MONDAY AND TUESDAY, MARCH 13TH AND 14TH– ITALY TO KOREA:

Everyone met in the lobby at 9:00 am for the short trip to the airport.  We are flying something called “Air Dolomiti” (which is owned by Lufthansa Airlines) from Venice to Munich. Have never heard of or flown that airline.  It’s one of the smaller “commuter jets”.

The lady who checked us in was so nice.  She worked with us so that we did not have to pay any excess baggage fees! We went to the lounge to wait for our flight to be called and I became concerned when they announced that it was delayed by about 20 minutes.  We only had a 1 hour and 50 minute layover and now we were down to 1 hour and 30 minutes.  Sounds like a lot but I knew we had to go through Passport Control and the fight would board one hour prior to departure.

Thankfully we were only delayed by 20 minutes.  The plane is configured as 2 seats on each side and the business class seats are all the same as the coach seats – except they only “sell” the window seats and the aisle seats are blocked.  They had a really nice snack on the flight, too.  Would recommend the airline for short jumps.

We had a lot of turbulence when landing due to the wind. But, we had plenty of time to go through passport control and then to the gate….just no time to “shop” on the way.

We are flying Lufthansa direct from Munich to Seoul – 11 ½ hour flight.  It is the smallest First Class section I’ve ever seen which would explain why the fare was so inexpensive compared to Delta and other airlines.  But, it was still better than coach!  The meals were really good and all the movies available sucked – pretty normal!

Before we landed I noticed that Natalie and Jen were basically taking Natalie’s seat apart.  The flight attendant saw it too and panicked and told them not to touch it because it was dangerous. ?? Natalie’s phone had slid between the seat and armrest.  The male flight attendant was able to retrieve it. I noticed that my book had disappeared in the same place. After seeing the trauma it evidently caused the flight attendants to have to work with the seat, I decided to donate my book to the seat.

We had filled out a mountain of paperwork just to be able to enter Japan and Korea and then were given more forms to complete on the flight.  When we got off the flight, there was another form to complete that everyone in business class had not been given.  Everyone in coach was given the form and had theirs ready.  We had to stand aside and fill out the form but everything went smoothly after that.  The good news is, all our bags made it and were already on the belt when we finally arrived at baggage claim.

Our hosts – SSgt Harris (Bianca) and Andy Rice (who I worked with decades ago at Spangdahlem AB in Germany) were waiting for us.  We walked to the nice bus the provided but Andrew noticed that he didn’t have his jacket.  His passport was in his jacket so we knew he still had it when we went through Immigration.  He back-tracked to look for it and it had already been turned in to Lost and Found.

It was about a 2 ½ hour drive from the airport to the base but we stopped at a nice roadside area for late lunch, early dinner.  They had several different restaurants in one building where we could order Korean food.  Most of us went for the ramen.  I also went in the little quick mart and purchased Honey Butter Potato Chips – which are amazing.  Then stopped by one of the food vendors outside and purchased little “hot” cakes filled with either vanilla or chocolate to share with everyone.  Delicious!

When we arrived at the Wolf Pack Lodge, the Wolf and Wolf II were waiting for us along with several other staff members that I’ve been working with on the tour.  The Wolf and Wolf II are GREAT – as I expected.  Have I mentioned how much I love visiting this base?

Our room keys were ready for us and everyone went their separate ways since we don’t have any other commitments today/tonight.  I unpacked as much as I could for 2 days and then walked over to the base exchange.  Ran into Jen buying the cutest little flight suit for her baby girl.  Korea is definitely the place to have anything you want “customized”.  Some of the guys were also in the Food Court and we all walked over to the flight line to watch the F-16’s take off.  They were supposed to take off at sunset but I guess we missed them.

I went back to the room to work and opened my refrigerator to put a bottle of Gatorade in it and noticed that there was an awesome deli tray in it.  Wolf Pack always takes such great care of us but never received that before.  Much appreciated.

I worked until 3:45 am and then fell into bed exhausted.  At 4 am, the F-16’s took off and shook me out of a deep sleep.  Reminds me of being in Iraq all those years!

Jude

 

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15TH – KUNSAN AIRBASE UNIT VISITS:

I went to bed at 3:45 am and at exactly 4 am, four F-16’s took off and jolted me out of bed.  LOL.  It was incredibly hot in my room last night because the “heat” is still on and controlled centrally. I will sleep in the lobby tomorrow night if we can’t get it cooled of somehow!

Had a call from Chris while I was dressing saying he thought he had an ear infection.  I called Bianca and she rushed to the lobby to walk him to the clinic because it was closing in 10 minutes.  Fortunately, the doctor confirmed that he didn’t have an ear infection.  Right after I got that call, received an email from Jen worried that she might have COVID because she had another bad night last night.  I brough COVID tests with me and again, fortunately, she tested negative.

