Evening Quickie #soldierporn: Big load. As seen through a night-vision device, U.S. soldiers work with CH-47 Chinook helicopter crews during a sling-load operation on Jalalabad Airfield in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, May 10, 2013. The helicopter crews are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, and the soldiers are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team. High-res

Evening Quickie #soldierporn: Big load.

As seen through a night-vision device, U.S. soldiers work with CH-47 Chinook helicopter crews during a sling-load operation on Jalalabad Airfield in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, May 10, 2013. The helicopter crews are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, and the soldiers are assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

SOLDIER STORIES: Kentucky Fried Chicken Done Right.

third-round-charm:

This evening, my roommate and I were swimming in a river off 31W (Dixie Highway) extremely close to Fort Knox. It was actually part of an old training lane that hasn’t been used since the 80s, and the river is amazingly clear back there.

As we’re drying off near the Jeep and getting ready to leave, we hear a helicopter. I joke about how it’s the DNR coming to get us, because we’re on federal property and we had a good laugh. We start driving down the dirt road, back to the highway, and we notice an Apache passing by on our 12 o’clock. We realize he’s circling us. hahaha

So he keeps circling as we’re driving (it’s a good 6 miles back to the main road) and he’s getting closer and closer. Brian is freaking out, thinking we’re in trouble, or they’re running a training exercise on that road, and a convoy is about to come smashing into us headfirst… I’m just laughing and craning my neck, trying to see the bird.

Next thing we know, he’s flying parallel to us, and I see him. He’s flying about 30 meters to our 3 o’clock. I throw up the rock fist, and he tips his wings at us. Instant relief hits both of us, and we know it’s game on. Brian punches it, and peels off on the dirt road. We hit a turn and almost spin out of control on the rocks, but he regains control. Whitesnake comes on the radio and I turn it up. We’re both screaming and laughing.

We thought we lost him since he peeled off, but about 10 seconds later, he’s swinging in to our 12, coming in like he’s landing. Every fucking piece of equipment that attack helicopter had on it was facing directly at us. We came face to fucking face with the full might of the American military, and it was the most terrifyingly amazing experience ever. So terrifying, we forgot that he was playing with us, and we about shit our pants.

Brian slows down and comes to a dead stop, but the pilot swoops us, buzzing past the roof. The fucking Jeep shook in the rotor wash. We instantly remember he’s playing with us, and we punch it again, but the exciting game is over. He won, and he knew it. We got back on the highway, and he returned to his normal flight pattern/training exercise/whatever he was doing when he spotted our vehicle.

In my fright and awe, I was able to take these horrible pictures:
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Most amazing experience of my whole career. We played chicken with a fucking Apache.

Shrike arrest. An F/A-18C Hornet makes an arrested landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the Pacific Ocean, May 9, 2013. The Vinson and Carrier Air Wing 17 are currently underway off the coast of Southern California conducting flight operations. The aircraft is part of the Mighty Shrikes of Strike Fighter Squadron 94. High-res

Shrike arrest.

An F/A-18C Hornet makes an arrested landing on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the Pacific Ocean, May 9, 2013. The Vinson and Carrier Air Wing 17 are currently underway off the coast of Southern California conducting flight operations. The aircraft is part of the Mighty Shrikes of Strike Fighter Squadron 94.

Chinook: n. a warm, dry wind that blows down the east side of the Rockies at the end of winter.

Soldiers of Bravo Company, 81st Civil Affairs Battalion hook a container to a Chinook for slingload transport to Bagram Air Field.

(Videographer Specialist Patrick Wolfe, 22 APR 2013.)

[You get a pretty good idea of how much the volume is turned down (to account for rotorwash noise) in this clip at the end when the soldiers’ voices are (just barely) heard. -R]

It’s called a Chinook for a reason. Soldiers of Company C “Chaos”, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, Combined Task Force 4-2 and Weapons Company, 6th Kandak, 205th Afghan National Army prepare to load onto a CH-47 Chinook helicopter near the Kheybari Ghar ridgeline in the Panjwa’i District of Afghanistan as part of “Operation Rising Sun III.” The joint team traversed more than 32 kilometers of terrain while searching 82 Kuchi camps and 12 structures of interest. (Photo by Sgt. Kimberly Hackbarth, 4th SBCT, 2nd Inf. Div. Public Affairs Office, 4 MAY 2013.) High-res

It’s called a Chinook for a reason.

Soldiers of Company C “Chaos”, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, Combined Task Force 4-2 and Weapons Company, 6th Kandak, 205th Afghan National Army prepare to load onto a CH-47 Chinook helicopter near the Kheybari Ghar ridgeline in the Panjwa’i District of Afghanistan as part of “Operation Rising Sun III.” The joint team traversed more than 32 kilometers of terrain while searching 82 Kuchi camps and 12 structures of interest.

(Photo by Sgt. Kimberly Hackbarth, 4th SBCT, 2nd Inf. Div. Public Affairs Office, 4 MAY 2013.)

Jersey Alexandria in green.

Soldiers assigned to 426th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, work with CH-47 Chinook crews from to 101st Combat Aviation Brigade during a sling load operation on Jalalabad Airfield, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. The soldiers prepare the sling in order to support of current logistical operation in Regional Command East-Afghanistan.

(Photos by Spc. Vang Seng Thao, 10 MAY 2013.)

Whoomp, there it is. graviton1066: A long way homeAn A-10 Thunderbolt II flies off the wing of a KC-135 Stratotanker during a coronet mission over Egypt, Oct. 12, 2012. The A-10 is from the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing and the KC-135 is from 100th Air Refueling Wing at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. A coronet is when an aerial refueling tanker escorts fighters over long distances, regularly topping off their fuel tanks along the way. The 188th FW aircrew was returning home from a deployment to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Austin M. May) High-res

Whoomp, there it is.

graviton1066:

A long way home

An A-10 Thunderbolt II flies off the wing of a KC-135 Stratotanker during a coronet mission over Egypt, Oct. 12, 2012. The A-10 is from the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing and the KC-135 is from 100th Air Refueling Wing at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. A coronet is when an aerial refueling tanker escorts fighters over long distances, regularly topping off their fuel tanks along the way. The 188th FW aircrew was returning home from a deployment to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Austin M. May)