Pacific Banner Mission / Hawaii

Part of the USS Arizona visable from the surface. The Arizona still leaks oil to this day and you can see drops of oil floating to the surface.

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. While in Hawaii some of us visited the USS Arizona memorial and some of us visited the USS Missouri. This is a list of names of the men who died at the Arizona memorial.

USS Arizona memorial.

USS Missouri, the Japanese surrendered on the deck of the Missouri.

Makapuu Bay in Hawaii.

One of pilots brought is para glider and we watch him para glide on Makapuu.

Dinner at Kona brewery.

Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay in Hawaii, it's a great place to go snorkeling. You can clearly see all the coral reefs in the water below.

Pacific Banner Mission / Guam

Beach at hotel on Tumon Bay, Guam.

Pool and pool bar overlooking the ocean.

We stayed at the Guam Marriot Resort and Spa, just a reminder why I joined the Air Force and not the Army. "Banner" missions are presidential support missions. This particular mission took me to Guam and then to Hawaii before heading home. It was a nice change of pace instead of going to the desert again.

Saddam's Palace

This is one of Saddam's palaces' on a man made lake that is visible while on final for landing at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq. The U.S. Army has used many of Saddam's palaces as their headquarters throughout Iraq.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

This is what a man made island in the shape of a palm tree looks like at twenty thousand something feet off the coast of Dubai, UAE. UAE has more oil money than they know what to do with, they plan to build homes and hotels on it. Dubai is actually a big tourist destination and they are actually in the process of building a second island just like it.

One of Iraq's Finest Tanks

One of Iraq's finest tanks. This was just left on the side of the runway by the Iraq Army from the first Gulf War. I can't remember which airfield in Iraq this picture was taken, it's a familiar site at most airfields in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Another view as we were taxiing by. (As a reminder you can always click on the picture for a better view)
Another C-17 taking off as we were preparing to land at the same airfield.

Night Vision Goggles

Another cool picture. Surprisingly we were able to take a picture through one of our Night Vision Goggles. This is a view of the cargo compartment loaded with cargo destined for Iraq, oh ya, and one of my load masters posing in the background. Nothing like a little entertainment before heading into Iraq. :-)

C-17 Mt. Rainier Flash

This picture was to nice not to share with you all. It's a perfect representation of the C-17 community in the great pacific northwest. I wanted to use this picture for the header on this web site, but the other picture just fit better.

Bagram AB, Afghanistan

This is part of the flight line at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, they have mostly helicopters and some A-10's stationed there. Bagram sits in a valley surrounded by mountains as high as 18,000' in elevation, not the most enjoyable place to fly into, especially in bad weather at night on Night Vision Goggles.
Some of the taxiways at Bagram are only 40' wide, our main landing gear is 33' wide, that only gives us about 3' of clearance on each side. Not a problem is your a helicopter or fighter.
View of the surrounding mountains while we were departing Bagram AB, Afghanistan.

Ali AlSalem AB, Kuwait

This is a bunker that the USAF C-130's use at Ali AlSalem AB, Kuwait (click on the picture for a better view). It was originally built and used by the Kuwait Air Force, but was taken over by Iraq forces in the Gulf War. The damage you see is from a 500 lb bomb dropped by the USAF on the Iraq forces during the Gulf War. Funny after all these years we know occupy a bunker that was damaged by our own Air Force. We learned a lot from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, we no longer bomb the runways or bunkers because we eventually take over the airfields and have to repair our own damage before we can use them again.
Waiting for our cargo before heading to Iraq.
View of the USAF C-130 flight line and Kuwait Air Force control tower in the background.

Baghdad International Airport, Iraq

Not the best picture, but that is a view of the Baghdad civilian terminal across the airfield from the military ramp.
A view of the military ramp at Baghdad.

Air Refueling Over Canada

Here I am air refueling with a KC-10 over Canada heading back to McChord AFB, WA from Ramstein AB, Germany. I just finished about two weeks worth of flying missions in and out of Iraq from Germany.
Closing in on the KC-10.


That's me on left with another pilot and friend of mine Randy, who is also in the 313th Airlift Squadron at McChord AFB, WA. He used to fly corporate jets with my Dad before I got started flying in the Air Force, small world we live in sometimes.

Flying the Secretary of Defense

Here I am, the one on the right, taking a moment for a picture with the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. I have had the pleasure of flying Mr. Rumsfeld twice so far, this was the first time I met him.
One of the perks of flying the Secretary of Defense is you get to stay in nice hotels. This picture was taken from my hotel room over looking the pool on the Persian Gulf in Doha, Qatar.

Air Refueling Over Alaska

This is a picture of me air refueling with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Alaska on my way to Japan from McChord AFB, WA. This picture was taken by the boom operator from the KC-135 tanker who was nice enough to ask me for my e-mail address.
Closing in on the KC-135 tanker.