Trying to fall asleep

I got to talk to Marie and the kids tonight and that helped a ton. This was a hard day for me, Scott was a good friend, he was about my age and had me thinking about how fragile life is all day. I can only imagine how hard it will be on his family, he was going home in less than a month. Scott was going to law school and had the rest of his life ahead of him, he will be missed by many. I am trying to stay up beat and motivated and at the same time trying to arrange for as many folks from my Task Force to b able to go to his service Tuesday. I am not looking forward to it at all, but I will go and celebrate Scott's life with the rest of his friends and remember him for all he has done for Army aviation. Rest In Peace Scott you will never be forgotten....

Another bad day

Well as most of you can tell we have lost another Soldier, His name was Curtis but we all called him Scott, or Skinny. Scott was a great guy he was a CW5 and had the respect of all that served with him. I will miss him he was a good friend. Scott was leaving here in less than a month, he was retiring and he was going back to school. He was accepted into law school and really wanted to be a Congressman. Scott was a great guy, he was always in the know on so many things, he always had the skinny on the best place to go for lunch or the best place to RON (remain over night) during a trip pretty much always had the angle on everything. This Tuesday I will be going back to Kandahar for his Memorial service and I cant even imagine how hard it will be. They have all been hard but this one is for Skinny, my friend, a fellow Apache pilot, a guy my age that I knew so well it makes it all so real. This place is really starting to wear on me, I need to get on tonight with the kids and try to decompress a bit. I pray to God that I never have to hear that trumpet player play TAPS ever again, I am ready to go home to my family.

His name was Curtis Reagan

Curtis was a great ME ( maintenance examiner) I flew with him only a few times as our career paths didn't really pass that often. Curtis was going home early to start law school, he rose to the rank of CW5 and had way over twenty years of service, It was his time to retire. His new hopes and dreams was to become a senator or congressman, and all that new Curtis knew that we would some day see his name on a ballot. Curtis who was also known as Skinny for reasons that were somewhat confusing use to be this skinny little CW2 early in his career. Later in life like most of us that live well put on a few pounds so when his old friends would call him Skinny others would look at him like what the heck are you guys talking about. I use to call him Curtis only when I was mad at him he went by his middle name Scott for the most part. So when I would walk up and call him Curtis he would be like now what did I do Rob. Last night Scott left us he will be missed by many but Scott you will never be forgotten, rest in peace my Apache Brother, we have the fight...

Wow

Well like I said I would be back and here I am, the rotor noise is crazy outside tonight it sounds like there are twenty five choppers out there. I am not flying again till this Sunday, Easter, lucky me. I am hoping to get to talk to Robby and the girls later tonight its about 1030 Pm here I still have a few hours till I will have the chance to talk with any of them. Like I said earlier I took my PT test this morning with a bunch of kids and boy was it sad. At 47 you would think that I would be the last one across the finish line on a two mile run especially with kids half my age but how times have change. I hope to be able to continue to lose some weight over here and continue to keep running and working out. I have lost about ten pounds mostly because everywhere we go we walk, it takes eight minutes to get to the flight line. I took my camera to the flight line to take some pictures of these 18 to 25 kids who do everything on this FOB from guard to work on the aircraft. And they are all positive and happy to be here doing whatever it is that they have been trained to do. I find it refreshing to say the least that they get it, they have a sense of pride that many will never have or see and these kids get it. It’sall about something more than yourself, to be a part of something for the better good. Wow now I am sounding like a nut job so I will move on, on another topic I just took an ambian so I won’t have much time left, but I am not on the flight schedule tomorrow so I figured it would be ok. Sometimes it takes acouple of hours and sometimes its quick and this one seems to be working pretty quickly. Oh no, I just heard the guys talking about having to deliver a redcross message to someone tonight. And it doesn’t get to crazy to night, if it does we will have to come together to make sure this person is ok. as for the kids this week end I sure wish I could talk to all of them. Well I wish my life was more exciting at sometimes and that we were doing more here as a Taskforce. We have not officially killed anyone from our FOB and for that I am happy, we are doing the right thing to get this job done with little to no bloodshed. Wow the meds are starting to work what I can say I need to get this posted as soon as I can before it is to late. Marie, you are my best friend and I love with all my heart.....I had to come back to this post and make some changes. I am not sure if it was the drugs or if it was me falling asleep in the middle of posting, night all

