66. Author: adroomi Date: 06/07/2006 12:30 AM Reply
December 9th, 1986, I landed in Osan South Korea with the US Army, Rug.
I've been operating in Asia since then, so I guess I should correct myself and say "almost 20 years" instead of "18." I've lived in China, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia on and off for the past 19.5 years. I also lived in Alaska, Oklahama, Virginia, and Seattle. Shall I send you my bio?
Of course I've been out of Asia during that time. I don't have roots planted here......sorry to be so literal and not spell it out by dates for you.
Shall I go back and research the holidays I took, the trips abroad, etc, and subtract them from my "total" time on the Continent? What are you the IRS?
Please quit trying to troubleshoot me....it's boring, and it makes you look silly.
thanks.
10. Author: adroomi Date: 06/06/2006 04:36 AM Reply
CW,
I still carry a TS, so nothing you can tell me, I haven't already lived through myself. As an old Army buzzard I did my time in the Middle East too. I was in baghdad the night we attacked in 1990....yes...right in the middle of town. Those jets did a great job bombing the missle sights, but you can thank the SOF for lasing the targets for them, and the 160th for flying in under googles and picking everyone up. We lost a few that night by the way.
Rick is pointing out what the ENTIRE world is seeing right now.
Have you every heard the phrase, "one thousand attaboys, go away with one aw****?" This is that aw****.
We pay journalists to run good stories on us, and we got caught.
We torture folks, but condemn others for it, and we got caught.
We call insurgents murderers, but yet we got caught.
We'd better start shaping up or we're really going to lose face in the future.
That's my point.
And yes, the sticky situations you have been in, I'm sure I could handle. I'm a SERE grad... :)
Keep it real.
30. Author: adroomi
That song is pretty cheesy. I remember they played it during the fireworks display above the Washington Monument in June of '91, during the Victory Parade. I sat there on top of a CH-47, parked on the mall, just across the 14th street from the Monument. We had a cooler full of beer on top of that airplane and it was one of the most spectacular displays I'd ever seen. They played that "hero" song by Bette Midler, and the fireworks exploded into these pink hearts. This redhead (I don't remember her name) was sitting up there with us drinking beer and singing along.
I'll never forget that cheesy song. I was mad because my company commander and a couple good friends had died, and that song sort of p*ssed me off.
She had some really nice boobs though.....for a white girl.
32. Author: adroomi
I am pretty deadly.
I'm sure I can still hit 40 out of 40. In fact....let me think.....yep, 17 down, and 6 right. That's my battlesite zero. Give or take some, I can probably still put three in a nickel sized shot group at 50 meters.
I once hit a bedouin sheep herder with a quart can of MIL-5606 hydraulic oil dropped off the ramp of a CH-47 at 200 feet AGL and 120 knots forward airspeed. Talk about luck! One in a million shot. The hydraulic oil exploded in a spray of red, that mixed beautifully with the red spray of what was left of his head and right shoulder.
Tey could bring a few rifles and we'd pick off those lazy lettuce ranchers like rats in MACS ratraps!
Ahh.....the glory of it all.
34. Author: adroomi
I also shot a camel. On accident of course. I said "halt" and it kept moving. I said "halt" again, and it kept moving. Then I put a 5 second burst from the M60 into it and it squealed like a pig and fell to the ground. My foxhole partner put on his -7's and confirmed that the Republican Guard soldier that snuck into our camp was indeed a camel.
Boy did I get razzed for that one.
Not as bad as my crewchief did though for shooting himself in the foot with a .38 in the mess tent.
36. Author: adroomi
First of all...I was a Sergeant (E-5) during the gulf war.
Second of all, we ALL pulled guard duty. Even the first sergeant sat in a hole once in a while. At times, when all of us were out flying, the only ones left to man the holes were the Platoon Sergeants. It wasn't until we were augmented with a couple infantry platoons that we got some relief.
Pilots pull guard duty. Welcome to the Army. E-8's load boxes of ammo. You do the job, and you don't b*tch.
I remember March 1st, 1990 like it was yesterday. That's the day we lost aircraft 177, nicknamed "the beast." The Army lost Marie Rossi, Bob Hughes, Mike Garrett, and Billy Brace that day. Sometimes it's hard to believe it was 16 years ago.
I don't like flying in Iraq.
52. Author: adroomi Date: 05/18/2006 11:57 AM Reply
Bloody,
I used to call your area my stompin' grounds. I lived up the road from the dept of commerce (weights and measures). I was working at the Pentagon then. I spent 3 months in Crystal City in the hotel, before I finally moved out to Rockville/Gait area.
144. Author: adroomi Date: 04/24/2006 12:46 AM Reply
Uh Rug,
You're an idiot. I said SOF. That means "special ops forces."
Why don't you do a thread search and pull up my entire military history since you seem so fascinated by it. I spent ten years enlisted, just over four as a commissioned guy. I was an aviator, a SOF guy, then an aviator again in the SOF, then a ground guy again. Then I crewed a desk, then I got out.
9. Author: adroomi Date: 05/10/2006 06:18 AM Reply
J,
That's a great photo!
60's are a good airplane (Lawn Dart, Splatterhawk, or Tree Seeking Missle as I affectionately call them).
I did my basic at Dix too in 1986. Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 5th Training Regt. Ssssshhhhh, don't tell anyone though. They'll think I'm making up stories again :)
I got a call from one of my closest friends today. He had been out of work for the past 9 months. He got himself a job 2 weeks ago flying Life Flight in Buffalo. 4 days on, 4 days off.
Man I miss flying.
