08 July 2007: Sandstorm? Can't control that!

Remember me saying I was on my way to FOB Warhorse? Well it seems Mother Nature had other things in mind. Around mid-afternoon Saturday a sandstorm hit. By this morning it was really bad. It only became worse as the day progressed. I’ve never seen visibility as poor as it was today. From my hooch there were times I couldn’t even see the AMC yard, which is only about 400meters away. No helicopters were flying at all. That even includes the CASEVAC helicopters flying in and out of the hospital. It made for an eerily silent day and night. My team still planned as though the mission was taking place. Sunday is a day off and nothing was different today in that regard. We had a 2200 “showtime” at Catfish Air. I spent the day sleeping in, enjoying morning coffee, reading e-mail, making phone calls, and working out. I knew we wouldn’t fly. The sandstorm showed no signs of abating. Around 2000 I stopped by the pax terminal to get an update. There were probably 200 or more soldiers and civilians laying around in various positions. That was the obvious sign that nothing was flying. Sure enough, there was a weather hold on all flights. Since I was already on the west side I headed over to Green Beans to catch up with my friend MAJ B. There was a huge crowd with lots of singers. I visited for a while then went back to the pax terminal. At 2230 I told my team to head home. We’re booked on another flight. Looks like we may go through the same routine for a third straight night. I never get stressed about things out of our control. If helicopters aren’t flying I just laugh and shrug it off. I’m glad to see that my team is reflecting this attitude. I saw a lot of long faces in the pax terminal, as well as several angry folks. My team was “zippity do da”. This deployment would really be long if we stressed about things out of our control. I guess we’ll just fly tomorrow.