Unfortunately, it's officially past my anniversary for me. But, it's only 5pm back home, so hopefully I'm not late with this post. Today marks 12 years of marriage for Janell and I. I know I've mentioned in past posts some of the things that I appreciate about Janell but I thought this would be a great opportunity to expound on why I love being married to her. So here goes...
1. Janell knows my strengths and weaknesses. She leans on my strengths, which makes me feel valued and respected, and she encourages me through my weakensses and continues to demonstrate love toward me, even when my failures hurt her.
2. She is the most patient mother I think I have ever met. Granted, our girls are very well behaved most of the time, but that's not by chance. She has invested an incredible amount of love, wisdom, and training into our kids. I wish I could take credit for their maturity, but Janell is with them all day, every day. Her influence in their lives is unmistakeable and undeniable.
3. Janell has an adventerous spirit. All you have to do is look back over the past four months of Janell's blog entries if you have any doubts about this one. Who else in their right mind would attempt a monster road trip like the one she pulled off? And she had fun doing it. She has flown half way around the world by herself to meet me before, and she's about to do it again. When we first met, Janell had lived in the same house her whole life. She had moved bedrooms once. Now, when we've been in a town for more than two years, she starts to get the itch to move on!! When we first met, she had dated guys who had gone on to join the Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard (and they never wrote). Then she meets this guy who is planning to join the Navy. You can imagine what must have gone through her mind. I remember vividly sitting in the bowling alley in Thousand Oaks, CA, on our first "unofficial" date in early July 1990 when I first shared my plan with her. I remember the immediate dejection in her eyes as she related her past experience with "military men". Doubt crept in for just a moment. Seventeen years later, here we are. It's not just a Marriage, it's an adventure.
4. Janell is an awesome navigator. In Janell's blog I'm sure you've noticed a few entries that talked about her GPS steering her wrong on a couple occassions. It's only recently that we invested in a navigation gadget for the car. Whenever we go on road trips (and we go on lots of road trips), Janell has always been our navigator. She has an excellent sense of direction and loves maps almost as much as I do. That's not to say that she never drives, either. Many times, when I have grown too tired to drive safely, Janell has taken my place in the left seat to get us through the last 30 minutes of the drive, usually with a Vente Mint Cafe Mocha in her hand. Obviously, she does very well driving even in the worst of conditions. It's only when we try to let the GPS guide us with no knowledge of the area or route that we tend to get into trouble. Usually with me driving and Janell navigating, it's smooth sailing on the road (and in marriage).
5. Janell has the sharpest mind I know when it comes to numbers, dates, and events. She often jokes that with the birth of each child, she loses one half of her mental capacity. So, that would put her at about 1/16th of her 1997 ability. Focusing on preschool third grade each day with limited adult contact also can't help. But still, her ability to process numbers amazes me. I know she enjoys quilting and baking so much because they are so number-intensive. They give her a chance to stretch and flex those mental muscles that she was gifted with. She has reminded me on many many occassions of coming birthdays or events that I should have known about, but completely forgot. Like I said, she compliments my weaknesses to tee.
6. Janell laughs at my corny jokes. Even when she knows they're not funny and no one else is laughing. That's love.
7. Janell and I share an amazing level of trust. I've never had any cause to doubt Janell's ability to handle our finances, our home, our children, or our time apart. At the same time, she is aware of her own limitations and knows when to ask for help. Her maturity and humility are astounding and I learn from her all the time. I know she trusts me in the same way, and that trust is one of the bedrock foundations of our marriage. We both know we're not perfect and we don't expect each other to be. We learn from our mistakes together and grow past them. Sometimes slowly, but we do.
8. Janell is my best friend. As a guy, it's important to have other guys I can turn to as friends and brothers. No woman can fill that role. But Janell truly is my best friend in the sense that I can talk to her (or not) and she will listen (or just be there) and I can be totally transparent with her. I love spending time with her, sharing new experiences with her, and remeniscing old experiences with her.