No Internet

Well the Internet is out and so is our power for that matter. This was my third night that I was suppose to fly and once again I never got off the ground. Tomorrow morning at ten I have to take a PT test oh buy I can't wait, nothing like running two miles at six thousand feet. I have been running though so I should be ok I am about two and a half minutes under my time. Not that I am doing great it's just that I am an old man compared to most of these kids here and I get like twenty minutes to run two miles. Don't be a hater Rob when you are 47 you can have nineteen minutes and thirty seconds to run two miles too. Well like I said I am three for three not flying, tonight I spent three and a half hours doing table talk with Aaron Schaefer who will be our next Pilot in command (PIC) he is ready and his oral knowledge is right where it should be. I just need to get him into the aircraft and let him impress me with his conservative flying skills. We are all about tired of the weather and I know that I will be ready to get caught up on my training flights as well. Yesterday the Boss and I were going to go to TK for a change of command, one of our sister FOBs Apache company Commanders was relieved for not taking care of his company and we had to send them Craig Kuphole which really hurt because he was doing a great job in our FUOPS ( future operations) cell. But I guess if it didn't hurt we probably weren't sending the right guy, Craig will be a great Company Commander I am sure of it.

Shirley, I got you package and your clone video was awesome I watched it twice. Your cookies are awesome and my Easter notes from my kids made my day. However your second video was a blank DVD, so please burn that week again please. It was Robby on spring break and a few other things that I got excited to see and when I put it in my computer asked me what I wanted to do with this blank DVD. It happens, your videos rock girl, especially your clone videos. Your art work was amazing too, but my favorite was your story. Your story and the comments that your teacher made, I would agree with her you are ahead of your time Shirley. Well I am going to save this and add to it tomorrow for sure, I love you guys....

Well it's Friday night I just got done eating and I am in my room for a needed break. It's my off day and this morning I took an actual PT test which I passed with flying colors. I will write more later I am sure but I need to get off here right now and get a few things done, till later, night all

Birds first flight in Afghanistan

Well first he sat on his perch while we preflighted the aircraft and then he just hoped in the front like he owned the thing and I told him that he had to ride in the back with me because that was where I sit and my gunner did not need him in the front. We went out for a four hour mission and I really don't think he was too impressed he just seemed bored. Then he got a little fidgety and kept bouncing around the back seat from on the front dash to sitting by the side window. All and all I think he had fun on his first flight in the Stan.

As for me I am trying to get things back to normal I am flying a little more as of late and that seems to make the time pass quicker and I am ok with that. The weather is starting to get a little warmer and I am not looking forward to how much warmer it will get here after all we do live near the desert and I have Ben told we can expect to se115 degrees this summer, oh buy can't wait. Got to FaceTime with the girls last night and Robby was there too and that was nice also Kerrie and Dana where at the house they are down for a visit. I am sure Marie was enjoying all the company they will be going done to Tampa to see Sue and Ralph too and then swinging by to pick Sam up to take her back to Bright for a visit and then she will be flying back to Savannah. I think Sam has been really good for the Senefelds and I think they have been good for her too. Sam is a great kid and I hope she feels at home, I appreciate her being there with Marie and the kids why I am over here I am sure it make it a little easier for Marie to have another grown up there to help with the daily routine.

I am flying the next three days tomorrow Dave Lewis and I are going to self start our new ATM (aircrew training manual) so that we can start training the rest of our Task Force pilots. Then the next day the Boss and I are flying to TK for a change of command and the day after that I will be giving Aaron Schafer his PIC eval. We are doing pretty good making some new PICs while we are here it will help once we get back to Savannah. Well it's almost time to try to call home I hope all are doing well and I will write more soon. Girls thanks again for sending me Bird I am sure he was missing me just sitting in the front of my car, night all

Took Bird to get some lunch

What can I say he gets angry if I don't include him in my day to day activities.

