The Flight Deck

I was going to embed the videos but they are too wide for the layout here. These are small, autonomous, quadrotor robots that can fly around in a most amazing fashion. The title for this post is accurate. You can watch them do their stuff here.

They are pretty incredible and what makes it bump over to the scary side a bit is that they can team up and grab stuff.

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From my dad tonight, who’s out celebrating his wedding anniversary.

In July 1956, roomate Joe and I had delivered a new Ford, bought at West Point, to Joe’s sister in Calgary, Alberta, and I found myself on the highway just south of the city with a thunb in the air as darkness and thunderstorms approached. A nice Canadian couple stopped and picked me up, entered the U.S and dropped me off in Great Falls, Montana. I hitched a second ride with an airman to Great Falls (later Malmstrom) AFB and the BOQ. Checked with base ops who said be there at 0600 and they might be able to get me out. Waiting was a B-25. Drew a parachute and the pilot told me to get up in the nose and away we went, destination Minneapolis. One of the most wonderful flights ever -beautiful day and fairly low altitude.

A Navy C-45 was departing for Norfolk Naval Air Station; raced over and climbed in for the rest of the flight. Once there, hitched a ride to Willoughby Spit to catch the last ferry across to Phoebus or Ft. Monroe – can’t remember which. On deck, a gentleman asked why I was carrying a chute. Explained that it was Air Force property and had not had time to turn it in. Asked where I was going and I replied to my parents’ house at Ft. Monroe. Said he would take me. By the time he did a U-turn in front of their quarters and deposited me, all was dark – he said I was to tell my father that this was just the Air Force supporting the Army as it always did. As I went around his car to get the chute I noticed the 4 stars on his Langley AFB decal. It was General Weyland, Commanding General of the Tactical Air Command.

It is daunting to realize that this all took place only 14 years after the Doolittle raid on Tokyo and the video shows men celebrating the 68^th anniversary. No doubt the raid means more to me than anyone addressed because I remember it. But it certainly sent a message that someone had made a BIG mistake. Midway less than two months later confirmed it in spades.

The aircraft in the video aren’t the ones on the raid – it was a one way trip, but it sends shivers up one’s spine to see them in formation.

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From: BSq
Sent: 6/16/2010 7:22:21 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: 68th Doolittle Reunion – breath-taking!
http://www.youtube.com/user/MsPolleyVision

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This guy could use a tail gunner.

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I finally received some pics from my little free falling adventure of last summer.

If anyone is so inclined, they can be found over at my place.

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I’ve been a follower of Lex’s blog since way back in 2005, and flatter myself to think that I’m at least somewhat familiar to most of the other “regulars” who haunt this site.

That said, I thought I would take the opportunity to inform y’all that I have passed my ordination council this A.M. with flying colors and am now officially ordained by the Baptist General Council.  Three hours of Q & A, with most of the questions focusing not on doctrinal minutiae, but on the social application of that which I believe.  Which I much prefer over the other, since it is but a foundation from which to build upon.

So, I’m one step closer to the chaplaincy now.  Three more weeks til seminary graduation, then puttin’ in the Navy packet!

For the record, I had a retired Marine colonel as a member of the council, so if he says I’m good to go, you’d best believe it!

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One of the benefits of living the greater Annapolis metroplex is the opportunity to be sponsor parents to Midshipmen at the Naval Academy.  A few years ago, we got a call from my brother-in-law, an Army officer hisself, asking if we would be willing to act as surrogate parents for the daughter of a brother-in-arms.  Sure, we replied.  Love to.

We took her into our homes and hearts, and we have been far better off for it.  The Kid idolizes and adores her, and we’re getting a pretty unique perspective on life from a 19 year old.  A truly exceptional 19 year old.

She just got her grades back for her second semester, youngster year.

4.0

Color me impressed.

I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to go to Pensacola and watch her get her wings.

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From The Stars and Stripes, via Military.com:

Under a law recently pushed through the state legislature, post-traumatic stress disorder would be noted on the license in the same way that a person’s license might indicate corrective lenses are required for vision, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Adding the information would be voluntary and require a sworn statement from a doctor. If signed by the governor, the bill would become law on July 1.

Why do I suspect this is really the first step towards the mandatory disclosure of a PTSD diagnosis, and a further stigmatization of our troops. It doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to see a “logical progression” where citizens who have been diagnosed with PTSD would be prohibited from buying or possessing firearms.

I’m in favor of prohibiting the mentally unsound from possessing firearms. That’s a restriction of civil rights that falls well within the bounds of constitutionality. But the current standard that has to be met is that a court has to make a finding. That’s the whole “due process” thingy at work.

