Fellow U of D Grad Makes Us Proud!

Below is an article from the Delaware News Journal about an Army ROTC buddy of mine named Pat Houtman. Pat eventually left the Army to become a pilot in the Delaware Air Guard and is the first Delaware Guardsmen to be award the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Pat, you made us all very proud!

Del. Guard pilot honored for heroism
Medal given for actions while under fire in Asia

14 September 2006

Maj. Pat Houtman, a Delaware Air National Guard pilot from Newark, has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism under intense enemy fire while on duty in Afghanistan.
Houtman, 39, is believed to be the first Delaware Guardsman to receive the honor. Fewer than 3,800 have been awarded since the medal was created in 1926.

The Distinguished Flying Cross is one of the nation's highest awards for valor. It is given to those who demonstrate heroism "well above the actions performed by others engaged in similar flight operations," according to the Department of Defense.

The details of the action Houtman and his air crew took part in remain largely classified for reasons of battlefield security.

According to the National Guard, Houtman and his crew were flying a mission in a C-130 transport plane when they came under fire in November 2004. The C-130 had 10 passengers and a full cargo load at the time.

C-130s typically fly low-level missions in Afghanistan because of the rugged terrain and the difficulty of locating coalition soldiers when flying resupply missions. When Houtman, the aircraft commander, realized his plane was coming under fire, he took evasive action.
The five other members of the air crew instantly followed his lead, working as a team to get the aircraft out of danger and keep the passengers and cargo safe.

"A lot of our air crews ... have flown together so long that they can almost read each other's minds," said Col. Bruce Thompson, commander of the Delaware Guard's 166th Airlift Wing. The Guard's C-130 fleet is part of the wing.

"This award underscores the ... high quality of the airmanship skills exhibited by the aircraft commander and the air crew," Thompson said. "All credit is due to the concerted efforts of the entire air crew who handled their responsibilities flawlessly."

Houtman agreed.

"We work in a really good unit, and got really good training," he said.

Another Milestone

As of today, I have 200 days left in my deployment!

The days continue to pass by quickly. Sometimes I can't believe how quickly.

all is well

A Question

Yesterday, we all observed a moment of silence to commenerate the September 11th Attacks. There was also a "memorial walk" at the palace down the road from me, but I was not able to get to it. I used yesterday as way to reaffirm within myself the reasons why I am here and why I asked my family to share the burden of this deployment with me.

I watched a little bit of the news showing all the difference ceremonies and that got me thinking.

During World War II, did Americans only stop what they were doing every December 7th to reflect on the attacks that started that war, or did they reflect upon every day in order to secure the victory that allowed all of us to remain free during the past 60 years?

I think we can still learn from that generation.

Baghdad from the Sky

Here are some cool pictures of Baghdad from the air.

After 17 years in the Army, I finally got a ride in a Blackhawk helocopter. I got a great shot of Iraq's Tomb of the Unknown Solider. Then on the way back to Baghdad I was in an Army C-12 airplane and got a great view of the Baghdad International Airport.

All is well here.

What NOT to send in a care package!

For those of you who are putting together a care package to send to a guy in Iraq, here’s a little bit of advice:

Do NOT send a guy a PINK camouflage note book complete with an assortment of pastel colored pens!

Here’s my poor Lieutenant who was overjoyed to see a huge box arrive for him in the mail. He could hardly contain himself as he pulled out sports magazines, beef jerky, chewing gum, and then….a PINK camouflage note book complete with an assortment of pastel colored pens!

Somewhere in the U.S., there’s someone with either a very twisted sense of humor or no sense at all!