I tried

Well I am sure my loving family is out with their out of town guest and I am. Sure what ever they decided to do I would be jealous. I have been trying to FaceTime with them all night with no luck. I am sure I will catch up with them tomorrow or definitely Monday after the girls get off school. I spent all day today talking to my Task Force about our new ROE (rules of engagement ) our Brigade Commander made us take a safety stand down day today so we could reflect on the two CIVCAS engagements that we had. Monday the Boss and I are having lunch with the CG(Commanding General) he is flying in form Kandahar, no idea why the Boss has no idea either we can both be surprised, oh boy can't wait. Have I mentioned lately how much I still love my job, well as much as I hate being away from Marie and the kids I do still love what I am lucky enough to be able to do. I feel honored and blessed to be one of eleven Apache Attack Battalion SIPs ( standardization instructor pilots) it blows my mind every time I think about it like that. The entire Army only has eleven Attack Battalions and this one is mine, the kid from price hill who dropped out of school and struggled for over a decade was lucky enough to work his way up the ladder and take the most deployed Attack Battalion in the Army to combat and lead them from the front. I think this will be the high point in my career even if I am lucky enough to make W5 I don't think anything I do from this point on will be as rewarding as what I am doing right now. Being the SIP for the Vipers has truly been an amazing opportunity and I feel so fortunate blessed to be here doing a job that I truly love. But again, Marie, Robby, Shirley and last but not least Elli I miss you guys more than you will ever know and I thank you for the sacrifices that you continue to make for me and what I do. I am sorry for all the things that I have missed in your lives, and sacrifices that you guys have had to make to follow me around in this crazy career path that I have chosen. I love you guys so much, night all

Hard day

Well 0450 came a little to early for me that is for sure. The Boss and I flew to Kandahar for the memorial and it was another tough event to get through. I am pretty emotional to start with and these things really hit home and put me over the edge. Task Force Lighthorse did a great job, it was done with so much dignity and respect for his wishes. We all fill out a quick statement as to how we would like things to go if something were to happen to us while we are here. And the joker that he was in life was how he wanted folks to remember him if something happened. Needless to say his troop respected his wishes and it was a celebration of his life and how he did business. Not many dry eyes in the hanger, my good friend Mark who has flown with James many times on three separate combat tours got up and talked about James for ten minutes. I have no idea how he got through his speech they were best friends and I know how much he will miss him. Mark is a stronger man than I could be under the circumstances and he did such an awesome job letting everyone in that hanger get to know what a great guy James was and how much he will be missed. It's just rotten how some things work out sometimes but I know the ones we loose would want us to pick ourselves up and stay the course, we still have a job to do and they would want us to get it done. Some day we will all be out of this country and I wonder what impact this ten year war will really have on these people and this country. I know the effect it has had on me and I know that it changes people in many different ways. I would like to think that it has made me a better person in so many ways and that I have gained the friendships of some of the most amazing people that I will know for the rest of my life. The sacrifices that are made can not be measured by an means, they are so broad and they are made at so many levels. They are made at cost of innocent civilians loosing loved ones and they are made at the cost of Soldiers loved ones. I will never forget, and they will never be forgotten, these are some of the most powerful words to me now, I get it, and I will remember what I have done in this country and what I have had to do to make a difference. I will remember the Soldiers that I have served with and the ones who did not make it home and they will help me to always think about what is truly important in this world. And as for things that just don't matter, I must always try to put things into perspective, time with my Wife and kids out ways everything and I must always remember that. God willing I will be one of the lucky ones, I will leave this country and go home to my family and I will make every day special. Night all

