NewsLetter
May,
June, & July
We
started deployment in Misawa for a few weeks of dreary weather.
We counted four sunny days & considered ourselves lucky. Next
we moved on to tropical Okinawa where we spent only a few days
before moving on, unexpectedly, to Utapao, Thailand for 8 days of
sun, fun & peddlers galore. We did manage to fly a little
between, but we wanted to limit that unpleasant task. After our
return to Okinawa, we stayed a couple of days and moved back up
to Misawa. We stayed there for about five weeks. Alot of ready
alerts and the normal work. We welcomed AD2 LeFevre as our new
2nd FE and lost Lt Windom again, and in his place we now have Lt
'Flatliner' Roberts (He's turning out to a pretty fair chow
officer). We did get a little relief...had an exercise to play
in, went on a short trip down to Kadena & split before the
last typhoon blew through.
August,
September, & October
We also
went on a shopping spree in Osan, Korea where we all stocked up
on our supply of mink blankets. We have done our R&R
(restricted to local area, unfortunately), and the obligatory
lock down in the fishbowl (duty week, for those lucky souls not
familiar with Misawa). Although I will admit, we did get out of
the last day thanks to operational committments. Total of seven
week in Misawa. Tuesday the 5th of Sept, we headed for Okinawa
once again for three days, then moved on to Manado, Indonesia for
a SAR Exercise. The normally hazey conditions there made
this a harder mission than we originally anticipated, with
visibility no more than 2 miles or so. They have some really
beautiful coral reefs out at Buneken Island, and the snorkeling
is most excellent! Ah well... Back to Okinawa on the 12th
of Sept. On the 13th we typhoon-ivac'd back up to Misawa, thanks
to Typhoon Oliwa. We lose AW2 Meade to CIVPACFLT in October. Good
Luck, Dude! In his place we welcome AW2 Perry Brown. We
also welcomed to the crew, a new Sensor Station Three
in-training, AWAN Fowler (no, not the XO). The powers that be
held our leashs in tight for a good while. We stayed in Misawa
throughout October as well, with a fair amount of action for the
most of us, flying-wise. We had our second R&R the last of
part of October. November
Starting the first, we
assumed jurisdiction over the Fishbowl once again. Squadron
pack-out is the 5th and 6th. Very good indicators for us. We are
really looking foward to coming back home to our loved ones. On
the 12th, we repositioned back down to Kadena for the last couple
of weeks of this deployment. We got to enjoy a one day trip to
Hong Kong on the 20th, check out the new page for it. Keep
looking for more updates soon, I'll keep 'em coming as long as I
can.