good and bad

you know how it is .. there are good days and bad days .. I pray everyday the she has more good then bad... I try not to tell her the bad from home.. trying to keep her spirits up .. but sometimes she does need to know it might not be better at home... I do love it though when I see she is happy and has good some good times. It puts a smile on my face even if I don't have many of those lately... it does make my day to see photos like this...

miss Erica and some buddies from her unit

Keep this rose going for the 31 US Special Forces and 7 Afghan Commandos and 1 warrior dog who lost their lives in a helicopter crash ♥♥♥♥
_____/)___/)______./¯"""/')
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\)¯¯\)¯¯¯'\_„„„„\)
¯`v´¯) Your families are in our thoughts
`*.¸.*´ and prayers during this
¸.•´ ¸.•*¨)¸.•*¨) difficult time!!!
(¸.•´(¸.• (¸.•´¸¸.•¨¯`•.¸¸.♥

typhoon muifa approaching okinawa 8/4/11

During your preparations for the approaching storm, did you ever stop to think about the word “muifa?” Other than the fact that it’s fun to say over and over…what exactly IS a muifa anyway? Countries throughout Asia contribute names for tropical cyclones in this part of the world, and a “muifa” is a name submitted by Macau that means “plum blossom.” See all the names (and meanings) of upcoming

the red dot if where miss erica is at on okinawa apx.

update as of 8/4/11 5:55pm pacific time

Typhoon Muifa, centered east-northeast of Taiwan and south of Japan, is equivalent to a category 2 hurricane. Its northern eyewall is passing very near or directly over Kadena Air Base on Okinawa tonight U.S. time. It is forecast to move generally northwestward through the weekend, and it could impact some portions of eastern China on Saturday and Sunday U.S. time

having to close up OP early .. hurricane approaching

Super Typhoon 11W (Muifa), # 7: It's a big one!

By DAVE ORNAUER
Published: July 31, 2011

1 p.m. Sunday, July 31, Japan time: They’re calling it Super Typhoon Muifa for a reason. In a span of less than 18 hours, Muifa went from Category I- to Category IV-equivalent status and in relatively short order should become a Cat V-equivalent storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

The latest Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecast track (noon Sunday local time) calls for Muifa to rumble 26 miles southwest of Kadena Air Base at 8 a.m. Friday, packing sustained 138-mph winds and 167-mph gusts at its center.

Kadena’s 18^th Wing Weather Flight’s latest forecast (12:30 p.m. Sunday) calls for the following wind timeline:

-- Winds of 35 mph or greater, 6 p.m. Tuesday.
-- Winds of 40 mph or greater, 9 p.m. Tuesday.
-- Wind gusts of 58 mph or greater, 9 p.m. Wednesday.
-- Sustained 58-mph winds or greater, between 9 p.m. Thursday-2 p.m. Friday.
-- Sustained 98-mph winds and 144-mph gusts between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Friday.
-- Wind gusts diminishing below 58 mph, 6 a.m. Saturday.
-- Winds diminishing below 40 mph, 8 a.m. Saturday.
-- Winds diminishing below 35 mph, 10 a.m. Saturday.

PST can’t say it enough and with very great emphasis: This one’s big. Even the locals, laid-back, friendly folk given to frequent fits of understatement, are using terms like “sugoi” and “taihen” regarding Muifa’s potential severity.

Not since I’ve been doing this on a consistent basis since the fall of 2004 has PST ever – and I mean ever – seen a tropical cyclone forecast to peak at 180-mph sustained winds and 220-mph gusts, until now (between 9 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Tuesday, when Muifa will still be quite far from Okinawa).

What remains most worrisome is how Muifa’s forward speed has slowed to a virtual crawl. Over the last 18 hours, Muifa has slowed from 12 mph to just over 3 mph, and over an area of high ocean heat content, on which tropical cyclones feast as PST does over a well-done Porterhouse steak, baked potato and a glass of Bordeaux. The longer it remains over high OHC areas, the fatter and more monstrous it grows.

No accelerated tropical cyclone conditions of readiness have been issued yet, but take heed, my Okinawa peepz: Start preparing for this thing NOW. It is NEVER too soon. Clean up around your home or tower apartment right away, and do the same around your office or work area tomorrow. Stock up on batteries, bottled water and non-perishable foods.

For those living off base on Okinawa with AFN satellite decoder boxes, Channel 21 shows the local sea and typhoon conditions. Keep in mind, though, that the signal could be interrupted during heavy squalls, which will likely occur. Wave 89.1-FM, Surf 648-AM or AFN Okinawa’s Facebook page are also available.

Start preparing now. Better safe than sorry. Better to have too many supplies and a storm veering away at the last minute than to have it run over us and not be prepared.

expected to hit okinawa thursday a category five.

on a new training op

miss erica is out and about again on another training op .. she called it UFG .. which is Ulchi Freedom Guardian, it is in a different location than last year.... heres a beautiful snapshot she took while on a short break on her OP.

The UFG is designed to improve the ability of the ROK and U.S. Alliance to defend the ROK. (ROK - Republic of Korea) "I would say this was a very successful evolution. Honing our ability to integrate USMC forces into a combined, joint environment allows us to not only better prepare for the defense of the ROK, but also maintain security and stability throughout the Asia-Pacific region," Ostrowski added.

Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG)

The Marines of Detachment Alpha have deployed en force to various locations in Okinawa, Japan as well as Osan, Korea in

support of UFG.

UFG is a 30 day coalition level simulated Korean warfighting exercise.

III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF) conducts this exercise in conjunction

with United States Forces Korea (USF-K) and our US Air Force counterparts

on the Korean Peninsula.

Detachment Alpha has been tasked to provide the long-haul and backbone

communications architecture for several units participating in the exercise,

including providing direct help desk support to the Commanding General and

VIP staff of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.

More than 100 Marines have deployed to various locations and will remain

engaged in this exercise for more than a month.

moving day

semper gumby : always flexible ;)

This month July, 167 single Marines including miss Erica moved all of their personal belongings into a brand new barracks (complete with lounge areas and a full kitchen). They also spent hundreds of Marine-hours examining over 2,000 equipment records, 110 instructional binders, and answer 102 detailed questions in preparation for our Commanding General's Inspection next week. And, they conducted detailed tests of thousands of pounds of equip-ment used in the communications network we will set up later this month for exercise Ulchi Freedom Guardian.

...Actually, that month's worth of accomplishments all happened in a single busy week!

no pics of the new barracks yet :(

japans disaster march 11 2011