Lana flew in to town today for her first visit to Kunsan Air Base. She's currently sleeping off jet leg, which is the reason I'm on the computer updating the blog. After a 10 hour flight and a 3 hour bus ride, she finally made it and was exhausted. I think in the future she'll fly over on a Saturday so we can meet near Seuol at Osan Air Base, before making the final leg of the journey back to Kunsan...it's too much otherwise! We're looking forward to a little over two weeks together here before she has to fly back to Munich...it's GREAT having her here!
This past week I had my first two flights over the Republic of Korea (RoK), and it felt great to get the air back underneath me in the jet! The first was my local area orientation (LAO) flight around the peninsula showing me the different training airspace and ground references around the Kunsan air traffic pattern. The base is right on the west coast with the water only about 1000 ft to the west of the runway. The weather for the LAO was perfect, which is something I've been told not to get used to...lots of bad weather around here. My second flight was a close air support (CAS) flight up near the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which is the border between north and south Korea. Both of these flights were from the wingman position and next week I'll have two flights as #1 so that I can get signed off as a flight lead again. It's common for new guys to show up and have a few gradesheet rides to make sure they're ready to fly locally. 
During my squadron commander interview, I was told I'd be working at the 8 Operations Group (OG) in OGV, or the standardization and evaluation office. It's my first job "outside" the squadron, and by that I mean I'll fly as an "attached" pilot to the 35FS. I'm not required to fly as much (5 instead of 9 times a month) and the job has more visibility to it. I'm looking forward to doing good things in my new job and get a chance later in the year to return to the squadron and start the instructor pilot upgrade (IPUG). Becoming an instructor in the F-16 is my main goal before leaving Kunsan so that I have more options for my next assignment. I want to keep flying the F-16 and Lana and I want a place where we can settle for three years to start a family. Yeah, little bambinos running around is something we're looking forward to soon!
Lana and I hope you're all doing well and would appreciate your continued prayers as I'm here at Kunsan...we're trying to figure out a way Lana can be here more often! For you flyer types, fly safe and check six!
I've been here at Kunsan Air Base as part of the 8FW Wolfpack for almost two weeks now and things are becoming a little more routine. I've completed most of my inprocessing meetings/paperwork and my personal belongings will arrive this coming Tuesday. Next week is only a three day week, so I'll start flying the week of the 26th. We just finished a week long exercise (a mock war) and I was part of the mission planning team since I wasn't able to get my first couple flights done prior. The guys in the squadron are cool and it's nice to see a few familiar faces from Aviano who moved out here before me. I'm going to enjoy being in the 35th FS Pantons during my tour here...Push It Up!
It was a bit of a culture shock showing up on base jet lagged and moving back to the old dorm scene again...similar to the building I was in at Columbus AFB for pilot training. Everyone lives on base here at Kunsan unlike other bases where you can choose on or off base. I'm sure it mostly has to do with the fact Lana and I left such a nice apartment in Italy. Not having Lana around has also been tough, but thankfully she'll be flying out the end of the month for awhile...it will be GREAT having her here! One advantage to having the bros from the squadron so close is it builds a lot of camaraderie, which is already a big part of fighter squadrons.
Kunsan is in the process of renovating and modernizing its buildings, but it'll probably be awhile before they start with new Captains dorms. The squadron building, gym, bx/commissary and a few other buildings are brand new and most places are within a 10-15min walk from the dorms. I'm still waiting for the car I shipped from Italy to show up, so it's nice being able to walk to everything. I'll be checking out the contemporary service at the chapel later today to hopefully get plugged in...there's also a church just off base that I'm going to attend next weekend. Many Koreans are Christians and the biggest church in the world is actually in Seoul. There are churches everywhere and at night they all have a red cross lit up on top of the building.
