USAF 2016

Leaving Travis AFB, CA, to Yokota AB, Japan, on an uncrowded C-5 cargo aircraft and arrived 12 hours later.

The Yokota AB terminal feels almost like a home to me. It's a short and welcome walk from there to the excellent Kanto Lodge.

A few days later, after a hectic stay, I headed to Osan AB, South Korea, on a Patriot Express Boeing 767. It's a short 2.5 hr flight.

At Osan AB I am always happy to stay in the Turumi Lodge, a short walk from the terminal and pretty much everything else. A period poster on the second floor of the lodge..

There used to be, maybe still are, A-10 aircraft at Osan. If I could have flown any military aircraft, once I learned what this one is all about, this would have been it.

While waiting at the Osan AB terminal, a change of management was voted upon by the American people (I had already voted). And I'd say, about time, and hopefully the military will once again be returned to its prime directive and not be attempted to be turned into a microcosm of the general society whom they serve. A military is a special purpose organization. It's not a democracy and it does not, should not, have quotas forced upon it to give it the same proportions of diversity of the society at large. May only the best qualified serve. Anyone else, who can't meet the standards, doesn't belong here. I explained it to the troops in the terminal like this, you are the sword and the shield of the nation. The sword and the shield are forged of steel and do not resemble the soft body they protect, so neither should the military resemble the civilians they protect. Any attempt to change that, imposing, for example, some sort of diversity quota on that organization for poltical reasons, waters it down, dilutes its capabilities, and will make it a weaker military, not a stronger one. Go ahead and try it with a professional football or soccer team. Won't work there either.

And there it is, the modern Osan AB terminal.

After a little scheduling shuffle and advanced planning, I ended up on a C-17 to Hickan AB once again. The young lady and her two kids stayed in Hawaii for a little vacation, and the older couple caught a connection to Alaska, where they live.

Six hours after arriving at Hickam AFB, I caught the second C-5 of the day going from Hickam AFB to Travis AFB. The C-5, stairs in place for us to board, was still being loaded while we waitied in the bus

A short while later, we boarded and were able to spread out in the sparsely populated passenger module of the aircraft.

The Hickam AFB terminal is being renovated and will most likely be under construction for some time. However, the pictures that were in the construction area, this being one of them, to my pleasant surprise, I discovered in the USO, inside the Hickam terminal.