Tactical flying (and living) San Diego

It has been four long months since I last wrote about my continuing military adventure. This is partially due to the time commitment of my job, partially due to the other activities I have taken on, but mostly due to the fact that my job is no longer so easy to explain. As I get more specialized in my profession, the knowledge I acquire is more technical, and thus of diminished interest to the world at large. But I will try to adequately describe the excitement of operating a real military jet, which goes far beyond its flight capabilities.

The program here consists of several phases. The first I wrote about in my last post about flying. The next is air-to-ground training: how to bomb and deliver advanced weapons (the ones you hear about on the news). Much of knowledge required is technical specifications about the ordnance itself, or the delivery systems organic to the aircraft, and much of that stuff is secret (no, it's really classified...I'm not kidding). But the flights themselves are rewarding, because we generally "roll in" on a target, a fancy way to say we dive-bomb it. It has a few advantages: you can look at your target and thereby be more accurate, and you can deliver the weapon on a moving target (something harder from high altitude). There is nothing, however that gets your adrenaline pumping like flying at the ground at 500 mph, trying to put a steel bomb downrange without actually impacting the ground yourself. Naturally, we are very careful--and we certainly don't hesitate to pull out of the dive if any dangerous situation develops. But it requires a lot of concentration.

Some of you may be inquiring why we dive-bomb when we have all these fancy GPS weapons. More may be thinking that we're crazy to dive-bomb at all, what with the threat of turning ourselves into a kamikaze jet. A single answer suffices for both: dumb bombs are cheaper than smart bombs, and the most effective way to deliver them is by a dive delivery. And since the whole purpose of Marine Aviation is to put bombs on bad guys, we do that as best we can...even if it's dangerous. And we train to it. Hence the many practice flights. You'd think it gets repetitive, but it doesn't. It's a lot of fun, partially because it's such a challenge. There are few things in life as satisfying as doing a demanding job well.

Speaking of putting bombs on bad guys, the culmination of the air-to-ground phase is CAS, or Close Air Support. That is the art of supporting ground troops actually in contact with the enemy, as opposed to pre-planned deep strikes against solitary (but presumably high-value) targets. This is also very dangerous, because the explosive effects of our weapons can cover a lot of ground, and the worst thing that can happen is a friendly-fire incident. To add to the possibility of error is the fact that oftentimes we cannot plan our targets in advance, since a battle is always fluid and we have to respond to developing situations. We instead rely on external controllers (airborne or on the ground) to direct us to targets as they appear. So we have strict procedures to follow in the airplane that involve a specific brief over the radio (the 9-line) and standardized radio comms in order to prevent us dropping ordnance on our own troops. I can't really describe the excitement of this kind of mission: it is exciting, challenging, and intense. It is, in fact, exactly what I wanted to do when I signed up for Marine Aviation. It’s worth noting that as a backseater, I will be trained to be one of the (airborne) external controllers, and my job then will be to fly above the battlespace and direct other aircraft (including helicopters) in Close Air Support. I can’t wait.

In my civilian life, I have found a church here with a very strong Young Adult program (they tend to get offended if referred to as “youth,” though I still think of myself as such). This facet of their ministry is appropriate considering their location in Pacific Beach , a neighborhood of small shops, tattoo parlors, and bars whose chief residents are college students. But the ministry offers everything from a Memorial Day barbecue to in-depth conferences and bible studies oriented toward (and led by) young adults. It’s a fun group—we often go out to dinner after Mass, or simply go out drinking if the mood strikes us. Recently I began leading a bible study with a friend of mine, and the chance to do the “great books” thing again--by immersing myself in the text and trying to understand it with other people and perspectives--has been very rewarding. In fact, spending time with these young Catholics constitutes my largest extra-military activity.

As my parents found out when they visited over Mother’s day, I lead a good life down here. Despite my location by the coast, the weather is nice more often than not, and (at least around the city) the landscape is beautiful. It is definitely part of the desert, though--I find it amazing that the entire coastal landscape becomes distinctly greener after a day of rain, and becomes gradually browner during good weather. The real desert is evident when flying over the mountains east of the city to the bombing ranges. It is a bleak, magnificent landscape; never easier to appreciate than when raging around at 300’ above the desert floor, rolling over dramatic ridges and diving through valleys. Though it's fun to see that kind of landscape, I prefer the comparatively lush coastline.

On one flight out over the ocean, I chanced to look down as we went “feet wet” and noticed what appeared to be a solitary beach immediately below me. That afternoon I went to check it out as a possible location to go for a run. There were only a few people there, but oddly enough half of them appeared to be naked. It took a minute for this to sink in (since it was so unexpected), but I discovered later that I had found Black’s Beach, which is apparently a de facto nude beach. Given the several-hundred-foot cliffs that separate it from the headland, authorities rarely (read: never) come to enforce the San Diego ordinance prohibiting nudity. Despite that, it is a largely solitary and clean beach, nestled between the surf and the cliffs--a beautiful place to run. In fact, there are many beautiful places around here, and I am happy to be able to enjoy them. Southern California has not disappointed me.