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 #113087  by adrianspeeder
 
Trip 246, Spring 2019, Romania

The last trip. The fini flight. By this point in time I’ve already been reassigned to be the lead technician of Dover’s avionics shop. Teaching 10 brand new airman how to crawl, walk, then run. Guiding 8 other qualified mechanics how to be better, smarter, and safer. Being responsible for and speaking for everyone else’s mistakes. Standing up to stupid decisions and ideas that will do more harm than good. Lastly, and least favorite, going to daily meetings... I had been in the 736th AMXS for 12 years, but with 8 of them flying not a lot of people had really known me. Well, they found out real quick that I spoke my mind, and backed it up with knowledge from the books and real life examples from the road. This doesn’t always make friends but keeps airplanes bolted together. Three months into this job, my old boss came and said, “We are short. Can you do one more flight?” “My bags are in the truck.”

226 – Fitting that we are broken right out the start of the trip for a bad display unit. Easy install with one on the shelf from supply, but it had the wrong software version. This is the contraption we correct that with. I have airmen that are younger than when XP was discontinued.

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227 – The low bid adapter box to make everything work.

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228 – Good safety RACM from the last takeoff of KDOV runway 01.

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229 – Beautiful day to fly.

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230 – Am I happy or somber? Hell yeah to both.

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231 – First stop.

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232 – Load up some Army junk.

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233 – While the loadmasters finish chaining down shit in the back, let’s get these motors fired up for a quick departure.

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234 – Not sure if this trip is going to have 25 hours to bump me over the 3500 hour mark.

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235 – All safe to send it!

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236 – Climbing a stairway to heaven.

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237 – Gas stop in Canada with the friendliest FBO agent that always brought us out a pizza, handed me my $100K fuel bills, and came out to my jet for the last time to say good bye!

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238 – These Army pax were smart and done this before. They brought their own ladder to set up the hammock hanger for the ocean crossing comfort zone when the seat belt sign is turned off.

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239 – Last Atlantic crossing going east.

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240 – This trip is cool for another reason. Way back when I was the only Dover airman at Thumrait Oman, my squadron had mass deployed to Romania. I’m busting my balls sweating in the heat, and all my friends are on the beaches of the Black Sea every other day off. Anyway, this trip to Romania will be the last new country I check off the map at number 68.

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241 – I see this country also has a surplus of electricity that they have to burn off in giant fans to make wind.

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242 – It’s gonna happen!

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243 – Made it. Now get your junk off my jet!

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244 – Hero shot!

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255 – Let the shenanigans begin!

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 #113123  by adrianspeeder
 
246 – Party bus heading downtown.

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247/248 – Hotel views.

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249 – Ok, I think I blacked out from the booze, but the next morning, we are ready to ride.

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250/251 – High speed dual motor simultaneous start!

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252 – She’s a drag race boys!

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253 – We’re heading out just to have another come on in.

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254/255 – Hey! It’s a small world with two Dover tails high fiving, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. See ya!

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256 – Good safety RACM. Send it!

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257 – To think at one time we were afraid of those clunkers.

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258 – Aluminum overcast.

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259 – Next stop the desert. Last time here.

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260 – Next jet rolled in and it’s an ole Dover friend. Always a small world in C-17s.

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261 – Last stop in the desert. Last view of the land of sand.

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262 – Hopefully it will be a very long time to never until I’m back here.

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263 – No problems on the minimum ground turn, so let’s get the Hell out. Didn’t get the aperture right, so hide it with black and white.

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264 – Light weight take off, motors runnin’ mint.

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265 – No need for crazy angle of dangle today.

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 #113131  by adrianspeeder
 
266 – Quick gas stop in Kuwait. Happy for this to be the last time to visit here.

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267 – Quick turn back to the air for a short flight to crew rest stop in Turkey. Really happy to be the last time to visit this dumpster fire of a base. For some unknown, it was planned to be two days parked there for no real reason. Called back to get that shortened to the minimum time as possible. What could go wrong?

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268 – The wheels started to come off the cart at the alert time to wake up. We were being delayed because the morning shift found a dent on one of our engine inlets. (That has been there for a year and is documented in the forms). Mistakes happen, I get it, but the Production Supervisor instead of taking the high road, said he still wanted it evaluated. I told him he could do that, but we are still coming to the jet, doing our preflight, and taking off on time with or without his signature. What are they gonna do? Fire me?

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269/270 – Anyway, a thankfully uneventful westward ocean crossing for my last time. Spending the night in our friendly land of Maine-acks at a nice hotel/casino.

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271 – Next morning pumping up the gas with ole school seven tree power.

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272 – Four motors start up no problems turnin’ tight for a final take off.

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273 – No sports score update for us.

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274 – Approach check over DelMarVa.

