Feeling KRABby, thinking ahead ...

Kirkuk Regional Air Base, or KRAB, has to be one of the worst names for an installation ever. "Where ya headed?" "Oh, I've got KRAB." Or for the more insulting, K-RAB (rhymes with Ahab, as in the captain) and is used by the same type of folks who call our "A-Rab" hosts "Ragheads." Ah, tolerance, understanding and partnership. Then again, I was stationed at Seymour Johnson ...

Kirkuk is home to one of the places where Americans are training Iraqi pilots so *their* air force can protect *their* airspace and we can get the heck outta Dodge. We covered this mission at Camp Taji (thesergeantsbuzz.blogspot.com/2009/07/so-this-is-what-iraq-is-like.html) except with helicopters. Here they're flying Cessnas for intel gathering and some other stuff. Some people fly Cessnas for fun or even in races. In high school, my orthodontist took me up in his Cessna. Wonder if he knows he could be a pilot with the Iraqi air force if that making six figures a year in Southern California doesn't pan out ...

On the whole, Kirkuk is pretty nice. It's one of the places where we'll be drawing down troops sooner rather than later. Progress! It's a lot like Taji in that the mission and attitude is focued on getting Iraqi training programs up and running so we can leave and not come back. People here aren't burned out and bitter like in Baghdad. We aren't shelled daily like in Balad AKA "Mortar-itaville." Where's the salt ...

It's still really nice to have a break from the rigors of deployment, however, and we had a great visit from the USO this week. They brought a bunch of cartoonists on a tour through the Middle East and stopped by here. They were all really nice and went out of their way to talk to Airmen and Soldiers stationed here. It ended up being a fantastic experience for me for a few reasons. One, I got a really good story out of it (www.kirkuk.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123173934). Two, Rick Kirkman, who draws "Baby Blues" did some drawings for the family - Hammie with a lightsaber for Zachary and Hammie holding Yoshi for Edward; Darryl and Wanda for me and Jennifer ...

But I've also decided on what I'd like to do once I get out of the Air Force. I've long been a fan of the USO and what they do to support military members and their families. And on these tours, they bring photographers and entertainment directors to make sure everything is taken care of for the celebrities who come out to help us forget, if only for a little while, that we're in a war zone. So I think I want to be one of those guys. Working for the USO would have its own rewards and I'd still be doing the writing, photography, media and community relations kinds of things I enjoy in the Air Force. Of course, that's not for another 12 years or so. But it's nice to have an idea of what I want to do once I get promoted to the rank of civilian ...

Back in black ...

If someone attempts to stab me with a pen, but I succeessfully deflect it, would that be ... a writer's block ...

Sigh. I know. Who still writes with pens? But I've been finding it increasingly difficult to write over the last couple of weeks. I think it's been a mixture of the doldrums of being deployed, dealing with issues back home and whatever other excuse I might be able to come up with. Fortunately, a change of scenery has helped. Right now we're in a country I'd never visited before, covering missions I've never written about. But there's always gotta be something that goes wrong. I think it's a law or something ...

After working through some of the initial job-related difficulties (we're not exactly seeing eye-to-eye with the local public affairs office and we're not allowed to drive ourselves anywhere) we were able to meet up with the flying squadrons here "at a location somewhere in Southwest Asia." The other guys on the team have been able to get flights on the refuelers here, but I've spent my time hanging out with the guys who fly U-2s and Global Hawks. They've been really helpful and even let me go with them in the chase car a couple of times as U-2s would launch or land. In fact, here's the intro to my story about the U-2 mission ...

With or Without You knowing, Airmen are on The Fly at the highest Elevation over areas Where the Streets Have no Name as pilots take great Pride in their Desire to fight Vertigo or become Numb and keep One Beautiful Day from turning Bad, because Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own and rather than troops having to Walk On or Running to Stand Still, these aviators Stay for A Sort Of Homecoming, because although Some Days are Better than Others it’s still better than a Sunday Bloody Sunday. Zooropa.

Okay, not really. But it's what I *wanted* to write. Instead I wrote about a captain flying his first mission out here and another story about why the reconnaissance squadron is important. I even was able to borrow a camera to take some pictures, which was nice since mine is still broken. I loathe only being able to do one aspect of my job. That's my biggest complaint about my time out here. Except for like, the being away from my family and in a war zone part ...

There are two things going on with my time at this base though:

1) I'm excited to write again

2) I'm reminded of why I enjoy being in the Air Force

I'm pretty happy with the two stories I've written here so far and have plans for a couple more. So it's nice to be out of that funk. But also it's been great working with the people here. The folks at the 99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron have outright said "Hey, you're part of the squadron while you're here," and they've bent over backward to help me. The majority of the people in the Air Force really make this more than just a job and something I like being a part of. That and getting to tear down an open runway in a sports car at 90 miles an hour is just awesome ...

So between having cool things to write about and working with people who make my job worthwhile, I feel like I've got my groove back. The trip to this base has been pretty good for the most part - decent Internet, good mission, a room with a bed, not getting shot at. Not sure where we're headed next, but wherever it is, I'm looking forward to it. My only hope is that I'll be looking forward to it through the viewfinder of my camera and not one I have to borrow ...

