Spouse Flight Day

I totally forgot about these pictures! Every year the Air Force hosts a Spouse Flight day where all the spouses get a chance to go on a short trip in the helicopters. (These were only spouses of the men and women who work with the MH-53 helicpoters) This is the last spouse flight they were having for the 53's because this old helicpoter is being retired in October. It happened one week before Scott left for the desert so he got to see me all suited up in the flight gear ;) It was an awesome time and Scott's jealous because he hasn't had the chance to get a ride yet in the copter, it broke the day he was suppose to go!


My friend Katlin and I, she looks great, she just had her baby a month ago from when this picture was taken.


Katlin's husband Ryan, he's a pilot.


Here they come!




Scott was able to stop by inbetween meetings.


View of Navarre from the helicopter


Santa Rosa Island






Katlin


Ugh, what a mess flying in a helicopter!


Coming in for a landing!


The girls!

New Rotation

After a few serious updates from me, I thought I would lighten things up a bit. The weather has been nice lately with the temps dropping into the lower 80s at night. The days have still been in the 100s, but this "cold spell" has sure been nice.

I'm 1/3 of the way done with my deployment now. We're replacing about 1/3 of our group today as well. That means I have new people to get to know and lead on this mission. That also means I have new people that will test the limits of the rules and push against the authority. The SMSgt and I will have to make sure that will be a losing battle for them!

My morale is high; though I'm dog tired today after rounding up new guys from incoming flights the past couple days and making sure they got to their rooms ok. I've got a routine here and having to do that definitely took me out of my routine. It's not the best routine - I haven't been good about accomplishing a couple things that I've wanted to while I'm here, but I'm doing alright.

Thanks to all who have sent care packages. Myself and the troops have enjoyed everything you've sent!

There's not a lot to write about really. I know Heather sent something out to me today, so I've got that to look forward to as my next "milestone". She and Aidan will be trekking up to Wisconsin soon enough for a good time. I'm really jealous that I can't be with them. That's going to be one helluva birthday party and I hate going a whole summer without a ride on Tom Foolery.

That's all from this undisclosed location in Iraq. Have a good day!

Troublemaker

Aidan is almost 9 months and getting into all sorts of trouble as any crawling and climbing baby would. He loves playing with Bailey and he's learning how to clap and give high 5's. If I can catch him on tape I'll post a video!


His favorite thing in the whole world, ripping and crumpling paper in the magazine box!


We went swimming down the Turkey Creek in Niceville, Aidan opted for tubing down it :)


We like to go to our local Navarre park which is right on the soundside of the Gulf. There's a wet park or you can go swimming on the soundside. There's a butterfly house and there's lots of ducks and geese. A couple of the baby ducks liked Aidan.


Sometimes Aidan's buddy Chipper comes over to play, we were just hanging out on the back porch having fun with the camera!







The cable and Internet are finally fixed so I shouldn't be having any more problems. If you don't hear back from me when you leave me a message it's because I'm ignoring you....just kidding ;)

A Fallen Hero

I’m in a war.

As odd as it may sound there are times when I don’t realize that. I’ve fallen into a routine and I’ve grown comfortable, almost complacent, in that routine. I’m also in a relatively safe location that isn’t often impacted by the war going on around it. Days can go by when the only real reminder that we’re at war is seeing the Army troops walking around with their M-16s and seeing the Humvees with guys standing out the top in the gunner’s seat.

Today I received another, more poignant, reminder that this is an area in conflict and that I’m in the middle of a war.

One of the men from another part of my unit – conducting a different mission than me and my airmen – was killed in action a few days ago. Today we held a memorial service for him at sundown. I was honored to attend.

I have never been to a military funeral before. We’ve all seen the depictions of them before on TV, but to be at a memorial service standing in a formation with over 200 Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen with representatives from other countries’ services paying their respects for a fallen brother-in-arms is a moving experience.

I didn’t know the man, but I knew his heart.

The Commander said some words about him and the mission he was accomplishing. I can’t go into the details of what he was doing, but he was in the thick of it, working outside the wire with Iraqis training them to take control of their country, giving them the tools to succeed. He spoke of the bravery of the young man; and the bravery of all who gathered to pay our respects.

Standing at a attention, in formation, in front of a flagpole with a small memorial before it – boots, upturned rifle with Kevlar helmet on top, and a picture of the soldier in service dress beside it – filled me with conflicting emotions. I was saddened for the soldier and his family back home. I was thankful for my own safety and that of my troops in this dangerous place. A part of me was also afraid of what it would mean for all my friends and family if it was my picture in that frame. I thought of Heather. I thought of Aidan.

After the chaplain delivered his sermon the loudspeakers on either side of the Humvee played “Green Beret”. While everyone in attendance rendered a salute, a lone bugler played Taps – the haunting melody hung in the air as the flag was lowered from half staff and folded and set reverently in front of the boots on the memorial.

That completed the service. We were invited to show our respects and dismissed. Immediately the formation of 200 turned into a line as everyone stepped up to the memorial and rendered their own salute to this fallen hero who died in service to his country. At one point, two men walked up together, in step as best they could in the gravel, placed an item beside the boots, and saluted together.

I’ll never forget the face looking back at me from that picture when I gave him my salute. I saw a man content with his choices, thankful for all that he had been given, and ready to take on the mission.

I see the same look on the faces of all my troops every day.

