Formation Flying F-15 Style

So, There I was.....* Assistant Ops Officer of an F-15C Squadron at Kadena AB Japan.  It's a beautiful winter day just prior to Christmas.  The weather outside was a coolish 80 degrees, a few low clouds, winds down the runway at about 10 knots.  In short, a great day to commit aviation.  I've got a flight scheduled in a few hours and so am manning the duty desk until brief time. (Since I am the junior of the three people authorized to man the duty desk, I do that a lot.) Anyhow, I'm sitting there watching paint dry when in walks the Boss's Boss, the Wing King.  (Actually a great guy and leader, went on to three stars and even then was a credible threat in the Eagle).  I quickly call the Squadron to attention and as quickly get the "At Ease".  He's got a CMSgt in tow whom I don't recognize.  He introduces him to me and I promptly started calling him by his first name.  I guess his parents must have been Native Americans, why else would he be called "Chief"? Anyhow, Chief is in a flight suit which is somewhat unusual.  BDUs or Blues and I wouldn't have batted an eye, but flight suit, that was unusual.  He's got the PACAF chest patch that we all wore, but a PACAF HQ patch where a Squadron patch would be.  So, he's a headquarters wienie.  HMMMM.

I ask the Wing King what I can do for them.  He says he's would like to rearrange our next go (the one I'm leading) and instead of the 2 v 4 that was scheduled, he'd like it to be a 5 ship and an advanced handling ride.  My confusion factor is going up, we don't "do" 5 ships.  He says he's also talked to our maintenance to make sure one of the squadron's F-15D two-seaters is in that flight.  Obviously, Chief is going for a ride. Questions are running furiously through my mind, but "Yes, Sir".  He then says "Chief is the head of the PACAF HQ photographic detachment and would like to take pictures of Eagles in flight for a recruiting campaign".  AHHH!

"Do whatever he tells you. General McPeak has approved the mission."

The Wing King exits the building.

I take Chief into my office and start to ask him details of what he wants to do.  "Oh the usual stuff, formation, dropping flares, pitch outs, rejoins.  You know...The usual!"

 "Oh, and by the way, can we do an over the top?"

"Sure, after we get all your pictures, I'll do a loop."

"Not exactly what we were looking for, Major.  We would like pictures of the four ship going over the top."

"Hmm, never done that.  Shouldn't be hard, just never done it.  The General himself approved this mission?"

"Yes Sir, he approved the mission."

I get with the 4 ship lead and talk about how we're going to do all this.  Get it all worked out and brief the rest of the guys.

We launch and take the usual pictures and then get ready to do the loop. Over the top we go, just like the Thunderbirds.

Come back in and land and am in the Squadron when in walks the Wing King who asks how it went.  I tell him it went great and pictures of the loop should be spectacular.  He goes white as a sheet.  "What Loop?"  

A couple of months later, I get a package in the mail containing a couple of very high quality pictures and a thank you letter from Chief (USAF ret). He thanked me for giving him the best retirement present he could have gotten and advised me NOT to hang this picture in my office.

 

 Fortunately, our Wing Commander was a standup guy.  He started to hem and haw, but realized that he had approved whatever the Chief wanted.  I bought him a beer or two at the O club as penance.  He blessed me and sent me on my way.

 

AND retired with 3 stars.  A great guy and an outstanding fighter pilot.

 

Note the horizon on the top left of the picture. This may be the ONLY picture of 4 Eagles in this attitude ever taken.  I'm positive  that the retired Lt Gen has a copy as well as a retired CMSgt, and a Lt Colonel (retired) AKA me.  How else would I have been able to publish the photograph above?  I look at it everyday.

Peace out y'all! 

C’est fini et... autres mises à jour*

 So...juvat, what's with the Frogese in the title?

Well, y'all know Sarge, he's always trying to add a little Haute culture to the Blog.  Besides, it gets Beans familiar with Google Translate in case he ever leaves the South and needs the  directions translated for him.  

But in any case, it's been an event filled week or so.  So...Let's get the weekly report started.

In the "Took 'ya long enough" Category, Mrs. J's Birthday, Christmas, Valentines Present is finally finished.  

What started off looking like this.

At a midway point, looked like this.

