Yesterday my buddy and I were flying from Berlin to Stuttgart and he asked me if, when I was in a VIP unit, we'd ever take the airplanes out for weekend training flights around Europe. I told him that by the time I left the unit a program was put in place but it was such a pain in the tail to plan and brief and get approved that I never did it.

I did tell him a story about running into a C-21 crew in Oxford one Saturday over a year and a half ago, two PI's and a very attractive AF Captain PC, that were on a weekend training flight. Spent the night in the Oxford area and were headed up to either Prestwick or Edinburgh. Fly a couple hours a day and then go out partying with the Brits sounded like a good deal to me.

So we land in Stuttgart and pull up behind a C-21 and this dude comes up and asks us if we are stationed there and if we could get them some nitrogen. We weren't stationed there, but I used to be, the airfield commander is a good friend of mine, and I know the Dyncorps bosses there so I figured I could try and help him out. Eventually I realize this guy was one of the pilots I was just talking about.

While we were chatting a KC-10 was making an emergency landing (bird strike). The 21 driver said a female officer that used to be in his unit was on the KC-10, and low and behold, after they land and deplane she walks by us as we're getting ready to leave and sure enough, same pilot that, agian, I was just talking to my buddy about.

To top it all off, when we got back to Wiesbaden I head over to the chow hall for some good ole Thursday soul food and sit down at a table next to one our retention NCO is at. He's having a conversation with a few people and one lady in civilian clothes looked real familiar. After a couple of quick glances I realize that I knew her seven years ago (dated twice actually) from JC Penney in Daytona where I worked while in college. She enlisted a few months before I got commissioned and wound up in Wiesbaden.

Crazy who you run into in the military. Oh, and there are three guys that I went to Riddle with all flying fixed wing in Wiesbaden. More crazyness.