![[DSC03552.jpg]] Winter 2005 (ignore the date in the photo- no way I’d be bundled up like this in May in Japan). But… May 18 is my sister’s ❤️birthday, so we have that. Flying from Kastner Army Airfield (RJTR)/[Camp Zama](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Zama), Japan to Camp Okadama in Sapporo. Honshu to Hokkaido. A fuel stop in Sendai then across the open sea between the islands. I’m wearing an anti-exposure suit, AKA ‘poopy-suit.’ The thick piece around my neck is called a ‘horse-collar’- an inflatable life preserver. I’m probably wearing a HEEDs bottle as well, which is a small breathing device in case of an unplanned landing in the water. Fortunately, the only time I used one was in [dunker training](https://youtu.be/NRPEo-FiyLY?si=sXL3HnXjr6ucWtgz). <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NRPEo-FiyLY?si=EWStp_E6SWcxoRzA" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> I had already flown one leg of the flight so I’m sitting in the back of one of our [UH60A Blackhawk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_UH-60_Black_Hawk)helicopters, literally chilling. We were taking part in a joint training exercise with the JGSDF (Japanese Ground Self Defense Force) for a couple weeks. I learned to fly helicopters in UH1H [Hueys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_UH-1_Iroquois)and was surprised to see the JGSDF had some Hueys in their hangar that were made in Iran back in the day. During my tour from 2002-2006 I had flown the entire length of Japan - from Okinawa to Hokkaido. Not in one day though- that would have been a lot of fuel and pit stops. I even flew an over water flight to South Korea to drop off one of our aircraft for a paint job in Pusan. Lots of nice memories and nice flights. [[Contents]] [[Home]]