Sunday, February 22, 2015

ELDP: Hawaii

 Quick on the heels of our trip to Korea was Hawaii. It was an excellent trip for the learning about all of the different services missions on island.
 At Pearl we took a boat from the divers to visit with the EOD techs 
 We went to the Leadership Reaction Course at K-bay with the Marines, and I channeled Karate Kid.
Our squad was the only one to succeed on this obstacle and our program visit made the base paper.
 We were at Pearl Harbor for the ceremony on December 7th and this past year it was again on a Sunday.
There were flyovers and the most amazing part was seeing the veterans.

we then did a tour of the Missouri 
 a most impressive battleship, with the Arizona memorial in the background 
 So these guns were at the WWII surrender and in the Gulf War.
 
 
 
 really glad I'm not in the Navy
 and this is all kinds of room compared to the sub we saw in San Diego
 floating office
 officer's quarters 
 Captain's cabin 
Coasties.  
 that is their ice breaker on a stopover before heading to Antarctica
 
 they did a helo to water rescue demo
not bad for Department of Homeland Security  
 now that's a cool job  
 we then visited with the Navy Salvage Divers  
 Far from recreational diving.
 decompression time in the chamber is part of their plan not just an emergency procedure
 Then we got the boat tour over to see EOD which took us past the Missouri again 
 
 That is the dent on the side where she was hit by a Kamikaze
 a closer look 
 past the Arizona memorial 
 a somber locale 
 back past the Missouri 
 the harbor
 EOD
 their robot
 driving it around
 saving the world from a coconut bomb 
 their heavy helmet 
22s in the base turn into Hickam, the airspace is definitely busy 
 an impressive group
 The coastie 2 star had us to dinner at her house, and she just happens to live in the lighthouse at Diamond Head. 
 Entrance to her residence.
 view from the balcony
 rainbows everywhere 
 water so clear you can see down into it
 
 we were able to go up in the lighthouse 
 amazing views
 I'd live here. 
 Their lampshade had a Pirate feel... 
 Nightfall
 a narrated boat tour of the harbor  
 the Arizona
 
 It still leaks oil, but the fish don't seem to mind.
diagram of the Arizona memorial over the ship  
 
 golf course at Hickam 
 such a beautiful place, but I like Okinawa more
 a blue cheese and banana pepper burger to end an excellent trip
 Though a dive I had planned with a friend had to be cancelled because of punitive action against the whole group due to members staying out too late in Korea, she did put together a snorkel trip to Hanauma Bay right before departure.
 I do miss tropical ocean.
The waves threw me around like a ragdoll, at one point putting me on a coral head and I had to wait for another wave to come back to pick me off. As cool as it is, I like visiting but don't really long to be stationed there. We'll see what the future holds.

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