2000 Hours!

Chris and his friend Bill after crossing Chris’ 2,000 hour mark

Oh yeah! Big goal achieved! For months, Chris has been saying he hoped to pass 2,000 helicopter flight hours during this tour. After hearing that a few times, I asked him to keep me posted so we could have a special celebration dinner when it happened. Then came our rapid move and we weren’t sure it was going to be possible—June is extremely predictable for RAIN and thunderstorms. Well, IT HAPPENED, BABY!

I told Isaac we needed to go to the store to get Dad a special treat. “Special…treeeaaat?” he considered. “Candy?” I had to explain a Dad treat was more along the lines of tasty steak and potatoes.

Chris and the CO

Anyway, 2,000 hours is like spending over two months straight flying a helicopter, or an entire year flying nine to five Monday to Friday. Wow! Congratulations, Chris!

Then next day, Chris did a soft patch ceremony for a couple of his on wings and got his end of tour award, plus an award from Bell Helicopters for flying over 1,000 hours in that type of helo alone. That’s a lot of flying! As Isaac said, “Yay, Dad! I’m proud of you, Dad!”

Looking up to Dad

Chris with his third set of on wings, this week’s soft patch recipients