Fast Roping

The Bravo 2-18 JCSAR "Stupid Human Trick of the Day" for Aug. 19th? It was a little game called fast roping. I thought about writing a long and witty description of what fast roping entails, but I decided that sometimes, video proof is just so much better! So if you'd like, you can visit: http://s123.photobucket.com/albums/o289/iamkati/?action=view¤t=080819-F-0986R-001FastRopeClip.flv to watch the video.

Their goal is to "fast rope" (read - FALL WHILE HOLDING A ROPE) from 90 to 100 feet above ground level before too long. Hmmm...Really? Why? Did NO ONE here see Black Hawk Down? Just curious. I know it was just a movie and all but come on people. When does it stop?!?

Now, we talked about my fears (or perceived lack there of) back when I decided to do battle with the River Nile. That was the day I realized that while I think I'm fearless, I'm really not. I do have fears. I'm not afraid of heights. But I AM afraid of falling. So I think anytime I'm going to dangle above the ground I should be harnessed, tethered and secured. And I'd like someone roughly the size of Warren Sapp to sit on me just for good measure.

But fast roping doesn't afford one those luxuries. Instead, you sit in the "hell hole" of the CH-53 while grasping a rope roughly the diameter of a salad plate while willing your feet to gain traction on said rope. Then you go out of the bird. And by go, I mean you fall toward the earth from a hovering helicopter. Keep in mind though...Helicopters aren't stationary when they hover. There tends to be some...um...shall we say...movement. In all directions. Up and down. Left and right. Forward. Sometimes in a circle. You can't actually determine how close to the ground you are because it varies with each second. Doesn't this sound like FUN?

So, look at the photos on your left. This is what it looks like when it's done right. (I'm pretty sure the second photo is of Ray Mackey, using great form.) Hand on the rope, feet on the rope, body in almost an "L" shape to help slow you down. This is what it looks like. Sure, you can get by with the form in the photo above (holding on for dear life and once again making deals with God....) because either way, just like on the Nile, what goes up MUST come down. But Ray's form is so much better because he has some modicum of control. To his credit though, he also has more upperbody strength than I do. Okay, Cory is 13 and HE has more upperbody strength than I do. But that really isn't the point. Ray's just good at this crap. However, not every fast roping experience works out quite like that. There are times when you might slip, or not make full contact with the rope.

Evidence? Well, look to the right. That is Duff - my favorite little Soldier. Duff is the one I want to adopt and claim on my taxes. He's just so young and...clueless. Having Duff is like having a puppy - fun and playful and adorable yet not always apt to break something. But you can't get mad at him - he's a puppy; he doesn't know better! So look at Duff's form. Duff's feet never actually made contact with the rope on the way down, so he's flying down that rope, legs akimbo, and although I couldn't HEAR him, I'm pretty sure he too was making deals with God.

That's it for this week's installment of "Kati Plays with the Army..." For the entire Channel 4 news team, I'm Veronica Corningstone. Thanks for stopping by, San Diego.

P.S. - In TOTALLY unrelated news (ha, all kinds of puns intended), I did my first AFN news piece last week. It was a 90 second "Daily News Update" and was the first time I officially got to say the words "For the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, this is Air Force Tech. Sgt. Katherine Garcia." I'll send out the link as soon as it airs. I'm sure it's just more proof that print journalism was my calling and that I have no future in television. But it will at least give you something to entertain yourselves with while I languish in the sweltering heat of Earth's armpit, contemplating all of the wrong turns I must have made in life to end up HERE! But until next time...keep the cards and letters coming.

I eloped..........(okay, not really)

We've all heard stories of people who've been dating for years that just wake up one day and decided to get married, right? Maybe they're IN Vegas already. Maybe they juant off to the courthouse and get 'er done. No fanfare, no pomp or pretense. They just slip away to tie the knot and come back with a story to tell.

