Not my Daddy's Army any more......
In a "slap in yo face!" for future blonde jokes and a kick in the butt for the Islamonazi's I hope that you will take a long look at this proud photo and then come back to read....the rest of the story.
Ok, a great picture.....and these proud Americans are a first. The first all female crew to man [no pun intended, it's just a word] a KC-135 aircraft in a combat zone. The women are: Clockwise from lower left) 1stLt Alison, Capts Heather and Waynetta, and Senior Airman Lyndi [Last names withheld for operational security.] of the 376th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron of Robins Air Force Base, Ga. The story in the press release reads.
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......."They have been deployed here since Dec 9. Once inside the tanker, the women began their pre-flight and take-off duties with an ease borne of plenty of experience and skill. Most of them have deployed before, to places like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iceland and Thailand.
Between the four of them, they total almost 4,000 flying hours in the KC-135. The flight path to Afghanistan traversed three of the "Stans." The country itself remains a dangerous place. Just a few days before the historic flight, coalition forces on the ground encountered the heaviest fighting since Operation Anaconda last year. Norwegian F-16s from Ganci dropped munitions in support from the air.
Once over Afghanistan, the crew got down to business, refueling F-16s from the European participating air forces of Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. Based at Ganci, the aircraft provide combat air support to coalition ground forces.
In the refueling world, the motto is, "Nobody kicks ass without Tanker gas." The crew emulated that motto when the boom operator connected two moving aircraft together on a night with 1 percent moon illumination.
"It's awesome knowing that I'm having a direct impact on the mission," said Lyndi on her 17th combat mission over Afghanistan. "The fighters couldn't put bombs on target without gas, and I'm the one who gets it to
them," she said. More than 50,000 combat missions have been flown in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In all, Lyndi refueled 10 European F-16s during the flight, off-loading 63,000 pounds of fuel. "I'm accomplishing something with my Air Force career," said Alison. This is especially true in the case of OEF, an operation that more than 1,800 women support, according to the public affairs office at Central Air Forces, the air component of U.S. Central Command.
"I've always thought the greatest thing I could do with my life was to serve my country and be willing to die for it -- for my family, my neighbors, people I don't even know," Waynetta said. "Now, we're here supporting troops in Afghanistan who are defending our freedom and way of life." Basking in the early morning sunlight, the tanker headed
back to Ganci. As the snow-capped mountains poked out above the clouds, the women reflected on the significance of the flight. "All we wanted was to fly together," said Lyndi. "I'm so excited we got to do it."
"We believe in equality," Waynetta said. "But, the fact of the matter is, we're still girls and we're doing something our grandmothers couldn't do."
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You go girls.....we're damn proud of you....no blonde jokes from me. The only question I have is, "Are you old enough to drive?"
In a "slap in yo face!" for future blonde jokes and a kick in the butt for the Islamonazi's I hope that you will take a long look at this proud photo and then come back to read....the rest of the story.
Ok, a great picture.....and these proud Americans are a first. The first all female crew to man [no pun intended, it's just a word] a KC-135 aircraft in a combat zone. The women are: Clockwise from lower left) 1stLt Alison, Capts Heather and Waynetta, and Senior Airman Lyndi [Last names withheld for operational security.] of the 376th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron of Robins Air Force Base, Ga. The story in the press release reads.
--------------------------
......."They have been deployed here since Dec 9. Once inside the tanker, the women began their pre-flight and take-off duties with an ease borne of plenty of experience and skill. Most of them have deployed before, to places like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iceland and Thailand.
Between the four of them, they total almost 4,000 flying hours in the KC-135. The flight path to Afghanistan traversed three of the "Stans." The country itself remains a dangerous place. Just a few days before the historic flight, coalition forces on the ground encountered the heaviest fighting since Operation Anaconda last year. Norwegian F-16s from Ganci dropped munitions in support from the air.
Once over Afghanistan, the crew got down to business, refueling F-16s from the European participating air forces of Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. Based at Ganci, the aircraft provide combat air support to coalition ground forces.
In the refueling world, the motto is, "Nobody kicks ass without Tanker gas." The crew emulated that motto when the boom operator connected two moving aircraft together on a night with 1 percent moon illumination.
"It's awesome knowing that I'm having a direct impact on the mission," said Lyndi on her 17th combat mission over Afghanistan. "The fighters couldn't put bombs on target without gas, and I'm the one who gets it to
them," she said. More than 50,000 combat missions have been flown in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In all, Lyndi refueled 10 European F-16s during the flight, off-loading 63,000 pounds of fuel. "I'm accomplishing something with my Air Force career," said Alison. This is especially true in the case of OEF, an operation that more than 1,800 women support, according to the public affairs office at Central Air Forces, the air component of U.S. Central Command.
"I've always thought the greatest thing I could do with my life was to serve my country and be willing to die for it -- for my family, my neighbors, people I don't even know," Waynetta said. "Now, we're here supporting troops in Afghanistan who are defending our freedom and way of life." Basking in the early morning sunlight, the tanker headed
back to Ganci. As the snow-capped mountains poked out above the clouds, the women reflected on the significance of the flight. "All we wanted was to fly together," said Lyndi. "I'm so excited we got to do it."
"We believe in equality," Waynetta said. "But, the fact of the matter is, we're still girls and we're doing something our grandmothers couldn't do."
---------------------------
You go girls.....we're damn proud of you....no blonde jokes from me. The only question I have is, "Are you old enough to drive?"
