For the first part of the float it was just rotorheads on the flight deck. Quite pleasant, really. But good things don't last forever, and the Harriers of VMA-214 joined us. The maintainers flew in C-130s down to Korea, then we met them in Pohang.

Last year the weather was so bad that the ship couldn't dock, so they sent we rotorary types ashore on LCUs. It was cold, wet, and unpleasant. But the ship's captain apparently liked how it worked out, because this year we didn't even try to go pierside, they just shuttled all the Harrier guys onboard with a couple of LCACs. That's a six-of-one, half-dozen-of-another comparison: the LCUs are slower, but the LCACs are wetter.

Just to add insult, when the got on the ship, the well deck drain mechanism was broken, so they had to wade off the LCACs into hip-deep water with all their gear. Very very cold hip-deep water. Those guys were not happy when we met them.

Then they complained about their night. The C-130s delivered them the day before, and they'd spent the night in sleeping bags inside a hanger. Oh, the horror. Fixed-wing guys are pampered because they need runways and stuff. They got not sympathy from us. Our last time in Korea, we were in drafty tents on the ground. A concrete floor in a hanger is not ideal, but it beats rocks and tree roots. Plus they had no cold drafts, and a furnace to heat the room! Bunch of pansies. Why, back in my day...

Posted by: Boviate at 02:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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