Dobie flies to Germany...


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Europe » Kosovo » East
January 30th 2010
Published: January 31st 2010
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Who would have ever believed they would let me fly a jet? Little Corporal Dobie. The new soldier in KFOR 12. Honestly, I had no training for this kind of thing and that Warrant Officer let me give it a try anyway. This Army gig is absolutely the funnest stuff I’ve ever done and every day seems to be an adventure. The greatest part is, most things I do in a day are such a surprise, and that’s what makes memories that will last a lifetime.

The trip started as a simple three day jaunt over to Heidelberg Germany with a few of my officer friends. Davina and her boss from the logistics arena, the Task Force Administrative Officer (I wrote about her back at Camp Atterbury as the Beltway Princess), and the Task Force Deputy Operations Officer. We also had a Staff Sergeant from the intelligence branch along for the ride to do some other business; of course I didn’t know what his mission was because it seems like everything those people do is a big giant secret. Needless to say they were all very excited to be getting away from Camp Bondsteel. In fact, I heard one of them mention that this was like part of the “Work Release” program. I think sometimes it gets quite confining for them here in Kosovo as all they do is work, eat and sleep. So I knew they would make the most of the trip.

We flew into Germany on a C-12 Huron aircraft which is a light cargo plane that seats 8 or so passengers. We most definitely thought we were living in style. The logistics Lieutenant Colonel thought he was big stuff because he was the commander of a super cool plane instead of just being a passenger on those big military aircraft everybody is so accustomed to riding on! The entire ride took a little over four hours so by the time we landed it was nearly midnight, which meant that morning would be coming pretty quickly.

KFOR 12 has a liaison officer stationed in Germany and he was there to pick us up and get us to our overnight housing. Poor guy is actually from North Dakota but is the only one there in Germany, so he was glad to see us and we were tickled to be hanging out with him. Wow! He found us a darling bed and breakfast just outside Heidelberg and it was so much better than our accommodations at Camp Bondsteel. Not that I would ever complain about the Kosovo living conditions, but Davina was pretty excited to have her very own bathroom that she didn’t have to share with 15 other women. The beds had down comforters, the TV had more than 8 channels available (although it was difficult to find a English speaking channel!), and there was a crisp sweet smell to the air which was a nice change from the stale smoky aroma of Kosovo.

I was able to tag along at the conference with my officers friends which was an experience in itself. Soldiers and Department of Defense Civilians were there from Camp Atterbury Indiana, United States Army European Command, us from KFOR 12, leadership and logisticians from KFOR 13 and even logisticians from KFOR 14. Quite the array of people, all with one thing to do…Figure out all the requirements for training and the transportation of KFOR 13 to their mobilization stations (Indiana and Germany) and finally into Kosovo to replace us. But best part was, Davina and her friends were planning on how to get KFOR 12 home from Kosovo! Yippee! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Officially there is less than six months left of this deployment and the planning couldn’t have started any sooner. Planes were being requested, ships for all the containers full of equipment were ordered and a timeline was tentatively laid out. I learned very quickly that this may have been the most important two days in the world of logistics for KFOR 12. Just the thought of going home brightens most people’s days, but actually being a part of the big picture planning is too exciting.

We all sat around the giant table and tried to stay focused on the never ended slide presentations. What everybody really looked forward to was the breaks. I found out that that is really where most of the good work is done. KFOR 13 would ask questions about all their upcoming training and what was Kosovo really like and KFOR 12 would give them the honest answers about really what to expect and not all the canned responses that would so often surface during the briefings.

After the first day of the conference we all went to the old part of Heidelberg down by the Neckar river, it was quite chilly (about 17 degrees), but it was worth the bone chilling temperatures just to walk freely on the cobblestone streets in our jeans and sweatshirts. Somehow Heidelberg had escaped the bombings of World War II and so the beauty of the city has been preserved for centuries and truly has a fascinating architecture and awe about the sights and sounds.

