I'm Back

I know it's been some time since I have blogged but life has kept me busy in these last few months.

In the last 4 months I have:

1. PCS to Kadena AB in Okinawa, Japan
2. Moved and set up a new home
3. Got settled into a new work environment with new people.
4. Enrolled and completed 2 College Courses one at UF (Go Gators) and one at UMUC here on the island.
5. Became a member of ACE and have volunteered for a few ACE events
6. Was a CFC key personnel
7. Volunteered for numerous squadron activities
8. Working on getting my husband transferred from the National Guard to AF Active Duty (which we are still working on, see post below)
9. Last but not least I'm up for BTZ this month, So for almost the last 2 years I have been making sure I'm being the best Airman I can be and utilizing the core values so I can win BTZ (for all you civilians, BTZ- Below the Zone, pretty much means you put on E-4 on 6 months early)

So yes I have been slacking on blogging and those were my 9 excuses.

I'm still getting adjusted to living in another country. It's hard being here without my husband by my side. There is so much I want to do but I don't want to do it without him. On the brighter side when he does finally get here their will be lots to do. This island in filled with adventures upon adventures. If anyone ever comes up to me and tells me they are bored I will laugh at them. It is impossible to get bored here.

The Okinawans are wonderful people. Anywhere you go you always receive the warmest welcomes. They will go out of their way to help you find anything and they absolutely love it when you try to speak the language. (btw: the language is only as hard as you make it) I have picked up a few phrase and I'm planning on taking a class to further my Japanese communication skills.

Here are a few pictures from the last 4 months which include the 18 CE Combat Dining and a few others.

Afghanistan

This is a very true article and everyone should read this. In my personal opinion I believe we should support our troops and support the original intention for going into Afghanistan. I believe in sending more troops to help execute the strategy will have a faster result on getting the job done. So we can get the hell out of dodge.

Busy Times

So it's been awhile since I have posted anything new. I received orders to Kadena AB a few months ago and will be heading there in a few weeks. Anybody in the military can understand what a busy time this is for me. As well as receiving orders, I married my love, my best friend and my soul mate Aron. Aron in in the National Guard and for the last few months we have been contacting all of our sources so Aron can come with me to Japan. He was supposed to deploy but with his deployment and training this summer that will keep us apart for about 2 years. Any with our marriage so new that makes it tougher. But we are swinging until we hit the ground and we are supposed to know something pretty soon, so keep your fingers crossed.

Blogging in the Air force world is starting to grow. I was approhed by public affairs here at whiteman a few weeks ago and they are very interested in getting a blog started for the base. I think it would be great in my personal opinon. It's the new way of commiuncating to the public at least with the younger generation. I think eventually they could grow with a blog and maybe discontuiue the newspaper. But this is a touchy subject. some people are not ready to get rid of the newspaper. Yes the newspaper is a classic way of learning current events, but the base paper is maybe 5 to 10 pages long and takes about 5 minutes to read. Really who actually reads the paper every friday when it comes out. I'm not sure how many they actually print but I'm sure it's to many. To me I think it is a waste of time and money that could be used in other areas that would benefit the public affairs better. But that's just my opinon.

I hope to keep up more with my blog especially when i pcs to Kadena. I'm sure I will have plenty of interesting things to write about there.

p.s. any opinons on bases blogging?

The Royals Home Opener 2009

Friday April 10th, 20 Air Force members from Whiteman were selected to hold the American Flag on the Field of Kauffman Stadium home of the Kansas City Royals. Well I was one of those members! Friday was the Royals Home Opener, but it was any ordinary home opener. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the KC Royals. So the folks at the Stadium put a wonderful pre-game show together. Which took some practice.

On Wednesday we all met at the Stadium in KC to have a dress rehearsal. A 4 hour practice!!! Well it was worth it. It was actually fun. There was a lot of waiting so in the mean time I took pictures. We got see a preview of the video they put together for the show. We were the first public eyes to watch it because it was a big secret!


Well I anxiously waited for Friday to come along as I was really excited to feel the rush of being on the field and hear the thousands of fans in the stands. My friend Carlin and I met up early and joined the many tailgaters in the parking lot. When I mean early I mean early. We were there around 1130am. (we had to be there by 1400.) We walked around and enjoyed the smell of the barbeque's going. We eventually made it into the stadium and walked around and around and around. We made it down to the dugouts were we got to watch practice.

Last year I was at a game and caught a foul ball. Well I brought this ball back with me and I'm sure glad I did. I got three autographs from the royals. Which included Miguel Olivo catcher, Alex Gordon infielder, and Trey Hillman manager of the Royals. I do have to say I am a big Yankee fan but unlike the yankees the royals were right there for autographs. Damm those Yankee's who make to much money and think they are to good for autographs (Had to get that out)



















Well it was time to meet up in the tunnel with the other AF people to get ready for the show. Each of us got in are positions with the 100ftx50ft flag to go out on to the field. We walked onto the field to hear the crowd roaring. What a feeling that was. We were against the outfield wall until everyone got in there spots. The had a very nice opening to the pre game show.

