OJE - Off to the Med!

 Monday & Tuesday, March 11 & 12, 1996

I didn’t sleep at all! I ran 3 miles after dinner and then made what I thought was decaf coffee and I think the combination of a really screwed up circadian clock, caffeine, and enhanced metabolic rate served to keep me wide awake. Six hours of tossing and turning and staring at the ceiling! At 2:50 AM, I really felt agony.

The day was that and more. We flew down to Aviano, dropped cargo off and got some more. While the Loadmasters (Archie Branton, Mark Tarnowski) loaded, Dale Hoth (F.E.), Daryl Hartman, Conrad Witalis (pilots) and I went over to the snack bar near the flight line, for cappuccinos. By this time, I’m a hurting dog.  The effects of being awake over 24 hours again is kicking in. I looked and felt like dog shit. The guys were making sure I suffered in public too: they dragged me incessantly! At that point I didn’t really care too much. I was just enduring the pain.

The weather in Aviano was clear and cold – the mountains were magnificent! I found Polcinego on the chart, but on the approach in, I failed to ID the town. Too many clusters of villages with staples to pick one out without a little time and concentration. I would love to have a little time here to grab a car and drive out there. See the house; Polcinego; go see if the Brevins were still there…

Tuesday... 

We took off out of Aviano around 10:30 and flew down to the eastern coast of Italy to Brindisi, and then out over the water to Greece to an airfield on the far western tip of the Peloponnesian archipelago called Araxos. It was rainy and cold when we got there, so we pretty much sat in the airplane while they reloaded. I did go outside and walk around the plane, just to be able to say I’ve been in Greece. It wasn’t much, but it was something. I did the same thing in Sarajevo last time. I was there: “Been there - done that!”

After the upload, we flew back the way we came, all the way back to Aviano to spend the night. We got in just after sunset so there wasn’t much to see of the local countryside. As is usually the case on these trips, we called about 100 miles (25 minutes) out and reminded them we were coming. When we got into parking, we still had to wait a good half hour in the cold for a bus to pick us up. Then they drove us to the support area where the billeting office and O-club is, just to be told we had to go over to Pordenone to the east! So, we didn’t get to the hotel until about 8:15 PM. Stayed at the Park Hotel.

For dinner, we walked down the street to a small pizzeria where we had the place all to ourselves. I had a nice plate of Spaghetti Bolognese and some red wine. It was delicious. Very nice way to start off a trip!