I was out on my night rounds. I had given my crew brief prayer; talked with the flight doc; hung out with supply and ate a home baked cookie from a guy who’s last name is Cookie; walked through the mechanic’s maze saying howdy; and now I was out with two security troops guarding the entrance to the airstrip. On one side of them were the B-1 bombers. On the other side the tankers. These two young women were from the Minnesota Guard. Classic looking mid-west women- would fit in at any Lutheran Church. One was telling me why she had dropped her boyfriend who did not have a whole lot of gumption, shall we say. Good for her.

Then up drove one of our commanders. We all saluted and he invited me to ride out with him and help him keep awake for the next two hours. As much as I liked hanging out with two young blonde women I was going to get to see what goes into making one of our B-1s get started on a mission. I had just prayed with this crew, now I got to see them leave; cool beans!

What followed was a short course on Bombers. I got to look into the belly of this dark plane that can hit supersonic speeds. I saw the wide variety of weapons hung on a great white rotating shaft. I learned that the plane is basically a huge gas tank. When filled with fuel a B-1 doubles its weight.

This amazing machine is loaded with a computer program of the mission. Even if all the crew dies the plane can still attack the enemy and drop its load.

Yet what really amazed me was the B-1 ground crew as problems were solved, people prepared, and what work went into launching one of these aircraft. They even have a spare plane with a crew preparing it to leave if the designated aircraft has mechanical problems. Then right on time, we followed in the pick-up truck watching the aircraft reach for the sky. It’s thundering engine with afterburner ablaze can vibrate the plaque right off your teeth during its takeoff. Wow, cool beans!

As we drove back to the gate the commander stopped, turned off the engine, and he told me about the mission a few weeks back where our troops on the ground were in a firefight. How the B-1 crew he was commanding was called in to give a show of force by dropping flares. Then he talked about how they heard over the radio that the troop killed was a cousin of one of the Wizzos (The weapons officer). They all knew the troop on the ground because they talked to him, via radio, often when they were in the area. He had told me this story once already. But that did not matter he had to tell it again. Then he added that one of the wounded in that same firefight was a cousin of one of our pilots. "Can you imagine" he said, "What a small world it is when two serving on the ground are related to two in the air. I’m glad we were there to scare off the enemy so that other kid could get help and live. God let us be his shield for a reason."

Please pray for our people in uniform - the war on terrorism is real!

God’s grace and blessings to you,