Bird caught a mouse

He has been pretty angry these last few days, poor mouse. My art collection has grown and I love it, thanks girls. Well tomorrow me and the Boss are flying back to Kandahar for another memorial service and we are leaving at 0700 in the morning which means I need to get up around 0430. So I lay her in bed trying to get sleepy only to find that it's just not going to happen. My normal day is wake up at ten ten thirty and go to bed around two am or so. The or so has a broad range as well depends on the mission set and what is going on in the area. We are having a hard time over here, this tour has been so much harder than the last one and I have only been here three months. I can't even imagine how much more difficult it will get once the fighting season starts. Our BDE has lost two aircraft and we are responsible for two CIVCAS ( civilian casualty ) engagements. My heart goes out to those crews as well although they are not center stage right now with all that is going on with the two fallen angels that we have had in the last week, they still have my sympathy. Sometimes the aggressive ground force commanders that we support get a little excited with how kinetic their situation is and rightfully so I can only imagine how difficult it is for them on the ground in a fire fight. But as a gun pilot we must maintain our tactical patience and make sure that we do all we can to avoid a CIVCAS engagement. I have had to tell commanders on the ground that they must develop the situation better for me so that I have a clear picture as to where all friendlies are and where the enemy is located and that the enemy is clear from any friendlies or civilians. Where this becomes difficult is when the GFC ( ground force commander ) is pinned down and they can not see what is beyond the enemy that is shooting at them. As an AMC (air mission commander) I am responsible for all munitions that come off both aircraft in my AWT ( attack weapons team ) and as difficult as it is I must have the tactical patience to insure that munitions that come off either of the aircraft in my team will not harm any innocent Afghani. These people have been fighting there entire lives, they know how to use their surroundings to their advantage and how to use innocent people and children. I pray that I am never put into a situation where I have to make a decision that could put folks in harms way. And like I said I truly feel for my friends that have done so and will have to live with their actions for the rest of their lives. I will always do everything that I must do to protect the troops on the ground, that is my job and I am ok with that. But I too have a wife and family and I pray that I never have to jeopardize some one else's family for the sake of protecting my brothers on the ground. Well I need to try to get to bed tomorrow will be a long day, and once again I am not looking forward to it. I look forward to going home it can't come quick enough, I miss you guys, night all

Meet Bird

He will go with me everywhere, he is angry enough for the both of us, thanks girls for my new friends I will think of my girls every time I see him :-)

Some random pics on flight line

It's hard to stay focused, I am going back to Kandahar to pay my respects to another fallen Hero from the 3rd Infantry Division he was an instructor pilot who flew OH-58s and he will be missed by so many. As an instructor pilot we touch so many lives, we train every pilot that comes our way. We do our absolute best to make them better than they were when they got here. And in the process we have so many relationships with so many folks that you know everyone. The pictures I took are of Task Force Viper aircraft, aircraft that I am responsible for making sure the pilots are trained and ready to fight, that they are on their A game. I worry about all of them, many of our young pilots have never flown in the mountains before and as summer approaches the temperature will continue to increase and aircraft performance will continue to decrease. I know that is a hard thing to understand but right now we have more power than we need but come summer time we will be limited. We will have to do a lot of calculation to determine how much fuel we can take on and still have enough power to climb over the hesco walls that surround the FOBs. It's a fine line between having enough fuel to complete mission and having too much and not being able to take off safely. I will write more after I FaceTime with my girls, night all

Good Friend

Me and Bob Roebuck in Kandahar, Bob now works at the safety center at Ft Rucker and he came over to investigate the accident. I wish it were for better reasons but it was nice to see an old friend.

Second in a week

It's not been a good week, we had another aircraft crash and we lost another pilot. It was a OH-58D and it was not from my task force but it was from our BDE. It has a huge impact on how we do business we are all trying to stay positive but it's hard to sometimes. I have a lot of pilots in my task force that were close friends with the IP that died and that always makes it hard. He was a senior IP and he has touched a lot of lives in there community so we are going to try to get as many folks as we can to the ceremony up at Kandahar. The Boss and I will fly up in an Apache and we will bring two UH-60s with us to try to allow as many folks as possible attend the memorial service. I pray for his family I can't even imagine how hard it must be, the other pilot is still in critical condition and has all ready gone under several surgeries. Well it's after two am and I am falling asleep as I lay here typing this post. I did get to talk to Robby and Shirley tonight and that cheered me up quite a bit. It's hard to imagine how the folks in the other task force are feeling both aircraft that crashed are from the same task force and my heart goes out to all of those guys I hope they are able to get past this horrible tragedy and continue their mission. I will try to write more tomorrow, I am a little tired and a little sad I hope you all understand, night all

