The Army(part 3)

When you are a mechanic in the aviation division of the Army your main goal is to get into the flight platoon. There are different ways to get into flight, the main reason is to work your butt off to get noticed. You must learn the aircraft, prove your worth, and do your time. I did all of the above and got to do some flights while still in maintenance. I remember that my first flight was at night, I also wasn't the only maintenance person on board. Before the flight, a friend of mine gave me some pointers, on what not to do specifically. There are 2 windows on each of the cargo doors and you can pull a handle to pop them out in the event of an emergency. When we came into land at the end of the flight the other maintenance person pulled that handle and both of the windows popped out. Needless to say that person denied doing that, they tried to say that I did it. The biggest problem with this is that I was in the back of the aircraft and I couldn't reach that handle even if had to. I made it to the flight platoon quickly and that person never did. 

The Army has what is called TDY or temporary duty, it is where you are sent to another location but not permanently. Our unit had a mission that was in a dream location, we were in place for a very important mission. That mission was completed before coming to the unit but we still went to this location to give the idea that we were still performing the mission. We were able to snorkel there in crystal clear water, we couldn't scuba dive because of the restrictions on flying after diving on air. I learned a very painful lesson while being down there, protect your head if you have very short hair. I got a burn on the top of the head, this was right before we started flying 2 weeks of nights. The pressure of the helmet is bad enough, but when you add the weight of the night vision goggles and counterweights...I was miserable for almost the whole 2 weeks. 

We had an amazing mission right before we gave up that mission. It was right before Desert Storm was building up, we were sent to escort a unit from one country and fly them over a lot of water to another country. I am not sure if I can put into context how nerve-wracking that is. You can have all the training and all the safety equipment in the work and it is such an uneasy feeling seeing nothing but water as far as you can see. We all had to be very conscious of our fuel burn, how well maintained our aircraft were, and have all the supplies we might need to complete this mission. I guess it would be like loading up my 3650 lb capacity utility trailer with 3655 lbs, connecting it to my 2001 Nissan Frontier then driving it from Savannah Ga to Seattle Washington. Naturally, I would have extra fuel cans to give me enough fuel to get from gas station to gas station with a little more than fumes as I pulled in. If I broke down I could only fix what I could while driving on a single-lane road with nowhere to pull off, unless I got lucky enough to coast into a small island. 

We gave up that TDY mission to go to Desert Storm. To say that many people in our unit were upset over this is an understatement. We flew our aircraft from Germany to Holland, they were placed on a boat and taken to Saudi Arabia. We spent several weeks in the port area offloading the aircraft and modifying them for the harsh sandy conditions. It was there that we saw General Colin Powell, That was the first time I had ever been around anyone so powerful. He was a nice man and he talked to us like he was one of us, as a soldier that makes a difference. It was in the ports that I learned there was more than one place to take a shower. The Saudis have a howl in the ground for a toilet, they also have a water wand with warm water instead of tp(if you catch my drift) and that makes a handy shower. I can also tell you that it takes 8 1-liter water bottles to get a proper shower when you're in the middle of the desert and have no other options. 

While in the desert I was lucky enough to be a part of the peace talks mission. This was my second chance to see a powerful person, General Norman Schwarzkopf(I have you know I spelled this name right without looking it up). This mission took 2 attempts, the first was canceled after we made it to where it was to take place. The second attempt was almost our last. Someone thought it would be a good idea to fly low level at night(under night vision goggles) through the Kuwait oil fires. By the time it was all done we had all of our position lights on high and our strobes on day. Under normal conditions, this would have been near catastrophic, but this is what it took for all of the aircraft to see each other. We made it to the bombed-out airfield in one piece but covered in oil, it took forever to get it off the windshields. We saw the Cav crews get sent back to their aircraft to get their protective helmets and put their Stetsons away(IYKYK). On my aircraft we flew the General's protective detail, they told us what they were going to do instead of the other way around. General Schwarzkopf was a very big man, it was an honor to see him and an honor to be part of the mission to end the war.