9. Janell is an artist. Her artistic and musical talent are truly gifts from God. She brings a touch of class to anything she does and makes our home a pleasant place to be (when she's not fighting against the 4 winds blowing Barbies and Little People all over the house, that is). Her artistic talent was one of the qualities that attracted me to Janell when we first met. Sure she was a band geek. But at least she was the queen band geek. The sergeant major. or majorette, or major floutist; -- oh yeah-- the drum major! Can you tell it's 4:20 am? Anyway, I loved the fact that she was a musician and an artist. I still do. She's traded in her flute for hand bells, and her oils and pastells for crayons and fingerpaints, but her gifts still shine.
10. Janell makes me a better man. I've said it before, but she brings out the best in me, and helps me to make my rougher edges sharper. Her encouragement, comfort, accountability, and honesty all lift me up to accomplish things I never would have done on my own (from laundry to Masters Degrees).
11. Janell is my perfect mate. I can't imagine anyone better suited to be at my side for my entire life. Eve was presented to Adam as his "helper suitable". Janell is so much more than my helper, and she is immesurably more than suitable. I know beyond a show of a doubt that God built me to be with her and her to be with me.
12. Lastly, and most importantly, Janell is an inspiration to me as a Christian. She is a godly woman. No, she's not perfect. She makes mistakes and doesn't always live up to the standard she strives for. But she keeps getting up, knocking off the dust, and returning to her knees in prayer. I should be the inspiration for our family, but more often than not, Janell is setting the example for me. She is great about reminding me or encouraging me to get some quiet time in God's Word. She sets a great example for our girls to follow. The fruit of the Spirit are evident in her life. She is sought out by other women for her wise counsel and she is respected among other homeschooling families. I love how much she loves the Lord.
I could easily go on, but I think 12 qualities for 12 years is a good place to pause for now. Come back in 30 years and I'll have an easy list of 42 things I love about Janell! It grows all the time.
I love you, Janell!! Happy Anniversary, sweetie!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Worn out but worth it
It's been a long 24 hours. I starting preparing yesterday afternoon for what I knew would be a long day today. In fact, I didn't finish preparing until about 3 am last night. I was the aircraft commander of the 2nd aircraft in a two-ship flight that ended up logging 7 hours today. Fortunately, somewhere in the middle of those 7 hours we were able to take a break at a shore base. While there, I had a chance to call home briefly and wish Janell an early "Happy Anniversary". Tomorrow (today for me) is our 12th Anniversary. I'll write more about that tomorrow. But it was a nice surprise to get to talk to her and the girls. Sort of an odd break and mental shift in the middle of such a hectic day. But well worth it.
We landed tonight a little after 2300, very ready to peel our selves out of the cockpit and our soaking wet body armor. Turned out to be a very productive flight, having met all the items from our broad list of objectives. My copilot, one of our senior JO's, shared with me during our debrief that this was the best flight he's had so far this deployment. It's nice to fly with a fully qualified crew, and not have to focus on training so much as just getting the job done.
I've been on deck for 2 1/2 hours now and I'm no where close to dry yet. And boy do I stink. A shower before bed will definitely be in order. Not much else to write about at the moment. My brain is starting to shut down. Tomorrow will be a paperwork day. My box is crammed full of stuff that I couldn't get to the last two days. Never good for the MO to take 2 days off from paperwork.
We landed tonight a little after 2300, very ready to peel our selves out of the cockpit and our soaking wet body armor. Turned out to be a very productive flight, having met all the items from our broad list of objectives. My copilot, one of our senior JO's, shared with me during our debrief that this was the best flight he's had so far this deployment. It's nice to fly with a fully qualified crew, and not have to focus on training so much as just getting the job done.
I've been on deck for 2 1/2 hours now and I'm no where close to dry yet. And boy do I stink. A shower before bed will definitely be in order. Not much else to write about at the moment. My brain is starting to shut down. Tomorrow will be a paperwork day. My box is crammed full of stuff that I couldn't get to the last two days. Never good for the MO to take 2 days off from paperwork.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Snapshot of me
Last month some time, the Gough's tagged me to come up with some random things about myself. My time for blogging was very limited, so I put it off. Well, here goes...