Afghanistan

Today started out ok but sometimes things just aren't what they seem. I will try to call home again to talk to the kids and then I will be going to bed it has been a long miserable day and I need to get some needed rest. It's is starting to heat up over here in more ways than one and we are all doing the best we can to adjust to the temperature but some things are just out of our control. I am on tomorrow to fly one of our new PLs (platoon leaders) to get him up RL1 so we can start using him on mission flights all I have to do is knock out his multi ship task and he will be ready to move on to mission flights. Well it's late I am at a loss for words I am sure I will have more to say tomorrow but for now I am spent, night all

The Service

The Boss and I flew up to Kandahar for the memorial service and that was one of the hardest things I have ever been through in my life. Five Soldiers who will never see their families again who gave their lives for the good of their nation. The service was held in a great big hanger and it was standing room only. I had no idea that it would have the impact on me that it did, I did not know one person on the crew but yet it didn't really seem to matter. It was an extremely emotional event and made us all think about our own situations and how fragile those situations can be some times. I will do my best to hold folks to a higher standard and to hold myself to a higher standard as well. We must stay focused and do our best in everything that we do over here. Sometimes the simplest thing can put you in harms way and we can't afford to make mistakes that will put us in a bad situation. We just had an extremely loud explosion and since the Big Voice did not go off I can only assume that it was out going. I will not miss this place, I will miss the people for sure but I will never miss this place. I am getting pretty tired its been a long day and I need a good night sleep. I miss home, and I miss my girls and I can't wait to see all of them. I love you Marie, I love you Rob, I love you Shirley and Elli I love you so so so so much, night all

P.S.
Shirley your videos rock thank you so much for keeping me up to date on everything that I am missing, I love you!

Trying hard to recover

We are all doing the best we can under the circumstances but tomorrow I will be in Kandahar for the service and I am not looking forward to it. Although I knew none of the crew personally they are still apart of us all, we are all touched by this tragedy. I have an entire company of UH-60 pilots here in my Task Force and they have lost close friends and that affects us all. We have no idea what happened only speculation and that is not what I like to deal in. We will wait till the accident investigation team figures out what went wrong and in the mean time it has to be business as usual. Bob Roebuck my friend from flight school and my room mate from my last tour is over here from the Safety Center from Ft Rucker to do the investigation. I am sure I will see him tomorrow at the service in Kandahar. Well as much as I know it would have done me some good to try to FaceTime with my girls tonight, I have to be up early to fly up to Kandahar tomorrow so I really need to get to bed. But first shout out to Shirley for keeping me in the know with her awesome videos Shirley could not get through this without you. Got another video today and it helped to cheer me up, thank you. Well I will talk to you all soon, I hope all are doing great and looking forward to spring, I know I am I hate the cold weather. Night all