Lobby call was 11 am today and it was a fully “packed” day of Unit Visits.  Greg’s back has been hurting since we were in Italy so both he and Chris  opted to stay at the hotel and rest.  Jen wanted to go but it probably wasn’t a good idea based on the weather.  It was really windy and cold and most of our visits were outside.

We started with a visit to the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit.  They had all kinds of “fun toys” set up for us to “explore”.  Andrew even suited up in their “bomb” suit and Don used the “robot” to pick up a golf ball and try to put it on top of a cone.

Next was dinner at the DFAC (Dining Facility).  Food was actually really good and not crowded at all.  From there we went to the Air Traffic Control Tower.  There were lots of F-16’s taking off while we were there – U.S. and ROK!

Next was a visit to the Fire Department.  Natalie and Stevie were brave enough to climb the ladder – high into the sky.  Dave and Andrew tried it after they saw the girls lived through the experience.  LOL.

We went from the Fire Department to the Aircraft/Munitions Loading showcase which was excellent as well.  The F-16 was the aircraft and we had such a great people telling us all the details about loading the aircraft with munitions.  Lt. Col. Steven Massara (Hunter) led the briefing and we learned that we’ll both be at Eielson Air Base in Alaska in May at the same time!

At each stop, we gave our hosts Runaway June caps and autographed photos – compliments of Runaway June – and my coin.

We had a couple of hours between the last visit and lobby call for dinner.  However, I got a call from Donnie saying someone needed to come to the club because they were getting ready to build the stage and once built, it couldn’t be moved.  Don volunteered to check it out.  I put a load of clothes in the washer while I was getting dressed.

Wolf, Wolf II, Falcon, and Falcon II joined us plus two sweet Korean ladies from the staff at the O’Club and of course our hosts, Bianca, Andy and Donnie.  Also enjoyed talking about all the former “Wolfs” I have met here.  It was such a fun meal of “Bulgogi”.  There were grills built into each table and the restaurant staff cooked beef and pork for us.  They were coated with some kind of sauce that was delicious.  We put those on lettuce leaves and added some kind of amazing sauce.  There was also a salad, miso soup, some other kind of soup, grilled garlic and grilled hearts of palm, rice, and several things I didn’t recognize but were really good.  It was nice to get to know “leadership” on a more personal level.  I left them with caps for all the leadership team, photos and coins.

Great Day.  Great Evening.  Spent with men who truly love the United States of America and want to protect us.  Most of the general public is not even aware of how volatile it could become at any minute on the Peninsular.  It’s good to be reminded of why we’re here and meet the brave men defending our freedom and the freedom of so many other countries around the world!

Looks like we’re the first entertainment Kunsan has had since the COVID lockdown.  Should be an awesome show!

Jude

THURSDAY, MARCH 16TH – PERFORMANCE AT KUNSAN AIR BASE, KOREA – HOME OF THE WOLF PACK:

We were scheduled to depart to the venue at 2 pm today but the Production Company was ready for us early.  Don, Greg, the 3 musicians and I went over at noon and had the girls come over at 2 pm.  It was great to see Desmond again after so many years.  He owns the Production Company that we contracted for Kunsan and Osan.

I had Andy go with me to SATO – the government travel agency – to check on paying for upgrades on the flights from Korea to Tokyo and roundtrip Tokyo/Okinawa.  No luck.  Those airlines block all the premium seats and only sell to their “local customers” who have one of their credit cards.  At least those are short flights!

From there I went to the base exchange to return an adapter kit that I purchased when we arrived.  Seems it only works with Apple products!  The Wolf Pack Café was right night door, so I stopped there to get a cheese egg white omelet for breakfast/lunch.  I got it “to go” and when I got back to the venue, found that it was a veggie omelet with lots of things I won’t eat–  like black olives! I was able to pick all the veggies out and just eat the egg whites.

The girls struggled through sound check because their monitor engineer was unable to come on the trip at the last minute and it was too late to replace her.

We all went back to lodging to dress for the show.  The Wolf and his “team” came backstage so we could take photos with all of them.  They have taken such great care of us!  There are photos of all the former “Wolf’s” on the wall in the green room and I took photos of their photos….like I do every visit.  LOL.

I was a little disappointed when the room wasn’t full by show time but people started coming in from the adjacent bar once they heard the music.   We had a packed house after the first song – total of 202 people.  Everyone enjoyed the show and we saw lots of people wearing the AFE Runaway June caps we had given them yesterday.  The First Department and Munitions Loading guys were definitely there.    There was a large group of guys in the back of the room dancing and having a great time.  That’s why we’re here…to make them forget how many thousands of miles they are from family and loved ones.

The autograph session was also “lively” but Don ensures that it moves quickly without offending anyone yet giving everyone a chance to say something to the girls.

Back at lodging now trying to make a dent in the hundreds of emails waiting to be answered plus pack for a 9 am departure tomorrow.  Another night with very little sleep but definitely worth it after our great visit with The Wolf Pack!

Jude