The Mission First: November 2010

African Tour

As a military acronym refresher, when units change out on deployments, a RIP/TOA is performed, which translates as a "Relief In Place / Transfer Of Authority". The plan was to go on what New Jersey called an "Around The World" flight to show us as many country airports as possible...our unit referred to it as the "Farewell Tour" which ended up being a 7-day trip to Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda...New Jersey had it right---the only way to learn, was to experience the unique procedures in each country.

Our first stop was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It only took the drive from the airport to realize there is no possible way I could ever accurately describe the sites and sounds of Africa...the beauty, the poverty, the color, the languages, the culture, the food...everything is different, but somehow we were able to get where we wanted to go. This picture was taken on the way to the hotel;

If nothing else on this tour, we will all learn patience...everything happens in Africa Time...Slow. We left Ethiopia and made several stops in Kenya. Baby, this is where I purchased your initial items of African jewelry...from a tiny girl in the city of Tanga...she had a small gift shop on the airport property...only later did I realize, it would be cool if you could see the people I purchased from, so in the future I'll do better;

Due to sensory overload, I did not take many pictures on this trip. But one place that was truly amazing was a wood carving shop in Uganda. The workmanship was incredible and it was all done by hand. Hopefully these pictures will give you an idea of the quality;

First Flight In Africa

A strange coincidence, but my first flight on deployments seem to fall on major holidays...Iraq was Christmas Day...Africa is Thanksgiving Day...as the saying goes, it all pays the same.

This time, my first flight was with the Commander of the New Jersey unit, which is the C-12 Detachment we are replacing. Due to time constraints, it was a multi-purpose flight...the first portion was an aircraft qualification and Local Area Orientation for me, followed by a Standardization Evaluation for him. If somebody ever wants to know how it is possible to give yourself a self-induced, total electrical failure on the takeoff roll, I may have some insight on how that could happen (aviation has a way of keeping you humble). Here is my other office;

The scenery around Djibouti was much different than anticipated...a flat, barren, Sahara Desert landscape similar to central/southern Iraq was expected...the country of Djibouti actually has many elevation changes once you depart the coastal area surrounding the city of Djibouti. Here is a picture of an island in the Gulf of Tadjoura;

Flying west up the Gulf Of Tadjoura leads into Lake Asal, which is a crater lake in central Djibouti. It lies 155 m (509 ft) below sea level and its shores comprise the lowest point on land in Africa, and the second lowest land depression on Earth, after the Dead Sea. Lake Assal is considered the most saline body of water on earth outside Antarctica, with 34.8 percent salt concentration. Notice the white salt deposits along the shoreline.

As previously mentioned, Lake Asal is below sea level...the colored display in the the next picture is the Attitude Indicator...the instrument to the right is the altimeter...a flight below sea level (Negative Altimeter)...there is a first time for everything.

The Office

When it comes to housing and office space on Camp Lemonnier...just think of the Containerized Living Unit---CLU (pronounced like the board game Clue) and used as a noun. For example, "I'm heading to my CLU", is translated as I'm going to my room.

To confuse matters, troops that have spent time in Iraq, mistakenly say "CHU" (pronounced like chew), which is a Containerized Housing Unit...exactly the same thing...a shipping container. Rumor has it, some senior officer received credit on thier OER (military evaluation) for renaming a CHU to a CLU.

Here are a couple pictures of the C-12 Office CLU....our home base, where all missions are coordinated.

The Flight Over

International travel, the military way, is not glamorous...just an exercise in endurance and patience---although the Omni Air folks were great. To give you an idea, arrive at the Norfolk passenger terminal at 11PM for a 3-hour check-in...board the plane for a 7-hour fight to Rota, Spain...where you are restricted to the terminal for a 1.5 hour fuel stop.

Reboard for a 3-hour flight to Sigonella, Italy...restricted to terminal for 1.5 hour crew change...followed by 4-hour flight to Bahrain with another 4-hour delay in the pax terminal.

Finally...a 2.5 hour flight to Djibouti...9 Time Zones later...board the bus to attend In-Processing Briefings...then draw linen, haul bags to the CLU (Containerized Living Unit) and fall over.

After being awake for over 30-hours (in Bahrain)...the day finally arrived...I had to put on my new reading glasses to see...No Laughing Girls!

Camp Lemonnier

Our new base camp...Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti

Camp Lemonnier is the location from which US forces are operating from in the Horn of Africa. It is the only U.S. military base located in Africa; this forward deployed location allows CJTF-HOA to pursue its mission of building security and stability in the region.

Next Mission - Africa

After receiving three changes to our deployment since December, the fourth notification was a "GO"…Africa bound for 11 months. The U.S. Military has 10 Unified Combatant Commands; six regional and four functional. Our mission will be to provide airlift capability for United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), in support of humanitarian and counter-terrorism efforts.

There are just 7 personnel on this rotation, 5 warrant officer pilots and 2 enlisted. We expect another pilot to arrive near the end of December. We have already spent 5 days at Fort Benning, Georgia completing medical, administrative and training tasks.

On November 19^th, the unit departed TN for Norfolk NAS in Virginia. The long flight to Africa will be initiated from Norfolk. I used some downtime to walk the Norfolk shipyard, where aircraft carriers are based. The U.S. has a total of 11 aircraft carriers and two happened to be in port.

USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77)

USS Enterprise (CVN 65)

The unit was able to briefly return home after Ft. Benning and visit with family. I used that time to spend with my beautiful girls…who talked me into a family portrait…here is a preview of our Christmas card.