1. First off, I have multiple personalities. I took the personality type test featured on 50 toes three times and got three different answers. The test is only 53 questions and taking it once is of relatively poor accuracy. Supposedly, the more you take the test, the most frequent answer you get gives you a more accurate picture of your personality type. Back when I was in college, I tested multiple times as an INFJ using the Meyers-Briggs test. Tonight, I tested variously as:
They all seem accurrate to varrying degrees of accuracy. If that makes sense. I'll have to go back in a couple of days and take the test a few more times, see if my personality settles down a little.
2. I am a chronic procrastinator. Unfortunately, this is a bad behavior that has rubbed off on Janell. Once upon a time, she was a pretty squared away planning and doing kind of person. I'm doing everything in my power to teach the girls to avoid my bad habits, but as always, more is "caught than taught", I'm afraid.
3. I've never lived by myself as an adult. I went straight from high school to the Academy to marriage. From the few weekends I've had apart from Janell, alone at home, I know why God meant this to be. I'd be a terrible bachelor. I need Janell! That's not to say that I can't cook or clean. Actually I'm quite proficient at both. When I get to them.
4. I have a chronic addiction to web surfing. This is probably a bigger problem that I really give credit. It's not the content that I surf, it's the time lost looking up things like the definition of "quiescent" or the history of the Intellivision gaming system, or maps of Singapore, or the latest news from Luxembourg. OK, maybe I haven't spent too much time on that last one, but I do spend too much time here and here.
5. I sunburn every summer. Despite years of Grandma Beitzer warning of the dangers of the sun, I am terrible about forgetting to put on sunscreen.
6. I soloed in a 2-seat Cessna airplane before I had my driver's license. Aug 5, 1989, Camarillo Airport. It wasn't until the end of the summer that I earned my license to drive a car (on my second driving test).
7. I learned to scuba dive in 1993 in a Quarry in Pennsylvania. I earned my advanced diving certificate in Key West, FL, during Spring Break, 1995. I haven't scuba dived since. But I still own two 1960's vintage scuba tanks I borrowed from my dad (I think I still own them).
8. I climbed Mt. Whitney on Sept 11, 2001. Most surreal experience of my life.
9. I wore braces for seven years (Haloween of my freshman year of highschool until my third year at the Academy). Along the way, I had three sessions of oral surgery as well. My kids are dentally doomed.
10. I always have to wear a watch. Even when it makes me look like a geek in the pool or on the beach, even on vacation when I don't want to know what time it is, I have to know what time it is. Drives me nuts not to know. See #1. Plus, lets' face it. I'm a geek. See #4. And if you're still reading this, there's a pretty good chance you have a streak of geek in you, too.
Obviously, I blew off the "rules" from the Gough's post. Sorry. I don't know eight other people, and I couldn't stop at eight. I guess I'm more of a decimalist.
1. First off, I have multiple personalities. I took the personality type test featured on 50 toes three times and got three different answers. The test is only 53 questions and taking it once is of relatively poor accuracy. Supposedly, the more you take the test, the most frequent answer you get gives you a more accurate picture of your personality type. Back when I was in college, I tested multiple times as an INFJ using the Meyers-Briggs test. Tonight, I tested variously as:
INTP - "Architect". Greatest precision in thought and language. Can readily discern contradictions and inconsistencies. The world exists primarily to be understood. 3.3% of total population. |
They all seem accurrate to varrying degrees of accuracy. If that makes sense. I'll have to go back in a couple of days and take the test a few more times, see if my personality settles down a little.
2. I am a chronic procrastinator. Unfortunately, this is a bad behavior that has rubbed off on Janell. Once upon a time, she was a pretty squared away planning and doing kind of person. I'm doing everything in my power to teach the girls to avoid my bad habits, but as always, more is "caught than taught", I'm afraid.
