Doing the Waltz (-1 for Spelling)

 Well Campers, it certainly has been an interesting few weeks lately, hasn't it.  Well, if you find terrifying as a synonym for interesting.  But one specific incident did bring an interesting story out of the memory locker.

This story begins Mid-July 1990.  I'd received orders to report to Fort Leavenworth KS from the best assignment of my USAF career (AKA Flying the F-15 as you probably realized from numerous other posts on the subject).  Don't quote me on the numbers, I mean it was 30+ years ago, but I think there were about 15 USAF officers in the class of several hundred Army folks.  Yes, there were a handful each of Navy and Marine officers there also.  Our job was just to answer questions and explain why the command and control of operations was the way it was.

In any case, we reported in earlier than the Army folks did because we had to get through Army Kindergarten.  (Learning Army Terminology, Command Structures,  Regulations, Strategies, Tactics etc.)

It was interesting.  Since virtually all the USAF folks were aviators, the only female USAF member was an AWACS back ender.  (She did a fantastic job of explaining why the AWACS was a battle enhancer.)

So, we've been there a couple of weeks, settling in, doing some study and then August rolls around.  Specifically, Aug 2.  We're in class, when one of the USAF Enlisted  busts into the classroom and informs the instructor to turn on CNN as Saddam (may he roast in Hell for all eternity) had just invaded Kuwait.

Dead silence as the TV came on.  Then several versions of "Holy Feces" were uttered.  Needless to say, the conversation started as to what we thought the US would do.  Because it was summer and most of the classmates had family with them and needed to get settled into housing, deal with movers etc, Class would let out at about lunch time and they'd go home to deal with that.  Couldn't do that once the formal schedule started.

In any case, as soon as class let out,  the pilots in the group went straight to the SRO's  (Senior Ranking Officer) office and asked to speak with him.  

We had all reached the same conclusion, this might be our only chance at war. The war we'd been training for our entire career so far.  We felt that doing what we'd learned how to do would serve us and the Air Force better than sitting in a classroom watching CNN.

The SRO was very sympathetic (he'd been a fighter pilot also), but the answer was "No".  He'd already been on the phone talking to the personnel higher ups (he was very wise, knew instantly what we would be doing when class let out).  The personnel wienies were adamant, "Stay until graduation, then we'll see where we assign you!"

Well...Feces!

Source (Read the source, I knew most of the pilot's mentioned by name in it.)

 

Now, was I nervous about going to war? No more than sitting 5 minute Air Defense alert at Osan AB ROK.  We would regularly get a No-Notice Practice scramble.  The klaxon would sound, we'd have no knowledge whether it was a practice scramble or a real one. We'd jump in the truck, race out to the jets, jump in, fire up, taxi out and blast off.  It wouldn't be until we were airborne and were given the code word for practice that things began to shake.  But, it was our DUTY.  If the other code word had been transmitted, the Master Arm would be armed and we would do what was needed.  That's what we were trained for, but it's also something I'm grateful it never was required.  Would I have done it, I certainly think so, might have trouble sleeping afterwards, but, again, it was our DUTY.

Now.  we've got a candidate for high elective office that retired before his unit was deployed to the Gulf. First, if he'd have had qualms, he should have resigned before the Klaxon went off, not when his troops were readying to deploy.  He didn't.  That's bad enough.

There is quite a bit of "he said, she said" going around about whether or not, in recent years, he's claimed that he went to war in Afghanistan.  He never went in-country, he supported it from Italy. but if he made the statement that he went to war in Afghanistan is confirmed...Well, we'll have to see what rolls out of all this, but that's a very damning charge for someone who wants to be Vice President.

Late to the fight, found this here:

As I said, "Pretty Damning".

John Blackstone got me to thinking about "my Eagle".  Here she is before getting all "Dolled Up" by NASA.

Source

 

Peace Out, y'all!