Message From Kuwait

Hello everyone. I hope you are all doing well. As you can see I finally got a chance to fly after several flight cancellations due to maintenance complications. The jets get pretty banged up while flying non-stop in these extreme conditions. I am happy to report that my first mission as a C-17 Aircraft Commander went very well. I am sorry the picture is not the best quality. It was taken by my Blackberry after we finished our mission. The two guys in the middle were the loadmasters and the fellow opposite me was the other pilot. We flew from Kuwait to Afghanistan hauling about 70,000 lbs of cargo and flew 19,000 lbs of cargo, including 15 passengers back to Kuwait. It was nice to get back into the air. One of the worst things for pilots to do is sit on the ground too long, just ask Jen. We took off just after sunset and landed back in Kuwait just as the sun was rising the next day. The temperature at the airfield where we landed in Afghanistan was a refreshing 60 degrees. A far cry from the 100 degree temps in Kuwait. As you have seen on news reports, Afghanistan is a very rugged country. The mountains are huge and beautiful and very sparsely populated. You notice the sparseness of the population more during night flights. There is very little cultural lighting on the ground to speak of. I am very happy all went as planned.

When I am not flying I spend my time reading, flight planning, going to the gym, doing laundry, and finishing two online masters classes. I know, it all sounds so exciting. One downside about being a pilot (if there is one) is the ever changing sleep schedule. During my first week I found myself going to bed at 6 am and rising between 2 to 3 pm. Thank goodness for Advil PM. I have it from good authority (Mom/Dad Fry) that this stuff really works well. I have taken it twice since arriving and it works. Anyway, I am done rambling on about my life. Thank you for your prayers. I hope you are all safe and well where ever you may be. So long for now.