Shortly after arriving in Kandahar I was put on my first mission; medevac chase. Medevac Blackhawks need another aircraft to go with them on their missions. My crew and I were flying the escort or chase aircraft. We have our crew chief/gunners manning their M-240s as a deterrant to anyone wanting to shoot at the medevac aircraft. We are on a 12 day rotation in a small Forward Operating Base (FOB) a couple of hours flight time from Kandahar. We are on standby 24/7 during a ten day period.
All four of us in our crew (two pilots, two crew chiefs) live in one small room. Luckily, previous crews built a pretty nice bunk bed system as you can see above. We don't have any official duties besides being ready to fly and keeping our aircraft ready to fly, so we have a lot of down time. I have been spending my time on the internet, studying, watching movies, playing video games, and exercising. The exercise has been great and I have gotten into a good daily routine. We have a few more days here, but it will be good to get back to all of my stuff and my room in Kandahar, that I haven't been able to setup completely yet.
Hi, son. Mom and dad here. Thanks for making this blog available to all of us back home (in Provo for us). We had a pretty nice new year celebration at Phyllis' home. We had a small bash here with Fila and her crew, plus Perry/Sarah + their kids, also Carlene/Todd, Molly, Kate and hubby Brian + little Hazel, also Eileen (fomerly Galan) and Tom Redd. Mom made Chicken tacos with grilled onions, Avocado chunks on corn torillas. Plus a whole lot of other goodies. Of course, I made my usual salsa and five gallons of our now official Galan Family Special punch ('member it has OJ, pineapple juice, lemon juice, Almond extract....). We played a few games and talked a lot. Sure could used your company and Deirdrie and your crew. We'll do it next year with all of you, Lord willing. Am closing for now as it's getting pretty late here. Love always, Mom and Dad.
ReplyDeleteHey Paul,
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! Alec was wondering if you were on a top bunk or bottom. He then informed me that he would want the top so that he wouldn't have to be close to the camel spider things.
Have you seen any? Let us know and take pictures if you see any. We are praying for you and very happy that you found your camera.
Love, Priscilla