Combat Ready Wingman (CMR)

This past Monday I finished the MQT program, so I'm officially combat ready! It's a good feeling to be done with that and to fly without needing a gradesheet. Flying is always awesome, but being able to relax a little more makes it that much better.

This past week was a surge week here in the 510th, which just means that we flew a lot more lines than normal. I flew 8 times Monday through Thursday with one of those flights being an out and back to Slovakia to use a range for bombing practice. The other three days were here in Italy with hot pits in between. Hot pitting is when we land from a flight, refuel without shutting down, and then blast off again for another flight. The total flight time for a double turn like that is around 3.0 hours. We've also been carrying Maverick missiles on our jets for training. The Maverick is an infrared seeking air-to-ground missile with a very large war head, and it can track both stationary and moving targets. I hope to get a chance to shoot one sometime, but we'll see what happens. Can't believe I'm getting paid to fly F-16...in Italy of all places. Buzzards Rule!

Anatolian Eagle in Turkey

A week ago we returned from Konya, Turkey after flying for 2.5 weeks in their Anatolian Eagle Exercise. AE is modeled after the US's Red Flag. We flew with the Turkish Air Force and a couple other countries in simulated war scenarios during our time there with the weekends off to do some sight seeing. It was good for me as a brand new wingman to get that experience under my belt. Red Flag with be much more "push it up" than AE was, and I'll be better prepared for it. They had great airspace, awesome low level routes through the mountains (some of the coolest flying I've done...valleys through the mountains were sweet) and a nice practice bombing range that we were able to take advantage of.

Our first weekend was spent in a region of the country called Capadoccia. People have been living in the region basically from the beginning of the world, so there's a ton of history. Noah's Ark even landed on Mt. Ararat in Turkey. We visited an underground city that was used both for self protection during war and to stay cool in the hot summers...the area is mostly desert. The earth isn't solid rock like many places, so it was easy for them to dig tunnels and rooms to live in. We also took a look at some cliff dwellings around the area...crazy to think people actually lived there up until the 1900s. We had lunch in a restaurant that had been carved into the side of a hill with the tables and seats even being carved out of the rock. Our second weekend was spent down on the Mediterranean coast soaking of the rays and relaxing.

I'm still waiting to finish up my MQT program...I was able to get some of the rides during AE, but not all. We've been pretty busy back here in Aviano and there hasn't been an IP available to give me my checkride. It has a to be a pilot instructor that's been upgraded to check pilot. Anyway, I've still been flying a decent amount so I'm not complaining at all. According to the schedule when we left the squadron Friday, I will have my Mission Emergency Procedures Evaluation (MEPE) in the sim on Wednesday and then fly my checkride on Thursday. I'll finally be done with gradesheets for awhile and just be able to fly!

Yesterday I checked out a cool place I hadn't been to yet, called Barcis. It's about a 30 min drive up into the mountains from Sacile where I live and was well worth the time. The scenery was awesome and the lake's a cool aqua color. It was really cold too, but not cold enough to keep me from jumping off a 35' ft high bridge into the water. I went back today with a group from church to grill out and enjoy the area again...which meant more bridge jumping since the guys had to prove they weren't chicken! Things quickly upgraded from jumping feet first to diving...one of the more crazy things I've done recently in my life. I hope every one's having a great summer. I'll get back with you after Combat Hammer and Red Flag.

More Pictures:
Anatolian Eagle, Turkey