The "Donut" at the bottom is actually a rock with an indenture in the middle.  Wanted to use it for visual value.  But it was too thick to fit.  Bummer Dude!

Went through a couple of  "What if" points.

I thought the back lighting looked cool, but that was me holding a flashlight underneath.  Couldn't find string lighting that looked any where near as good.

So it ended up like this.

Yes, Beans, those are stir sticks epoxied to the floor when I spilled some while pouring.  I didn't want to accidentally step in it.

Now, just got to find some strong backed young folks to move it into Mrs. J's office.  That desk is heavy, just ask my back.  Cautiously moving it around the shop without banging it into something, was difficult to say the least.  The aforementioned young folks will also be needed to move an even heavier desk from Mrs. J's office over to my Sister's place.  Then C'est Fini!

But...Mrs. J loves it.  And that's good enough for me!

On the next higher level of importance in this stage of my life, Miss B is continuing to make progress.  Mrs. J and LJW are doing the Baton Pass on feeding and "other necessities" required by infants.  Miss B is progressing with food quantity consumed and thus weight gain.  The latter being a key indicator of preemie progress.

A Nap....What I would give for a Nap! An older picture, but...

 

Unfortunately, during a recent checkup with the Pulmonary Team at the Hospital in San Antonio, they happened to mention (for the first time and after several meetings...Thanks!) that Preemies on O2 typically do not get weened from it until they turn two.  That caused quite a bit of anguish with the non-medical people in the room.  See...Little J is in Honk Honk and will be there for another couple of years.  The US Consulate there will not allow anyone on O2 to live there as a child of a staff member unless approved by a medical review board. That approval doesn't generally happen since a medevac back to the States, if needed, would be very expensive.     Miss B is 7 months actual age (4 months adjusted age, it's a preemie thing and I'm not sure I understand what the difference in significance is) and therefore, if still on O2, won't be able to rejoin with her Dad for another year and a half.

Suffice it to say, the family is looking into a second medical opinion and "other" State Dept options.  

Other than that bit of bureaucratic set back, Miss B is smiling and goo-gooing and pretty much everything else a pre-crawling baby does for a living.  She even managed to roll over onto her tummy last week.  I'm not a pediatrician, nor have I played one on TV, but I've been told that's a very big progress check point.  

You GO, Girl!

She has an amazing capability to spit the Nook a considerable distance.  Hence, my finger is resting gently on it to prevent bending at the waist and picking it up for the umpteenth time.

 

And, finally to end on a high note!

Wednesday, Mrs J and I are sitting in the living room watching something on the Boob Tube, wholly uninterested, but occupied.

Mrs J's phone rings and it's a video call from MBD and SIL.  The usual greetings and "howya doin's"  are exchanged and there's a brief pause. Then MBD drops a bombshell. (No, you eavesdropping Fed jerks, not THAT Kind! MYOB!)

MBD is pregnant with Grandchild #3, due first week in November!  No gender determination yet, but we're thrilled.

So...That's how my week has been.  Hopefully your high's have been at least that level and your low's...well, maybe not quite so bad.  The Big Guy has a plan, I just haven't figured it out yet.

That's the way it is, straight from the Horse's Mouth!

 

Merlot sends her best wishes!

Peace out, y'all!

*It's finished and... more updates

Thoughts... wandering aimlessly... through the brain!

 So...If there ever was a sign from the Almighty....

God intervened in Fetterman “Speech”!

Right after has says “President that is sedition free”. Watch what happens. pic.twitter.com/RAAAnxEzKY

— RedpillsTV | Josh Reid (@redpilltheworld) November 5, 2022

 

Thank You, Lord!  I think tomorrow is going to be a good day!

If not, well...It's gonna be bad for quite a while to come.

Yes, Sarge, I'm not feeling well.  Not sure what the issue is, but tummy has not been being kind to me for about a week.  Since I'm not running a fever or any other symptoms, pretty sure it's not You Know What.  However, it is bad enough that Mrs. J and I have held off visiting our youngest granddaughter in the NICU.  Just in case it's something which would be VERY bad for a Preemie to encounter.  

She's spent enough time in the Hospital to qualify for Doctor's Scrubs.