Hard day for the Vipers

11 March 2013 around 2115 hours, I got the news that one of our own went down just north of Kandahar. I had no information about what happened and did not figure we would till the next day at the earliest. At 2345 there is a knock at my door the LTC wants me in his office for a VTC (video telephone conversation) with F06 the Brigade Commander at 2400. That’s when I found out that we lost five Soldiers, I still had no idea as to the events that led up to the UH-60 crash landing, only that the aircraft was consumed by a post-crash fire and there were no survivors. This was a sad day for Task Force Viper and Task Force Falcon, we are all doing the best we can but we must remain vigilant and always remember the enemy has a vote and not to become complacent. All I have said from the moment we got here is my biggest job is to bring all these guys home. This country will never change they have been fighting for centuries and once we are gone the drug lords will move back in and the Taliban will take over once again. This Saturday me and the Boss are flying to Kandahar for the memorial ceremony, I have no idea how hard it will be to stand in a formation and listen to folks talk about our lost fellow Soldiers but I know it will not be as hard as their loved ones back home. I sit here getting emotional just thinking about it. It reminds me of when the soldier came to me with uncle Bobs flag and said those words that I will never forget. On behalf of a grateful nation please accept this flag and that was about when I lost it. I pray for the families and I pray for all the friends and loved one that they will be missed by. This place sucks, and they have no idea what kind of sacrifices the Soldiers are making to try to better their lives, and they never will. I know that I will never forget the time that I spent in this country and I know that I will always remember the men and woman that I have served with over here. The Army is a strong community that many will never understand, relationships that I am sure will last a lifetime. Friends that will stay in touch till there dying days because they were there for each other when it mattered the most. I can't explain it you have to live it and experience it for yourself. I guess it was best explained by Jim Becker, it's the biggest union in the country, the only difference is to be a member, you have to be willing to give your life for the union member standing next to you knowing that they would do the same for you if he or she needed to.

Well enough doom and gloom, I got to talk to Robby and the girls tonight. The girls are going to a concert at the civic center tonight, it will be Elli's first concert, wish I could have been there. I hope they have a great time and I am sure they will, I can't wait to be home to go on the next one. I have fallen in love with many artist over here music can really bring you up, don't get me wrong it can take you down just as quick but all in all it's great to listen too. I wish I had more to say, but I am feeling a little down and I think I am going to call it a night and hope tomorrow is a much better day. Again my prayers go out to the families that where notified today that their loved ones died defending our great nation and will be coming home early, in my mind they will always be Heroes and I will never forget their sacrifice. Night all

Art work

These art works are displayed with pride in my RLB for all my friends to see and admire, they were made with love by some of the most talented young ladies in the world. Always know how much you girls are loved and missed by me each and every time I look at them, Dad loves you girls and I can't wait to be home with you all, night all

At the office

Getting ready to go give a PIC eval and the other is the picture we are using for our Flag certificates that I took of my wing man at about ten thousand feet up in the mountains, night all

In the house

Here are two shots from my RLB ( no idea ) reusable living building? Or Relocatable living barracks ? Rob's lair bitches. I truly don't know what RLB stands for, but this is what the inside of mine looks like......night all

Two Instrument rides

I am not complaining it was going to be three and then one had to cancel due to our guard force possible having to leave early. This place is getting crazy, but hey we are all crazy right? I got a wake up call from my girls at six this morning and never was able to fall back asleep but its always nice to talk to them. The geek squad came to the house to fix a few things, it never fails things always seem to quit when I am not home to do the simple things. Fortunately we had a free visit from the geek squad and the girls got their money's worth out of that guy this morning. He fixed the computer and the printer so I feel pretty lucky.

Shirley I watched my last video last night and it was great, you do such a great job keeping your Dad in the know as to what is going on in Savannah. I am thankful for you hard work putting them together, one of my favorite parts of the video I watched last night though was shot by Mom. It was when she came into wake you up on valentines day and Marley stuck just her snout out from under the covers she was too cute. As much as I did not want that little dog she sure has grown on me. And Elli your cat is something else too, I hear he now knows how to get up on the counter and open drawers so he can step down into them and lay down. He is to cute as well.

It's starting to get pretty warm here and it's only a matter of time and we will be getting busy, I hope to be able to write as often as I have been but time will tell. One of my good friends from one of the other Task Forces was involved in a CIVCAS (civilian casualty) their is an investigation going on right now and even though I think under the circumstances he will be ok you just never know. I feel for him though because I can't even imagine how he must be feeling, he is a good person and I know that is something I think about all the time and I am sure he does as well. I know what my job is here and I will do it the best I can but I hope that I am never put into a situation that will put me in jeopardy of shooting the wrong target. But sometimes the situations get so kinetic and so fast paced that you truly have just seconds to make decisions that might haunt you for the rest of your life. But if you don't the consequences might haunt you for the rest of your life as well. Our job is to cover the ground troops that are sometimes going door to door looking for bad guys or weapons or HME ( home made explosives) and when it's pitch dark and you are trying to keep track of 30 to 60 guys in a small town kicking in doors doing the searching it gets really stressful. Especially when you are the air mission commander who basically is responsible for everything that happens on that mission. I will keep you all posted on the outcome of the investigation once it's complete. It's time to call this war complete and get our troops home we can no longer influence what is going on over here, we are spread to far and thin. This draw down is going to be the most critical part of our ten plus years of fighting over here. We need to be diligent and methodical and cross every T and dot every I and get everyone out safely. Well I am getting pretty tired I tried to FaceTime three times tonight but the girls would not answer I am sure they are busy with something. I will write more soon till then, night all