3. I've never lived by myself as an adult. I went straight from high school to the Academy to marriage. From the few weekends I've had apart from Janell, alone at home, I know why God meant this to be. I'd be a terrible bachelor. I need Janell! That's not to say that I can't cook or clean. Actually I'm quite proficient at both. When I get to them.
4. I have a chronic addiction to web surfing. This is probably a bigger problem that I really give credit. It's not the content that I surf, it's the time lost looking up things like the definition of "quiescent" or the history of the Intellivision gaming system, or maps of Singapore, or the latest news from Luxembourg. OK, maybe I haven't spent too much time on that last one, but I do spend too much time here and here.
5. I sunburn every summer. Despite years of Grandma Beitzer warning of the dangers of the sun, I am terrible about forgetting to put on sunscreen.
6. I soloed in a 2-seat Cessna airplane before I had my driver's license. Aug 5, 1989, Camarillo Airport. It wasn't until the end of the summer that I earned my license to drive a car (on my second driving test).
7. I learned to scuba dive in 1993 in a Quarry in Pennsylvania. I earned my advanced diving certificate in Key West, FL, during Spring Break, 1995. I haven't scuba dived since. But I still own two 1960's vintage scuba tanks I borrowed from my dad (I think I still own them).
8. I climbed Mt. Whitney on Sept 11, 2001. Most surreal experience of my life.
9. I wore braces for seven years (Haloween of my freshman year of highschool until my third year at the Academy). Along the way, I had three sessions of oral surgery as well. My kids are dentally doomed.
10. I always have to wear a watch. Even when it makes me look like a geek in the pool or on the beach, even on vacation when I don't want to know what time it is, I have to know what time it is. Drives me nuts not to know. See #1. Plus, lets' face it. I'm a geek. See #4. And if you're still reading this, there's a pretty good chance you have a streak of geek in you, too.
Obviously, I blew off the "rules" from the Gough's post. Sorry. I don't know eight other people, and I couldn't stop at eight. I guess I'm more of a decimalist.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Happy Father's Day
Yesterday, I was getting up and briefing at this time of day. Now, 24 hours later, I'm just about to go to bed. Somewhere in there I've gotten a couple hour nap and seven hours of sleep last night, but my schedule is back to the "night" schedule for a couple days. I've stopped trying to keep track. I did get to see the sun today, during the afternoon FOD walk down on the flight deck. My 20 minutes of sun. Other than that, the only way to tell whether it's day or night is by the color of lights in the passage ways. At night, most of the lights go to red. And around this time at night (about 3am), many of the passage ways up here on the O-3 level get taped off by sections to get rewaxed. It's often a maze to find your way around the wet wax areas. It's always good to have two or three routes to get anywhere. I wonder what guys do when they wax right in front of their stateroom door. I've never had to deal with that problem, thankfully.
While it's early Monday morning for me, back home it's still Father's Day. Today didn't feel much like a Father's Day. No more than Valentines Day, Easter, or Mother's Day felt any different than any other day. Chaplain Callaham had all the dads stand up in church this morning. There was a cake at the brunch. That was about it. Another work day, guys up on the flight deck sweating for 14 hours, engineers standing eight-hour watches somewhere down below. There's no real rest at sea. That's what we signed up for. I'm proud to be here, but this was one day I would have loved to be home. I miss coming home from work and hearing Beth yell "Daaaaaaadyyyyyy!" I literally would have three girls run at me at the door (on some days, anyway), with a fourth crawling not far behind. Of course, I guess it might be four running now. I know those days are few when they will be excited to see me come home from a normal day's work. Soon they will have many of their own concerns and practices and friends and dates and phone calls and homework and you name it. I know I'll always have a special place in their lives, but I'm sure I'll never have a big a portion as I do right now. When I'm home, anyway. I cherish the time I have with my girls. I know I don't always set the example I want to. I'm definitely not a perfect dad. But I certainly don't lack for want of love of my girls. They are everything to me and I can't put into words how much I love being their daddy.
