Return Home from Spangdahlem Air Base GE to Dover AFB DE

Spangdahlem Air Base Germany
Spangdahlem is home of the 52d Fighter Wing which maintains, deploys and employs General Dynamics Block 50 F-16CJ and Republic A/OA-10 aircraft and TPS-75 radar systems in support of NATO and the national defense directives. The wing supports the Supreme Allied Commander Europe with mission-ready personnel and systems providing expeditionary air power. The wing also supports contingencies and operations other than war.

We had to take matters into our own hands to try our perceived better chances on getting a Space A hop out of Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, rather than continuing to try to catch a hop out of mega-huge Ramstein Air Base. Hats off to our newfound friend and Space A mentor "the professor of Space A" retired Army W-3 RAY McGEE, who schooled Wendy in the ways and wiles of taking Space A hops - - to include how to cover one's self with 3 days worth of ahead-of-time Q room reservations at all possible divert bases! Ray McGee, other fellow retireee travelers, and we were able to catch a ride on a Spangdahlem bus picking up Iraq-returnee, combat engineering, "redeployers" from Ramstein back up to Spangdahlem on Wednesday 2 July. Emily and I stayed the night at the Spangdahlem Visiting Quarters.

Our whole group of twelve assorted types of Space A travelers all got up the next morning and were able to get seats on the wonderful, relatively new Air Force C-17 cargo aircraft. Wendy got to sit up in the cockpit for takeoff and many hours of the cruise to chat with the crew and catch up with the goings on of crewdog life. The C-17 can aggressively climb out at 15 degrees nose-high attitude at an astounding rate of climb. This aircraft is awesome. I loved every minute. The 60th Military Airlift Wing with its Reserve component out of Travis AFB CA was super accommodating to all of us. What a blast. What was even cooler was, while transitting Dutch airpspace, two Dutch F-16s joined up on us for practice!

Wendy's snapshot out of the C-17 cockpit window of two Dutch F-16s up close and personal. We were literally waving our hands at one another!

When we landed at Dover AFB Delaware, the wonderful retired Marine family of Bill & Roz Leopold, with 16-y/o future Marine son Reed, gave us a ride in their rental car. The Leopolds were driving nonstop back to Wright-Patterson AFB OH to pick up their parked car, to then return home to La Salle IL near Chicago. They dropped Emily and me off at the Wilmington DE Amtrak station. There, Wendy & Emily parted ways.

Emily took the Amtrak train to Penn Station NYC and then a taxi to the Birchard family's home, so she could start her waitress job today at http://www.veselka.com/ on July 4th.

Wendy took the Amtrak train to 30th St Station in Philly, then a mad-scramble taxi ride to the Philly airport to get on a plane 20 minutes later to Salt Lake City, with a transfer flight to Phoenix.

Needless to say, Emily arrived NYC many hours before Wendy arrived PHX, but we all got back OK. I (Wendy) awakened at 3:30am this morning Arizona time, wondering which youth hostel I was in and why it was so dark, peaceful, cool, and quiet! It took me several seconds to realize I was home in my own bed.