IJCH - Inside JaiChai's Head (Meaning: My Warped, Personal Opinions and Musings)
From the Author:
Salutations.
I am JaiChai.
And if I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before, I'm delighted to make your acquaintance now.
I invite you to interact with everyone, learn, and have as much fun as possible!
For my returning online friends, "It's always great to see you again!"
A Brother is Always Welcome
An old buddy of mine popped in yesterday from Thailand.
With no warning, he and his girlfriend showed up on my porch around 4:00pm.
This is not unusual for him (or me).
We had been through so much in the past that stuff like this (unexpected drop-ins) was OK.
In fact, it's an expected, "Brother Bonding" thing. And this was treasured by both of us, especially since neither one of us had biological brothers.
Anyway, we all went out to dinner and drinks.
And our focus of the night were the times we'd participated in Cobra Gold in the past - when we were young, "invulnerable", warriors (translated: Dumb enough to volunteer, stupid enough to stay, and lucky enough to retire!).
"Those were crazy fun times, no?" I said.
We both agreed.
"Khrap, khrap!" he said.
And raising our beers, we said, "Chok dee khrap! (cheers)!
The beers and reminiscing was something I really enjoyed; mainly because there aren't many veterans - much less veterans from foreign services - where I live.
What is Cobra Gold?
Cobra Gold is an Asia-Pacific military exercise held in Thailand every year.
It is the largest Asia-Pacific military exercise held each year, and is among the largest multinational military exercise in which the United States participates.
Cobra Gold was first held in 1982. It served as military training exercise to improve coordination between the armed forces of the United States and Thailand in both hostile military and humanitarian efforts.
It also had the goal of strengthening ties between the U.S. and Thailand, the oldest ally of the United States in the South Asia region.
More recently, Cobra Gold has served a humanitarian mission, as military personnel deliver health care to the local Thai population, and as a testing ground for new battlefield technologies such as solar powered weaponry.
Snake Blood? Yummy! (And So good for You!)
Anyone who has done Cobra Gold (or worked with Asian Military Units) will tell you about the time-honored, survival technique (a ritual, a kind of right of passage) of drinking snake blood.
The instructor/snake handlers were consummate professionals.
We had the utmost respect for them (the instructors and the snakes)!
It was cool, so very cool!
Cheers!
I was so proud of our female soldiers.
They impressed many of the other soldiers and didn't hesitate for a second...
Unlike some of the male soldiers who couldn't do it without clamping their eyes shut.
Yummy, no!?
Who's thirsty?!
She's a beaut, no?!
Of course, somebody JUST HAD to see if the headless snake could double as a balloon!
Yeah, sometimes it's cool to reminisce...
"Chok dee khrap!"
By JaiChai
Really Appreciate You Stopping By.
Truly hope to see you again!
About the Author -
Believing that school was too boring, he dropped out of High School early; only to earn an AA, BS and MBA in less than 4 years much later in life – while working full-time as a Navy/Marine Corps Medic.
In spite of a fear of heights and deep water, he performed high altitude, free-fall parachute jumps and hazardous diving ops in deep, open ocean water.
After 24 years of active duty, he retired in Asia.
Since then, he's been a full-time, single papa and actively pursuing his varied passions (Writing, Disruptive Technology, Computer Science and Cryptocurrency - plus more hobbies too boring or bizarre for most folk).
He lives on an island paradise with his teenage daughter, long-term girlfriend and three dogs.