In the distant background you can hear the distinct wailing sirens of the emergency vehicles as they cross through the city streets and alleys. We saw the bell tower of the Church of the Holy Ghost. It is well over 600 years old and it is said that on a clear day you can climb up the long spiral staircase to the top of the bell tower and outside on the balcony you can view the Alps in the distance. Inside the church is a 15th century tomb of the church’s founder, King Ruprecht I and his wife, and their likenesses are still very distinctly carved into the exterior of the tomb.
The sounds of bells can be heard at different times throughout the day. There are a half dozen church steeples that tower above the multitude of orange and brown rooftops, and from their belfries a symphony of bells echo across the city. If you close your eyes it is as if each one has its own sound and distinct tones. After a few minutes of them all chiming, the sounds become crazy with all of them clanging loudly and furiously, as if a fanatical altar boy was at the end of each rope.

This portion of Heidelberg has tightly clustered buildings and narrow Medieval type streets. You can look over to the Neckar River and view the ancient stone bridges that were constructed hundreds of years ago. The edges of this part of the city are covered with wooded hillsides and the lush giant trees still filled with leaves and pretty green colors. There is something to be said of the romantic feeling of the town. Although the cobblestones can be difficult to walk on, these stones carried us past very unique buildings, some of them dazzled us with multi-colors that had both pastels and the reds and browns of the European postcards. As we looked down the alleys at the buildings that stood along the constricted pathways between the main streets, the buildings on either side were tall and narrow, with the old dwellings packed closely together, windows of old, and rooflines sprouting dormer windows.

I am so glad that Davina and her friends brought me along for this conference. Since the start of this deployment I have now traveled to most parts of Germany and found each region so very intriguing. Not to mention that the food has been absolutely incredible. I could tell that all of them found great joy in eating their dinner meals at the local establishments. Of course, I laughed a few times as they all tried to sound out the words on the menus because everything was written in German. Some things were most definitely a surprise as the waiter brought their orders to them. But nobody complained. It was a nice change to have a choice versus the same thing every day at Camp Bonsteel.

All said and done, the two day conference went very fast and everybody had to go back to where they came from. KFOR 13 headed back to Puerto Rico, KFOR 14 left for New Mexico and my friends had to find their way back to Kosovo. As I watched them pack their bags and say good bye to the wonderful host at the bed and breakfast, I could almost see them start to walk a little slower. Maybe the trip back to Camp Bondsteel wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be. Or maybe the little bit of freedom felt pretty good after having been cooped up for the past six months.

But when they were told that the return flight would take only two hours, they all wondered why the travel time had been reduced considerably. Until they saw it…It was absolutely beautiful! I instantly hopped up onto the wing just to get a picture snapped. This was going to be a once in a lifetime experience for me and I figured a picture would be nice memorabilia. It was as if a commercial in slow motion was being filmed. They casually walked towards that UC-35 Jet Aircraft. Yup, I was gonna ride in a jet!

It was sleek and trim and hollered “Spoiled” as we all took our seats. The headrests were cushy, the chairs tilted back like a recliner and they even moved left and right so that they could get more head room. This was the way to travel! I had arrived and my short time as Corporal Dobie proved that anything can happen if you believe. I believed that this would be the best flight I was ever going to take! …and I was correct! Not only was it comfortable and was the top of the line business jet, but it seemed to fly at the speed of a rocket. The clouds below us just flew by as the pilots took us to our cruising altitude. Then the best thing happened. The pilot waved me up to the cockpit and let me take the controls for a few minutes. I was so nervous and yet I knew that this was my destiny for today. I gazed out the front windshield and the picture was of blue spacious skies and I could see for miles all around me. This was a total blast! No bumps, no air pockets to contend with and not one time did I almost loose control of the plane. Okay, truth be told. I think the Captain of the plane had it on auto-pilot. That didn’t matter much to me, bottom line… I got to fly a jet today!

How was your day?



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