Liam Sean Ferguson

Liam Sean Ferguson! No words can explain how happy you make your parents feel. We love you!

First Flights At Shaw...Sitting Alert

A couple of weeks ago I was able to get back in the air again after nearly four months! As many of you know, I've been having issues with my security clearance which has been the main reason for this. But, even though this is still the case, I'm able to fly a limited amount thanks to a great director of operations (DO) in my squadron. He's pulled some strings and made a difficult process happen.

My first flight was a local area orientation (LAO) flight out over the east coast near Myrtle Beach followed by an approach into Charleston AFB and McEntire Air National Guard Base. The next day I had an instructor checkout flying BFM with our Dutch exchange pilot as my instructor, so now I'm back to instructor status, minus being able to teach the F-16 block 50 mission of suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD). Big picture that doesn't allow me to do much since I can't teach the main mission of this F-16, but it shouldn't be too much longer until my clearance comes through...hopefully!

Shaw has an additional mission to SEAD and DEAD and that's Operation Noble Eagle (ONE). ONE involves two pilots sitting alert (ready to take off within 15 min of a scramble call) 24 hrs a day 365 days a year. In total there are four pilots who work each two week shift so they can rotate every other day...24 on 24 off. This mission has been in place since 9/11 to protect the homeland against additional terrorists attacks using airplanes.

In a few weeks, my squadron will be returning from Iraq and start reintegration back into normal life around here. Lana and I are both looking forward to meeting the rest of the Gamblers and making new friends for our three years at Shaw. The squadron isn't supposed to deploy again until later in 2011, which will give us time to settle in as new parents. That's about all for now...time to see if Lana's having contractions yet!

Myrtle Beach

Since the baby has decided to arrive a little late, Lana, her mom Gabi and I decided to make our first trip to the east coast and enjoy a day at Myrtle Beach...soon it will be a little more difficult to get around. It's nice the drive is only about 1 hr 45 min to the beach. It was a really nice day without a cloud in the sky. For dinner we enjoyed a nice meal on one of the piers with shrimp and fish.

All Moved In

Today has been two weeks since Lana and I signed the dotted line for our new house. It has been a busy two weeks unpacking, putting up fixtures, hanging pictures, wiring surround sound in the living room, assembling the baby room furniture, organizing the furniture from storage and putting together the new lawn mower and weed eater. Finally, all of our things are back under one roof after most of it had been in storage for the past 15 months. The landscaper also finished the sprinkler system, sod and landscaping this past Monday.

Lana and I didn't realize how many additional little things need to be purchased for a new home...and it all adds up quickly! But, we're really glad we've been able to move into such a nice home and look forward to having family and friends over throughout the next few years.

I'm continuing to get into the work routine here at Shaw. My security clearance is still being processed, but I think they'll be able to get my flying next week hopefully! It's been nice having a little extra time to get the house ready for baby #1 in a month or so and work on my Masters degree, but I'm ready to get back to flying...haven't flown since the end of December! When my squadron, the 77th Fighter Squadron Gamblers, get back from the desert I'll be moving into a flight commander position, which I'm looking forward to. Until then, my time will be spent learning the F-16 Block 50 mission of SEAD. Well, that's about it for now...time to call it a day.

More Pictures:

Our New Home

Getting Settle At Shaw Air Force Base

We're now officially in SC and spent this past week inprocessing the base. As is always the case when showing up at a new base, there are inprocessing checklists to complete and newcomer meetings to attend. In addition to this, we found a second car, purchased our baby furniture and spent six hours at another furniture store in Columbia, the states capital, getting other things we'll need for our new home...we move in 31 March! During the four years overseas, I stayed in apartments or a dorm room on base which were furnished, so there wasn't a need to buy much. Lets just say we're now thankful for zero down and zero % interest for 24 months!

Over the next couple weeks, I'll continue to inprocess and get ready to fly while waiting for my security paperwork be corrected. I was supposed to be at Luke AFB in Phoenix now attending a course, but due to this paperwork issue we flew direct to Shaw in the meantime. Plan B is now for me to attend this course in April about a week after we move into the house. I'll update more in a few weeks after we're in the house and I know what the next steps will be with my training.