She's doing quite well, however.  5.9+ lbs and appetite is growing.  The last time we visited late week before last, the formula in the tube was going down faster than a chug-a-lug beer contest on initiation night at Sarge's college Frat.

So...She's got that going for her.

All that having been said, we did get a bit of bad news from Little J's US government embassy staff.  He had to send a hospital report of MG's medical condition to them about a month ago.  It described the issues she was having with her birth at 27 weeks, 8" and 1.2 Lbs.  Bureaucracies being bureaucracies, the committee in Hong Kong that makes the decision on authorizing her arrival, disapproved it.

Granted, there were several concerns with her state at the time of the report (about a 6-8 weeks after her birth).  However, her actual (current as well as condition at the time the report was sent) situation has improved since then and is still rapidly improving, to the tune of expectations of release sometime in the next few weeks.  But...Gummint being Gummint, they won't allow her entry with out a "Review" board.  Which will have to be scheduled sometime in the future, blah, blah, F'ing blah!

Depending on their "final" decision, Little J's decision matrix becomes quite complex vis a vis, a State Dept career.  Suffice it to say, this conundrum is #1 on our Prayer List, with #'s 2-20 blank, before resumption of other life changing requests. A pox on all Gummint Bureau-rats.

To change subjects (Yes...Please juvat!), we went to a local BBQ joint recently, here in town.  I'd heard lots of good reports about it, mostly that it wasn't like every other BBQ joint in Texas.  Seems the Pit Mistress is from Korea, married a USAF Master Sergeant (no...it wasn't our Sarge) and retired in the 'Burg.  Started a BBQ pit and put just a bit of "homeland" into Texas BBQ.  My Goodness it was tasty!

Had the Ribs with Gochujang flavored BBQ sauce.  They were fabulous!  Gonna add them to my "BBQ currency" list.  Not Money, Beans! Time between visits!

On the Rancho Juvat side of things, Christmas Present projects have resumed after a rather prolonged supply chain issue.  Seems one of the key ingredients needed for the projects was having transportation issues.  Ordered it from the supplier twice over the space of about 6 weeks.  Both times the status on the order was "Awaiting Transportation" then later "Cancelled".  

HMMMM!!!

Looks like the party in power is doing a fine job keeping the economy going.  "Diesel Fuel?  We ain't got no steenkin Diesel Fuel.  We do have wind power however, just attach a windmill to the top of the truck.  That'll work!"

Finally, went to Lowe's to see if they had this product, found a very helpful person in the area I needed (projects are still TS, can't provide any hints) and found exactly what I needed.  Just lost about 6 weeks of construction time.  Gonna be close!

Yeah...I'm in a very pissy mood.  Hope tomorrow's election goes well, that will do an awful lot towards improvement of a lot of contributing factors to my mood.

If you haven't voted yet, VOTE!  or we can't be friends.

If you need another good reason.  

 

Saw this recently on the bumper of the vehicle owned by one of the employees of the cleaning service for our guest houses.  The Flag was presented to her at her husband's funeral.  As they say "Freedom isn't Free!" and it ain't money that is the usual cost.

Peace y'all. God Bless America!

Hoop Jumping 101

 Well, Campers....It's been an "eventful" (eventful being a Swahili word for stressful) couple of weeks as we (AKA Mrs. J) went through the final preparations for our Mediterranean Cruise scheduled for sailing on 15 Sep.  

Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas (AKA Our Ship)
Source

A complicating factor in that plan is that we sail from Barcelona, Spain.

Oh, boohoo, juvat.  Sailing from Barcelona, one should be so lucky.

You're absolutely right, Sarge, However, the feckless (substitute any curse word you feel appropriate for feckless) bureaucrats have gone way beyond their normal abilities to screw things up.  Now it appears they have superhuman abilities to do so.

No, Beans, this is a family friendly blog.  The word you're thinking of doesn't pass that goal post.  It's true, just not family friendly.

You see, because of the Black Plague that descended on us this past year or so, one must be fully vaccinated against it or have had a test to ensure you're not currently suffering from it.  

As far as that goes, no big deal.  Having the Black Plague and boarding a relatively closed in, crowded cruise ship could be detrimental to the well being of the passengers, many of whom are, well....Let's just say they make Old Air Force Sarge, look like a young'un. 

