TAILWIND

June 19, 2009 3

Iboarded the plane andfound my seat, 8B, nextto a man whom I would

guess to be around 70 yearsold. Seemed like a nice fel-low as we exchanged thenecessary hellos. I hadworked up a pretty goodheadache, I was hungry andvery tired. I was hopingthere would be no forcedconversation between us.

I had just landed from aseven-hour KC-135 Stra-totanker continuation train-ing mission over Oregonearlier that day, where wemet up with a four-ship of F-15 Eagles for air refuel-ing, then returned back toFairchild Air Force Base,Wash., for some patternwork. As a rated squadroncommander in the 615thContingency ResponseWing, I was approved to goTDY every two or threemonths to maintain my KC-135 pilot proficiency.

The early show time andlong day coupled with rush-ing back to Spokane airportto make the flight back toTravis compounded myheadache and fueled my badmood. “What a hassle thisday has been,” I thought tomyself. I was in no mood tobe smashed in with all thesepeople on the flight backhome.

As the plane departedSpokane, I closed my eyesand concentrated on catch-ing some sleep. Soon there-after, my relaxation was in-terrupted …

■ SquadronCommanderCommentary

Lt. Col. Scott Zippwald571ST GLOBAL MOBILITY SQUADRON COMMANDER

Chancemeetingserves asreminder

TRAVIS

U.S. Air Force photos/Nan Wylie

At left, Senior Master Sgt.William Easter, a member of the 60th Force SupportSquadron, helps barbecuechicken June 12 duringTravis’ MatchUp picnic.Above, Nicholas, 3, makes a new friend at the pettingcorral during the picnic.

Base cooks up fun at MatchUp Picnic

See ZIPPWALD on Page 20

By 60th Medical Group

On June 11, the WorldHealth Organization raisedthe worldwide pandemicalert level to Phase 6 in re-sponse to the ongoing globalspread of the H1N1 virus.According to the WHO Website, Phase 6, the pandemicphase, is characterized by

community level outbreaks inat least one other country in adifferent WHO region in ad-dition to the criteria definedin Phase 5.

Phase 5 is characterizedby human-to-human spreadof the virus into at least twocountries in one WHO region.While most countries will notbe affected at this stage, the

declaration of Phase 5 is astrong signal that a pandemicis imminent and that the timeto finalize the organization,communication, and imple-mentation of the planned mit-igation measures is short.

Phase 6 designation indi-cates that a global pandemicis underway.

H1N1 flu still aconcern

See FLU on Page 18

TAILWIND20 June 19, 2009 Travis Public Web — www.travis.af.mil

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“What do ya think thoseare?” the man next to me askedas he peered outside. He hadcaught sight of Fairchild AFBand the long line of tankersproudly lining the runway.

“Those are KC-135s,” I an-swered briefly.

“Hmmm,” he responded.I quickly closed my eyes

again to signal the end of theconversation on my end. About20 minutes later, we bankedabove southern Washingtonand I awoke again, this time bya poke to the ribs, “Hey look,”he said, “Mount St. Helens …have you ever seen it from thesky?”

So now I was awake. Thecold air vent blowing on myface had subdued my headacheand I was actually feeling OK. I

left my foul mood behind and Iexplained to him that I had infact just been orbiting in thesame location a few hours ago,except a formation of F-15swas with me and I was at thecontrols of one of those KC-135s that he had seen earlier.The cat was out of the bag now,I knew I was going to have todo some talking whether Iliked it or not.

He turned to face me as myAir Force story unfolded. Hiseyes grew large and fixed onme as I talked about my careerand shared a few of my experi-ences. He seemed to hang onevery word and his pride wastransparent through his facialexpressions. It was a great con-versation. I shared cool AirForce stories from my past,and he offered his thoughts onAmerica and our freedom.

Our long discussion was in-terrupted as the wheels

touched down. Time had liter-ally flown by and we were qui-et for the first time since westarted the discussion. As wepulled into the gate and I stoodup to gather my things, theman grabbed my arm andseemed to struggle to find justthe right words.

“Thank you . . . thank youfor sharing all of that with me.It’s a pleasure to have met you.God bless the military and menand women like you.”

“My pleasure, sir, you’re agood man,” I said.

As I walked out the jet-way,my new friend from 8A caughtup with me once more for a paton the back and a thumbs up ashe headed off in his own direc-tion.

On the drive home I re-counted the day’s events, mycareer and my Air Force life.The gentleman in seat 8A hadreminded me of what an honor

and privilege it is to serve inthe Air Force, and how wesometimes lose sight of the ex-traordinary work we do. I feltrefreshed and my headachewas gone, but I was a little em-barrassed and disappointed atmy earlier mood and skewedperspective on things.

I got home, had dinner withmy family and got the kids tobed. My wife and I watched TVquietly as we ate popcorn. Aswe watched a Travel Channelshow, a lady on screen had justlanded from her first-everparasailing ride in some tropi-cal location.

“That was the most amazingthing I have ever done!” sheproudly exclaimed.

I thought about that for asecond, and then turned to mywife and asked, “What’s themost amazing thing you haveever done?”

She didn’t take long to an-

swer, “Good question, I don’tknow … I have no idea.” Shepaused without offering any-thing further. “How aboutyou?” she said, “You obviouslyhave a lot of Air Force stuff tochoose from.”

The question brought meback to my flight home and thekind gentlemen I had sharedmy stories with. “Yeah,” I saidas I smiled. “It’s tough to pickjust one thing out of it all.” AndI left it at that.

As I lay in bed that night, Ithought a lot about my serviceand my life in the Air Force. Ifyou haven’t lately, take a stepback and think about whatyou’ve accomplished; your ex-periences, your travels andyour service. The Air Force af-fords us many opportunitiesand experiences that most peo-ple will never see in lifetime.What’s the most amazing thingyou’ve ever done?

ZippwaldFrom Page 3

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HawkFrom Page 6