They gave us the cue to move up to the grass and then to run out with the flag. This was the greatest feeling, being able to run onto the field and open the flag up and hear the crowd go wild. Then the Star- Spangled Banner starts and as it end 4 A-10's from the 442nd Reserve Unit at Whiteman make a fly over the Stadium. It was so amazing I actually got goosebumps from it. I found this picture taken of the field of the finale of the show which has all of us in it. And also the video is so you can hear the crowd from the field.
















It was probably one of the best baseball games I have ever been to! The Yankees beat the royal 4-1 so i was happy.

I want to take this time to to thanks all the kind people at the game who bought my food, beers, drinks and Ice cream. That was so thoughtful. I didn't have to pay for one thing!

Earth Hour to Earth Day Challenge

So I have been following Napmom's Blog and she has been doing the Earth Day Challenge. Well I was debating whether or not I was going to do it since I already try to live green the best way I can.. But then I came across this website when I was trying to find a used book for my upcoming class. It's called Better World Books. Here is what the Online Book store with a soul has to say:

Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide.
With more than two million new and used titles in stock, we’re a self-sustaining, triple-bottom-line company that creates social, economic and environmental value for all our stakeholders.

They help raise money for Global Literacy. Also they save books from landfills. By doing this they are being green as well. They are recycling books so when a reader is done with there book they can sell it and then another person can buy it instead of buying a new book. Which saves trees from getting cut down. Not only does it benefit the earth but it benefits the seller and buyer. The seller can make money to buy a new book while the buyer saves a great deal of money from buying a used book. This last purchase I made saved me $144. I bought my College Algebra book for $8 people! It was in great shape too.

So check it out and do your part in saving the Earth.

One Year

February 13th was one year being Active Duty in the Air Force and one year since I left for basic training. Well this last Friday was one year graduating Basic training. So much has happened since then and I am well on my way to a successful career in the Air Force and each day getting closer to the day I get my Commission.

The picture to the left was taken the weekend I graduated basic. The picture to the right was graduating Tech School.

Here is a short slide show. The 1st pic was taken the weekend of bmt graduation. 2nd pic was graduation tech school. 3rd pic was taken at my promotion event at whiteman when I first arrived and the 4th pic was taken a few months ago on a Honor Guard Detail.

Silver Flag

Hello everyone. I know I have not been good about keeping this blog up to date. But I'm going to get this blog going again.

So as you can see my last entry was about going to Silver Flag training. Between the dates of 7 February and 14 February I went to Tyndall AFB to do some CE Prime BEEF training (It's pretty much warfare training for CE). Most CE troops play it off like it's nothing mostly because they have gone through the training before. But me being a new airman and my first time here I loved it. I learned more then I had ever thought I would and gained experience in other areas I was familiar with. The cadres put me in some leadership positions which taught me how to be a leader in some stressful environments. For the most part I came home with more knowledge then I had expected to and shocked everyone when I told them I had a great time.

When we were there we had to sleep in tents on cots for the week. Which wasn't bad at all. We also had to eat MRE's, they are the military ready to eat meals loaded with calories and vacuumed sealed food but if your lucky you might get a pack of m&m's or skittles. We were not allowed to leave the camp while we were there until the last day. Which happened to be Friday night. So when we were released a few of us met up with an old friend from Whiteman who moved to Tyndall a few months ago. He took us to the old town Panama City called St. Andrews. We eat on the rooftop of Uncle Ernie's. Let's just say we feasted on seafood and Martini's. I strongly recommend this restaurant it was excellent.

I put this slide show of pictures I took while I was there.



Here are a few very cool videos I took I think you will enjoy them.


This is the day we bombed the runway. If you saw some of the pictures from the slide show you will notice that there were some pictures of craters. Well they were from these bombs going off. You have to wait a little in the video there was a slight delay.

This video below was a practice fire on a C-130 for the firefighters.

Going Away

Well I'm off to Tyndall AFB for Silver Flag. Which is wartime training for Engineers like me. We will work hard and long hours and train for contingency. I will be gone for a week and back on Valentine's day.

The Butterfly Award

Thanks to Nap Mom she tagged me for this. She is very special in my life. She has seen me grow from diapers to a 20 something.




Now I'm tagging a few blogs that I think are cool.


The pride & tears of a female Airman - Met her at tech school and we have been the best friends since. She is my wing man for life.

from an air force colonel - This is pretty neat reading about a Colonel's opinions of the Air Force and what's going on.

Air Force Live - this blog keeps me up to date on current events.


More to Come soon I'm preparing to go tdy for training for war down in panama city at tyndall afb next week.