Anyhow, as always when dealing with feckless bureaucrats, the devil is in the details.  MBD, SIL and MG are traveling with us.  MG is too young for vaccination, MBD and SIL, being more socially active (e.g. having more people to interact with) than Mrs. J and I living on Rancho Juvat , had come into contact with someone who had contracted the Black Plague . We thought the booster requirement had to be taken more than 14 days prior to embarkation and that would not have been enough time elapsed for them to get the booster administered.  Leaving them with the only option being a negative test requirement in order to board.  

On the Mrs. J and my side of the issue, we tried to get the booster, but there was none to be had in our local area. So, we were left with the "negative PCR test" as our requirement to board. Oh, and a "home" test kit, doesn't count. It's got to be administered by someone (e.g. $$)

But, the feckless bureaucrats had to have their finger in that pie also, even more so.  The test had to be administered within 72 hours of boarding.  Now Barcelona is 7 hours ahead of us and we board at 1300L on Sep 15.  Which means we can take the test any time after 0430L our time on 12th. 

No problemo, right?

So we start making the rounds on Friday finding out who's got enough test kits for us to take the test.  HEB doesn't have any. Nor does our Doctor's office.  Urgent Care does, but. this isn't urgent.  Walgreens does and as we're talking to them about making an appointment for the 12th, we happened to ask this question.

"When will we receive the results?"

"Oh, it'll take 2-3 days before we send them to you."

Our travel plans are to fly out of Austin the evening of the 13th, arrive in Barcelona on the 14th, use that extra time for insurance if something goes wrong with travel or, do a little sightseeing.  

So...Suffice it to say,  many unkind thoughts were flowing through my brain on the way home.  Once I get my blood pressure somewhat back to normal, I ask Mrs. J what the plan is.  She being the Travel Agent.

"I don't know."  didn't help, much.  I thought, well if we cancel. at least I'll have some time to spend in my workshop.

We get back home, I disappear into my workshop and began turning fine hardwood into sawdust because not much else is relaxing to me. Meanwhile, Mrs. J retires to her office.  A while later, she comes out and asks me to log into my email and read a document she'd found from Royal Caribbean about their policies vis-a-vis, the Black Plague.

For those interested, that document can be found here under vaccination guidance.  However, here is the money paragraph.

To be considered up to date by all European countries we sail to, your vaccination must meet both of the following requirements.

You received your final dose in your original vaccine series (or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson) no more than 9 months (270 days) ago, or a booster dose. Guests that have received a booster dose will qualify regardless of the amount of time that has passed since receiving their booster. Children who have received one dose (unless Johnson & Johnson) do not count as fully vaccinated.

         Your most recent vaccine dose is on this list of EMA-approved vaccines:

            Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Nuvaxovid

So, Mrs. J, being the intrepid Travel Agent (and a firm believer in the Galaxy Quest Motto) she is, went searching for places that might have one of those vaccines in stock.  

We finally found one in Boerne, Texas about 40 miles from Rancho J.  Boerne, used to be a small town like ours, but is now part of San Antonio for all intents and purposes.  Never the less, we went online and made an appointment.  Because of the encroachment of San Antonio, road construction in the vicinity is hideous.  The Walgreen's appointment info said arrive 15 minutes early, if you're late, your appointment is cancelled.  

Well, crap, we're running out of options here.  As we depart Rancho Juvat, Mrs. J calls MBD and relays the new info to her. MBD acknowledges the plan and begins execution thereof. I enter I-10 just under Mach 1 (Ok, the speed limit is 75, I might have been slightly over, but not TOO much) and we made the appointment with 5 minutes to spare.  

Then spent about 30 minutes getting paperwork up to speed.

Finally, the friendly pharmacist gives us both the jab and we're good to go.  As was MBD and SIL.

Blood pressure is down somewhat.  Further BP lowering events will be boarding the aircraft, clearing customs in Spain, and boarding the ship.  More to follow.

Oh yeah and most important, way to go, Mrs. J!  I hear they're casting for a Captain in Galaxy Quest 2.  You're a shoe-in!

Peace out y'all.  Don't let the bastiges get ya' down.