14th EFS --less than a month to go

Published May 1, 2007
By Lt. Col. Charles Toplikar
14th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- Everyone is starting to describe the light at the end of the tunnel. We have less than a month left and spirits are lifting daily. Not that we have had many motivation issues, but the level of anticipation and elation is growing. My focus for us now is to finish strong and fight complacency. We have had a stellar deployment, but it is not over until we are all safely back home.

This week some of us were fortunate to be able to attend the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Combat Dining In. It was quite an enjoyable evening. There was plenty of entertainment, including a Grog Bowl and a precision rifle demonstration by the Tuskegee Drill Team. It was wrapped up by a three-minute and 32-second speech by Command Chief Master Sgt. Scott Dearduff. The Expeditionary Maintenance Group won the award for the most, as in loudest, spirit, but I must point out that they brought a live band.

Another sign of the winding down of this deployment was the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander's final "on-site," where Brig. Gen. Ron Rand gave us our "grade" and solicited our feedback to make future Air Expeditionary Force deployments and Balad better. Our grades were all As, with plenty of positive improvements over previous AEFs.

As part of the on-site, we had the opportunity to attend the Balad performance of "Tops in Blue." They have a fantastic show this year. It is non-stop patriotic entertainment for more than 90 minutes. I plan to see it again when they come to Misawa this winter, and I encourage everyone to see it when it comes to your base.

Hopefully you didn't miss the Misawa news article on the Balad Phase Dock. Every 400 hours, each of our jets goes through a very rigorous inspection. The maintainers in the phase dock pull it apart and look for any signs of wear on parts that otherwise don't get seen often. Since we fly more hours on these jets in four months than they normally fly in two years, it's incredibly busy at the dock. They do a terrific job there, ensuring we are able to provide quality air power in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

That's it for this week. Thanks for all you do to support us from the home front.