SE Region First 2016 Event

[cbooton]

I, Bob Schmidt and my buddy Doug Brim filled the ranks for the SE Region. We enjoyed an educational and prideful tour of some of the military might found on our beautiful Gulf Coast. We started off at the USAF Armament Museum near Eglin AFB, enjoyed the Korean bulgogi special at the Hurlburt Field golf course and viewed the Special Operations aircraft on static display. Doug was a pioneer in USAF spec ops aviation as he was a maintainer on some of those airplanes and recognized tail numbers. Unfortunately our F-35 tour fell through due to USN priorities, but an old USAF buddy Rory Skelly gave us a marvelous tour of the AC-130 gunship and the CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor. Y'all missed a mighty heapin' helpin' of southern hospitality! Bob was truly overwhelmed and we both agreed that we'll reschedule another gathering in the near future.

Bob got to play attack, fighter, and gunship pilot. Couldn't find any quarter slot, so we made swoosh, kaboom and rat-a-tat noises to his immediate satisfaction!

 

[rgschmi]

It was an awesome day, thanks to Charlie and his buds! Probably just as well the F-35 tour fell through as I was pretty overwhelmed by day's end. The gunship tour won a close first palce for me. Seeing a 105mm Howitzer mounted in an airplane is a pretty amazing site, especially when you see the tight quarters they have to operate in. And this ship was being prepared for a practice mission that night. No 'static display' here!

Thanks again, Charlie!