Got two packages !!

Today started off like most days, I got up took a shower and went to get some chow. Yesterday I flew 5 hours and tomorrow I will fly even more its me and Dave Lewis on again for tomorrow. So anyway I went into the office after lunch and checked my email and I had one from the Apache career manager Todd Seville, he is looking to fill six IP slots at Ft Rucker for April 15. I wish I had more people I have two guys that are ready to track IP but I can't afford to loose them with the fighting season getting ready to start. I know though once we get home we will loose half of our IPs and we will be hurting to get our guys trained up for what ever is in front of us. Hopefully nothing is in front of us but none the less I am tired of doing more with less and that seems to be the new Army's standard remark. Army of One, that seems to be to true these days and with all the future cut backs it's just going to keep getting harder. So back to my title, got two packages today, I am lucky to have such wonderful girls Shirley your videos keep me going. I sometimes feel like I am right there with you guys, where to start? Well for starters I loved all of the hidden artwork that you guys found and included in my box, and I agree Robby's artwork was too cute and I laughed my ass off too. You kids have grown up so fast, Mom and I are so proud of all three of you. I had time to watch the first video tonight and it was a hoot, I will look forward to watching the next one tomorrow after my shift ends. I have two separate missions tomorrow should be around five to six hours of flight time but will probably be in the aircraft for eight to ten hours so it will be a long day. ( mental break)

Ok new train of thought I am sitting, correction laying on my bed typing on the iPad listening to music while I type with my touch screen keyboard and not doing to bad I am actually getting pretty quick at it. I will spend more time once I get home listening to music and less time listening to the news which is as depressing as he'll anyway so I think music is the way to go. As a family we are going to see more concerts as well life is short and we have to experience as much as we can in what little time as we have on this earth. Mom is a couple of concerts with the kids ahead of me but I plan to catch up and over take her. Its just got to be the right kind of music and near Savannah not that I am afraid to travel lord knows I love a good road trip as much as the next guy. I hope that once I am home we are not as busy at work and even if we are by then I should have close to two and a half months of vacation saved up and I plan to take it all. Robby we are still on for something when you have time I hope that this summer you are busy at jump school or something similar, but we will definitely have some father son bonding time before you get out of college. Shirley and Elli we will do something awesome as well we just need to figure out what it is that we all want to do. We live in the best country on this planet and I want to see every state, can you say road trip? I think we need to plan a trip as a family next summer to go out west, whether it be bye plane train or automobile. Whatever we decide its going to be great, I personally loved the train trip to New York. It's not going to be long Shirley and you will be a senior planning your future and thinking about where you want to go to college? Time goes by to quick and I am growing very tired of missing out on all the precious minutes with you guys. I can't get them back and I can't have more they are a finite amount and I am missing so many of them. I love you guys, and can't wait to be home. Well it's about that time Elli should be walking through the door at home I will try to catch her on FaceTime before she goes down to her BFFs, night all

Flew five hours

Long day but at least I got to talk to my little princess before I went to bed and that seems to make the the entire day not so bad, thanks Elli. I hope that you have so so so much fun at gymnastics tonight and I look forward to talking with you tomorrow. I am off shift tomorrow but I am scheduled to fly the next day on a big deliberate mission I am sure it will be a long day as well. I hope all are well I am exhausted so I am going to bed its one AM and I am spent, night all