Stuck on the boat

One of the more unique parts of my job is how every 6-weeks, I head off to an aircraft carrier to qualify a handful of student naval aviators in the art of landing a jet on a moving boat. Most of the time this a few day event that involves a little fun in Jacksonville, a day or two on the carrier and then back to Tracey, Marin, Muzzy and Calvin in Mississippi. We call them Boat Dets and I always have fun. The carrier taken in small doses is great fun. The food is cheap ($10 a day and yes all the officers pay to eat on the carrier), the jokes are all old and still funny, and everybody likes getting a couple of day traps.
Last Thursday was kicked off another of these boat dets that, because of Tropical Storm Fay, moved from Jacksonville to Virginia Beach. That is one of the nice things about the boat, it moves wherever you need it. I flew on to the USS Eisenhower on Friday, getting a couple of traps, and then began the job of coaching the students. I had 6 students who I had been instructing and literally watching land at the field in Meridian for the last 4 weeks. I had a feeling that all of them would qualify and all of them did—a few intense moments notwithstanding. Before leaving Meridian, I spiced it up with a few bets on how well they would do…the house typically wins those.
All was going well and I expected to be home today, but the ship needed someone to stay aboard to “catch” some planned C-2 arrivals in the coming days. So here I am day 5 of a 3 day boat det. All of the planned C-2s have arrived, but my requirement extends until Thursday. It is certainly not the most fun in the world out here, but I have a great stateroom, computer access, 4 meals a day, 8 channels of cable and some good reading. I miss the girls (but not Cal) and look forward to the holiday weekend.

Special Message for Grandma Pile

Quick Visit to North Carolina

This past week, I had the chance to visit the Mimms' place near Pinehurst, NC. It was a great stop as we (a fellow Meridian pilot and I) were treated to a cruise around the lake, along with some swimming and then a tour of the local watering holes. It had been a few years since I had seen both U. Al and A. Chris and so it was long overdue. Here are some photos on the front porch of their really cool house. Chandra's daughter, Christine, is also pictured.