Return From The FOB

The Fort Dix Forward Operating Base (FOB) Tiger is designed to simulate the conditions soldiers will encounter when deployed to Iraq. Tiger Base is the model for “Theater Immersion” training. At the gate you are greeted by Barbed wire, cement-block barricades, a sign marked “Stop” in English and Arabic, and armed soldiers. Inside the wire are rows and rows of green 12-man tents separated by dirt alleys. The scenery consists of guard towers, trucks, Humvees, earth-moving machinery and Mr. Bob’s Portable Toilets. The day begins at 5 AM when a Muslim prayer is broadcast over the base loud speaker. During the evenings, you can count on your REM sleep being disrupted by simulated mortar attacks.

Our days were filled with training in basic soldier skills to include; 9MM weapons qualification, first aid, use of the chemical mask, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) awareness, radio communications, and conducting convoy operations. The best scenarios involved actual Iraqi nationals, who spoke Arabic and dressed in their native garb. With our refresher in soldier skills now complete, it is time to focus on flying.

Note to self – When sitting in a class on how to clean a M9 pistol, avoid launching your recoil spring at the instructor.

Hauling To Charleston, SC

After launching 5 aircraft out of Charlesten this morning, the score card for the South Carolina mission is final--123 flight hours, 160 passangers, 23,919 pounds of cargo and 12,884 gallons of jet fuel. Based on how smooth things went, you would assume our unit had been flying togther for years. I ended up flying a two-day trip with Fred, one my instructors from the FWAATS. The first night, we arrived early enough to have a nice dinner at the Southend Brewery in downtown Charleston. Another highlight was getting a close up look at the Liberty Belle, which is a restored WWII era B-17 Bomber that was there for a weekend performance.

It is now Friday night, the rain has set in and we are sitting around in our ballistic vests waiting for a bus to take us out to field training for the next 9 days--time to play Army--tents, Meals Ready To Eat (MRE's), convoy operations, weapons qualification, practice bleeding during medical training...little sleep due to mortars and lots of mud. With any luck, we will pick up some flying missions.

Operations Commence

After two days of in processing and four vaccinations, the Commander committed our six aircraft in support of troop movements to the Port of Charleston, SC. The good news was that our report date to field training was delayed; the bad news was that we had 24 hours to prepare for the mission. Since my additional duty is to serve as the Company Operations Officer, my life has been chaos ever since. The Operations Officer is responsible for planning, briefing and coordinating flight activities along with requesting lodging, rental cars, and travel orders for a 35-member unit. I went from barely knowing anybody’s name to learning their job positions, experience level and the configuration of each aircraft. I believe the Commander’s true intent was to see if the unit could come together and pull off a short-notice operation—from a Commander’s perspective, a good way to find out what you have is to create a crisis. In this case, a Blackhawk helicopter unit is dropping off 32 aircraft and the troops need to get back to Ft. Dix. In addition, we need to ensure mechanics and parts are available for helicopters that may encounter maintenance issues in route to SC. To meet the need, our unit currently has C-23 aircraft staged in South Carolina and on standby status in New Jersey. An 18-hour day has been the norm, but I’ve scheduled myself for a couple days in Charleston later in the week…I guess being the Operations guy does have some advantages

Family Farewells

This morning was the official start of the Iraq deployment for members of the Indiana National Guard C-23 unit. The Adjutant General for Indiana, Major General Umbarger, conducted a brief send-off ceremony at Indianapolis International Airport for unit personnel and family members. My family was in Tennessee, so I was spared a gut-wrenching departure with my girls. Since the media is never one to miss emotional goodbyes, the local FOX News channel was also in attendance. The unit loaded into two aircraft and departed together under a “water arch” sprayed by the airport fire department.

The last time I was at Ft. Dix, New Jersey was for Basic Training in 1987--now it is the mobilization site for Company D, 126th Tactical Air Command (TAC). Ft. Dix will be our primary base of operations until we deploy overseas in December. The post has not changed much in the last 18 years. After hauling equipment up to the 3rd floor of our 3-man barracks room, I remembered why I never took the time to visit. It beats sleeping in the field…but that will come soon enough.

Arrival At Indiana Guard

The last week was spent being fitted for equipment, finalizing paperwork and getting to know the guys in my new unit. It was almost like Christmas when the unit was issued new flight helmets, ballistic vests, chemical masks, high-altitude oxygen masks and survival vests. In addition, we received a complete TA-50 issue, which is an acronym for Field Clothing & Equipment. The challenge was to organize 300+ pounds of gear into 3 duffel bags and two personal storage crates...this is what will sustain us for the next 12-18 months.

Randy and I also completed an initial unit-level flight evaluation referred to as a "Commanders Eval". The evaluation was conducted by an Indiana C-23 Instructor Pilot who had just returned from Iraq. We were able to combine the evaluation with a two-day mission to retrieve equipment used in support of hurricane relief. The first day we flew into Alexandria, Louisiana and dropped off personnel who were tasked with traveling to Fort Polk to make the pick up. Due to a lack of lodging in the Gulf Coast area, the flight crew continued on to Little Rock, Arkansas to spend the night. We made time for dinner at Bosco's before heading out the next morning for a reversed route back to Indianapolis.

The plan is to meet up with the C-23 units from Rhode Island and Pennsylvania early next week in New Jersey.