Turducken????

Is it a turkey or a duck? Or is it a chicken??? Yes...it is a combination of all three. We heard of this a few years ago while we were living in Pensacola and Grampie has wanted to try it ever since then. So, with the help of a little gnome he gutted a few birds and invited a few friends and threw a little party. Apparently you de-bone a turkey and it comes out looking like this...

And then you de-bone a chicken and a duck and shove them inside the turkey with a bunch of stuffing and sew it back up. Then you cook it like a regular turkey and it comes out looking like this...



You might notice that the legs and wings aren't exactly where they should be. I guess that is what happens when you let a gnome do reconstructive surgery. After it gets cooked it has to be served...

And after 18 or so hungry guys get a hold of it, it ends up looking kind of like this...



Kind of looks like a slightly darker version of how it started. The night turned out to be a lot of fun. Lars was once again on the prowl for the ladies and ended up getting a little suger from Meg, Heather and Amanda. Who knew that an unnatural combination of three types of birds could be an aphrodisiac?

Thanksgiving

Lars enjoyed his first Thanksgiving in Point Mugu. He had his hands in everything and kept showing up everywhere. Here he is helping Josh "WUTA" carve the Thanksgiving bird...

And here he is finishing off his second helping. Such a fat little gnome...


And here was "Awesome" Adam driving Lars' tractor. Keep in mind that Lars is 6 inches tall and Adam is 6'4".

Lars once again found himself the center of attention with the ladies. Wish I knew how he keeps doing it...

Fly in

After 6 months at sea Lars and the rest of the Black Eagles launched off the REAGAN for the last time of deployment and returned home to Point Mugu, CA.

Here come the Eagles for the 4 plane break...

and here are Lars and Ronny on short final to Point Mugu and the completion of WESTPAC/OEF 2008. It's good to be home.

Air Power

When REAGAN left Pearl Harbor on November 18th, she had embarked almost 1500 civilians called Tigers. Tigers are family and friends of the members of the crew who come onboard for the ride home so they can get an appreciation for what the aircrew and ship's company go through on a day to day basis. One of the events that is always fun during Tiger cruise is the Air Power demonstration. It gives the civilians a chance to see the precision and lethality of the Air Wing. Here is Lars flying shotgun in the 16 plane diamond flyby.

Hawaii

Lars last stop on the way home was Hawaii. It was kind of rainy the entire time, but that was okay because he was back on American soil and was on his way home. Here he is with Diamondhead volcano in the background...

And this is the view from Lars' hotel room down the beach at Waikiki. Lars only got to stay in Hawaii for about 48 hours, but he was okay with that because it was time to get home.

Singapore

Lars' first stop on the way home was Singapore. I am not sure what he was trying to do to this woman in the subway station. I think he sneezed in her armpit, but I have no idea why.

He made a quick stop in the Little India district in Singapore and visited a huge Indian store. It was kind of like 6 Wal Marts stacked on top of each other with enough people to fill 12 Wal Marts crammed inside. Oh, and almost every one of them smelled like they hadn't showered in about a week. Gross.

He took a ride on the subway with Mike "PK" and Rick "Dick."

And he visited a museum called the Bunker Box. It was the command headquarters for the British Army that was stationed in Singapore during World War II. This is Lars at the meeting of the British Generals who are deciding to surrender Singapore to the Japanese.

And here he is with a British soldier who looks like he has spent too much time in a tanning bed. Kind of looks like a big Oompa Loompa.

The Ladies

Lars couldn't keep himself away from the ladies while he was underway. I guess a six month deployment is a long time when you are a gnome. Tiffany "Giggles" couldn't resist his gnome charm...

And he even stole a few kisses from Britney.

Afghanistan Operations

After three months in the Western Pacific, it was time for Lars and the rest of the Black Eagles to get a little real work done. The REAGAN settled in off the coast of Pakistan in late August and started flying combat operations into Afghanistan in support of coalition troops on the ground. Here is Lars 5724 miles from his home at Point Mugu, CA.

Lars made a new friend when he got to Afghanistan. Talking Ronald Reagan showed up just in time to participate in Operation Enduring Freedom. Here are Lars and Ronny flying over Afhganistan.

