February 9, 2023
Kofa Wildlife Refuge, AZ
I’ve always been intrigued by backroads in remote places. So Cibola Road, off US-95 south of Quartzsite, AZ, which seemingly leads right into Yuma Proving Ground, caught my attention.
Category Archives: Army
Short for the Last Time
September 22nd, 2021
Spokane, WA
The Army is big on traditions. Some of them, like saluting, standing at attention facing the flag during retreat, and rendering the greeting of the day (e.g., “Good morning, Ma’am.”) are formal. Others less so.
Some of the most beloved, and not strictly limited to the Army, revolve around being a short timer.
9/11/2021
September 11th, 2021
Medical Lake State Veteran’s Cemetery
The 9/11 anniversary fell on the Saturday of one of the last Army Reserve drills I’ll ever participate in. Retirements looms. We had an event at a local veteran’s cemetery this morning that I wasn’t looking forward to as standing in formation while long speeches are made is not my idea of a good time.
It was nice, though.
Continue readingHurricane Eta
November 4th, 2020
Ft. Bliss, Texas
I am now back in the United States, quarantining at Ft. Bliss, TX, for fourteen days on my way home to Spokane. So I definitely cannot be blamed for what’s shown in this video back at Soto Cano in Honduras today.
I guess they got a bit of rain.
Central American Thunderstorms
August 29th, 2020
Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras
Some time back, friend Tom asked about why many of the older buildings here seem to be built on stilts. We just had a most impressive thunderstorm move through. Torrential rain and hail the size of grapes. The photos below should speak for themselves regarding the efficacy of the stilts.
Continue readingFun With Helicopters in Honduras
August 3rd, 2020
Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras
Sometime back, several of us got the opportunity to go flying with 1/228 Aviation Regiment. They have three companies. One flies Blackhawks for air evacuation. We work closely with their high-skilled critical care flight paramedics when evacuating patients by air. The second company flies Blackhawks for personnel transport and special missions. The third flies CH-47 Chinooks. We flew on a Chinook.
Continue readingDr. Death
July 27th, 2020
Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras
I have developed something of a reputation when I am on call every several weeks. The call hours are 1700 to 0630 the next morning, and all weekend. Usually it’s just little stuff like nausea and vomiting, but sometimes more serious stuff comes in. The first week I took call I evacuated three to the hospital, one by air.
So the medics and the nurses have various names for me: Dr. Death, The Cloud of Darkness, the Harbinger of Doom, etc.
Continue reading