Pranks, Puke, Choppers and Mountain Climbing

So today has been quite eventful. We're in the middle of annual training right now. To cap off the end of AT we wanted to do something that would build esprit de corps, boost morale, and aid in retention. We decided on the last day of AT we would climb Mount Borah. We are also fortunate enough that the National Guard is going to fly us to the base camp in Blackhawks.

To help prepare for the climb, we went up Bogus Basin Road today hiked through Dry Creek Canyon. We put in about 3.5-4 miles before we had to head back. I asked my 1SG if there were any alternate routes back or if we just had to turn around. We were at the bottom of a very steep ravine but knew that Bogus Basin Road was at the top.

It sure looked doable.

It sure looked like a gentle slope.

It kicked my butt.

We started out on a barely existent game trail. We soon saw that it was not ascending like we would like it to so everyone had to scramble up the side to a different ridge line. It just so happened that my area was nearly vertical. As I pulled myself up by grabbing on to sagebrush, I realized that I wasn't as fast as my 18 year old privates. On the contrary, I felt a bit like an old man. We eventually made it to the top of the ravine and then began the 2.5 mile descent down Bogus Basin Road, the first .5 miles, we ran.

Needless to say, I was pooped. On the way back to Gowen Field I took the luxury of a small nap.

This is where it starts to get interesting.

My beloved NCO's decided it would be fun to play a prank on a sleeping CPT Vogt. I actually see it as a sign of respect.

We were on Gowen Road and I'm sawing logs while riding shotgun. SGT Person was driving while SSG Bond and SGT Lee were sitting behind me. They coordinated it without waking me up. SGT Person slammed on the breaks while the others yelled, "LOOK OUT!!" or "HOLY *&%#!"

I immediately woke up with a start and did what any other man, fearing he is about to get into a collision, would do...

I yelled like a big, startled wus.

They got me good. I congratulated each of them and shook their hands. It was well planned and well executed. I couldn't be prouder.

As soon as we got back, 2LT Scheuch, MSG Amato, SSG Sites, SSG Bond, and myself went on a recon to Mount Borah via Blackhawk. It was a perfect day with clear skies and only a little haze from the forest fires.

This makes the fifth time I have flown in a Blackhawk. I have never been sick in one. That is, I have never been sick in one...before.

I had eaten a Southwestern Chicken Caesar salad for lunch and something about it just wasn't sitting too well with me. Up till now, most of the chopper flights I have been on have been low altitude flights. These are great. You get to see everything up close and better yet, there is no turbulence. I have also had the privilege of riding in the back where you have a pretty good view.

This flight was different.

I sat in the front row of the passenger area so the junior guys could enjoy the view and flight more. We flew with the doors open and that's always fun. I thought about the time I flew through Baghdad with the doors open. It was quite the trip. Anyhoo...this flight we had to be at a much higher altitude because of the mountains. The turbulence was really knocking us around. Couple that with my less than ideal seating arrangement which prevented me from really seeing a whole lot, mix in the salad, and I could see that things were not going too well. After about 30 minutes. I decided that I would just try to close my eyes and sleep and maybe that would help with the building nausea.

I was wrong.

Just as we arrived at Mount Borah, I opened my eyes and realized that my plan hadn't really worked at all. Puking was inevitable. I used some sort of frantic sign language with the assistant crew chief that I was indeed about to blow chunks, to chunder, barf, ralf, shout at my shoes, vomit, hurl. He frantically began to scramble for a barf bag but it was too late. Strapped in a four point harness, you are unable to move much except for your head. i did the only thing I could. I turned my head sideways and let fly. I was hoping that I could have it all go outside the door but I just didn't have the proper angle or trajectory. Some did make it out the door and was promptly transformed into spray which flew to the back and hit a Warrant Officer Candidate who was riding with us. More landed on the floor and the last bit hit my left sleeve. The assistant crew chief handed me the barf bag and in the two seconds between heaves, I managed to take it out of its envelope, open it and then proceed to puke my guts out (and the Southwestern Chicken Caesar salad).

Here's me recreating the scene for SSG Bond in my assault pack.

We continued to circle the mountain (I didn't get any pics having been a little preoccupied) and then we touched down at our proposed LZ. I managed to exit the bird and then promptly plopped myself down among the sagebrush and felt like crap. Shortly thereafter, we took off again and headed to Sun Valley to refuel. I moved to the back where I could get a little more air and have something to look at.

I had never been to Sun Valley before. I think I might have seen Bruce Willis but I can't be sure because all of the people looked like ants. I will say this, Sun Valley is gorgeous and there are some big friggin' houses out there.

We touched down among the Lear Jets and made our way to the small airport. It was pretty nice looking (would you expect anything less in Sun Valley?). MSG Amato was a good mother hen for me and got me water, crackers and then a PBJ. The staff there was great and had left overs from some celebrity brought out to the other guys and the crew. I began to feel better and even posed for this great pic!

On the route back, we kept pretty low and even did a little Knapp of the earth. What more could a guy ask for? Apparently a bit more. I asked if we could swing by Bronco Stadium and CW4 Briggs, our pilot, obliged. We circled the stadium a few times and I managed to get in a few good pics of the stadium and the expansion construction. we headed across downtown, and central Boise before heading back to Gowen.

All-in-all, a pretty good day, chunks and all.