Lars continued his quest to fly with every pilot in the Black Eagles. Here he is flying copilot for "Awesome" Adam shortly after a daytime launch off REAGAN.



And here he is with Randy "Cookie." Cookie is one of our NFOs who usually ride in the back of the plane. I think he was a little confused by that big yellow glowing ball outside the plane that we pilots like to call the sun. Sometimes Cookie will go days at a time without seeing it.


This is Lars somewhere over Pakistan flying copilot for Nate "IKE."



And here he is with the sweet voice of the boulevard, Kellen "Two Times." For some reason the Air Force pilots flying over Afghanistan really loved hearing Two Times' voice over the radio. It is kind of a cross between Barry White and the Ladies Man from Saturday Night Live. I guess Air Force pilots are in pretty bad shape when the sound of another man's voice is enough to get them excited...

Kuala Lampur

The next stop for Lars was Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. It was a really pretty city and there was plenty to do. These two towers were the largest free standing structures in the world up until a few years ago.

Lars took a tour through the Malaysian rain forrest. It was a really pretty hike that ended at this waterfall. Following these four days in port it was time to get to some real work.

South Korea

The next stop on deployment was Pusan, South Korea. Lars was getting pretty worn out from all of these port calls (and a little low on funds) so he didn't do much more than hang out at the hotel for a few days. Here he is taking a nap with Robbie and Toe.

And this is the view of the city he had from his room. It is a pretty dirty city and it smells like a cross between a fishing pier and a public bathroom. Lars was pretty ready to get out of there.

Japan

Japan was the next stop on deployment for Lars. The REAGAN pulled into Sasebo Japan at the end of July and Lars took a 2 hour train ride to Fukuoka, Japan to watch a baseball game. It was kind of a small taste of America, but some parts of the game were a bit different.

For instance, the fans all wear scarves and headbands for their team....

The teams only get 2:30 minutes to warm up between innings...

There were cheerleaders on the field...

And in the seventh inning the entire stadium blows up yellow balloons and releases them at the end of a song. If the home team wins they do the same thing with a white balloon after the game is over. The weirdest part of the game was that there were men who stood in the outfield bleachers and beat out chants on huge Japanese drums and the whole crowd chanted with them. They do that for the entire game, but only when the home team is batting. Weird.

You could also get a draft beer from a little Japanese girl who wears a keg backpack for the entire game or a glass of this stuff called Sochu which is basically a local Japanese vodka. The food was pretty interesting too. You could eat real Ramen noodles, shrimp, or strawberry crepes.

Guam

The next stop on deployment was Guam. Lars spent four days on the island in the middle of July. It rained a lot, but all in all it was a good time.

Lar's cousin is a hospital corpsman stationed on Guam and he gave him a tour of the island. This is one of the caves the Japanese hollowed out of the rock to shoot machine guns at U.S. Marines during World War II.

And this is the beach head where the united States Marine Corps landed during World War II. Overlooking it from the hills above you can kind of feel what the Marines were going through. The terrain is very densely covered with trees and vines and the hills are pretty steep once you leave the beach.

Hong Kong

Lars' first stop on deployment was Hong Kong. He got there the last few days of June and had a pretty decent time. He stayed in the Presidential Suite at the Four Seasons overlooking Hong Kong harbor. The room looked out towards Kowloon and at night the entire harbor lit up with the light reflecting off the buildings.

He visited the famous Stanley Market in Hong Kong. It is pretty much a Chinese flea market, but it was a pretty interesting way to spend part of a day.

He visited a few small Chinese Buddist temples set up to bring good luck on the Chinese fishermen who fished the local waters.

And as always, he found time to hang out with a lady friend and throw back a few tasty beverages. Lars loves the ladies!

Lars had more planned for the last day of Hong Kong, but a typhoon hit the Philippines and the REAGAN got called away from port a day and a half early to go to the aid of those who were in need after the typhoon rolled through. The ship spent two weeks off the coast of the Philippines and the helicopters and C-2 COD detachment on board literally delivered tons of food, water and medical supplies to the people of the Philippines.