14th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron get new equipment, improve facilities Published March 4, 2007 By Lt. Col. Charles Toplikar 14th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq -- -- First of all, I would like to say hello to all the Samurai spouses back home. These messages are primarily meant for you, and I greatly appreciate the feedback I have received. You may have seen the recent article on our new bullets. If not, here is the link: http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123043152. This new PGU-28 bullet provides us the ability to shoot more effectively and from a greater range. If you remember my dodge ball discussion from last week, you will remember that range with capable firepower is a good thing for us. Some of us have already used with the new round and it works as advertised. You may have heard that we had a pretty intense mortar attack this week. One of our maintenance team members was slightly injured when a mortar hit his billeting pod. He is doing well and was back on the line the next day. I happened to witness the entire attack from the cockpit of my F-16, while sitting at the end of the runway after having been de-armed. Talk about feeling impotent and helpless, I could not fight back because my jet had been de-armed and I was too low on fuel. I could not take cover because I was in my jet. While I got to experience the light show of my life, the fact that pieces of projectiles were falling on the taxiway within 50 yards of me dulled the experience a little. I am not telling you any of this to increase your level of concern. Believe me, we have some great systems and procedures here that put being struck by a mortar or rocket on par with being struck by lightening. Moreover, the people who were foolish enough to carry out that dastardly attack were quickly found by our assets. Improvements on our facilities continue at a steady pace. We now have a barbecue pit, although it needs some retroactive coordination through the Fire Marshal. I am also looking forward to sending photos of some of the barrier art that is still in its infancy due to shortages of painting supplies. Eventually, we hope to have a covered deck area in the middle of our ops compound. Thank you for your support and sacrifice on the home front, as well as all of the great care packages.