A relationship between a man and his daughters is different in a lot of ways than the relationship between a man and his son. Although I'm learning a lot as I go, I had great head start on how to be a dad from my own father. He taught me what it means to love unconditionally. He taught me what it means to be a leader in the home. He taught me how to be compassionate yet firm. He gave me the freedom to make mistakes and helped me learn from them. He taught me to enjoy life. Most of these things I learned from him were simply by living with him, by watching him, by listening to him. My dad has never hesitated to give me a huge hug when we meet or when we part. I know that he loves me because he told me so. I don't take those things for granted. It's hard for a lot of men to express that kind of emotion, but because he taught me, I am able to pass that kind of tenderness on to my girls who need it ever so much more. Maybe my hugs to them are not quite so bear-ish, but sometimes they are.
There's nothing like sharing a hug with the girls after I get back from a run! One guess where I learned that. I could probably write for hours about the lessons I learned from my dad. I can't put in words, though, how much I appreciate how he taught me to be a man, how he prepared me to be a father, and how he set me up for success. I hope I can pass on the legacy. Thank you, dad. I love you, too.
While it's early Monday morning for me, back home it's still Father's Day. Today didn't feel much like a Father's Day. No more than Valentines Day, Easter, or Mother's Day felt any different than any other day. Chaplain Callaham had all the dads stand up in church this morning. There was a cake at the brunch. That was about it. Another work day, guys up on the flight deck sweating for 14 hours, engineers standing eight-hour watches somewhere down below. There's no real rest at sea. That's what we signed up for. I'm proud to be here, but this was one day I would have loved to be home. I miss coming home from work and hearing Beth yell "Daaaaaaadyyyyyy!" I literally would have three girls run at me at the door (on some days, anyway), with a fourth crawling not far behind. Of course, I guess it might be four running now. I know those days are few when they will be excited to see me come home from a normal day's work. Soon they will have many of their own concerns and practices and friends and dates and phone calls and homework and you name it. I know I'll always have a special place in their lives, but I'm sure I'll never have a big a portion as I do right now. When I'm home, anyway. I cherish the time I have with my girls. I know I don't always set the example I want to. I'm definitely not a perfect dad. But I certainly don't lack for want of love of my girls. They are everything to me and I can't put into words how much I love being their daddy.
A relationship between a man and his daughters is different in a lot of ways than the relationship between a man and his son. Although I'm learning a lot as I go, I had great head start on how to be a dad from my own father. He taught me what it means to love unconditionally. He taught me what it means to be a leader in the home. He taught me how to be compassionate yet firm. He gave me the freedom to make mistakes and helped me learn from them. He taught me to enjoy life. Most of these things I learned from him were simply by living with him, by watching him, by listening to him. My dad has never hesitated to give me a huge hug when we meet or when we part. I know that he loves me because he told me so. I don't take those things for granted. It's hard for a lot of men to express that kind of emotion, but because he taught me, I am able to pass that kind of tenderness on to my girls who need it ever so much more. Maybe my hugs to them are not quite so bear-ish, but sometimes they are.
There's nothing like sharing a hug with the girls after I get back from a run! One guess where I learned that. I could probably write for hours about the lessons I learned from my dad. I can't put in words, though, how much I appreciate how he taught me to be a man, how he prepared me to be a father, and how he set me up for success. I hope I can pass on the legacy. Thank you, dad. I love you, too.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Finally, success
Today was another early morning, starting with a 0250 wakeup call. I launched at sunrise for an FCF on the aircraft we've been struggling to get fixed for a couple weeks. Our masterful mechanics finally nailed it today, and we returned to the ship 2 hours later as an "up" aircraft. Enjoyed a little breakfast after our debrief, then I took a brief nap. I managed to get a run in this afternoon as well. Overall, a pretty slow day, but rewarding after finishing what has been a painful FCF. Tomorrow morning, for the first time in over a month (except during the port call) we don't have an FCF on the schedule! Today we are 2/3 of the way done with cruise. I'll feel better when we are eastward bound again, but we're making progress. That's about all for today.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Off and Sprinting
OK, no slow spool up time for us. We're back in action now, having enjoyed 6 long days in port. On our first full fly day today, we had 3 aircraft break! That makes for a very busy and frustrating day for the maintenance department and tries our good relationship with the ship. Our guys did a great job flexing and pulling out new aircraft to keep the flight schedule moving, but it was tough. It's now past midnight and I still haven't finished the paperwork I wanted to get done today. I was up at 0400 this morning to get an FCF completed. We were actually done at 0800 with an up helicopter! Of course 14 hours later, the aircraft was broken again. Ugh.