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275 – And with this landing back at DAFB, that’s a wrap!

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I had the time of my life,
I never thought it would end,
I wish I could go back to the very beginning,
And do it all over again.

247 trips, 3485.8 hours, 45 states, and 68 countries on 6 continents. However, I’m most proud of only ever having to call for help on three mission recoveries for a sheared starter, dead overhead hydro panel, and a failed fuel control. This achievement wasn’t because of just me, but rather working with the most dedicated home station, en-route, and deployed maintainers to put together a quality aircraft that was always ready to ride. Right there with me were also the best teams of pilots and loadmasters who made each flight a success. Without the men, the mission and machine are just metal. "Fly around the world!" They said. "Drink lots of beer!" They said. "Make piles of flight pay!" They said. Yup, best job I ever had.

Where does that leave us now? Well, I’ve still have five deployments and one mass exercise of flying photos to edit and post. They won’t be in an order, but still worthwhile to share. Stay tuned!
 #113167  by adrianspeeder
 
195-226 – 5th FCC Stage (OTBH 2018) - Workin' in, above, and around the sandbox on my fifth deployed flying stage. I am a 3500 hour Flying Crew Chief on the Boeing C-17. These are some of my travels from around the world sponsored by the United States Air Force. See more at www.adrianspeeder.com

001 - When it is cold enough out to hurt my face, the motors also need a little help.

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002 - Let the spread of freedom begin...

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003 - Bunk beds complied with. There is so much room for activities now!

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004 – Let’s go to war boies!

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006 – Birthplace of civilization.

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008 – Paid to stare out a window and watch the world fly by.

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015 – Hello ole friend!

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019 – Out in the desert.

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020 - Creeper 'stash is getting creepier by the day.

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024/026 – 2 - Want to ride a camel?

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034/039 – 2 – Newest in our fleet!

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043 – ‘Murica.

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047 – Poofy!

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059 – Thrust reverser disagree. Get the toolbox!

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065 – After all that work from crashing at Shank, they couldn’t get a paint job to match?

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068 – Loadmaster hero shot.

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070 – Good evening.

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073 – Twilight take off.

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 #113168  by adrianspeeder
 
075/077 – 2 – Night life of UAE.

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080 – Rockin’ the new rig!

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083 – This is a cool one!

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085 – They snapchatted me.

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088 – 2018-01-23 – Today’s war story started as a nice time leaving Afghanistan heading back to the ‘Deid as a normal length day was almost mission complete. Everything was going too well right before the bottom fell out. “Moose 70: divert to Bagram for medivac.” A hotel in Kabul was bombed and four service members sustained critical injuries. We did the math and if we can pick up our new passengers quickly, it’ll be right at the 24-hour duty day mark for engine shutdown in Germany. Of course, we replied with a, “Can do.” After landing in Bagram, as the Air Evac crew is doing their medivac setup, I thought back to my very first mission. It was that dollar ride where my recommended extra fuel load made the difference in survival of a critical condition Soldier. I asked, “Hey Cap’n, how much is our max weight out of here today for an extra splash of gas?” He built the box, got the numbers, and I ended up pumping 80,000 lbs extra gas just in case. At the time none of us knew how things would further unravel, and that would be the luckiest call of the day. The Air Evac crew gave a thorough briefing where the bottom line came to how fast can we get to Germany to save their lives. “No altitude restrictions, just haul ass.”

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094 – Cruising out of Afghanistan for the second time of the day, but this time bound for Germany. Having just finished the combat exit checklist and were waiting for a higher altitude request, but a higher 747 was keeping us down. Suddenly the medivac commander appeared on the flight deck with a look on her face that took no words to describe that something was wrong. She quickly asked, “Can you make a phone call from up here?” I replied, “Absolutely can do Cap’n, what’s the number?” While I’m only medically certified on self-aid/buddy care with a yearly PowerPoint presentation, what she was describing over the satellite link back to Bagram’s hospital had all of us rapidly understanding how things were unraveling downstairs. “…Blood pressure 80 over 40…” “…Yes, he is awake…” “…We can’t stop the bleeding…” My own stomach dropped when she finally asked, “Colonel, what should I do?” “Captain, that is your call,” was the reply. For all I’ve seen so far in my career, it still amazes me how a single decision can interrupt a scheduled event of thousands of moving pieces, people, and processes without hesitation. No longer than it took for her to make the decision to turn around, we got to work on a new plan. “Center; Moose 70; Declaring an emergency, request direct Bagram.” “Moose 70; Copy. Turn heading…” They moved all the traffic out of the way, we pushed the throttles up, and made a perfect high speed decent, approach, landing. It was the fastest I’ve ever flown from the Afghan border into Bagram.

