April 1, 1995
Just finished up a rather unique UTA weekend. It was unique in that we did things I haven’t attempted in the five previous years here.
Saturday.
We had an exercise where we practiced engine- running on loads and offloads - the things we will probably spend most of our time doing if a war ever does break out. Airdrops, as far as I can tell, would be few and far between, unless someone gets in trouble, or the army decides it wants to do something in a hurry.
First, a low level up to Franklin PA, which is in west central PA. Landed on a short runway, taxied in and loaded up a vehicle/tractor hybrid. I don’t know who scheduled timing, but we were loaded and ready to takeoff for Pittsburgh four hours before the schedule allowed.
Having no desire to sit on the ground and clutter the ramp space with our presence that would cause problems for following sorties, we decided to take off and kill time in the air.
We flew low level, following the Allegheny River northwest for about 50 miles to Tionesta, then headed west towards Youngstown. About halfway to Youngstown, we decided we still needed to kill more time, so we flew up to Erie for a couple ASR (Approach Surveillance Radar - ground controller guided, using radar) low approaches. It was the first time I’ve been to Erie, so it was nice to see some of that area by air. The weather was beautiful north of Pittsburgh, so it was easy to do whatever we wanted.
Finally, we headed the 15 minutes down to Youngstown, where we'd do a low approach for Henry Uyeda, (one of our copilots, a real character), and then we’d head on our way back to Pitt. On our way into Youngstown, I suggested we call up their Command Post to ask for political asylum, and jobs; offering to turn over our C-130 as a bargaining chip; everyone laughed, but passed on the idea (I was only half joking…).
Back at the ‘Burgh, we landed, did our engine running offload (ERO), and were still half an hour ahead of schedule. (Again, who schedules these things?)
After the crew change, the rest of the UTA just dragged. I spent an hour or so posting another massive change to the –1 ( C-130 Flight Manual), but I gave up on posting the supplements. I was falling asleep as it was. I needed to keep my heart pumping long enough to make it to ‘sign out.’
Joe Poznik called in and ask if I could reschedule my Sunday UTA to work the BRAC over at ‘Coalition’ (The Coalition to Preserve a Military Presence in Western Pennsylvania) HQ. I had a few reservations; cashflow for one! iI I'm going to reschedule the Sunday of a UTA. I will be working for free, and have to make it up on a different day/night. I have a tough enough time scrounging free days as it is, and adding another one does nothing but give me more time away from home. But, I figure I needed to do my part to keep the base open.
Turns out someone felt generous and we signed out early, so I grabbed the gym bag I brought with me and headed down to the gym where I did my 30-minute aerobic workout: Six minutes on the bike, 18 minutes on the stepper, six minutes on the bike. I wanted to use the rower, but it was out of operation for the day.
Upon arrival at the home front, I found an exhausted Laura, and a message from her parents that they wanted me to play Bridge. I don’t know why, but Laura said to go ahead; so I went over and played Bridge (tried) after the kids had their bath and were close to being sent to bed.
Life is pretty hectic these days. planned or not.