Ohio Visit

Hey everyone we're back from Ohio. Aidan fared pretty well on the airplane again considering he knows how to crawl now and I had to confine him to such a small space, he jumped in my lap a lot! Not much to tell except that we had a great time getting to see old friends and I enjoyed the cooler weather immensely! It's insanely hot here but I still manage to keep the yard up by myself. I take pride in working myself tirelessly to make sure we don't have a jungle surrounding our house and other critters I want to keep at bay that I shall not mention because they make me shudder!

I am currently having Internet issues here because of a bad cable we have in our wall. I get very spotty service and never know when the Internet will be working, sometimes it's not working for the better part of the day. I need to get a contractor out here to fish new wire in the wall but that also means getting them to climb into the deathly hot attic, so if you send me an email or are expecting some sort of response from me don't worry if I don't reply right away, it may be because of my Internet problems.

Anyway, enjoy the new pics of Aidan!


Aidan was determined to get up that slide!


Aidan hanging with Emma, she loved watching him.


"Auntie" Melissa at the Tipp City Farmer's Market




"Uncle" Christian loved having another boy around the house. (He has 2 daughters)


Crazy Maclauchlan's!


Aidan devoured the Dairy Queen ice cream!


He did not want to get out of the pool, he splashed the whole time.


Aidan and the girls!


Aidan looks like the pillsbury dough boy in this picture, especially chubby looking!


Love that porch swing!

Desert Update

Hey all,

Everything is going great over here. I'm approximately 20% into my time over here and I'm happy to say I have no complaints. The guys work hard, the planes fly, the food is ok. Oh sure, I'm missing the family a helluvalot (Heather and Aidan are visiting friends in Ohio right now), but everything else is pretty good.

There's a lot of stuff that I can't really write about on the blog. Some of it is forbidden for security reasons. I can't write about some of it for decency reasons. But I know a lot of the readers of this blog are probably interested in what it is I'm doing over here...so here's the gist.

I'm the maintenance officer in charge of about 110 guys and gals who bust their asses every day in 110 degree weather. I'm out there helping out in every way I can - sometimes they teach me what they're working on, sometimes it's some mentorship on their careers for when they get home, sometimes I'm just out there enforcing standards - making sure that they are safe and doing things the right way.

I work on writing their decorations to make sure that they are recognized for their outstanding achievements over here. I make sure the small stuff is taken care of. I cultivate a sense of urgency when required.

There are some meetings to go to, but not nearly like at home station. That gives me the chance to get to know the maintainers and take care of them.

There's a fair share of BSing, but that's necessary for morale. But when the planes are getting ready to fly or are broken, I'm out there on the line. These guys are great technicians, but what they miss sometimes is the bigger picture - I provide that bigger picture motivation.

My day starts at about 3:00PM and ends the next day at 3, 4, or 5 AM (depending on what's going on). Every day is a Monday because there are no weekends...

It's pretty much sleep, work, sleep, work. I've made it to the gym a couple times after work, but after that long of a day it's hard to have the motivation to exercise. On the flip side, it's hard to do it before work because it's so frickin' hot.

We've got a BX here, a decent chow hall, a Burger King, a Pizza Hut, a Cinnabon, and a Popeye's Chicken. I've only eaten at the chow hall though so I can pocket my $3.50 daily per diem (Ka-Ching!). Though tonight I'm going out for coffee after work at a Green Bean (a Starbucks wanna be that they have at all the bases here - I last drank at one in Saddam's palace in Baghdad).

So, I'm busy and hot. But I have a pretty kick ass job and the best group of troops I could hope for.

I can't complain!

4th of July Festivities

The weekend of the 4th was a blast! We started out Friday morning running in the Firecracker 5k in Pensacola.

We were all decked out in the red, white, and blue, I even decorated the stroller.

We spent the afternoon hanging out with our friends grilling and swimming in their pool.



Do you like my mohawk?

We all went to Pensacola Beach that night to see the fireworks, Aidan stared in amazement. Great show!



We wished Scott could have been there, he told us they didn't have many "fireworks" over there that day though, thank goodness! ;)

Why I Serve

I thought I would take this chance on the Fourth of July to jot down some thoughts on why I serve in the Air Force. Believe it or not it's something I think about fairly often. Whether it's to help get through a tough time at work, or work up the motivation for a deployment that I'm not particularly fond of, reminding myself of some key points always puts the situation into perspective. Gen McArthur summed up the reasons for service well with three words, "Duty, honor, country." To him that was it. We serve because it is our duty. We serve, because it is the honorable thing to do. We serve for our country. My reasons are not as poetic or concise as those, but they are very similar.

I serve for my family. We've had to make several sacrifices already for this service, and many more will be asked of us if I continue to pursue this as a career. However, I firmly believe that the sacrifices (investments) today will pay huge dividends for my family tomorrow in terms of a better life, a better country, and a better world. This is my contribution to the future. I serve today so that, hopefully, others will not have to tomorrow.

While history will tell if the current conflicts that we are engaged in were smart decisions, I'm glad that we have the institution of the military capable of accomplishing these missions. Living a life that affords me basic freedoms - life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - fills me with a debt of gratitude. It's my hope that my service will help pay that debt while honoring those who have come before me and given so much for so many.

It has been 232 years since we declared our independence. We are still a young country, but we have achieved much! Many times we in the military have been called by our civilian leadership to protect our way of life. For the past 35 years that call has been answered exclusively by volunteers who believe in three simple tenets: Duty, Honor, Country.

Kiss Goodnight

Splashing

Surprise Ending

I was recording Aidan while we played a peek-a-boo game but you have to watch this to the end to see the surprise ending, something new he learned!