Well....on Aug. 7th I made a life-altering vow that is, in some ways, akin to eloping. The Air Force and I have been in a "relationship" for more than 14 years. We've had our ups and downs. I have almost walked away more than once. At times, ours has not been a match made in heaven. My time in blue started almost on a whim and there have been almost as many low points as there have been highs. But I came on this deployment with the realization that I was nearing the end of my contact. I was free to walk away once I got home and never look back - no harm, no foul. And I won't lie - in the past five months, that has been a tempting proposition. But 14 years into a 20 year stint is a big investment. To walk away now would be an incredibly difficult decision and one that would likely have ramifications for many, many years to come.

I had been dragging my feet about raising my right hand one last time. We had been mulling it over since late June, thinking of ways to make this last one count. If you know you'll never do something again, you might as well make sure you're doing it the way you want. But, knowing I had some time to make it happen, I figured I would get to it when I got to it....

And then it happened. Sam (who has been described as the "big sexy black man" who's a magician with a Nikon) and I were going flying with a few of my very favorite guys from Bravo 2-18...You remember them? They're the (HOOAH) grenade tossing, 50-cal shooting, hook things up to a helicopter friends I've made out here. The thought was that a small group of us would board the CH-53 for some helicopter aerial refueling and then a flight over Lake Assal.

HAR is when our helicopter flies close enough to the ass-end of a C-130 that I could probably play a decent game of patty-cake with anyone on their plane while they extend a basket and hose for fuel. We then fly into position so we can attach the basket to our probe and they pass us gas - at 6,000 feet in the air. Hmmmmm...sounds SO good in theory. In reality, it's like sitting in a dilapidated Tilt-o-Whirl at your local county fair without a lap belt and no assurance that the ride won't break apart at any second and send you plummeting to your death. A C-130’s propellers spin on the vertical; a helicopter’s spin on the horizontal. That means there are two different aircraft beating the air into submission while trying to mate in the air. This lends itself to something THEY call turbulence. I just like to call it a chance to revisit any meal I might have eaten in this fiscal year. But we all know I'm not fond of flying so I need not describe this process any further.

Lake Assal is the hottest place on Earth (really) and has the saltiest body of water anywhere (really). It looks pretty...it smells like death. So while it's 138 in Djibouti, it's going to be a good 20 degrees hotter at the lake. For those of you who've ever heard the phrase "Anything over 110 and you don't feel it..." I'd like to call shenanigans! You feel every single solitary increase in temperature. It's just that it gets too hot to care. You're no longer able to muster the strength to whine about it, for fear that if you open your mouth your tongue will catch on fire and you'll die a slow, hot, thirsty death.

Soooooooo anyway.... I get an e-mail at like 1 in the afternoon from Lt. Richards that says "Hey Kati, wanna reup TODAY?" Huh? What? Me? Kati who? And then I realized it couldn't be more perfect. It would be JUST what I wanted. I, an Air Force NCO, would be on a U.S. Marine Corp helicopter, being reenlisted by an Army officer while flying over the Gulf of Aden - in a "combat zone." It really doesn't get more "joint force" than that! So, Sgt. Drew Miller procured a flag. Sam had his camera. And we had our kick ass platoon sergeant, SFC Joe Taylor, and my favorite (sarcastic) squad leader, SSG Ray Mackey, on hand to hold the flag. 1st Lt. Richards was there to administer the oath. Nothing extra. No BS. No strap hangers. No hurt feelings because someone was or wasn't invited. Just us, a helicopter and a sunset.

Up until the very second I raised my right hand, I was pretty sure I didn't want to do this again. I have had hesitations every day for the past two years. I am tired of being away from home. I am tired of moving. But the second I stood tall, looked Lt. Richards in the eye and stated my name I knew -without a doubt - that I was doing the best thing possible for myself, my family and our future.

As far as WOW moments go, for me this was right up there. Yes, I have done some really cool things in my life, but the pure feeling of pride and the incredible sense of belonging were amazing. I was blessed to have some very good people with me to share that moment. I wasn't with my family, but I was with people who've made every effort to make me a part of theirs!