We have lift off

So this is a video of a 53 taking off. Notice how the blades elevate right before takeoff. Hope you enjoy. Andrew, this is for you.

If the shoe fits

WARNING!!! If you are my wife or my mother, as you continue reading this, remember that time heals all and that not everything lasts forever...

These are us enjoying the Orange brownies that were sent to us. I gave some to my friends and they were thoroughly impressed.
Smith, Partridge, Tony and Mike Crandall

The action shot of us eating. Can't you almost taste the orangy goodness? For recipes ask Shannon or my parents. Believe me you'll want to.

So, though I previously showed you some faux horseshoe pictures, now you are getting the full monty. It used to be that the horseshoe was an appropriate Marine Corps haircut. it followed the guidlines of maximum and minimum length, appropriate taper and shaven at the bottom. However, it was also the ugliest thing ever. So the Marine Corps identified it by name and outlawed it. However, Sailors don't usually like ugly haircuts so it has never been a problem for us. This differing set of rules creates a perfect storm, if you will, for me to show how "motivated" I am. As I am allowed to "sport" this egregious sculpting of hair and the Marines aren't, I am giving hope to all those who wish they could disfigure their bodies as proudly and purposefuly, as I have done.

As I mentioned in the intro, this in time will heal. Until then, Semper Fi!

I would like to thank my family who spearheaded the sending of packages to me with reinforced contributions from the Heath's, Zimmermen, Rice's, Melanie and Elizabeth and of course the Shannon Crandall Bountiful contingency. The box was great. It had plenty of home cooked goods including orange brownies, cookies and other treats. Everybody wants to be my friend all of a sudden. It may be the cookies but it may also be that they want to gt their hands on that SLC 5 K tee shirt. The cookies, perhaps. That blue piece of Salt Lake athletic Americana, probably.

Nothing says Christmas like orange sticks.

Af-ghan-is-tan. You can say it and now see it thanks to that great map.

Chief and I at the entrance to Camp Leatherneck. Leatherneck is the slums, while we live in a gated community called Camp Bastion. It is cleaner, nicer, friendlier and less dusty (if that is possible). Leatherneck (LNK for short) has only one redeeming quality. Wi FI. But even that is slow.

The heavy equipment is not so impressive but take a look at the dust just floating in the air. Sitting there like the black plague. I am sure I will end up with silicosis one day.

Tactical Vehicles

I know I have plenty of pictures of vehicles but recently I found a couple cool ones so I thought you could use some more. We use the word tactical when we mean something you can fight in or is equipped to work in a dangerous area. The term tactical may not be the right word for all of these vehicles.

This is my friend Kevan. He is my dad's favorite Marine. He is standing on a large vehicle which carries water and sprays the ground. Its name escapes me. It is used in earthmoving to and construction, to water the ground to help compact it and prep it to build something on top of it. I would call this tactical. It is correctly painted though the bulletproof glass is no longer attached.

These are Danish the left says Rambo, the middle chuck and the right John (as in John Rambo). We get a kick out of these every time we see them. They look tactical but something about American movie stars that make it seem less than safe.

Chief and HM1 Del. I don't know about this British vehicle. Looks great to go off roading and maybe hunting. I don't want to be in it when someone starts shooting though.

As close to any action as I will ever get.

Chief in the other British vehicle. Similar to the first but this one I would love to own much more. Kind of reminds me of something out of a movie.

Hey ya'll. It rained semi seriously today and thought it would be a good time for a blog. First, the rain had that rain smell which was quite refreshing. It also foreshadowed some seriously muddy conditions in the futuere when we get some significant rain. Apparently the rainy season can be fairly extreme so we are preparing with sandbags around the tents. It is hoped the rain will not slow down the construction and work we are doing out here.

After it stopped raining for a while these beautiful cloud and light visions opened so I tried to get a good picture of them.

I love the light beaming through the clouds like fingers prying them apart to let us see heaven.

The panoramics I have taken are hit or miss. I think this one is more hit. The one that was more miss did not appear on the blog.

A line of 53's I took some time ago. I just can't get enough of pictures of aircraft. This must be why I joined the Navy.

So, in honor of black Friday I took these pictures at our bazaar (misspelled? It is funny because there are only three tents where guys try to charge me 25 dollars for fake Oakley's or some very poorly made wood carving. You can talk them down but when you are just selling junk, what's the point?)
Hooka's anyone?

I think my hat is a desert fox. Growl. I might need a rabies shot.

This is a sweet Gurkha vehicle. Dangerous as it has an open cabin and all will likely die if they hit an IED. Not a comforting thought but the Brits do things a little differently. If this were your offroading vehicle however, watch out. I would totally buy this. Also not the Ma Deuce (50 Cal.) on top and I think a 240 at the front.

We diagnosed this as shingles. If treated in the first 72 hours likely will not have chronic pain related with illness. If you don't treat in 72 hours you are more likely to have worse sequelae. He is doing great, as he was treated early. That is your medical tip of the day-brought to you by Valtrex, not only for genital herpes but for herpes Zoster (shingles) as well. Our slogan "if it burns then it's our turn".

More Dwyer Pics

A Beautiful? sunset. The Flight line obscured by dust (not fog) is to the right.

I love that despite our Austere conditions some creature comforts, like hair cutting gowns, are always appropriate.

Two of our aircraft refuelers about to refuel those two CH 53's in the distance.

This is the remnants of a DASH. It is a very uparmored vehicle meant to protect Marines. In this case it did. It, however, did not survivie the IED blast. The vehicles protect those inside and that is most important. Though the cost of this war is astronomical, I will say that our government does a good job to protect its Marines and Sailors.