Keeping Myself Busy

Well another year has gone by and now we welcome in the new year. Wow, the years are flying by faster and faster with each year that goes by.
This one has to be up there with one of the most memorable years. This is the first end of year holidays that I have been away from any type of family. Some days it seams as if the day goes by without a blink of the eye and others it just drags. When Christmas came and I was out flying it just seemed like any other day. That is when this picture was taken. I felt good about the flight though. We were moving troops back so that they could return home after a long deployment. You almost feel like Santa bring joy to all that see you. We could see the smiles on all of the soldier's faces as we picked them up.



I have definitely been keeping myself busy. We had a fire safety class the other day and had a chance to practice at using different types of fire extinguishers. If you have never had the chance to do this I would highly suggest going to your local fire department to see if they offer the service. You never realize how hot a large fire can get. We were within 3-5 feet when we started spraying the bottles and I felt like I was going to melt. Adrenaline was rushing through me as I was putting it out and I felt very good when the flames were extinguished. Of course we had a few guys who did not get the flames out on the first try but we had plenty of bottles for them to try again.

So now we welcome in the new year and hope that this one brings us as much joy as all of out previous ones. 2006 will be a very memorable year for me. In almost 14 years of service in the Army this is the first time that I have been deployed. I have learned a lot of things about the military with this deployment and I will be more than ready to return later this year. I just keep reminding myself that I am 1/4 of the way there.