Silver Flag is the shizzle!

I spent all day yesterday at the Red Horse training base, called Silver Flag. That is where civil engineers, and EOD personnel, and Firefighters do all sorts of training exercises and training on machinery.
So what did I get to see?
How about a bomb crater in the test runway, and the CE team who only took 3 hours to repair it. That was pretty cool. They have a very well drilled set up for the earth movers, dump trucks and other machinery. These things are gigantic, and they are literally, all moving within inches of each other at decent speeds, 35-40 mph, in this very tight pattern around the bomb crater. Fixing, filling, and clearing debris as fast as possible.
Then I went to the EOD firing range and got to see all manner of rocket launcher tubes land mines bombs grenades, a shoulder launched anti-tank missile, and tons and tons of cool looking deadly devices that I honestly don't know what the hell they were. But I loved looking at them.

Then I got to go watch the ROWPU which is the Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit, in action sucking up brown briny swamp water and converting it into clean drinking water.
No I didn't drink any.
Then we went to the fire dawgs rescue/recovery training where they had a little house and the fire dawgs where going into the house, full of smoke mind you, to find and bring out rescue dummies. The guys there were telling me it is like closing your eyes and wandering through a strange house looking for dead people. Then dragging them back out. They can't see anything. You could hear them falling down and banging into stuff, and there was a hallway with a Plexiglas wall so the instructors could see them carrying the dummies.
Then we went back to the test airfield and saw the fire science guys set a mock jet on fire to simulate a JP8 fire. We were literally 100 yards from this giant tornado of fire and black smoke and we rolled down the windows of the truck and instantly got blasted by waves of HOT air. You could feel it that far away! The skin on my face shrinking up and getting tight like it is afraid and it is trying to squeeze my skull to comfort itself. I know that sounds odd but I can't describe it any other way.
It was beautiful. Fire and thick black smoke dancing round and round with each other in swirls that lasted many seconds and a few times actual minutes. The thick smoke billowing out making the bright orange licks lf flame invisible for a time and then a rush of flame jumping out of the smoke, and back and forth it goes, with only sparse moments where the smoke and fire seem to want to share the same space.
I love fire, I love watching it. There is something rhythmic and primitive in fire that speaks to my soul. I don't know why. It just captures my interest completely whenever I see it.

I love this job. I get to nerd out all the time on stuff, and learn complex military systems, and just all the good old fashioned nerdy stuff I used to watch hours and hours of on that discovery channel show Brute Force.
It is great to have a job.
It is fortunate beyond measure to have a job you are truly inspired to do every day.