The Past Week
Good morning all. Sorry for the lack of updates the last week or so. I have been preparing for a court-martial which is this coming Thursday. Remember kids, cocaine is bad for you. Also, Kerrie had her wisdom teeth taken out on Wednesday. Fun stuff. Besides that, things are great here. And really hot. In case you were wondering, it is just as humid here as it is in Alabama, Louisiana, or (insert any other hot southern state here). Good gracious!
On Monday, I had an "only in DC" experience with the Air Force. The Air Force Chief of Staff was hosting a conference this week for all of the NATO Air Chiefs. The Chiefs all arrived in DC on Monday. I volunteered, along with about 15 other Company Grade Officers (Lieutenants and Captains), to welcome the Chiefs when they arrived at their hotel and be their escort for the evening. Did I mention the hotel was the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City? Very nice place.
I was assigned to the NATO Air Chief from Portugal. He was the equivalent of a 3-star General in our military. Our job was pretty simple. We were to welcome them when they got off the bus, escort them to their room, get them situated, inform them about the events of the evening, and then escort them to a reception. The Portugese General was wonderful and quite excited to be in DC. He also gave me a hard time about never having been to Portugal. When I dropped him off at the reception and said my goodbyes, he thanked me immensely, gave me a big bearhug, and then had his exec (a full-bird Colonel) do the same. Quite different from our customs. He also told me to visit Portugal soon and call him when I got there. His appreciation of me, a lowly little Captain, and what I did, basically getting him situated in his room, blew me away. Also surreal to be in a room with over 15 NATO Air Chiefs, their execs, and a few Air Force Generals (including a 4-star). A definite night to remember.
After their reception, all the Air Chiefs were bussed over to the base for a twilight Tattoo (hit the link below to read about that event). As it turns out, the Portugese Air Chief was the guest of honor of our Chief of Staff, General Jumper. Below is a picture of General Martines (on the left) and General Jumper as they arrived at the Tattoo. About an hour prior to this picture, I was getting a big hug from General Martines. Very cool stuff. The links under the picture are to the articles that appeared in our base paper, The Beam, yesterday. The first article is about the tattoo itself. The other article is about the escorts. You might recognize the guy giving the last quote.
All in all, a very cool night. And I didn't even cause an international incident, which is always a good thing.
Tattoo Article
Company Grade Officer Escort Article
On Monday, I had an "only in DC" experience with the Air Force. The Air Force Chief of Staff was hosting a conference this week for all of the NATO Air Chiefs. The Chiefs all arrived in DC on Monday. I volunteered, along with about 15 other Company Grade Officers (Lieutenants and Captains), to welcome the Chiefs when they arrived at their hotel and be their escort for the evening. Did I mention the hotel was the Ritz-Carlton in Pentagon City? Very nice place.
I was assigned to the NATO Air Chief from Portugal. He was the equivalent of a 3-star General in our military. Our job was pretty simple. We were to welcome them when they got off the bus, escort them to their room, get them situated, inform them about the events of the evening, and then escort them to a reception. The Portugese General was wonderful and quite excited to be in DC. He also gave me a hard time about never having been to Portugal. When I dropped him off at the reception and said my goodbyes, he thanked me immensely, gave me a big bearhug, and then had his exec (a full-bird Colonel) do the same. Quite different from our customs. He also told me to visit Portugal soon and call him when I got there. His appreciation of me, a lowly little Captain, and what I did, basically getting him situated in his room, blew me away. Also surreal to be in a room with over 15 NATO Air Chiefs, their execs, and a few Air Force Generals (including a 4-star). A definite night to remember.
After their reception, all the Air Chiefs were bussed over to the base for a twilight Tattoo (hit the link below to read about that event). As it turns out, the Portugese Air Chief was the guest of honor of our Chief of Staff, General Jumper. Below is a picture of General Martines (on the left) and General Jumper as they arrived at the Tattoo. About an hour prior to this picture, I was getting a big hug from General Martines. Very cool stuff. The links under the picture are to the articles that appeared in our base paper, The Beam, yesterday. The first article is about the tattoo itself. The other article is about the escorts. You might recognize the guy giving the last quote.
All in all, a very cool night. And I didn't even cause an international incident, which is always a good thing.
Tattoo Article
Company Grade Officer Escort Article
posted by The Osborns at 9:12 AM
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