airforce
With powerful aircraft and fearless fighters, the Air Force is always armed and ready to lift off and fight from above.
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I still remember the first dead body I saw in Afghanistan. I was in Kandahar, a southern city located in a valley that was basically a desert. We got the call that a helicopter crashed and everyone was dead. People don’t typically survive helicopter crashes, they tend to fall from the sky like a rock. We all gathered on the runway, it was a short walk since I worked in the hangar on helicopters. Once on the runway, everyone lines up shoulder to shoulder in something called a “ramp ceremony.” As a way to pay respect to the fallen. It is not nearly as ceremonious as when a body is returned in a casket draped with an American flag. Most of the time it is just a body bag being wheeled off the tarmac. Whatever is left of the aircrew, whatever parts they could find.
By Robert Raymond5 years ago in Serve
Angel Flights
Angel flights are an important component to the US Military. It is the flight that is taking our fallen home to their final resting places. These soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines have come back from Europe, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc. They all have the same thing in common, they paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. As veteran of the US Armed Forces, I believe that all gave some and some gave all. If you want to see a definition of a hero, go down to your local Veterans Hospital.
By Lawrence Edward Hinchee5 years ago in Serve
The Thunderbirds
Not Just Air Demonstrators These guys aren't your ordinary pilots and crew chiefs. These are heroes of world entertainment. How? They travel no matter what the situation is. Whether its for cancer awareness, motivation for children, or just for a symbol of hope, they are always there. They are similar to superman but instead of 1, there are multiple kryptonians. Everytime I see them, I feel like that they are perfect to be on the silver screen and popular YouTube videos. They should be given the red carpet everytime they set foot in a public area. Compared to other crew chiefs, they are the celebrities. Overall, all maintenance personnel are heroes. As I said before, they aren't demonstrators. Demonstrators are people who show how things work. Demonstrators are protesters. The Thunderbirds aren't telling us to do this on our own or spreading hate. If you think about it, it's completely the opposite.
By StarzNStripes085 years ago in Serve
RAF Days Pt 6
More escapades from my RAF days as recounbted in my biography "Do or do not". In the sticky hot summer of 1972 I had a very close call one day when an emergency exercise was called. Every Nimrod had to be airborne as soon as possible and my assigned place was with one of the engine Sergeants who would start the engines on the aircraft, then go to start another as I waited for the crew to arrive from the mess on the main camp at which point I would put on my ear defenders, pick up the marshalling bats and guide the aircraft from the pad to the taxiway. Mine was the last aircraft in the row and as I waved it on I would normally have left my ear defenders on until they were clear, but it was so hot and sticky that I took them off early only to hear the sergeant shouting “Davies Hit The Deck”, so training kicking in I dived for the ground as the aircraft I had just marshalled opened up its throttles full sending waves of heat over me. Had I been standing I would probably have been blown head over heels, but I survived with only a few scratches. On debrief the pilot claimed that he felt a vibration and wanted to test the engines, but was disciplined as he should only do that at the end of the runway so I was informed. On a positive side the aircraft were all up in 11 minutes, and the sight of 11 Nimrods taking off one after the other was unforgettable.
By Len Davies5 years ago in Serve
RAF Days Part 5
More teenage memories of my days in the RAF from my biography 'Do or Do Not'. 1971 only had 8 weeks to go as I settled in and I was to experience my first Christmas away from home, which really hurt, but I must admit the mess did a good job on Christmas dinner, which must have been bittersweet for them as they no doubt wanted to be home too. As 1972 came in I discovered the RAF St. Mawgan radio station that was piped into every billet and selectable on a speaker above the door in every room. I didn’t have much of a private life so I decided to check it out and was doing regular radio shows pretty soon. The station controller was a guy called Keith Oliver who had a strong love of American radio stations and used to get as many radio jingles as he could from them. I had a ball as musically there was so much good stuff coming out and we used to get a lot of the latest music provided into the radio library. My musical tastes have always been a huge mixture from Classical through Soul through pop to hard rock, and this year saw some of the best music around. Argent, The Sweet, The Detroit Spinners, Carole King, The Strawbs, T Rex, Electric Light Orchestra, The O’Jays, The Osmonds, The Jackson Five, Alice Cooper, the list just goes on, and even to this day the music of the time brings back totally sharp memories of every event. I can still see the layout of the radio station with its antequated turntables and slipmats, old fashioned mixer and typical RAF Microphone and headphones, but I loved it. I even opted to do the breakfast show one day at 6am, and thought “If they wanted to be woken up this should do it” and promptly opened with ‘Schools Out’ by Alice Cooper. People left the radio switched on if they wanted it to be used as an alarm so I guess a few people got a rude awakening that day.
By Len Davies5 years ago in Serve
RAF Days
I had decided from a very early age that I wanted to join the Royal Air Force, and from the age of 13 I served with 30F squadron of the Air Training Corps in Ely, Cardiff (my home town). While my parents were away on summer holiday in 1969 I signed up and left school at Christmas that year. Here's a segment about the first days from my biography "Do or do not".
By Len Davies5 years ago in Serve
Airman within 11 1/2 Weeks
In 2013, I never thought of becoming an airman until I was on the bus with my bag and paperwork. Fully motivated, I was ready to receive the biggest challenges that was going to be chucked at me like a pitcher's fastball. In these challenges however, I found one giant struggle that temporarily blocked my progression. It's true that the greatest battles would be given to the strongest knights as a test from God. In this story, you will know what and how I overcame my greatest struggle.
By StarzNStripes085 years ago in Serve