If, as I suspect, this is a ploy to sneak in a restrictive provision over time, it would remove that due process protection for citizens and place the power to infringe constitutional rights into the hands of unaccountable bureaucrats, with likely little recourse to the citizen.

It also shows a remarkable misunderstanding of what most people with PTSD really go through. I’m no expert, but the best description I’ve heard is that you spend a lot of time hyper-aware of your surroundings, as if your nerve endings had been sanded.

Any of you in Georgia might take a moment to encourage your governor to veto this bill, and not start down a path with no good outcomes.

Crossposted at Bring the Heat, Bring the Stupid

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Ok, so some few of you have put me up to starting a post here on the Flight Deck for to continue the discussion of DADT that was earlier posted by Lex.

I openly admit that I’m not quite sure where to begin with this one – there’s the military/social aspect of it, to be sure, but there’s also a huge debate about the morality (or lack thereof) of being a practicing homosexual.  Note that I am referring to the practice – not the orientation, which is a whole ‘nother topic.

Let’s start with tolerance, since that seems to be the current buzzword on the issue, and one that the gay rights groups tend to fling at folks who disagree with them on the subject.

But what IS tolerance, really?  Is it synonymous with acceptance?  Is it agreement?  What are my responsibilities vis-a-vis someone who holds a belief and/or engages in a practice that I find morally repugnant?  And if I’m supposed to “tolerate” their worldview, does that mean that I have equal right to expect them to tolerate mine?  To me, the gay agenda seems to be not so much about equal rights as equal acceptance.  Why is this so important to them? I believe that the answer to that question brings up a whole slew of moral issues, which have at their root a need to justify a particular action by some means in order to assuage any feelings of guilt that may arise.

For example, killing is an abhorrent practice – none of us in our right minds would ever say that we want to kill another person, not only because of the social taboo but because there is a strong internal aversion to taking another’s life.  Even under circumstances where killing is justified or necessary, there is a significant emotional upheaval that takes place, and guilt and/or shame is a common expression – even among warriors who are trained in such duties.

So for homosexuals, I believe that a significant number feel or have felt a degree of personal guilt/shame about either their orientation or their actions.  They attempt to rationalize this feeling first by shrugging off the responsibility for their actions – “It’s not my fault; I was made this way!” But it seems as though it is not enough for them to convince themselves of the rightness of their actions – they long for society to give them approval as well.  They label someone as “homophobic” if they continue to disapprove, which conveniently turns the table by identifying their target as suffering from a mental condition, as though I am somehow irrationally scared of someone who is attracted to the same sex.

Ok, that’s about all I can think of at the moment, pressed as I am with schoolwork and my upcoming ordination.  I have endeavored to be as respectful as possible in my comments because, though I may disagree with the beliefs and practices of the homosexual community, I nevertheless respect them as humans and believe that they are just as loved and valued by their Creator as I am.  If you choose to comment, please keep it civil.

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Or anybody in the know I guess.

I recently did a bit of travel and a question occurred to me that I’ve had plenty of times before, but I always forget once I’m done with my traveling.

My most recent trip had 4 legs each way so I guess that helped me to remember to ask. On our takeoff, we would pick up this swaying side to side motion. Sometimes more noticeable than others but usually there. And if my memory serves me, this was just while still on the runway and goes away once all the wheels were off the ground.

I’d love to know what causes that. It seems with all that thrust pointed straight ahead, we wouldn’t be moving sideways so much.

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Thank goodness for my handy dandy site meter!

Mulling through it this last evening last I noticed that someone had spent a fair bit of time and quite a few page views on Free Falling for just coming off a Google image search.

Curious, I clicked on their entry page. And reminisced through this post.

Reminisced to the point that I clicked back over to Kaboom.

Not sure exactly why I went there, perhaps just to hear the Killers once again. But, boy, was I glad I did!

Did you know that Lt G Capt G Matt is blogging again?!

Better even than that (hard to imagine, I know) …. drum roll please … KABOOM (the book) is out.

Finished. Published. Ready to rock and roll. And, of course, read.

So yeah, if case you couldn’t tell, I’m stoked!

Because even though I just ordered (and am awaiting the arrival of) six books from Amazon, now I have another one I need.

As in. I. Need. It. Now. Can’t. Wait.

Must. Find. Money. Tout suite.

Update: If you’re not familiar with Kaboom and are wondering what all the fuss is about, this is your required reading. Because it starts at the beginning of his deployment.

No, you can’t start with what he’s written today (he’s no longer in the military) and work backwards. That simply will never do. And don’t think you can simply sneak off and do that and I’ll never know the difference. I got my eyes on you.

Update II:  So I’m thinking maybe we need to get Matt and Lex talking.  To help Lex figure out exactly how this is done.  Because to have both of them published and in your own personal library … how cool would that be?!

Cross-posted on Free Falling

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