Lt. Col. Wendell Lee Collins

This was a sad week.

Last Sunday, 23 Aug, the world lost a hero, solider, and just a great man. His given government name Wendell Lee Collins. His friends knew him as Lee, I met him as Lt. Col. Collins. He was my ROTC detachment commander at Tulane University for a year and a half. I met him right before I left for field training at the end of my sophmore year. All I knew about him was that he was my going to be my new commander when I got back..., and he was a pilot. When I got back and started school again that semester I met him again. And subsequently was him at least 4 to 5 times a week for the nest years and a half. Col Collins taught me that being in the Air Force is cool. And being a pilot is even cooler. He told us as many stories as he could about his special ops flying days <-- those rocked!

I feel that Col. Collins kinda took me under his wing. I believe that he saw a lot of himself in me. He almost didn't get a pilot slot out of ROTC. I almost didn't get a slot. He went to pilot training at Laughlin AFB. I'm now going to pilot training at Laughlin AFB.

He commissioned me back in January of this year. He said that commissioning 2nd Lt's was the most important part of his job. And I'm just glad that he was able to commission me.

I called him once a week so far in my Air Force career. He was now my friend and mentor. I even called him the Friday before he died. He always sounded happy on the phone. He usually poked a little fun at me at things that I thought was important in life and told me just to calm down. It was always a fun time. he always had a smile on his face. he taught me to follow my dreams. He also reorganized my dreams. He was always honest with me, sometimes brutally.

He was less than a year from retirement.

It's crazy that he spent over 12 years as a special operations helicopter pilot. Has been exposed to live fire, wars, and who knows what other top secret squirrel stuff that he couldn't even talk about.... and he dies in a civilian plane crash! Under the most normal circumstances one would hope for. Life is crazy.

I'm really going to miss Col. Collins.

Fins up (He was a Jimmy Buffet fan.., and a Land Shark beer fan).

You can visit his obituary and virtual guest book at: http://drumfuneralhome.com/

His famous ending words... -"Cheers"

Yawn

That's just an inspirational picture of my next aircraft. The T-6 Texan II

Kristen and I have been back at Laughlin together for a week now. We have been eating out way to much also! I fired up the BBQ pit for the first time since the move....it works.

I've decided to start my own fantasy football league composed of some Lt's from my unit. It's my first time being a commissioner..., and I am PUMPED. It will have 10 teams. I just sent out the first official e-mail about it... I the commish!

My usual schedule around here is to show up at 0830 at my office, check email. leave around 1030. Go and study for about an hour. Come home and meticulously water our lawn. Eat lunch. Watch TV. Go back into the office to check my email once again. Then come home for the day. It's pretty chill over here. Now some Lt's have an assigned job over here..., but I don't. Well, that's sorta true, see, this week I was tapped on the shoulder to participate in some top secret stuff here on base. That was pretty cool. And that is the kind of missions (airplanes) I am looking for after pilot training, so I was pumped up about that. I can't wait till one day when someone asks me about my job and I can really say "I'm sorry, I can't talk about it, top secret ya' know". Haha...awesome.

This will be Kristen and my last weekend by ourselves for a while. Next weekend my dad and wife will be coming over for a visit. Then next will be Kristen's parents, and then finally my mom the following weekend after that. Busy, busy, busy. Not really.

Don't think I am complaining!!! Anyone can come and visit. Just drop me a line and tell me whan you are coming up/down....over.

Update!

I am 86-89% sure that my class date (start of pilot training) will be pushed back to 1 Oct. So that means that we have 3 1/2 more visiting weeks than we thought! So our house is open for visitors...

Back at good old Laughlin AFB

What a great week!
Last weekend I had my first and only "free day". A whole day....free...to do whatever I wanted! I decided to go to garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and the Olympic training center with my buddy Donnie. garden of the Gods was pretty and everything, but maybe its an older people kinda thing. It was just a bunch of rocks. I did, although, think that the rock climbers were pretty darn cool (I tried).

The Olympic training center was another letdown. Its a complete complex where Olympians and hopefuls live, eat, and train. USA rocks! We went on the tour, which lasted all of 15 minutes...bummer. We saw where Olympians would train, but there were none there! All we saw was the pool where Phelps did train, and some synchronized swimmers walking around. Oh well, maybe I was expecting a lot more.

On Monday I stated the week by soloing my aircraft. That was awesome. I felt just........in control. Duh. Anyway, it was one of the coolest things ever. There is an Air Force tradition where you give the pilot of your first ride in an aircraft a dollar. So your first ride in an airplane is called your "dollar ride". You are supposed to give your IP (instructor pilot) a dollar with some sort of picture, phrase, or comment on it. Some people get creative with their dollars, and some don't. Well, I had to get creative with mine.

