It's been a Busy Week

We lost another helicopter this week. I was in the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) when one of our birds went "stale". A few minutes later it was reported as a possible Fallen Angel. Then it was definite - one of our helicopters had been shot down. This happened a month after we lost a bird with 12 Soldiers aboard, so there was a serious "pucker factor" involved. The good news in all of this is that the pilots and crew did a heroic job of landing the aircraft and the injuries were minor. It could have, and should have, been much worse. You can read about all the above in open sources, so I'm not violating OPSEC here.

Another night I got a call that one of our Soldiers had IM'd his wife that he was going to "put a bullet in his (sic) brain". Since the Chaplain is the subject matter expert for these types of things, I got the lucky task of being first on the scene. It's always fun walking into a 12 x 12 room to confront a suicidal Soldier who has an automatic weapon and close to three hundred rounds with him. All ended well and the Soldier is getting the help he needs.

Last night I got to my hootch around 2200 and thought, "great! I'll watch some TV and sleep late in the morning!" I should have known better. I had knocks on my door at 0045 and then again at 0200, then had to get up at 0600 to take my Chaplain Assistant to the PAX terminal so he can go on leave.

And you know what? I still love this place and the ministry here. Where else do you get to have this much fun?