AF PJ eh? Wow... tough guy! Tell him I said THANKS the next time you get the chance. I used to work a (USAF) joint service job supporting SF troops.... never any PJs though.
I'm with you... I've been shot at once or twice... but NOT like having LOTS of people all doing it! Then again, they ARE called PJs and the "para" means "partial"... which usually means they're only interested in saving a few and everybody else who tries to stop them is going to receive from other aspects of their training. :-)
5 to 6 hours is a long, LONG time to wait... high pucker factor I'll betcha! :-) I'm glad there was a happy ending to that scene! :-)...at least for your nephew.
Read the article, no joke, true story. Nephew tells me the Afghans ain't scared of Americans, they all be ready & willing to die for God; but most are young kids & adults. He said they are terrified of our air power but it's use is quite restricted and we pay dearly for it. People think they go in and level villages, just ain't in the cards; we ain't Russkies.
Nephew came up and shot a moose at my place this fall, good kid; strong as an ox; patriotic American. My son spent Thanksgiving with him and got the tour of his unit, pavehawks, and everything; then went ski-ing with some of the other pjs, my son was impressed.
Ya know, usually the PJs are only in country 2-4 months but they are flying constantly. Highly trained, no joke. He is being sent to schools all the time when stateside. Here in Alaska, they have a big mission rescuing people, hard landings, bear maulings, lost wannabe explorers, just everything the state police aren't prepared to execute; they are quite busy here too.