Dust Storm

We got bogged down in a nasty dust storm for two days so we couldn't fly. It gave me plenty of time to finish my ping pong table. Ping Pong, or as the chinese would call it....Ping Pong, is a pretty good way to pass the time. I put on the picture of the truck to show that there is just not enough demand for space exploration these days, so NASA has to earn some money somehow.

Kurdish wedding

One of our stoppovers to Erbil we were hanging out with some Kurdish kids while their parents where in a wedding. We were then invited into the wedding and you can see my reaction when they asked us to dance with them. "You want us to what?!" I see no need to incriminate myself with pictures of said dance.

Mission to Turkey and Christmas

We flew to Turkey to drop off the General to a meeting he had there and I got to hang out with one of the Turkish Blackhawk pilots. The forth is a little Sadoku in Baghdad waiting on our passengers and then our Christmas bash.

Blackhawk pics

More helicopter pictures. The second one is of the nasty fog that rolled in 10 minutes after we landed from a mission. We were lucky to land before it hit. The last two are in Dahuk in the north. It's one of my favorite places to go.

Kurdish country and first mission over Baghdad

The first three are of a mission we commonly do to Kurdish country up north. They love us up there because Saddam was horrible to them. On the flight up there we passed over a Kurdish village that was in ruins, the people decimated by Saddam using chemical weapons. Don't bother asking me if he had any weapons of mass destruction, just ask the Kurds. The last two are of our first mission over Baghdad.

Fall and winter in Iraq

These are from my first couple of months in Iraq, and it's been pretty interesing. First: the Baji oil refinery north of Kirkuk. Highly desputed oil reserves between the Iraqis and the Kurds. Second: I tried to find a box big enough for me to fit in so that DHL could send me home. Third: Talifar air base. Forth and fifth: Our push north from Kuwait.

Princess Anna

We got to give Princess Anna a ride while she was visiting (I'm the one in the left seat) I don't know much about her but apparently she is second in line to the throne of England. It was a pretty fun mission.

Stuck in Asadabad

We got stuck in Asadabad for about 3 hours waiting on General Eikenberry (pretty much the guy in charge around these parts) so we checked out one of the enemy tanks secured earlier on in the war, and then gooffed off the rest of the time.

Stopover in Jalalabad

We did a mission over to Jalalabad and had some time on the ground. We hung out with our apache buddies and messed around with some of thier rockets, and then we had a few hours to wait until takeoff so we pulled out the hamocks. Another month and I'm coming home to be with Marla and hopefully get to be there when the baby is born. I should be on a plane on the 9th of December which will put me on the ground on the 11th or 12th. I will come back here on th 25th or 26th just in time to start packing things up and head home (yes I brought it up that I would make the sacrifice to just stay in the States but I was rejected ")

Nice view

After a mission we took a route up a really cool valley,(don't mind the bug splatters) and landed on a small LZ on top of a mountain. We had a little time so we got out and stretched our legs a little bit. Not a bad day's work ")

Halfway through

I'm about halfway through this rotation, and three weeks of that I get to spend coming home on leave. I got to go to a firing range put on buy the Germans were you can qualify in thier weapons. I made expert all the way around (of course, Dad taught me well). Dust landings and tak-offs are one of the dangers around here that we train for and deal with on a day to day basis, we brown out often and have to react quickly.

Another day

Just another day, going on four months now. I got to play with a SAW (a very cool gun) We flew to the northwest up a pretty tight valley to a place called Bamian. The red ruins are a remnant of when Gangis Khan was there. And that evening was a nice sunset.

Old towers

Every mission starts off with a preflight to make sure everything is in proper order (too many aircraft have had to emergency land because a tool was left some where and broke something important). These two towers where built by Alexander the great around 300bc when he invaded Afghanistan.

More helicopter shots

More helicopter and landscape shots. Some of the areas around here remind me of home. I was bored one day, so I made a chair. It's amazing what we can do around here with a lot of time a couple of hand tools and scrap wood.