A New Beginning For America

Historical Events are taking place today for the Country. The First African-American was sworn into Presidency, The Honorable Barack Obama Commander and Chief, I am so proudly to say. He gives us hope for this Country and a Positive outlook on things. Right now I am watching the on going events as I write this. Wishing I was in D.C to celebrate.

As I listened this morning to the first speech from the our new President I regained hope for the Country. President Obama says, "Putting off unpleasant decisions has surely passed, we need to pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off and begin rebuilding America." I think this is very true. We need to stop complaining and dwelling on the negative things and start focusing on what we can do as a country to fix the problems we have created. We need to Focus on the Economy and the Military and what it going to happen with the War. As a Active Military member I will be looking forward to President Obama's plans with the military and the war. Today is a day of celebrating for the Obama family. Tomorrow is the day work begins for the New President and the Country.

The Guy who Dances on the Internet

So this guy Matt Harding, travels all over the world and is recorded dancing in the places he goes too. It's pretty cool actually. Stride Gum, sponsors him now. Man I wish I could travel all over the world for just a little dorky dance! Anyways Stride Gum sponsored his trip to 39 countries in all 7 continents in 2006 for 6 months. Then again in 2007 and 2008 so for 14 months he traveled to 42 countries and was recorded dancing. Here is the result.

I Have a Dream

As Martin Luther King says,

"I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

I think his dream is alive and being lived today. As tomorrow the country will have the first ever African-American President of the United States. 46 years later. Who would have ever thought back then that there would this day.

I think we as a country have a long ways to go. And maybe not just as a country but as world. As he states at the end of his speech, "When we let freedom ring." People need to be aware of the worlds problems and what they can do to help. If everyone would stop and think about someone else besides themselves, for once (not saying that people don't) but if they did look at how much we could accomplish in today's society. Why does war always have to be the answer, that really doesn't solve anything (yes i am in the military and it is job security for me but it doesn't mean I'm all for it.) If you just take the time and read part of his speech i posted, maybe you can learn a little and apply one of his dreams to your life.

Gran Torino

This movie was great. I laughed and cried throughout the movie. It reminded me so much of Ken (non-biological) grandpa. It was almost textbook alike.
It was a good story about learning about life and death. And the meaning of it. Clint Eastwood stars as Walt Kowalski, a crusty old Korean War veteran whose neighbourhood has been overtaken by, what he so affectionately calls, zipperheads and gooks. Kowalski's anger does not begin and end with the Chinese people in his neighbourhood. He hates his two sons. He doesn't seem to like his priest. He certainly doesn't like his grandchildren. And I'm pretty convinced he wasn't too fond of Walt Kowalski either.

But with all that being said, good ol' Walt did have an affinity for beer, guns, his barber, his dog and of course his 1972 Gran Torino.

I don't want to give to much away. But I would strongly recommend this movie.

AF Reading List

Each year the Air Force comes out with a recommended reading list. This years reading list includes 12 books. This year's reading list is organized into three areas: 1) Military History; 2) Mission, Doctrine, Profession; and 3) Our Nation and Our World. Here are 3 books that General Schwartz highlights.

The first book speaks to our Military History. American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day, by Robert Coram, details the life of a heroic man in the United States Air Force. Coram's superb biography of the most decorated living American veteran begins with Bud Day's childhood and follows him through joining the Air Force, marrying his high school sweetheart, and flying demanding missions in Vietnam. It is a truly remarkable story of a great Airman and Medal of Honor recipient.

The second book, Modern Strategy by Colin S. Gray, makes sense of the strategic history of the 20th Century and what this implies for the 21st Century. Gray recently wrote a thought-provoking Strategic Studies Quarterly article about Airpower and Irregular Warfare, and this book is an excellent backdrop for better understanding the demands on our Air Force.

The third book for this quarter is Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win, by Jeffrey Record. This book examines the phenomenon of victories by the weak over the strong, and more specifically, insurgencies that succeeded against great powers. Mr. Record reviews eleven insurgent wars from 1775 to the present and suggests why the seemingly weaker side won. He concludes that external assistance correlates more consistently with insurgent success than any other explanation.


Mission, Doctrine, Profession

Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice - David Galula
Twenty-First-Century Strategy: An Introduction to the Modern National Security Processes and Problems - Dennis M. Drew and Donald M. Snow
Modern Strategy - by Colin S. Gray
Thinking about America's Defense: An Analytical Memoir - Glenn A. Kent

Our Nation and World

Afghanistan: A Short History of its People and Politics - Martin Ewans
Beating Goliath: Why Insurgencies Win - Jeffrey Record
Contemporary Nuclear Debates: Missile Defense, Arms Control, and Arms Races in the Twenty-First Century - Alexander Lennon
Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda - Sean Naylor

Military History

American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day - Robert Coram
Fast Tanks and Heavy Bombers: Innovation in the U.S. Army, 1917-1945 - David E. Johnson
One Day Too Long: Top Secret Site 85 and the Bombing of North Vietnam - Timothy Castle
The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power - Max Boot

Happy Reading.