Soaking wet!

We are in the process of clearing out and checking through our possessions.  Some old photos have appeared and I decided to scan some.

It was tradition in the military to make someone who had just had his or her last flight very wet.  This might have changed, but in the RAF the fireman were normally asked to perform the soaking with one or two appliances.  In the USAF, thirty years ago, it was only some bins of water (see Extra).  The camera used was an Olympus twin lens "zoom" using 35mm negative film.  Mrs B did a good job, both taking the photos and keeping them safe – I hadn't seen them for decades.

In the main photo Mrs B with some small Bs (both now big and hairy) pose with a soaked CB.  Halcyon days!

This was a F16 training unit in Florida, a pretty cushy number, as they used to say.  But this occasion was just before Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, and a few months before many of my colleagues went off on serious missions, some not to return.