set up in the city's stadtplatz (city center) with a nativity scene, nutcrackers, toasted almonds, food stands, Christmas music, Glühwein (hot red wine), hot chocolate and merry-go-rounds for the kids.  Liam has had his fair share of rides.  Munich and the surrounding area had over a foot (30 cm) of snow in the first few days we were there, making it perfect for the Christkindlmarkt.  From Munich, Lana and I also drove to Garmisch for a day of snowboarding...thankful for Oma's babysitting!  Garmisch is where Lana and I met for the first time back in September of 2006, time flies!

The majority of our time was spent in Chieming with Lana's grandparents.  They really enjoy spending time with Liam and Lilli, and we're thankful for the time with them.  Ur (great) Oma's food was great and the time relaxing as we stayed warm inside while it continued to snow through Wednesday night.  We visited the Christkindlmarkt in the nearby town of Traunstein, and took a drive south into the Alps through Rupholding and Inzell to enjoy the sun and snow covered scenery.

 

To cut the drive back to Wittlich in half, we made our way to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for a night.  The early parts of Rothenburg date back to 950 and it's now known for its well-preserved medieval old town.  The hotel we stayed in was Gasthof Goldener Greifen, 640 years old.  We enjoyed yet another Christkindlsmarkt and I took the "Night Watchman's Tour".  Every corner turned had something new and interesting to see and I wish we could "pause" our time here in Germany to enjoy all the sites to the fullest...time goes too fast!  The same goes for the time I have off of work, as spending quality time with Lana and the kids is something I wish I had more of.

It's back to work next week for me before Christmas and New Years are here.  I'll have four day weekends for each before catching a commercial flight to the US for the months of January and February.  My squadron will be in the US training for our deployment later next year.

Thanksgiving In Heidelberg, Germany

We spent Thanksgiving 2012 in Heidelberg, Germany enjoying it's many Weihnachtsmarkts (Christmas markets) and Altstadt (old town).  We had our fill of turkey and stuffing on Wednesday night with our Bible study group, The Hanger, and then enjoyed a mid morning coffee on Thursday at my Commander's house with a few other families in the squadron.  Around noon on Thursday we made our way to Heidelberg during nap time, and met up with a few good friends.  This Thanksgiving I was particularly thankful to God for my family and the opportunity to live in Europe!
 

All cities in Germany have a Weihnachtsmarkt which starts around Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas.  They are generally set up in the city's stadtplatz (city center) with a nativity scene, nutcrackers, toasted almonds, food stands, Christmas music, and merry-go-rounds for the kids.  The best part is the people out enjoying their culture and the time of year with a cup of Glühwein (hot red wine) or hot chocolate.  Some of the first Weihnachtsmarkts date back to the 12th and 13th century.  Lana was probably tired of me saying, "Germany is so great" as we walked through the town.  Everything is so old and people know how to relax and enjoy the season.

 

 

We also visited Heidelberg Castle, which is up on a hill overlooking the old town and Neckar River.  Liam enjoyed the short train ride up the "mountain" as Thomas the Train is one of this favorite toys these days.  The beginnings of the castle date back to 1214, but many additions have been made over the years.  Inside the castle is the world's largest wine barrel (last picture below), which was built in 1751 and held 58,000 gallons of wine.

 

 

 

 

 

In the weekends ahead we plan to visit different Weihnachtsmarks, starting later today with the one here in Wittlich.  Next weekend we'll visit the one in Bernkastel and maybe Trier.

Fall In Germany

Fall has come and gone, but it was enjoyable while it lasted.  The weather was fairly warm and weather decent for flying.  Lana took a photo (first one below) nearby which made the front cover of our town's magazine and we all enjoyed picking Riesling grapes at a vineyard near the Mosel River.  It made it nice as well to walk from our place to the bakery, grocery store, or a restaurant for dinner.

 

  

Thanksgiving is the next long weekend we have, but not sure we'll have turkey.  Might take a trip for the long weekend.