من مكان غير معلوم في جنوب غرب آسيا...

or if you don't do Arabic...

From an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia...
(for some reason Google flipped the Arabic. It should be read right to left...)

So I'm about halfway through this deployment and have some pictures and videos to post. We have been flying a lot but we also have a day off here and there. The temperature over here for the most part has been great. Mid to upper 70s and sunny. Recently it has been very windy, gusting up to about 40 mph. That makes it cold at night, even though it is a desert. Part of my daily routine over here is the gym, food, shower, fly, eat, land, eat, sleep, and repeat :) While it sounds boring this trip has been going very quick. Me and my crew are flying nights so we take off in one day and land in the next, so that might help time appear to go faster. I also am taking two masters classes while I am out here. I just finished one up today and have about 60 percent left in the other.

I enjoy getting on here and watching the videos and pics Lindsey puts up here to keep up with her, Avery, and the dogs. I cannot believe he has a mouthful of teeth and is standing up in his bed. He will probably be running around when I get back.

Ok, now on to the pictures. We have been flying nights so most are at night, but I have some good day pics as well as a neat video which I'll save til the end...

I saw this outside a guy's door. I hope he likes Cheerio's.

It is a bonus to heat up food on the jet. We always hope for a working oven. Little victories.

Yes that is a plane, but can you guess which one...(hint F15)

An oil refinery, this sortie was a long one. Notice it is daylight outside :)

Carlo, my AC, snapped this one while we were getting our tan on. We do swim laps while we are there.

That is what the stop signs look like over here, lovingly referred to as "two men in a canoe."

The guy missing a foot is Carlo.

Dubai International

Mail day is the best!

If we need a pick me-up we grab a coffee before we fly. It is actually good.

Downtown Dubai.

Straight down the runway at Dubai.

All those lights are on oil tankers just sitting in the Gulf waiting to head out to sea. I counted well over 100.

Riding in style in the back of the bus to work.

They have a 72 hour laundry service. They fold it all nicely and pack it up for you. There are little tags you have to pull off, but it beats doing your own!

Chow hall.

Bus stop.

Inside the chow hall.

Dinner! The food is actually pretty good for the most part and they have fresh fruit. Kiwi's and bananas are my favorite.

Outside of our trailer.

My room.

My Room. Best set up I have had.

This is my video of some St. Elmo's fire we had during flight. Totally harmless, but neat to see. Unfortunately, I put the camera up right before the best of it.

Here is a quick synopsis of what St. Elmo's Fire is if you don't already know...

What is St. Elmo's Fire?


Last but not least is what a tanker looks like at night taking off in full afterburner :) I know there may be critics out there, but hey...

Enjoy!

- Phil