day one

Day one is in the books. We (my other four classmates and I) will be in flight ground school all this week and maintenance ground school all next week. That means week 3 we hit the skies. The overview of what we will cover has got me excited. By the end of this training, we should be meeting MAF standards for flight in the toughest circumstances we can simulate. We will be doing canyon flying, back country flying, ridge crossings and plenty of non-paved airstrip landings and evaluations. While the type of flying we will be doing may seem extreme, we will be doing it all with an utmost priority on safety.

In aviation, we describe safety as “knowing your personal limitations and staying within them”. I think that principle translates well to other areas of life. The first step is knowing yourself (your propensities, abilities and weaknesses) and the second step is self-disciple to act in a way that complements what you know about yourself.

on a jetplane.

well, all my bags are packed and I’m ready to go. I am not looking forward to the time away from my family, but the content of the training is getting me excited. More than that, the fact that this is the last stateside hurdle to jump (with the exception of finishing our support raising and selling our house) is very exciting! I am hoping to provide regular updates with pictures as we fly around the the snow-filled mountains of Idaho. Thanks, in advance, for your prayers!

solid food

Today, Liam joined the ranks of those of us who eat solid food. He was quite proud of himself. He seemed to pick up the whole spoon thing pretty quickly. In fact, he was a little frustrated with how long it took mom and dad to reload the spoon each time. We’ll need to work on that little temper. Watch video.

new liam video

Liam is rolling front-to-back and back-to-front, can stand if he’s leaning on something and can now perform basic quantum physics calculations. We are planning on giving him his first go at solid food this week, so keep an eye out for that video…it should be a messy one! Watch videos.

southern Sudan videos

More from this author

“the potential exists…”

Following World War II, President Dwight Eisenhower noticed the change our country had undergone from an industrial standpoint. He warned Americans of the potential negative implications of the build-up of our military industry. While he was certainly not anti-war, or even anti-defense, he was honest about the pressures that will remain in our society, encouraging us to use our military for the wrong reasons. He said, “Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

The question then is: How alert and knowledgeable are we?

Partial transcript:

“A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime, or, indeed, by the fighting men of World War II or Korea.

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense. We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security alone more than the net income of all United States corporations. read more