Postcards From Deployment: HOA

Since we made the transit through the Suez about a week ago, we have been hanging around Horn of Africa in support of the anti-piracy task force. I am not completely privy to all the details, but we have been doing such things as supporting the tracking of a couple ships in the similar way that the USN tracked that Egyptian Airliner in 1985. We have also been showing the flag around here to local friendly nations. Other than that the only other thing worthwhile to talk about is seeing live weapons up on the roof for the alerts. That tells me we are in injun country. Since we have come into Indian Ocean it has been flying hard and just working to make sure planes are ready to go for the next day.

Oh, I should mention that even though it is December out here it is something like 90 degrees up on the roof. It isn’t as bad as the summer time out here, but still it sucks that when you come off and enter the A/C you shiver because you realize that you have sweated so heavily. Plenty of Gatorade and water is being consumed by us all, still though you don’t realize how thirsty you are until you actually come in off the roof and want something cold and refreshing to drink. The ship is sponsoring a holiday decorating competition and one of the AIMD spaces put up a cardboard Menorah and simulated lighting the lamps by putting up a new flame. That was something different than the usual Evergreens, Snowmen, and Christmas presents. Our mess officer failed to bring out the fake tree that belong to the Officer Mess. So instead one of the officers went out and bought a small Charlie Brown style fake tree that already had lights strung on it. It was kind of funny to hear the comments about it or see them posted on the white board in our ready room. Beyond that the cruise has settled down into the wake up, fly, fix, eat lunch, shift change, eat dinner, shower and go to bed; repeat for the next 180 days.