Here's a few pics from the Tri. A local helicopter finishing company in Blountville finished some Bell Jet Rangers for the Columbian Air Force. As if that wasn't bizarre enough, a C-17 from the 437th Wing at Charleston A.F.B., SC ( my old unit) came to the Tri to transport the copters to Columbia.

Ya just never know what you will see at Tri-Cities Regional Airport.

Later.

I just came across this image. I thought it was really good, and just wanted to post it.

O.K., here is a pic of my Jeep. What a cool vehicle! Who doesn't love a Jeep?

Anyway, just a short post to say 'hi' to anyone reading this lame-ass blog.

TTYL

Kev

Hey guys, I'm still here. I haven't posted much lately. Everything is going well at the TRI, & I am extremely thankful for my job there, considering all the B.S. that is going on at the Carter County Sheriff's Dept. I guess I should correct myself: it is now the 'Carter Co. Sheriff's Office'. The Department is being totally destroyed from the inside out.

Anyway, that is not my cross to bear. I just wanted to post a little something, since I have been somewhat inactive lately. If anyone reads this lame-ass blog, I hope that you are doing well, also.

I'll try to be a little more active on here. Peace, out.

Tombstone - Smokewagon

You gotta love "Tombstone"!

I haven't updated in a couple of weeks, and this update is probably kinda somber.

Yesterday, Rusti told me that they had 'un-veiled' or opened part of the new Veteran's Wall in Elizabethton, and that they had placed my and my Dad's 'bricks' side-by-side. She said that she about cried when she saw it.

We went down there and took a couple of pics. I really don't know how the 'bricks' were placed, because they were not strictly alphabetical. It did, however, make me proud that Dad & I will be on that wall together for many, many years. I called Mom and told her about it, and she cried. She told me that Dad had anticipated the Memorial in the worst way, and that he really wanted to see it completed. It is just a shame that he passed away before he got to see his 'brick'. I feel like he would've been proud, also, that he and I were placed side by side.

Dad - If you have internet access in Heaven, I hope you read this. I continue to miss ya, buddy! I still can't believe you are gone, but I know you are in a better place, and I know this is a stronger country for the service you rendered in the United States Navy!

That's all I have to say about that.

Here is the sign for the Trolley Square Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. Trolley Square Mall is a very unique mall, Sitting in the Downtown Area, and made up of inter-connected old, refurbished buildings from an earlier age. It is also the site of a tragic shooting that occurred last year, when an active shooter entered the Mall and started taking shots. He was eventually taken down by an off-duty Ogden Police Officer.

Trolley Square Mall is also the site of the Hard Rock Cafe in Salt Lake City. Steve Terry (the guy that was with me from the Tri-Cities Regional Airport Dept. of Public Safety) and I ate there one night. The food was excellent, and the memorabillia collection was awesome. I have a 'thing' for the Hard Rock Cafe, and try to visit every one that I get a chance to. I'd love to go to the 'Original' Hard Rock in London. Someday, I'd like to take Rusti to Salt Lake City. It is such a city of contrasts. A very, very unusual place.

The other pic that I'm gonna post is another from our Night Burn at A.A.R.F. School. I am approximately the second from the right. What a cold night....

Hey everybody. Here is a pic of me on the ramp at Salt Lake City International Airport. The mountains out there were absolutely gorgeous. They were snow capped, and appeared to be devoid of any vegetation. A lot different from our mountains here in East Tennessee.

A.R.F.F. School is done and over with, and now comes the challenge of getting really proficient with it. The basic school taught me some valuable skills, but it also taught me how much I still have to learn. Maybe at some point, I can get the advanced school.

At the SLC school, they use Oshkosh Striker apparatus. Thanks to my Lt., I got plenty of wheel time in our E-One Titans, prior to going there. I will definitely have to say that I like our E-One's alot better than the Oshkosh rigs. The only thing that the Oshkosh rigs have going for them, is that they hold twice the fire-fighting agents. The controls on the E-One's are better laid out and a lot more user friendly.

A.A.R.F. is a federal certification (in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration). My Lt. pointed out the other night that hardly anyone in this area has the certification. It makes for good job security, I guess.

The other pic that I'm gonna post is a group shot from A.A.R.F. School on the night of our night burn. I am in the top left of the photo. It was really, really cold the night that the pic was taken. Anyway, I guess I'll post more later.....

I just got back yesterday from Salt Lake City,

Utah. I had to go out there for my ARFF (Aircraft Rescue & Fire Fighting) Training. What an exhaustive week! I will go into more details later, however, I wanted to publish (what I consider) my best two pictures from out there.

The first is just a pic of one of the mountain ranges on a cold, snowy, overcast day.

It stayed consistently windy out there, and the temperature fluctuated wildly. As luck would have it, on Wednesday, when we had to do our night training, it snowed, and the temperature was low, and the wind was extremely high. Awful conditions for Aircraft fire fighting.

Anyway, the first pic is just of the mountains. The other picture is of the ATCT (Air Traffic Control Tower) at Salt Lake City International Airport. I think that both pics came out very nice. I'll post more later of my experiences out there.

Who would've ever thought that I'd be a Fireman? Weird.

I'm off today, and just wanted to post a couple of pics that I got last night at work. We had two F-16's from Lackland AFB, Texas on the ramp. They were used as the fly-over birds to open the Martinsville Nascar Race on Sunday afternoon. Their Squadron is evidently named the "Lone Star Gunslingers". Apparently one of the pilots had family in the Blountville area, so they remained over-night at the Tri.

I couldn't believe the drop tank on this bird. Dale Earnhart. What a trip.

It brought back a lot of memories from my days at Incirlik, Air Base, Turkey, when I was younger. We were the forward operating base for the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing, based at Torrejon Air Base, Spain. The 401st operated F-16's, so we had them on the base constantly.

Anyway, all is still going well at the Tri. I'm loving my new job, but I feel bad for the good guys left at the Sheriff's Department, under that 'management team'. Some of the guys there have evidently embraced the 'dark side', and I hope they get all that they wished for.

More later.