The food you ask? Well, so far I think the Korean food is fine...some is definitely better than others. I've never been really picky when it comes to food, but I would say Korean food is somewhere in the middle. I haven't had anything that tasted super great but yet there hasn't been anything taste really bad either. Last night a group of us went out for Korean crab. Korean crab is no joke...one giant crab fed four people and we were all full! They reminded me of the ones they catch on the Discovery Channel off the coast of Alaska. We had to bring our own butter for dipping, but overall it was an impressive meal. Lana and I had kimchee and bibimbap as well during our time in Seoul, which are popular foods here in South Korea. (In the picture below you'll notice I'm giving a "hang loose" sign...this is my new squadron's symbol. So, for instance if two of us from the squadron were to pass each other on the side walk we'd give the hang loose sign and say, "push it up!")
Well, I'll wrap it up for the time being. Give me a call anytime, but just remember I'm 14 hours ahead of east coast time. 안녕...bye in Korean!
For the first time in three years, I was able to spend Christmas at home in Michigan. God worked the timing of my next assignment to Korea perfectly so that Lana and I could be at home for the holidays between assignments. My sister also was married while I was home, so another blessing. Our time in the States didn't involve too much as we just wanted to relax with family and enjoy the time off. There was plenty of snow this year, and with my Dad's 4-wheeler and a buddy's snowmobile we enjoyed the snow a lot. We also did some "redneck" sledding...10 sleds pulled behind a John Deere tractor. Sometimes you have to be creative when the land around you is so flat!
A few days after Christmas, Lana and I flew back here to Munich to help her get settled into the new apartment and spend a few days with the Germany side of the family before flying on to Korea. On New Years Eve we took a day trip to Berchtesgaden in the southeast German Alps, near Hitler's Eagles Nest and Lake Königssee. I had been to the Eagles Nest previously, so we spent most of our time at the lake. Most of the lake was unfrozen so we were able to take a ferry ride to a small town on the lake that is only accessible by boat or a long hike over the mountains...no roads. There is a very popular church in this town, St Bartholomew's Church, which is in the picture below. Lana and I enjoyed a nice walk and then had some hot chocolate to warm up a bit. Later than night we celebrated with Lana's grandparents near Lake Chimsee. Lana of course loves Europe since it's her home and my time here has given me a great appreciation for traveling and seeing other countries. We hope to make it back to Europe sometime in our Air Force future!
In a few days Lana and I will fly to Seoul to begin my tour at Kunsan. Thankfully it worked for me to fly on the same flight she's working...another Godsend. We'll spend a couple days in Seoul together during her layover and I'll head on to Kunsan when she flies back. Once I'm settled a bit at Kunsan, I'll post more.
More Pictures:
The weekend before Lana and I left Italy we were able to take part in our squadron's ski trip to Austria. It was another chance for us to hit the slopes for some good snowboarding and hang out with the friends we had made during our time in Italy. Some of the ladies in the squadron made arrangements for us all to stay in a nice pensione/gasthof in a town close to Salzburg called Kirchdorf. This is close to the well known ski town of Kitzbühel where we spent all of Saturday enjoying the snow. I've said it before, but it's great snowboarding with Lana...we both enjoy the mountains and she's really good!
After a day on the slopes, it was back to the gasthof to clean up for our squadron Christmas dinner. Some of us were a little annoyed we had to dress up after a day of snowboarding, but the evening was nice. It was also my farewell dinner...kind of a sad moment for Lana and I as we didn't want to be leaving. But, such is the military life and it was time to move on. Our squadron commander said a few words about Lana and I before giving us a chance to say some things. I wanted to say more than just, "Flying is awesome, I've enjoying being in the 510th, keep working hard, etc." Even though all of that is true there is more to life than flying fighter jets. I may not always be the best example of this, but it's true. I wanted to point out the fact everything in my life has been a blessing from God from flying the F-16 to meeting Lana in Europe, God is in control! It's why Psalm 31:14-15a is at the top of my blog...our times are in His hands.
