Travel Note 27 June 2008

I have been remiss in not keeping up with my travels! Since the last time I posted I have been back to Taiwan to finish up the squadron at Hualein and I spent a couple of weeks at Aviano Air Base in Italy near Venice getting the US F-16 pilots there started with their Link 16 integration . I also spent a couple of weeks at King Faisal Air Base in Saudi Arabia beginning the fielding efforts there for the F-15 squadrons. In the mean time a new contract took affect at Hanscom which put us all within the same company so we all work for Jacobs Technology now. The transition has been, shall we say, less than completely smooth. I almost didn't turn down one or two opportunities and the door remains slightly more than slightly ajar!



My last trip, which was only a week after being in Italy, was to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia where we are training Saudi F-15 pilots at King Faisal Air Base. I've been in the kingdom three times before to help lay the groundwork for facilitating the training but this time was spent actually getting them trained and start them flying the jets in an actual network. With the help of my teammates we were able to get them off to a good start and helped them get the first Saudi airborne Link 16 networks established. Of course there were the standard mistakes but the learning curve was steep and they were consistently able to get the entire flight in the network.



I spent a weekend there and had the opportunity to tag along with a couple of Air Force F-15 pilots, who were helping with simulator training, as they set out on an adventure to explore the coast and parts of the desert. I'm not sure exactly where we went but we ventured north of Tabuk and then out to the west to the Red Sea. It was a clear day so we could see the Sinai and we ventured north a few miles to a windy ravine that Moses was supposed to have traversed. We worked our way south to a small inlet where a Catalina flying boat had force-landed in WW II and was still sitting on the beach. It is amazing how undeveloped the area is. Anywhere in the west it would have been lined with tourist resorts! We sped across the desert to return to Tabuk to finish the day trip.

Just before leaving I was privileged to be invited to the going away bash for the US pilot who had spent the last year at Tabuk as a sort of advisor. Lots of meeting and greeting and a rather expansive feast!

So now I have returned to Tabuk to continue training the Saudi F-15 pilots. Our manning is a little thin so I'm hear by myself but with the assistance of one of our ground station techs who was scrambled out here at the last minute because of some visa issues. But he's a travelin' fool so he takes it all in stride. The Saudi general in charge of their Link 16 program will be visiting to see how things are going so we'll try to put on a good show. There are still some challenges ahead as they learn how to interface with the Saudi AWACS and host other Link 16 platforms at Tabuk. Meanwhile, the forecast is for lots of sun and, since summer is upon us, heat! I think the high this week is supposed to get up to 109. But it's a dry heat!

As we speak I listen to the call to prayer blairing over the loudspeakers across the street. At least the guy doing it today can carry a tune and it doesn't hurt too bad to listen to. I've gotten so that it doesn't wake me up at night!

As always, no matter where I am, I look forward to getting home, especially since my oldest one leaves for college soon. Of course that's a different subject...