[1] [2] [3] [4] Hello BOB,
 
Welcome Doug Barnard!  Doug was my aircraft commander for awhile at Castle and I still recall that the instructors had a great time and the students received great training.  Being in SAC didn’t have to be hard!
 
Thanks to everyone for the thoughts and prayers concerning my father.  They really do help.
 
Chuck, I fully expect to see you on CNN/FOX/CBS/NBC/ABC discussing military issues soon.  Why not?  Your opinion is at least as good as anyone else’s on the news shows.  The

Minot nuke thing is perplexing.  I don’t have a lot of sympathy after being the PRP monitor.  Just dealing with the paperwork of people’s temporary medical suspensions kept me hopping for at least an hour a day.  I can’t imagine the inattention to detail involved in sending warheads without authorization.  John, you must be the busiest retired person around.  With your 100 mile commute, new house, new wife, new school year and personal trainer jobs, you definitely exceed the retiree limits.  AARP will not be happy:)  Congratulations?! on your daughter’s wedding.  I hope great things happen for them.  Andy, is the 8th AF job you are interested in connected to the IW command being fought over by Texas, California and Louisiana?  Jim, researching your family history must be fascinating.  Meeting your distant, unknown relative at the library is incredible.  I agree with your comment on the white top in front of the alert aircraft to make sure everything goes okay.  My brigade commander when I was an ALO who is now LTG Whitcomb used to say that if a commander wants his vehicles to work properly, he has to spend some time at the motor pool.  Bob, if I ever need an attorney, I’d hire you!  Britt, that’s interesting about the Kentucky white squirrels.  I wonder if one of them crossed the border into Ohio and migrated to my mother in laws house.  I imagine the F-35 pilots you train are pretty happy about flying a brand new plane.  Reed, I had to wince while reading about your snow shoveling back injury.  Good luck on the Edwards job.  I remember Tom Jones from another one of his Diego deployments in 2003.  Doug, sounds like you’ve had a great time since retirement!  Congratulations on making it to Europe finally. 
 
Does anyone know if Stan Buelt, Tom Tighe or Eric Johnson ever made it to the airlines?  Any news on them at all?   I just found out that Col John Robinson is CV at Whiteman.  I know that Lance King is looking at a job in Germany too.
 
I’m going to the Whiteman change of command on 14 Sep to see my friend, Gary Harencak, take command from Greg Biscone.  John and Melvin, I’ll say hello for you!  Anybody know why Whiteman is a place where guys who have been successful wing commanders at other bomber bases get another wing command?  It’s obviously considered a step up, but I really don’t know why.  I’m not being sarcastic, just wondering.
 
Lynn and I went to Mike Geasley’s daughter’s wedding (Mike was a friend of mine from Blytheville) in Pensacola on the beach.  I was skeptical of a beach wedding, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Everyone was so laid back and the setting was beautiful.  We also visited the Naval Museum at the NAS and enjoyed it very much.  Even my daughter liked the museum which is very unusual.  My favorite plane was the Corsair - just a beautiful aircraft.  They also had a model of a Breguet XIV B2 with a 96 BS patch on it.  The 96th Daylight Bombing Squadron flew them in World War I.
 
My father has recovered from his urinary tract infection which is a real killer for geriatrics and he actually seems a bit stronger than he was before.  Unfortunately, he just lays in bed now and only responds to questions occasionally.  Some days are better than others, though.  For example when I saw him today and asked how he was, he said, “Okay, son.”  Doesn’t sound like much, but his response showed that he knew how he felt and he at least knew that I was one of his sons.   
 
It’s time to start ramping up for the Tybee (Savannah Beach) Half Marathon in February.  I usually only run 3 miles at a time, but I’ll start adding a mile a week to the daily run.  If anyone is interested in joining in on the half marathon, let me know.
 
Our move to the new apartment is now 2 October.  We’ve had our stuff boxed up for over a month now in preparation, so we’re more than ready to get the move over with.
 
I finished Bruce Catton’s, “Reflections on the Civil War.”  I liked his style so much that I’m reading his “Stillness at Appomattox” now.  I’d like to eventually read the entire Army of the Potomac trilogy (Mr. Lincoln’s War, Glory Road, Stillness at Appomattox).
 
I’ve included a few pictures of our Pensacola trip.  Talk to everyone next month.
 
James