Sunday morning Lana and I said some last goodbyes before driving to meet her grandparents 30 min away from where we were staying. Our car was packed full of things we didn't have the Air Force ship, and the plan was to have her grandparents take it to their place so Lana could pick it up later after getting settled back in Munich. Lana also went with them because she had a flight to L.A. the next day. After eating lunch together, we parted ways and I started the drive back to Aviano. This time it was shorter for me to drive to Innsbruck and then south back to Italy through Cortina. To make a long story short, my trip took much longer than normal due to my route being closed due to snow. After about a 7hr 30min (usually 5) drive I was back in Sacile. The next day I finished my the last of my paperwork at the base and flew to Munich the next. Flying from Venice for the last time was strange, but I was eager to see and travel Asia during my time at Kunsan. Lana and I are in the US now with my family enjoying the Christmas season. The last time we were all together was at our wedding about 15 months ago! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
More Pictures:
Tomorrow morning I catch a flight into Munich to meet up with Lana on our way to the USA for my sister's wedding and Christmas. I'm officially finished here at Aviano having completed my final outprocessing paperwork about an hour ago. We're both excited at what the future holds and look forward to flying and traveling around eastern Asia over the next year.
Last Wednesday I had what fighter squadrons call a fini flight. It's the last flight a pilot has in the squadron before moving on to another. I was scheduled for an ACM fini, but due to weather we had a flex to something different. It was strange stepping to the jet and flying what I knew would be my last fight with the Buzzards...the time has flown by, literally! After the flight my squadron mates taped me up and sprayed me down with a bunch of water in standard fighter pilot tradition. I came away with only a couple scrapes from the wrestling match which took place just prior, which is more than a couple of my attackers could say.
Another fighter squadron tradition is to put a pilot's name on a jet canopy along with the dedicated crew chief's (maintenance chief) name. My name was put on tail 443, and just today did I get out to the flight line to get a quick picture before leaving. Many ask if it's the jet I always fly, and the answer is no; we fly whichever jets maintenance has ready for us.
Well, the plan tonight is to get a quick workout in and then enjoy a nice Italian meal one last time before leaving. I'm not sure how Korean food is, but I'm pretty sure I won't enjoy it as much as the local Italian pasta and pizza. I'll be to Korea in early Jan ready to start the next phase in my Air Force career with the 35th Fighter Squadron Pantons! Push it up!
This past week I had my first two flights over the Republic of Korea (RoK), and it felt great to get the air back underneath me in the jet! The first was my local area orientation (LAO) flight around the peninsula showing me the different training airspace and ground references around the Kunsan air traffic pattern. The base is right on the west coast with the water only about 1000 ft to the west of the runway. The weather for the LAO was perfect, which is something I've been told not to get used to...lots of bad weather around here. My second flight was a close air support (CAS) flight up near the demilitarized zone (DMZ), which is the border between north and south Korea. Both of these flights were from the wingman position and next week I'll have two flights as #1 so that I can get signed off as a flight lead again. It's common for new guys to show up and have a few gradesheet rides to make sure they're ready to fly locally. 
During my squadron commander interview, I was told I'd be working at the 8 Operations Group (OG) in OGV, or the standardization and evaluation office. It's my first job "outside" the squadron, and by that I mean I'll fly as an "attached" pilot to the 35FS. I'm not required to fly as much (5 instead of 9 times a month) and the job has more visibility to it. I'm looking forward to doing good things in my new job and get a chance later in the year to return to the squadron and start the instructor pilot upgrade (IPUG). Becoming an instructor in the F-16 is my main goal before leaving Kunsan so that I have more options for my next assignment. I want to keep flying the F-16 and Lana and I want a place where we can settle for three years to start a family. Yeah, little bambinos running around is something we're looking forward to soon!
Lana and I hope you're all doing well and would appreciate your continued prayers as I'm here at Kunsan...we're trying to figure out a way Lana can be here more often! For you flyer types, fly safe and check six!