While in port I was able to work out almost every day. We played tennis most mornings (around 10am), under the 100 degree, humid heat. Brutal, but fun. I also ran 30-60 minutes most days, but my runs were on a treadmill. It was sort of depressing to run on a treadmill on the beach, but it was so nasty outside that running would have been miserable. Early morning was out of the question. Plus, we had a requirement to always be with a "liberty buddy". There's no way I was going to find anyone sober enough to go running in the cool hours of the early morning.
We also enjoyed the 25th floor lounge at our hotel on several of the nights, listening to the sounds of Tulla ("toolah") and the "Online Band", which consisted of her and a keyboard accompanyist who also played their background tracks from a laptop. Originally from South Africa, they seemed to enjoy having our big crowd up there each night and interacted with us between their sets. A couple of nights, I called and talked to the girls from the balcony of the 25th floor while the rest of the group was inside listing to Tulla's smooth vocals.
Most days I played tennis and ran in the morning, maybe a little pool time, maybe did a little shopping in the afternoon, then enjoyed a relaxing dinner in the evening. On the last day, I went skiing at Ski Dubai at the Mall of the Emirates. The ski run took about 45 seconds to go down. During my 2 hour pass, I estimated that I got about 16 runs done. It was freezing cold inside the indoor mountain. Pretty amazing. A friend took some pictures and when I can get them from him, I'll post them later.
I managed to get a run in today as well, after a short nap before lunch (which I skipped in favor of the run). About 30 minutes is all I can take in the hangar bay. The heat and humidity is almost unbearable. Every time I run down there, right about 10 minutes into the run, I start to sweat profusely and by 15 minutes I'm completely soaked. My heart rate steadily climbs throughout the run. Avg HR for the first half was about 130. For the second half was about 145, peaking around 152, even at a nice slow 9:30 pace. It was nice to run in new running shoes which I also found during my last day in port. I had to give up my search for Asics shoes, which are my favorite. Saucony had to do this time. They're pretty comfortable, and much better cushioned that my old beat down shoes.
That's the latest on me. The schedule remains very busy for us, especially with the rate of maintenance issues we've had recently. I'm also preparing to turn over the maintenance department and to move into operations during the next several weeks. That will be a big shift for me. Never a dull moment.
Monday, June 11, 2007
R&R, once again
I only have 11 minutes left on my internet time in the room (no free internet this time), so this will be quick, but I'm sitting in the Habtoor Grand Resort & Spa in ... yes, you guessed it, Dubai, UAE. Like I've said before, it's the liberty stop of choice for carriers in the 5th Fleet AOR. So here we are on day 5 of a liberty marathon. We'll be back at sea soon, though. I've played tennis every morning in 110 degree heat. I actually bought a new racket two days ago. I've enjoyed the pool, done a little shopping for Janell and the girls in the local Souk's, including the spice Souk and the gold Souk. OK, 6 minutes left. I'm hoping to get back into more regular writing when we get back to sea. This break has been a nice chance to recover and relax. No 80's music this time, though. I know I still owe you stories from the last port visit. May was a tough month. Maybe I can cover that some time while we're heading home. Maybe not. I'm joining some guys for dinner downstairs in about five minutes. We're going to hit the hotel's steak house tonight. Italian last night. Trader Vic's the night before. Thai before that. It's easy to get spoiled in port. OK, only 3 minutes left. I'd better wrap this up before I get cut off. I'll write again from the boat. I'll sure miss this high speed connection. Like I said, it's easy to get spoiled. On that note, I'm off to go find a ribeye or maybe a strip.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Toto...