On Tuesday I had my pre-check. It was very nerve racking, but I did well and passed. On to Wednesday now......THE CHECK RIDE. All the marbles. I was so nervous that day. And to add to it, my day started with a 0540 brief tome, and my checkride was not until 1612 (4:12pm)!!! I was so exhausted by that time. But..., I passed. Wheew.

On Thursday I drove to Roswell, NM with two other Lt's. And today when we woke up (hungover), we went to the alien museum. I was expecting way to much! The museum sucked. But I got some OK pictures

Then we drove back to Laughlin this afternoon. kristen had dinner waiting for me when I got back. How awesome! And...., my favorite, chicken lasagna!

Well, as for me now its back to the same old same old over here for a couple more weeks. I start pilot training on 8 Sep. So, if anyone wants to come and visit, I would suggest doing it between now and 8 Sep! First come first serve.

Just a couple of days left in Colorado

This was a good week. This was my second week flying. The first week dragged on and I felt that I was behind the learning curve. This week I felt like I had a chance to catch up and get in front of the curve.
I drove to Colorado Springs last Sunday to go to mass at the Air Force Academy. The chapel looks is the iconic building on the campus. It was beautiful..., and kinda scary. The Catholic church is in the basement....that kinda sucked.
I could never imagine going there for college. Every cadet that I saw there was in uniform and looked scared just to be there. To be fair it was mostly freshman and school was just starting this week so they were in the midst of being hazed I'm sure. I had fun in college, and they get hazed and wear uniforms.... Different strokes for different folks. Anyway, the campus was beautiful! It is so pretty, especially coming from New Orleans. New Orleans has a lot to offer, but no mountains! The scenery is just so picturesque.
This week I flew the "bulk" of my flights (Like the "main" ones). This week I completed all of my flights with a grade of "fair" or better...which is the standard.
The Lt's here are smart! I have been studying my butt off for our quizzes and tests. We have taken 11 quizes, and 3 tests. I have an average score of 96.01%..... WOW!!! That sounds pretty good huh? Not really, with that score I am ranked 43 out of 78 Lt's academically here! There is some serious competition, type A personalities, and brains here.
All I have next week is Mon-my solo, Tue-Pre check ride, Wed-Check ride, and Thursday I'll be driving home (and see my beautiful wife). Please pray that I do well this coming week. Every time that I go up in the air there is extreme pressure and I just pray and study and try my best for good grades.
Tonight (Friday), we had our solo party at Buffalo Wild Wings. Two guys in my flight finished up today (lucky dogs). A few more are finishing up on Monday, a few more on Tuesday, and so on. I'm about in the middle of the pack....Which is damn good enough!
Tomorrow I am taking off and going to Colorado Springs again. This time to go and visit the Olympic training center <-----For some reason all of those athaletes to me are just awesome and I want to see where we train them.
This last picture is stolen from my base's website. I competed in my base's biathlon. It was fun, but short. I'm in the back with white and blue glasses on.

Pueblo, CO

Things are crazy over here. I guess the Air Force doesn't just give away pilots wings after all....

This is a challenging program over here. My day starts everyday at 0420 and ends at 1600. It's a LONG day. I fly once a day, usually around 0745. Then I debrief, and sit in others debriefs. I usually learn what my flight profile will be the next day and start planning for that. I have to PT and eat lunch. Then after 1600 I usually study till about 1900. Then its shower and bed. It's tough.
We are tested and re-tested over here. I started flying last Monday. I got airsick the first three flights (that sucked). I had to go and see a doctor everyday. I am better now....I think. At least.., I didn't get sick on Thursday and Friday. Some others are still getting sick, so it's not just me. I think that my body had to get used to flying again, and maybe stress too.
I am doing average over here. They tell me that my flying is good (which makes my head big), but my procedural knowledge is not up to par yet. It'll get there though. Don't worry. A couple of guys already quit over here! I'm not going to do that, I just wanted to point out that it's stressful. Usually it's a 15% attrition rate over here. So the weeding out process continues.

The Air Force spends an average of 2 million dollars worth of training dollars per pilot, so they want to make sure that they are spending their money wisely I guess. If you don't meet standards then they let you go. It's tough.., but it's up to each wanna-be pilot to study and do well.
I live, eat, sleep, and work in the same building. My room has no windows. I don't watch TV except for Big Brother. I don't listen to the radio. It's pretty hardcore over here. I DO eat very well over here! I DO go to Wal-Mart every couple of days to re-acclimate myself to society.
This is my flight during our hot wash. We have one of these everyday and just discuss what we learned that might be beneficial to talk about and maybe others won't make those same mistakes.
Here is a pic of the mighty Diamond Katana (DA-20). It looks like I'll be soloing this Friday 7 Aug, and finishing up here about Thursday 13 Aug.
It just so happened that my dad and Yaz were in Denver last weekend so we were able to meet up and have lunch. That was cool. We also went and drove around the Air Force Academy (pictured above).