Working as a Navy contractor in Naples Italy

After getting burned out on six years in my job in Norman, OK, and my brother passing away i decided to get a job abroad. I had always wanted to see Europe and missed out on it in the military so I applied for a utilities GIS position at NAVFAC EURAFCENT in Italy. Thet accepted and it took three months to get the paperwork and clearances to get in place. I arrived in Naples 9 July 2019. My contract was for three people for a year and twooption years if the government approves. Started my third year in May 2021. Wierdly enough the company had a hard time getting people in place. We worked with only two on site for amost two years. They don't include shipping anything here or anything. Everything is on us and one economy. So no married people with kids will ever come. so understaffed in a newly established(one GS employee for two years) program to capture and process and publish utlity data for 91 sites in 9 countries on two two continents and several islands. No small thing. And that doesn't even start to cover the IT and manpower issues the Navy has in the EURAFCENT region. It has been difficult and when you put the COVID pandemic and restrictions of 2020 and on atop that it is a miricle we get things done. With the COVID situation I didn't get travel as much asI wanted, but I have seen a bit of Italy.....more later.

Lost my brother

Man what a tough time. John Kevin Moore born 18 SEP 1962, died 12 MAR 2019. He seemed ok, but he wasn't healthy and he knew it. I used to tell him to go walk and do healthy things and he would always say, "I push bread around all day any walk miles every day at work, there is no need." He worked crazy early hours and never got enough sleep and those caught up with him. I miss him terribly and his attitude. He was fierce in his loyalty and his work ethic. He never cut any lazy asses or cheaters or people taking advantage of others any slack, and I admired him for it. He loved his family and always put them first. Which most of the time meant working long hours. Even so, he helped raise some great kids.

Military History

My name Is Matt Moore. I served in the Air Force from November 1988 until retirement in December 2008. It was a long journey since the US military have been in conflicts in one form or another since Iraq invaded Kuwait.  I didn’t have to deploy in support of Desert Shield or Desert Storm. Our unit and most all active duty units switched gears into high tempo preparations and training. For the most part this tempo continues today at a faster pace due to a smaller military force.

After the invasion of Iraq and the 100 day war, Iraq refused to comply with the UN’s redrawing of the Kuwait/Iraqi border. At this point the Iraqi No-Fly Zones were established and the USAF began its build-up in the region. These no-fly zone were manned with Operations Northern and Southern Watch. During this time I deployed to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, and Egypt.  In these FOB’s (forward operating bases) we constructed and maintained theater airspace and command and control platform to manage the conflict. This was repeated once again in 2003 when we invade Iraq to “disarm them”. I deployed to Talill air base, Iraq in 2003 which had been bombed for denial of use by B-52s in a major four-day bombing campaign from December 16–19, 1998 on Iraqi targets. So I spent time refurbishing this 50’s era soviet built airfield for US and coalition forces. Cleaning up our own mess. It reminded me of the bad guy in the movie Fifth Element where he gives the example of needing  a little Chaos to create purpose. I deployed to Balad airbase, Iraq in 2007 for the same purpose, same scenario. It was like Ground Hog Day. I still have problems differentiating those deployments in my memory.  In-between the Iraq deployments, in 2005, I was deployed to Kyrgyzstan to support air operations for the war in Afghanistan with Operation Enduring Freedom. Our unit was tasked  to expand a refurbish Manas International Airport for military cargo aircraft carrying personnel and equipment headed for the war on terror in Afghanistan.

Personally, I am proud of my service. So I cannot fault the services and admire all who I served with and still do. I do pray that the average citizen and the government will support and do right by the service members that have fallen or been maimed or damaged if any form, and their families, to show them the honor they  deserve by giving so much.

Now for the philosophical and ideological. Am I a patriot or a murderer? Some of the airbase platforms we built were for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV. I have issues with the policy and use of the UAV. While saving pilots lives they take lives. I believe in having skin in the game.  These should not be used without eyes on target. Too many mistakes have been made, innocents lost. As of now we have used them in 7 countries.

