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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well, the good thing (I guess) is that he's playing
with jets, not driving around in a Hummer. Lots of security around Uncle
Sugar's toys. And, that said, he's going to war, and believe me, Brian,
after you've spent any amount of time in the military, you do get a hunger,
abeit one expressed carefully and tastefully, for doing the job you train to do
for real. And now your buddy is going to do his job for real, and that
will give him a far, far better perspective on what he's "doing for our country"
besides train, train, train. I hope for the best, and wish he and the rest
of his MIANG unit's deployment a successful trip, and a safe
return.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Steve W.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=hangr18@hotmail.com href="mailto:hangr18@hotmail.com">Brian
Sikkema</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=simpits-tech@simpits.org
href="mailto:simpits-tech@simpits.org">simpits tech</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, January 26, 2004 9:18
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [simpits-tech] War Hits
Home</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hey guys,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Well, I just found out that a good friend of
mine, an F-16 Crew Chief in the Michigan ANG, is getting deployed to Iraq
pretty soon. We don't know exactly where he's going yet, but it's not like
there's a plethora of options. I think it comes down to pretty much either
Kirkuk or Bhagdad International, but I could be wrong. Anyway, there's a big
group of us from the high school days that are in the military in one form or
another, 2 ANG guys, both Crew Chiefs, 1 active duty AF, hoopilopter
crewman/door gunner, 2 of us in ROTC, and one at the Academy. But Ben's the
first of us to get shipped out anywhere. I guess this is going to be the first
of many, though. It's just an interesting new point of view on the whole
thing. Definitely not CNN's angle.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Just thought some of you might be
interested.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Brian</FONT></DIV>
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