Tyler

Pilot. Traveler. Husband. Hunter/Outdoorsman. Whiskey Lover. Conservationists. 🦫 Alumni. 🦅 🏈, Mariners/Padres ⚾️

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

Dear @Giants fans, Christmas is cancelled. That game was your gift. #SNF @nbc @NFL @Commanders @NFLOfficiating @nflnetwork @miketirico @gmfb @RealMikeWilbon @ESPNNFL @barstoolsports @_willcompton

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@FreddyLA7 Book an earlier flight.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@AMAZlNGNATURE 1/2 fox, 1/2 deer.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@BananaBall_ How does one get some support? Thank you!

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

“Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult.”

Amazing.

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

USA. A Mexican restaurant. We had not yet ordered anything, and the food was already arriving.

Chips. Salsa. Unrequested. Free.

I stopped the waiter. "We have not earned these."

"They just come with the table, man."

They come with the TABLE. In my land, hospitality is a debt. Every gift creates an obligation, weighed carefully, returned in the proper season with interest of feeling. Here, the gift arrives before you have even proven you can pay for dinner.

This is not an appetizer. This is a declaration: we trust you. Eat.

I ate with the gravity the moment deserved. And then — I must report this calmly — the basket emptied, and a new one appeared.

"Did we…?"

"Refill," the waiter said. "It's bottomless."

Bottomless. They have wells of salsa. The supply lines of this nation are beyond anything my ancestors imagined.

My friend warned me. "Don't fill up on chips, dude."

Too late. I had accepted three baskets. Honor demanded each one be finished — an unfinished gift is an insult. By the time my actual food arrived, I was a ruined man.

I was not hungry. I was not comfortable. I had been defeated by a courtesy.

Generosity that arrives before the request cannot be repaid. It can only be survived.

I know the rule now. I have made my peace with the basket. One basket. Two at the most.

Who am I deceiving. There is no number of baskets I would refuse. The trust of a nation is in that salsa, and I intend to honor all of it.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

This. Is. Awesome.

[Roy "Deacon" Qualls @RoyDeaconQualls]

I've often looked forward to an upcoming sortie with great anticipation.

This wasn't one of those times.

To understand why, a little background is required.

When my youngest daughter was ten weeks old, I deployed to Iceland.

Because my "I'm in crew rest" argument had failed to gain traction with my nursing wife, I arrived in Keflavik a wee bit behind the power curve.

After several nights of near hibernation, I was feeling refreshed and volunteered to lead a four-ship sortie the next day—a bit prematurely as it turned out.

During mission planning, I discovered the forecast was rock solid—in a bad way.

A frontal passage would blanket our airspace in thick clouds from the surface to 50,000 feet.

Fighter pilots call these missions "Pigs in Space.”

They’re a great proof of concept for the capability of the Eagle’s APG-63 radar.

Everything else about them sucks.

No visual maneuvering.

No dogfighting.

No scenery.

Just staring at a scope while wearing a poopy suit over water so cold some pilots didn't bother arming their ejection seats until they reached land.

I studied the weather map and searched for an escape.

Nothing.

The operations officer walked by and I nodded at the forecast.

I took a shot. “Hey, the weather tomorrow looks—”

"Don't bother. You're flying."

“But a front is—”

"We need the hours."

I sighed. "Pigs in space it is."

"Don't forget the tanker,” he said. “He's got six thousand pounds apiece to offload."

Perfect--Pigs in space AND refueling in the soup.

Who did I piss off?

“Sir?” It was our token lieutenant, so new he didn't even have a callsign yet.

“What is it, FNG?”

"I was looking at tomorrow's weather.”

“So you know it sucks.”

“I just realized that the tanker—”

“Look, I know you had some issues on the boom last time.” I waved my hand dismissively. “You’ll get the hang of it. Not to worry.”

“It’s not that. I mean, I was just looking—“

A slightly bedraggled major that smelled faintly of rum from the previous night’s festivities pushed open the door.

“I hear we’re doing pigs in space tomorrow.”

“Looks that way.” I nodded toward our weather guy. “Little Miss Sunshine says we’ll be socked in all day.”

He groaned as he sank into a chair.

The LT spoke up again. ”We could go to Greenland.”

The room got quiet.

I turned to the newbie. “What?”

“After frontal passage, Greenland will be clear."

I stared at him. “It's four hundred miles away.”

"We've got a tanker."

"The tanker track is in the wrong place."

"Then move the tanker."

The room got even quieter.

The lieutenant kept going. "We could top off, climb to 45 thousand, then descend right into a fjord.”

I looked at the map.

Then at the lieutenant.

“We’d have plenty of fuel for …” He thought for a moment. “… a two or three hundred mile low-level right up the coast.”

I looked at the map again. The annoying thing was...
...he was right.

The next morning the tanker agreed to the plan.

A few hours later, four F-15s were cruising toward Greenland at 45,000 feet.

We descended through high clouds and suddenly the world changed.

Greenland was clear and a million.

We entered a fjord at 500 feet and 500 knots in line-abreast formation.

It was 2004, and my cutting-edge digital camera produced video with all the resolution of a witness-protection photo.

I filmed anyway.

Icebergs floated below us.

Cliffs rose thousands of feet above us.

Ancient glaciers spilled into the water.

Several times we watched enormous chunks of ice break free and crash into the sea.

By this point, FNG's stock was rising rapidly.

We turned north and followed Greenland's eastern coastline for nearly two hundred miles.

Nobody said much on the radio.

There wasn't much to say.

Mile after mile of scenery that looked untouched by human beings—so spectacular it was almost distracting.

Eventually we climbed back to 45,000 feet and pointed toward Iceland—where the weather was exactly as advertised.

We shot approaches down to minimums and landed without incident.

That night we sat in the squadron bar—the Whiff—sipping on adult beverages and reliving the flight.

It had started as the sortie nobody wanted.

It ended as one of the grandest flights of my career.

And it happened because a lieutenant nobody was listening to had the courage to raise his hand and say:
"We could go to Greenland.”

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@TrackingAQ @sarahadams @mediawatad What’s with all the white gingers having Muslim names?

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@Travis_DameS1de @BeaverBaseball 🤡

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@dalitaryan @LJFORMVP8 @BeaverBaseball You’ve been back for 16 years and haven’t won shit. Cry harder.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@AdamSchefter National Treasure: Jameis Winston.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@BeauLWagner @InCodyWeTrust1 Congratulations

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

My favorite driver. Bless his family and please hug your loved ones. RIP Rowdy

[NASCAR @NASCAR]

We are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup champion and one of our sport's greatest and fiercest drivers. He was 41 years old.

We extend our deepest condolences to the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and the entire motorsports community.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@750TheGame Cheap ass Tom isn’t hiring Jason Kid. Calm down.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@Mike_kim714 Incredible front 9! What a last 19 holes!

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@Mike_kim714 Was super pumped when I heard your name and looked up at the screen! Can’t wait for the thoughts that are coming. Great shot MK!!!

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@Osint613 They own their own farms here, lol

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@thenewarea51 I see what’s happening, but need more clarity. I feel stupid, lol.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@MrColionNoir @LaceySturm She’s awesome. So is @MariaBrink

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@EndWokeness See it, follow you.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@WembySZN__ @TheHoopCentral @50NuancesDeNBA The laugh was about Dillon brooks. Dudes a clown and an unlikable diva. Deni is no terrorist. Just a baller.

[Tyler @TyluurrrEff]

@WembySZN__ @TheHoopCentral @50NuancesDeNBA 😂