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090 – The next sequence of events was fluid to get our somehow still breathing patient off the jet. We had thought it would make sense to clear the runway and unload on a taxiway, but Tower had a faster call. They directed us to stop where we were at, they approved the paramedics right on to the runway for the transfer. “Ops Stop Checklist please…” We then wished him well, but still had three critical patients in the back. I knew the airport was at a standstill, but it’s a concerning feeling knowing our tail was dangling out where a mistake could cause a landing collision. After the ambulance hustled away, “Moose 70; Bagram Tower; Say intentions.” “Bagram Tower; Moose 70; We need to make a phone call but looking to get back in the air as quick as possible. No parking for gas required…”

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101 – Quickly approved was a duty day waiver for us pushing past 24 hours since alert. This made our third attempt at leaving Afghanistan this mission. We were back in the air and the jet was showing off how well a Dover C-17 can deliver when called upon. Three critical patients still depended on safe transport to Germany.

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098 – While I’ll forever be making jokes against military medical for the common practice of handing out Motrin for all ailments, I will never slander the few Airmen that make up an Air Evac team. Without a doubt they are the highest trained professionals I’ve ever worked for that save lives in the air around the world every day.

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105 – Thankfully with no further hiccups, we had a high speed touch down with all three passengers still hanging on. Departing was NASA’s DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory. Ambulances met us on the parallel taxiway to speed the passengers to hospital, then we taxied to parking. When our important task was completed safely, the weight of almost 30 hours awake minus some in flight naps, hit us all at once on the bus for a ride to the hotel.


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106 – Of course on base lodging was full. “Oh no problem, we’ll send you off base about an hour away to a nice spot in the hills.” Fine. I didn’t care how nice or not so nice it was, I just wanted to sleep.

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107 – Wait a minute. I’m complaining about being in a hotel while three heroes were still fighting for their life down the road at Landstuhl hospital. I’ll just pass out now.

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109 – Didn’t wake in time for breakfast, but let’s see what’s for lunch.

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110 – Neat stove.

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111 – Still sleepy selfie.

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112 – Well this beats the shit out of the ‘Deid’s chow hall.

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114 – Racking up the overtime hours,
Loving how we're working on the night shift, baby!

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118 – Back to the desert selfie.

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120 – Loadmaster hero shot.

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 #113169  by adrianspeeder
 
122 – Team Travis Tail.

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128 – Moon shot!

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135 – Here we see the lonely pro super checking his evening go.

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145/153 – 2 – Night shift night line launch.

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154 – Nikon for life!

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156 – “She’s a unit!”

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158 – I just wanted to feel the power between my legs.

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161 - Pumped up kicks! New swag boots equals happy troops.

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162 - Now I just need inserts.

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163 - "Who says women can't drive?" I'd go to war any day with them.

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165 - Dream team flight. Classic loadmaster pose as well.

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168/174 – 3 – Ammo was on sale, so we stopped for a pickup.

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177 - Hashtag team Dover combat selfie.

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179 - "You hit my plane, I hit you." "Don't be silly, I'm still gonna SEND IT!"

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180/182 – Always stuck on the night shift.

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 #113170  by adrianspeeder
 
185 – Technique only.

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186 – Sourced a spinny chair for the room, but had to upgrade the foam padding.

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188/189 – 2 - Are you sick? Are you hurt? Are you far away from home? Do you need help? Do you need care? A C-17 Air Evac medivac will be there.

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More straight forward than last week’s trip, but still a serious condition.

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190 – I always love going to Germany instead of spending the night in the desert, but the only reason that night was to get someone to critical care after an Air Evac.

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198 – Another night shift flight.

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200 – Out here workin’!

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204/206 – 2 - Paid to stare out a window.

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208 – Always amazes me every time we fly over what money can buy.

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210 – Wind up these motors! We gotta go!

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216 – Fuel truck special delivery.

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217 – On time take off with Bremont.

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218 - Dang wippersnappers and their snapchats. Back in my day we had myspace and liked it!

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219 - Pool is open. War is Hell.

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223 –
Say you tried to chase the sundown,
And you let it slip away,
And the holy night is falling.

Ain’t you come a long way,
Ain’t you come a long way,
Ain’t you come a long way down,
This old road?

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225/226 – Pizza and trivia games with the boies!

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228 – In flight yoga.

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231 – Almost the same.

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 #113173  by adrianspeeder
 
232 – The best crew dining accommodations.

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233 – Night shift somewhere.

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235 - Come to the 'Deid they said. It'll be fun they said.

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237 – When you have to load the loader, it makes it an annoying load.

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238 – Last night of the combat stash.

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239 - Hashtag team Dover. Time to make like a tree and get the fuck out!

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240 – Halfway home in Germany!

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241 – Didn’t know it at the time, but this was my last deployment. Mission complete!

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