When Do I Get to Go Home?

Well, I was supposed to be waking up in Rachel and I's bed over in Korea about now, but here I am, still sitting in Alaska waiting to get out of here. As of right now, it looks like late next week or perhaps even into the next week is when I might be returning back to Osan. So why the delays? Well, we have an A-10 that is broken. It needs parts that have to be sent in from Korea. We are waiting for those parts to get here. After they get here, it will take maintenance a day to fix the plane, then the next day, we fly it to "ops check" that the airplane is fixed. IF that goes well, then and only then will the unit called AOS (Air Operations Squadron) try to book us 2 air-to-air refueling tankers to drag us back across the Ocean. So we have 1 broken A-10, how come we are keeping another one here? It's simple: mutual support. Trust me, you don't want to be alone, crossing an Ocean for 11-12 hours in a single-seat fighter jet. It's a lonely world out there and if you have to divert, you want a wingman with you. Speaking of, we have 3 A-10's divert into Shemya Island (Eareckson Air Station) yesterday. This 8-square mile island in the Aleutian Chain is a isolated and desolate place. It's manned by about 100 contractor personnel for the exact reason of our divert. Needless to say, it's a lonely place, but an interesting experience for the 3 A-10 pilots that are there right now. If you're interested, look it up on Google and Google Earth.

Well, that's it for now. I'm stuck up here in Alaska until the jets get out. Who knows when that'll be. Heck, Rachel might end up beating me back home as she gets back to Korea on Nov 6. We'll see......

Love Rick