Like Watching a Dinosaur Sit in a High Chair

The Refueling Crew at Camp Garry Owen in Iraq in 2009.

Soldiers from Echo Company, 2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion

I have had several moments of awe in my life when the thing I saw in front of me seemed too amazing to be real.  In October of 2009, I watched a Chinook helicopter land in the tiny space between the blast walls of a base about a mile from the Iran-Iraq border.  When I saw a query on twitter from Maiken Scott of WHYY's The Pulse about moments of Awe, I called right away.

The lead pilot on that Chinook was Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jeffrey Hatt.  At minute 14 on the link below, I describe as best as I can remember the watching Hatt land that big helicopter in that small space by turning 90 degrees at the last moment.

He made the same maneuver on take-off.  It was just as impressive to watch in either direction: like watching a dinosaur sit in a high chair, was the first metaphor that popped into my mind.

Seeing any expert do their best work is something I love.  Whether it is sports or flying or racing or dance or writing, seeing the best at work is wonderful.

I made two trips to Camp Garry Owen during my deployment to Iraq in 2009-10. This small base close to the Iran-Iraq border and was hit by rockets regularly.  When I flew up it was on a Blackhawk helicopter taking carrying a team that was looking for smugglers along the border. 

When I got to the base, I took a tour of the tiny facility and wrote about it here. Matt Kauffman (3rd from left, 2nd row) took me on a tour. 

Chief Hatt is still flying. Right now he is deployed again, flying a Chinook in combat operations.

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/thepulse/item/96024-awestruck