"As soon as we hit the ground, everyone knows what their priorities are." Er, lunch? "We can do lunch for 1,000 earthquake survivors." Oh.
"We set up the supply lines here and then we just keep pumping the supplies through this point for as long as needed."
"So you could feed 1,000 or 10,000 or 100,000 earthquake victims?"
"Yes. From here, the goods are shipped to the NGOs for distribution, down the road." Blankets and food and medicine. "The technology allows us to track it all so that there are no losses or duplications," said another colonel. There seems to be a lot of colonels involved in Operation Hydra. Good. I like colonels. Most of them really seem to know what they're doing -- go-to guys.
"But in America, in case of emergency, reliance on active-duty military is the last resort."
"You mean because of Posse Comitatus?"
"Yes. Katrina was rather the exception. And the CRW is also very scale-able. We can supply only ten people or 115 or up to the entire CRW."
Then we talked to some med-evac personnel. "If you were an earthquake victim," they said, "we would triage you, find you an airlift, stabilize you and get you on the plane and out ASAP."
Then everyone in our tour group got back on the plane. And I got to sit up front with the pilots! "Over there is the drop zone," the co-pilot pointed out. Good grief. Am I also gonna have to jump out of the plane? "Do you want to?" Only if it doesn't involve knees -- or if I get free knee-replacement surgery thrown in.
Then we started to taxi down the dirt airfield in our jumbo jet -- it was just one runway, hay bales on each side, dirt, really short. OMG Becky!
As a general rule, I tell everyone that I talk with in the military that I am a Progressive who is writing to inform other Progressives that, yes, there is incompetence and avarice in the White House, but that the US military is well-trained and staffed by intelligent, efficient and caring people despite the jugheads who pretend to be their commanders-in-chief. Or words to that effect (maybe I soften the message up just a bit). And most military types that I talk with get my point. But one officer I talked with at Schoonover, when I told her about my POV, just turned her back on me and walked off. Humph. But seriously. Conservatives and Progressives need to learn how to communicate with each other -- and to understand that the military is doing a good job at whatever they are told to do. And if we want them to do a good job at working in America's best interests instead of just making oil companies rich and promoting corporatism, all of us -- Left and Right -- have to be organized and brave and to fight to change the military's mission if we want to have a bright future for our country. We must do this together. For America. Hey, I can be as patriotic as the next person. Just wind me up and stand back!
Meanwhile back on the plane....
We were off the ground in less than the length of one football field.
Our pilot was a woman.
Why oh why had I asked to sit up front!
California's entire coastal mountain range and its wide coastal valley stretched out below us -- part of America's breadbasket. And lots of housing tracts. But the view from this place was just too much panoramic vista for me. Then some buzzers went off in the cockpit. That's it. That's enough. Get me DOWN. But not straight down, if you please.
Stillwater is a freelance writer who hates injustice and corruption in any form but especially injustice and corruption paid for by American taxpayers. She has recently published a book entitled, "Bring Your Own Flak Jacket: Helpful Tips For Touring Today's Middle East". According to Ms. Stillwater, "It's a fabulous and entertaining book. I loved writing it. And I hope that you will love reading it too." It's available at http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Your-Own-Flak-Jacket/dp/0978615719 or you can special order it at any independent bookstore.
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