Below is an article that was in the Abilene Reporter News today. I read the headline and my heart sank a little. After reading the article, I just sort of agreed with most of what was said. There's no use getting your feathers in a was over it.
This is what Mike and I are called to do.
Most of you know that Mike has been wanting to retrain as a pilot. Mostly just to get away from the rigorous deployment cycle of the C-130. We were not expecting to get this plane coming out of nav training. Mike put an application in last November for pilot training. We found out a week ago that he did not get accepted.
We are content with that. Since God's answer was "no", we are now able to embrace the fact that our placement in C-130s was God's doing. This is where he wants us.
I don't know why.
Surely there is some other tougher woman that could do this job better. But God chose me to handle the stuff back home while Mike works on the battle/mission field.
Ok. I guess I'll do it :-)
I pulled of yesterday's calendar page off of the desk calendar to reveal today's date and verse.
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Ephesians 4:1
...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
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Here is the article:
DEPENDING ON DYESS
Dyess Air Force Base could play big role in Afghanistan buildup
WASHINGTON -- President Obama's decision to send 17,000 more troops to improve deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan could mean a bigger role for Dyess Air Force Base.
The base is home to transport planes designed to operate in rugged conditions and bombers built to loiter protectively with precision weapons at the ready.
It might be too early to get into specifics about Dyess' role during the troop buildup, but the base is heavily involved in supporting missions in the Middle East, a Dyess official said.
The 317th Airlift Group's C-130 Hercules aircraft and personnel have deployed in and rotated out more than 1,900 days in a row, said Col. Bernard Mater, 317th Airlift Group commander.
"We anticipate that operations tempo to continue," Mater said.
During Valentine's Day weekend the base sent 150 people to relieve 150 who have served nearly 130 days, Mater said in an e-mail. The returning group will be back this weekend.
"Those folks will have some time off, train up and go again in a couple of months to replace those that just replaced them," he said.
Dyess military members have strong connections with operations in Afghanistan and will likely continue that close relationship, Mater said.
"In the past and now, C-130s have conducted airlift missions, some by landing at austere, dirt airfields, others by airdrops from low and high altitude and others landing at the main international airports to deliver personnel, combat supplies, humanitarian assistance, and on occasion medically evacuate injured or ill patients so they can get a higher level of care," he said.
A military expert's explanation of the need for transport during a troop buildup sheds light on the role of Dyess' C-130s.
Increasing the number of troops in theater means the military will need an increased ability to move personnel and supplies ranging from food, medical supplies, ammunition, water, generator equipment and more, said Dakota Wood, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who studies the operational challenges of irregular warfare for the nonprofit Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington.
"The C-130's just a real workhorse," Wood said.
It can also operate on relatively short runways -- unlike the C-17, which needs a more developed airfield, he said.
"I think C-130s will take on increasing importance over time as road networks are increasingly under threat by enemy forces, roadside bombs and ambushes," Wood said.
Moving cargo and troops by air is better when a road network isn't very well developed but troops are in the field, he said.
Mater said Afghanistan's transportation network is developing, much like the rest of the country, and there are remote areas reachable only by air.
But the base's role in Afghanistan isn't limited to the personnel and approximately 33 C-130s in the 39th and 40th airlift squadrons at the base.
The protection provided by the 36 B-1B Lancers and their associated personnel assigned to Dyess' 7th Bomb Wing is the biggest, most enduring contribution, Mater said.
"There will likely be a B-1 overhead 24 hours a day available to quickly support U.S., Afghan and coalition forces who might be attacked in Afghanistan," he said.
The B-1 has also earned the title "workhorse" because the aircraft has become a favorite of commanders in the wars in the Middle East.
The plane is excellent for carrying big payloads of precision-guided bombs to provide on-call air support for troops, Wood said.
"Or if you have a reconnaissance element that's identified an enemy position, rather than approaching that on foot and putting troops at risk if you don't have to, you try to handle that target with some kind of precision fire ... that gives you distance," he said.
"This is not a temporary force uplift," he said. "I can't give an exact number of years that it would be, but I'm trying to look out for the next three to four or five years."
