Some dry pictures from Africa

Enjoy. I'll add stuff later.

Dam, Cory, are they still flying C-130s? That plane is probably older than you are. I can't remember how many hours I logged aboard those babies, but I retired from the Air Force in 1977 but rode em in the 60s. Good aircraft but that smell inside always churned my stomach a bit.

Nolan, that's an HC-130P; it got modified for the PJs because it hadn't ever been shot up. That particular plane dates to 1964.
There are tons more pictures of what we did yesterday, and some decent video, too. These pictures are from my little happy-snap camera. The others are much, much better quality.
When there's a video link, I'll post it.

Cory,

I hope they're feeding you enough. I never met you in person but my Italian mother-in-law would be trying to fatten you up. Be safe.


Marty G.

They made that aircraft befor I started at Lockheed....1964-65.
You should be safe......;-)

Marty, it's not possible to feed Cory enough. I've seen him eat enough to choke an elephant, but he never gains an ounce. We hate people like that.

Cory, do you get real food or MREs?

A lot of both. About 3,000 calories a day.
It's f*&^ing hot over here.
Lots of water and Gatorade, too.

I've seen that chucklehead before. Hmmmmm..........where do I know that face from? It'll come to me.

The wall at the Post Office?

There were four Combat Camera guys from my shop on this job; there were a cameraman and still photographer in the plane (Google McKittrick and Awalt once -- just for kicks), and Joey Swafford and I on the ground.
PJs jumped into Lac Assal from a couple thousand feet, and then the plane refueled a helicopter in flight. The plane and '53 landed, people cross-decked from the helo to the 130, and then both left.
My partner and I were still near Lac Assal until after sunset, JUST to get the sunset shot.
Some days, this job rocks. Others, not so much. This was one of the good days; no body armor, not headaches, no deadlines ... just wide open spaces and some good, quality experience.

Cory........those are some great photos!
Proves you can find beauty anywhere, you just need to look for it.

The dust cloud in the first shot is from the Super Stallion taking off. The salt crust in the second shot is the edge of Lac Assal, and the third is the sunset we waited hours for.
Jim, I'm starting to understand why you like four-wheeling out into the desert so much.

I love the way you framed the sun under that tree.

I'll probably just keep adding photos to this thread as my tour in Africa continues.
Any objections?

Cory,

Thanks for sharing the incredible pixs! Sorry to hear that you are out there, and hopefully not too long. We'll add you to our prayers...get back safely!

Cheers - M

Mel:

I thought you were out in Phoenix??

Those pictures ROCK Cory! Keep adding them!

angela

Here's a bunch that aren't so dry.
Descriptions to follow as time permits, but for now, CLDJ is shorthand for Camp Lemonier, Djibouti.

Vince looks different without his hat and sunglasses.

If you want to see some of the television stuff we're doing, DVIDS is the way to go. It's an archive that was designed with a low-res version of current military news accessible to the general public without a subscription -- to see what a story's content looks like -- and then a high-res or FTP download capability for television producers who want to run what they see ...
But for SOC purposes, click the link.
Once you're into DVIDS, let McKittrick's C-130 refueling story load in the background for a few minutes.
Cool video, from a new generation of television reporter. He's actually IN the Air Force -- and I'm responsible for him, so let me know what you think.

http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=video/video_show.php&id=59230

Cory, my picture-taking/desert-dwelling/copter-riding BRUTHA!!

Cool pics! Stay safe and be sure to get your skinny ass home to Mrs. T. Drake in 1 piece!

WRT comment on why I enjoy my excursions into the deserts of SoCal - at least in the deserts I travel here, there's nobody shooting at me (so far anyway!).

Peace - Out!

Dust O'Rama !!!!!!!
Cory, How are you keeping dust out of these cameras and off the chip !! Hope you guys are not changing lenses in the field.

Tom

Cory,

So glad to see your smiling face and talent w/ the lens. Been a while. It seems you are surviving well. I hope no much in harms's way. Weather hereabouts much improved in recent days -- up to 90 or more this week end!! Regular Speedster driving days back and forth to work. No helicopters or C-130s for me -- I'll leave that to you and your buddies. Still looking to get w/ BERT and fire up the Hoopty, but so far your sweet lady seems kinda busy elsewhere. She has about two weeks now to shake off the winter dust and sludge and get the beast fired up. Have offered to help.

Uh... Didja fergit sumthin'?

Roger that, Kelly! Thanks for the offer of help; she's on some cruise ship gig off of Long Island at the moment, but she'll hopefuly be back home before next week. That would be the ideal time to dodge the fuzz, I think.
Jimbo, no worries, man. Nobody shooting at us in the Djiboutian desert, either -- hopefully won't be for a very long time.
Tom, WE have the discipline to shoot with whatever the most versatile lens is in the bag -- and not change lenses in the dust. There are cleaning kits in every camera bag, 'cuz it's the desert like that, but the PJ photographer wasn't so lucky. He was changing lenses as the '53 (big helicopter) rattled his teeth directly overhead.
His camera's roached.
Glad y'all like the pictures. More to follow. Here's one from this evening:

Erm... Ok, I see ya took care of it.

The video I shot in the desert also contributed to this story.
Wait a while for it to load, then have a bag of popcorn.
Good sh**. Especially if you like para-rescue and C-130s.

http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=video/video_show.php&id=59325

That is Good Sh**! All that sand has to be horrible for the machinery!

I kept thinking Muroc, Harper lake, El Mirage, Bonneville, Black Rock Desert, Djibouti?

I was surfing the military press releases and I found a picture of Cory in his new assignment...

Bwaaaaa-Hawaaaaaaaaaa!!

Gives new meaning to the term: Waist Gunner!

Cory!

I passed along the DVIDS URL to a bunch of my Marine friends here in Beaufort - They really got a kick out of it.

Thanks!

gn