Weekend at Donley's ...

I spent the weekend following around the Secretary of the Air Force, Michael Donley, as he traveled around to several bases and visited with Airmen. It's cool because I did the same sort of thing last time I was deployed with Michael Wynne, the SecAF at the time. We went to like eight different bases and he spoke to hundreds of people. Everyone and their brother wanted a picture with him (okay, I did too ...) so my job was to said pictures. Which was a fantastic opportunity. Until my camera broke ...

Right before I'm supposed to get on the plane, the shutter and autofocus go out on me. So there I am trying to make the thing work and for the life of me can't figure it out. The shutter speed adjuster won't go past 250, won't autofocus and I have to double tap the button to take a picture. Can not for the life of me figure out what happened. So I had to beg, borrow and steal cameras from other public affairs offices, which were very helpful and generous, to do my job. But there were still times when I had to use my D3. So I had to manuall adjust for lighting, speed, focus and hit the button twice every time. Or as my fellow picture takers call it, photography ...

For now I'm just trying to get ready for my next trip out. I've got almost 3,000 pictures to go through because everyone wants their photo, which is understandable. I mean, even Yoshi was demanding I get his photo out ...

Actually the Secretary was pretty cool about it. But the best was while I was headed to Jalalabad (side note: it's my second time to Jalalabad and I wrote about it last time while I was there; mostly about how fun it is to say: Ja-la-la-bad). So there I am on the C-130 (ugh) headed out to J-bad and I take a photo of Yoshi in a seat. The wing commander from Bagram Airfield, Brigadier General Steven Kwast, asks me about my dinosaur companion and I give him the quick version of the story - our youngest son loves Yoshi, I'm taking pictures of Yoshi's adventures around the Middle East. So he says to me, "Hey, you should take a picture of him with the three-star!" So yeah, Lieutenant General Gilmary Hostage (my new big boss out here) took a photo with Yoshi ...

Back on the homefront, I've been trying to work with Jennifer on getting the boys on track with their schooling as well as maintaining our own relationship. I'm still very much learning how to be a husband and father and it's difficult to do this from afar. Sending home videos, emails and pictures of Yoshi help. But next year, when she's deployed and *I'm* the one at home scares the heck out of me. I mean, I can barely feed myself, how am I going to take care of them?! But one issue at a time, right? My biggest challenge has been staying focused on my job because I'm so concerned about what's going on at home. But then again, I've had focus issues all week. Stupid camera ...

Past, Present and Future ...

A couple of days back from Afghanistan and I'm leaving right out again. That's how these things go: "downtime" is spent getting ready to leave. Had a few days to recover from the solid days of work at Bagram. Unpacked, did laundry, repacked. Made some decisions, made some obserations, made time to catch up with an old friend. Also had some wine ...

After much deliberation, consternation, contemplation and acceptification, we've decided the best thing for our family is if I reenlist for another four years in the Air Force. The increasing number of deployments is daunting, but the bottom line is I still enjoy what I do in Air Force Public Affairs and that was always the agreement I made with myself. Only it's not just my self I have to worry about anymore. As part of my reenlistment, I'll be eligible to sign up for the new G.I Bill benefit that allows me to transfer the money for college to a wife or child. Basically it's how we're going to send at least one of the kids to school. I figure it's the best gift we can give them for putting up with the months they spend without us. Although if you ask Zachary or Edward, I'm sure it would be a video game. Most of the time I would agree ...

Had a disagreement with my team, however, on how best to perform our mission. There are still some major differences between the way Combat Camera and Public Affairs operate. But despite some growing pains, I think we're slowly starting to understand each other a little better. More than that though, I've done a little soul searching about deployments in general. Or at least the ones I've been on. I do a lot of grousing and griping while I'm deployed. And I always go home with a lot of memories and stories. However, I really need to cut back on sentences that start "Back when I was here last ..." or "When I was deployed to ..." Ugh. I'm becoming THAT guy ...

So my goal is to try and find some perspective that next year I will more than likely look back at my time here as a fulfilling experience, despite any temporary personality conflicts. Because back when I was here last and when I was deployed to Afghanistan, that's how I ultimately came to consider those experiences. Oops, I did it again ...

While deployed, every emotional response amplifies because of physical distance, time difference, connection issues, etc. Every small misunderstanding becomes something so much worse. Jennifer and I have already worked through our fair share of what would be normal relationship difficulties, but they've been worse and more difficult to find resolution to because of our being separated by so much. It's absolutlely our faith in each other and our family that is getting us through those days. And when it isn't relying on each other, it's relying on our friends. Especially when they buy you a drink ...

I ran into my old pal, Rick Wagner, here yesterday. Rick joined the Air Force a couple years after I did. We used to hang out when we lived in Humboldt County, California. We had a lot of the same hobbies and our dads were both in the Coast Guard, so I've always liked Rick. And now here we are in Southwest Asia. A small world it is. Unless you're Yoda ...