I stayed up until about 3AM Sunday morning watching the University of Utah beat the Michigan Wolverines in the season opener. There was a small group of us that gathered by the USO stage and watched the game on the big screen.

Just a quick note to the University of Utah Alumni Association and faculty. Your support of our Task Force has been amazing! We have received so many packages containing U of U banners, posters, flags, water bottles etc. My office as well as several other offices are decorated from top to bottom with U of U memorabilia. Receiving items such as these have provided a huge boost to our morale and helps us feel as though we are still back home. Of all the schools in Utah all but Weber State have shipped care packages to their fans and Alumni. For some reason, Weber State has ignored all requests.

Special thanks to Kyle Whittingham for his signed letter of support! Kyle I will be sending you a U.S. Flag that I personally have flown over the skies of Iraq. The U of U Football flag that we received was flown over Iraq the day after Utah beat Michigan. I will cherish that banner forever.

It has been awhile since I wrote anything so I guess I should catch up a little. We are a little over half way through this deployment.
With approximately six more months to go, some of us are starting to look at what life will be like away from the war zone. Having spent the better part of the last two years building an Aviation Task Force and preparing it for war, many of my soldiers are wondering if they can go back to their regular jobs and settle into a life without the intense pressures we have all faced recently. Although to most of you this probably sounds odd, after having dedicated so much energy to a cause and after working 12 hour days 6-7 days a week, it is not easy settling in behind a desk to deal with problems that seem so insignificant to us right now.

Our entire life while deployed is a singular effort. There is no escaping our environment. Even our time off really isn't time off. Sometimes our quiet times are interuppted by the sounds of alert sirens and we find ourselves scrambling to get to and man our duty stations.

The threat level has remained fairly constent. No real concerns but we remain vigilant.

Nevertheless this has been a good experience. As far as war's go, others have had and some still have it much worse then I do. I really can't complain. I have some worthwhile diversions. We formed a soccer team and I am the goalkeeper. My team consist primarlily of British soldiers with a few americans sprinkled in for good measure! We play other military teams as well as some local teams. The temperatures are insane though. We wait until 7PM and it is still 108 degrees.

I have attached a few pictures. I promise to write a little more frequently.

Safe Here

I saved the KSL web page as my home page so I stay current on Utah issues. I am amazed at all the rescent shootings, stabbings and accidents happening in Utah. I am flying high value targets in a combat zone and I think I am safer here then there.

Like I told Guy, I am saving all my good stories for the camp fire. I will try to keep this blog more current then I have in the past.

One of the benefits of deploying with a Utah unit is that were ever we go, we drastically increase the size of the local LDS branch! There are now enough people that attend the local military branch that the same two people don't have to alternate speaking every Sunday!

Well Take Care, I am doing fine and time seems to be going by pretty fast. Tune in next week for some more fascinating (like watching paint dry) reporting from the war!

Grounded

Another day of not flying due to the sand storm. I think when I get home, I won't be going to the Sand Dunes anytime soon! When I get back to my room each night I have to shake off my bed and wipe down all my furniture. This sand gets into everything. I can taste the sand in the air when I go to bed at night so I can imagine the crap I am breathing. Well hopefully this stuff blows out and the sky clears so that I can get back to doing what I get paid to do!

SSDD (Same Stuff, Different Day)

I wish I had something profound or exciting to write about but I don't. No real complaints. I am starting my workout program and taking full advantage of the excellent weight loss benefits that 118 degree temperature and a good gym provide!

More to follow.

Been There Done That!

Well my first combat flight mission is now behind me! I can tell you the adrenaline was flowing even though I knew that the odds were in my favor. Anytime spent flying over bad guy country causes your senses to be on full alert!
The temperatures are on the rise. The other day it got to 113 degrees outside which means you can add another 10 degrees for inside the non air-conditioned cockpit. Fortunately the one improvement we have now verses my lst deployment is a cooling vest. This vest is worn underneath the flight suit and circulates fluid through coils. The results are amazing. The problem is the suit only works when the aircraft is running. All the time spent on pre-flight and run-up is in the heat.
The worst part of this deployment so far has been the sand and dust. The wind is constant and the air is filled with fine sand so the visibility is usually poor. By the time I get ready to call it a night, every part of my body is covered.
I obviously won't discuss any details of the mission in this blog but I can say that we are prepared to excel. Our soldiers are up to the task and are meeting every timeline.
I will continue to post messages and soon I will upload some more pictures. Keep checking back!

Finally deployed

Real quick- my Task Force and I finally made it out of Ft. Sill, Oklahoma and are now in Kuwait. We are progressing ahead of shedule and are starting to take on flight missions. The unit that we are replacing are in the process of packing up so things are hectic and shared space is tight. I finally moved out of my tent and into a little trailer with air conditioning (12' x 10'). The air conditioner is a necessity and I hope it never fails. Today it was about 110 degrees and summer is officially a month away! Tommorow I will do my local are orientation flight and I suspect that things will look the same as it did 8 years ago when I was here! The visibility has been pretty bad due to the frequent sand storms we have been having. The sand gets into everything, in fact I have that constant sensation of grit in my mouth because of it.

Well take care and I will write more soon.