16 May 2009 Update

What is it like being in a war zone? Well that is just one of the questions I get asked in the myriad of e-mails I receive from co-workers and friends. How does one actually describe what it is like to be in a war zone? Over the next few blogs I will strive to give you a brief look into what I think or feel on a daily basis. So, here is a brief attempt to describe what goes on.

To start this small series I just wanted you to know that aircraft are a part of our daily lives and one doesn't get use to the noise they make; 24 hours a day we hear helicopters coming and going. The thump thump thump of their rotors is quite distinct and often wakes me up regardless of what time it is. Knowing that the helicopters are usually full of soldiers or their equipment or maybe they are the escort helicopter Gun Ships used to accompany the larger troop haulers is often a bit overwhelming. I'm reminded of every war movie I've ever watched in which helicopters were used for all kinds of purposes. Occasionally as the thump thump thump starts to die down one can hear sirens from base ambulances as they race out to the helicopters which, is then an obvious indication that the incoming was carrying and offloading injured. I never would have dreamed that I would awake every time the thump thump thump occurs.

If it's not helicopters making the constant noise then it's the roar of jet engines as planes come and go with either equipment, supplies and of course troops. One can tell rather quickly if the aircraft is heading off on a fighter mission as the roar is quite a bit different than cargo or troop planes. There is also the interesting sound of the smaller unmanned aircraft which are now out doing a lot of the work. They have their own unique sound and fly all the time....All of these aircraft fly continuous missions and perform well but sometimes bad things happen even to the good guy's toys. The other day we all heard a loud explosion with a soon to follow smoke cloud visible base wide. It turns out that as one of the fighter aircraft was about to land the incoming plane just flipped and did a nose dive. The pilot was lucky and ejected with minor injuries yet as you may have guessed the fighter was totaled. By the way, you can read about this accident as it was only a few days ago and hit all the news channels and or papers. None of us knew what had actually happened until hours later. The whole runway was shut down for a while as they had to clean up the debris which included several live ordinances. Yep, being in a war zone is one noisy place due to the constant music of the various aircraft. More to come later as I describe some of the other types of noises we hear.....

I love you all and hope all of you are well, Lincoln.