Heavy Haulers

Tuesday we flew 161 members of HMH-462 back to San Diego. They were coming home from Afghanistan.  The flight had been delayed 14 hours because of weather in Bishkek.  I did try to hurry the process in Baltimore (where I picked up the flight), but the plane had a number of maintenance issues that had to be addressed, so I added another hour to their families already long wait.  We did fly the plane as fast as we safely could but with 100 knots off the nose the flight took 5 hours.   

 As we taxied into the ramp we saw about 200 family members waving signs like this one.  It was about 2:30 am but I could still see many little children jumping up and down.  After all the Marines disembarked, Jay Rindler came on board and thanked us for bringing these Marines home.  He also sent us some of the pictures he took that night. 

One of the pictures was of a small girl with her dad.  Mom is proud of her husband, because she has dressed her daughter in a flight jacket.  Dad is so happy to see his daughter.  His daughter is trying to figure out who he is. 

The sacrifice we ask these Marines to make isn't new, but it's new to them and their families and I am so grateful that they make it.  I don't have the words to express how I feel about these men and women in the military.  I'm not one for making speeches over the p.a. to a captive audience; I always feel that it is more about self-aggrandizement than information or thanks.  I don't do many things well, but I can fly an airplane and if my actions can get these men and woman home safe - my actions are my gratitude.

I wonder if I looked at my Dad the same way the first time I saw him.  I was over a year old when we met on his return from Viet Nam. 

This picture is Jay Rindler, me and RK Smithley.  RK was giving a line check.  Once a year the company sends a check airman out to see if I'm doing everything right.  It was nice to fly with RK and he had some good suggestions for me.  Every time I do a line check it seems that I have to perform some maneuver that don't normally fly.  Last year I had to do a raw data DME arc (I hadn't done one in 10 years).  This year I did my very first real PAR approach.

A Marine heavy hauler.