I'm still here, sorta kicking. It's quarter to 3 in the morning. Based on the frequency that I'm tapping the Backspace key, I must be tired. I'm too wiped out to tell. I landed from a 3.2 hour flight just before 2am. It was my copilot's first night landing on the carrier and second night flight since he got to the squadron a couple weeks ago. We stayed pretty busy during the flight, showing him what the carrier visual landing aids looked like and practicing some approaches to landing, practicing search and rescues, and chasing Iranian boats around the carrier. As I wrote to Janell recently, we definitely not in Kansas any more.
Church starts in about 6 hours. I'm not sure I'm going to make it tomorrow. I can't afford to get that far behind in my sleep. I have some pretty good teaching sermons on my iPod so I might take advantage of one those later in the day tomorrow. Not the same, but sometines it's the best I can do.
Church starts in about 6 hours. I'm not sure I'm going to make it tomorrow. I can't afford to get that far behind in my sleep. I have some pretty good teaching sermons on my iPod so I might take advantage of one those later in the day tomorrow. Not the same, but sometines it's the best I can do.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Memorial Day
Yes, I know, the rest of America celebrated Memorial day five days ago. As you might imagine, it was just like every other day for us. We worked, we flew, we sweated in the 120 degree heat on the flight deck. I haven't had a chance to write since then, so I'm going to write a piece now. I really appreciated 50 Toes' tribute last week. Especially the piece about the Class of '95 heroes who gave everything they had for their country. Megan McClung and I went though Plebe summer and much of our four years together at the Academy as company mates. She was a tough Marine with a heart of gold. I had lost touch with her after graduation until I learned of her death last year. I ask that you also remember these heroes in your prayers:
LTjg Laura Mankey from West Hills, CA
LT Adam Dyer from Lafayette, LA
AW1 Cory Helman from New Richmond, WI
AW2 Chris Will of Warren, MI
CDR Michael Shehan from Augusta, GA
LT Richard Anderson from Virginia Beach, VA
AW1 William Weatherford from Witchita, KS
AW2 Jared Rossetto from Corralitos, CA
AW2 Andrew Bibbo from Clinton, MA
The first crew, from HSC-3 in San Diego, perished when their MH-60S helicopter crashed into the water off the coast of San Diego on Jan 26, 2007 during a training flight from the USS Bonhomme Richard. This was less than a week after we left port in San Diego. The BHR is now here with us in the Gulf, having deposited their Marines on the beach to help with the stability and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The detachment of MH-60S pilots remains on board the BHR, with a replacement crew covering the gap left by these awesome Americans who gave their lives in training for deployment. I flew with Petty Officer Helman while I was assigned to HX-21, working on new systems for the MH-60S. Our new XO is the senior member of the investigation board responsible for determining why the crash occured. Four months later, that investigation is still on-going.
The second crew, from HS-7 in Jacksonville, FL, perished on May 7, 2007 in the desert mountains east of Fallon, NV, during a Combat Search and Rescue training flight. Their SH-60F helicopter impacted a set of high tension power lines. The crew included the Commanding Officer of the squadron, who was a close friend of our new XO. They were flying a training mission on a route that we are all very familiar with under challenging conditions.
Since I left for deployment, nine brave pilots and aircrew gave their lives in training to do what we are out here for. I am continually reminded of the stakes we face and the responsibility that we are entrusted with as pilots of these machines. The job isn't easy and I honor those who are now gone by doing everything in my power to bring my crew home.
That's part of the reason I haven't been writing much lately. As Janell posted a couple days ago, it's been a tough week here. Our "mission set" has expanded a little, and I wish I could explain in a little more detail but suffice it to say that it's nice to not be flying plane guard every day, but wearing body armor for eight hours at a time is very fatiguing! Add to that, one of our helicopters has been down for over 12 days now, as we continue to battle the vibrations. While that's going on, almost every day we've had one or two other helicopters break, sometimes found during preflight, sometimes resulting in an emergency landing. The maintenance department has been very busy--thus I've been very busy. And the paperwork doesn't let up either. So, when it comes to writing in the blog or getting some sleep, sleep wins. See above paragraph.
