MO ANG Exercise in Hawaii

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it... :O) I was selected to participate in a major exercise at Hickham AFB, Hawaii for a couple weeks in December 2005. My guard unit, the 157 AOG, stayed on base most of the time, but a guy I worked with rented a car and took me with him to see Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona memorial, as well as North Shore to see some surfing. It was a great trip, and I learned a lot about how we command and direct the air war. Here are some pics from the trip:

This was the view from where I stayed in billeting. Each day, I walked just a short distance to where I worked (in the center hanger in this picture):

The following pictures are from the USS Arizona memorial. It was a couple days before the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was a very somber and emotional tour of the memorial.

One afternoon, we drove up to the North Shore of Oahu to watch a surfing competition. Earlier in the week, a surfer died as a result of the monster waves out there... Maybe I'll try that "next" year. Maybe not...