Fresh broiled steaks hit with deployed airmen

Click for larger view

Jimmy Mackey and Mark Ernewein, airline pilots who live in Kansas City, MO., are dealers for Kingfisher Kookers and weekend cooking contestants for fun. They are also members of the Air Force Reserve and were called up to serve in Iraq where they fly Warthog jet fighter planes.

When they were deployed to Iraq, they took one of their Kingfisher Kookers with them, just on the chance they would find a time to use it.

They did.

Mackey sent an E-mail to Saul Moyeda, co-owner of Klingsick Machine Shop in Kingfisher, manufacturer of the cooker, last week reporting that after the majority of the shooting was over, their operations group commander called and told them he was coming to visit with 1,000 steaks.

"I though he was kidding," Mackey wrote, "but he showed up with enough steaks for everyone here plus some."

"We cooked ours on the Kingfisher cooker we brought and it was huge. Everyone loved them. Of course, when they compare it to an MRE, our cooking can't miss.

"The most difficult part was getting all the things - pots, pans, utensils - we needed to cook."

Mackey said they have learned the barter system there, noting that they got a generator for some spent 30 mm shells.

"Heck of a trade; we call them 'drug deals' but it works."

Mackey said rumors abound about "going home, or moving again, or whatever, take your pick."

"When I am on my Hog westbound over the good ol' USA, I'll be happy," he said.

He added that everything is going well in Iraq and the flying had come to a standstill.

"When we first got here, they put us right in the hornets' nest, but that was way cool. Now our job seems to be building Tallil Air Base. I'm not sure the Air Force knows how poor a carpenter I am," he said.

He sent along e-mail pictures of their living arrangement.

"We don't ever have a tent to sleep in or a warm shower, but we have uniform rules," Mackey adding in typical military enthusiasm, "Ain't the Air Force great."