For the first half of last week, I was getting up at 3am for 5 days in a row, working on the FCF. For the last couple of nights and continuing tomorrow, I'm flying until midnight or 2 in the morning. I just love those 12 hour circadian shifts. That's why I'm up writing now. I'm too tired to work on awards and evals, but I need to stay up just a little longer so I can sleep in late enough to stay awake late enough for my long late flight tomorrow. Follow? I think that sentence is my cue that it's time to wrap up. My brain is officially shutting down. Sorry the writing has been sporatic, but it's not for lack of things going on. I just wish there was a little less going on right now. As always, we'll continue to fly safe. Keep praying, none the less. Thanks.
LTjg Laura Mankey from West Hills, CA
LT Adam Dyer from Lafayette, LA
AW1 Cory Helman from New Richmond, WI
AW2 Chris Will of Warren, MI
CDR Michael Shehan from Augusta, GA
LT Richard Anderson from Virginia Beach, VA
AW1 William Weatherford from Witchita, KS
AW2 Jared Rossetto from Corralitos, CA
AW2 Andrew Bibbo from Clinton, MA
The first crew, from HSC-3 in San Diego, perished when their MH-60S helicopter crashed into the water off the coast of San Diego on Jan 26, 2007 during a training flight from the USS Bonhomme Richard. This was less than a week after we left port in San Diego. The BHR is now here with us in the Gulf, having deposited their Marines on the beach to help with the stability and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. The detachment of MH-60S pilots remains on board the BHR, with a replacement crew covering the gap left by these awesome Americans who gave their lives in training for deployment. I flew with Petty Officer Helman while I was assigned to HX-21, working on new systems for the MH-60S. Our new XO is the senior member of the investigation board responsible for determining why the crash occured. Four months later, that investigation is still on-going.
The second crew, from HS-7 in Jacksonville, FL, perished on May 7, 2007 in the desert mountains east of Fallon, NV, during a Combat Search and Rescue training flight. Their SH-60F helicopter impacted a set of high tension power lines. The crew included the Commanding Officer of the squadron, who was a close friend of our new XO. They were flying a training mission on a route that we are all very familiar with under challenging conditions.
Since I left for deployment, nine brave pilots and aircrew gave their lives in training to do what we are out here for. I am continually reminded of the stakes we face and the responsibility that we are entrusted with as pilots of these machines. The job isn't easy and I honor those who are now gone by doing everything in my power to bring my crew home.
That's part of the reason I haven't been writing much lately. As Janell posted a couple days ago, it's been a tough week here. Our "mission set" has expanded a little, and I wish I could explain in a little more detail but suffice it to say that it's nice to not be flying plane guard every day, but wearing body armor for eight hours at a time is very fatiguing! Add to that, one of our helicopters has been down for over 12 days now, as we continue to battle the vibrations. While that's going on, almost every day we've had one or two other helicopters break, sometimes found during preflight, sometimes resulting in an emergency landing. The maintenance department has been very busy--thus I've been very busy. And the paperwork doesn't let up either. So, when it comes to writing in the blog or getting some sleep, sleep wins. See above paragraph.
For the first half of last week, I was getting up at 3am for 5 days in a row, working on the FCF. For the last couple of nights and continuing tomorrow, I'm flying until midnight or 2 in the morning. I just love those 12 hour circadian shifts. That's why I'm up writing now. I'm too tired to work on awards and evals, but I need to stay up just a little longer so I can sleep in late enough to stay awake late enough for my long late flight tomorrow. Follow? I think that sentence is my cue that it's time to wrap up. My brain is officially shutting down. Sorry the writing has been sporatic, but it's not for lack of things going on. I just wish there was a little less going on right now. As always, we'll continue to fly safe. Keep praying, none the less. Thanks.
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