- Oct 9, 1999
- 15,031
- 14
- 81
This week at work, I spent 3 days in the woods, wearing BDU's and combat boots, hung out with a bunch of experienced soldiers, navigated through the woods with a map and compass, did PT in the morning, struggled through a pitch black obstacle course with night vision goggles, ate MRE's, slept in a tent, did a 3 mile road march, played around with infrared rifle scopes, rode in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, watched a landmine blow up (which left a crater large enough to fit 18 people), fired a M249 SAW (5.56 mm), a M240 (7.62 mm) and a .50 caliber (all fully automatic, which I'd never fired before).
And the best thing of all, the ride in the Blackhawk helicopter. We were taken along for a ride between two military posts while they did some data collection. The pilots took it easy for a while over public lands; it was a really smooth ride and you didn't even realize you were off the ground unless you looked down. It wasn't until we got back into military airspace that they unleashed the combat maneuvers. The crew chief looks at us and mouths, "Hold on!" (but apparently some of the other riders didn't get the message, so the first turn was a big surprise to them
) And holy cow! I've ridden some of the best rollercoasters in the country, and this ride topped them all. Getting completely sideways so that looking to your side resulted in a perpendicular view of the ground...feeling your gut go down to your feet as the pilot pulled back hard on the controls, and feeling a second or two of weightlessness as he arced the Blackhawk back down towards the ground... then another hard banked turn, and another, and another up/down maneuver... MAN what a thrill! That was literally the ride of a lifetime. And a week of a lifetime. Sometimes I really love my job. You gotta put up with the BS and boring day-to-day stuff, but its opportunities like these that really make it pay off.
*cliffnotes* Did a lot of cool stuff this week that most people don't ever get to do, and got paid for it.
And the best thing of all, the ride in the Blackhawk helicopter. We were taken along for a ride between two military posts while they did some data collection. The pilots took it easy for a while over public lands; it was a really smooth ride and you didn't even realize you were off the ground unless you looked down. It wasn't until we got back into military airspace that they unleashed the combat maneuvers. The crew chief looks at us and mouths, "Hold on!" (but apparently some of the other riders didn't get the message, so the first turn was a big surprise to them
) And holy cow! I've ridden some of the best rollercoasters in the country, and this ride topped them all. Getting completely sideways so that looking to your side resulted in a perpendicular view of the ground...feeling your gut go down to your feet as the pilot pulled back hard on the controls, and feeling a second or two of weightlessness as he arced the Blackhawk back down towards the ground... then another hard banked turn, and another, and another up/down maneuver... MAN what a thrill! That was literally the ride of a lifetime. And a week of a lifetime. Sometimes I really love my job. You gotta put up with the BS and boring day-to-day stuff, but its opportunities like these that really make it pay off. *cliffnotes* Did a lot of cool stuff this week that most people don't ever get to do, and got paid for it.
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