Two airmen extend their desert duty

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Orville Desjarlais
  • Air Force Print News
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Two airmen at an undisclosed location did not mind raising their hands when asked to pull an additional 30 days for Air and Space Expeditionary Force Blue.

They said they knew they were going to be working in 120-degree heat, scurrying into tents during dust storms that turn the noon-day sun into what appears to be a moon, and avoiding deadly snakes in the munitions storage area. Still they volunteered.

For their first desert deployments, Airman 1st Class Jessie Holladay, 25, and Senior Airman John Bronow, 22, opted to extend into the silver rotation. This will give them a 150-day total deployment.

Blue is the first of two transitional AEFs designed to bring the schedule back to a normal 90-day rotation. Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom forced the service into a contingency mode, breaking the normal steady-state deployment schedule.

“I love it out here,” said Holladay, a native of Decatur, Ala. “I like all the different insects and cool animals, like lizards, camel spiders, vipers and camels.”

He said he does not care for the intense heat. Since his work space is the wide open desert, he and the other 100 munitions-storage people must endure oven-like temperatures. Outside their shelter, the only shade available is provided by weedy bushes that stand about a foot high. Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree would provide more shade than 10 of these bushes combined.

Before they deployed here July 11, Holladay and Bronow, from Gig Harbor, Wash., looked forward to their stint in the desert. They knew they would be living in tents and roughing it, but said at least they would get a break from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England’s gloomy weather. What they did not expect to see was a Baskin Robbins and Pizza Hut in the center of tent city.

“It was a nice surprise,” Holladay said.

The pair will spend the extra 30 days inspecting and storing bombs used by F-15E Strike Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons. Holladay said he will take it in stride.

“I feel good about helping out with what we know is right,” Holladay said. “My (family is) proud of me, especially my grandfather, who spent 20 years in the Air Force.”

Although fighter aircraft are not raining bombs upon the enemy as they did during the height of Operation Iraqi Freedom, munitions-storage crews here are still receiving ordnance from Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, which closed in August. All those munitions must be inspected and serviced, as needed, before being added back into America’s arsenal.