Today UAV’s are infiltrating into civilian policing in the US. With this perpetual war syndrome, America is experiencing military creep into policing within our borders. This needs to stop and we need our men and women back home.

history of matt motorcycling

Well I have wanted to post all my rides over the years so this is it. I don't have images of all my personal bikes but have found similar pics from the internet. It all start right after I joined the military. I had been riding a touring bicycle and loved the wind in my hair. So this was the logical next step.

The first was my training cycle if you will. In summer 1991 I got this 1976 Honda XL250 from my neighbor in Rapid City, SD. She was a grandma and her son had left this and never road it. So for $600 it was mine. The muffler was shot so I ended up having the local muffler guy fab me a new one and capped it with a Supertrap can.

I had the Honda for 6 months and was ready to move up. It's hard to be steady doing 65 on the Interstate going to work on that thing. So in spring of 1992 I found an Airman in the dorm selling his 1990 FZR600.

It was a black beauty. It went with me to Guam and I burned up all 30 miles of road there on that thing. I had my first wreck on this one. An little old lady pulled out in front of me on a 50 mph curve and the shoulder of the road was a six inch drop at the pavement edge. So I ended up in the bush with a sprained wrist. In a month it had new parts and was on the road again. I brought it back to Barksdale and sold it in 1995 to get a 1989 FZR1000. This one had been thru the wringer. It ahd been stripped down and raced. It was a bad deal. I ended up splitting the cases and redoing the whole engine when it spun a rod bearing cause the water pump was bad. Of course the first time you ever do anything its never right so I had a mini-sprint motor builder bore in to 1089 and boost it a bit. He did a good job. It was solid and tight after that. This bike followed me to FWB, FL in 1996 and got ridden till I saw the 1999 R1. I was a tight little blue wheelie monster. This was my first new show room purchase. The R1 was my mount on my first and second track day weekends. Quick and powerful and a little squirrely and very fun. Hard to keep the front end down so I lower it in the front and it work. Just an inch up into the clamps. The second day of the second track weekend I lowsided and tore up a few things and bent the subframe. All were fixed. The tight geometry was getting to my wrists as I got older so out with the old! This ended up being traded in 2004 on a new 2004 GSXR1000. This was by far a more comfortable bike than the R1. It felt larger and more planted and inspired more confidence. I regret selling this one. I would ride it today. But I wanted to take longer trips than this was useful for so it ended up in a private buyers hands. I had my eyes on a Sport-Touring machine and thats what I got. The 2005 Yamaha FJR1300. It had been traded in and was used on the showroom floor. It was a good deal. I sold this in 2019 to take a job overseas. A little tweeking in the seat and windscreen is all this needed. An extra-tall windscreen and Corbin saddle made this an all-dayer. in 2016 i wanted to get a track day bike. i ended up buying a 2006 SUZUKI GSX-R750 from a localguy in NORMAN. It worked out good. used it for three years and sold it in 2019as well.

Catching up with lost family

Got the chance to catch up with my aunt and cousin I haven't seen since childhood. It was a great time. Even though the circumstances weren't the best cause it was a medical issue that put me in the area it was nice to visit. It's fun to reminisce about our childhood days playing and remembering loved ones now gone. I hope that I make more time in my life for people I love. I sure is nice to have memories and even better to make new ones.

Big Scare from Sister

Big scare this week. My sister was life flighted to a heart hospital with clots in her blood. It was a near death experience. Timing was perfect and the medical technology and doctor prowess proved to be enough to solve the problem. She is doing better and will recover fully but need medicine for her blood the rest of her life. We are glad she's still with us. Thank you God.

20yrs active duty complete...

Well here are some pic's of the weirdly emotional event. On 11 Aug 2008 I retired from the USAF.

letter's of appreciation presented

last award presentation

wife, niece and nephew

emotions run high