People donât always get my sense of humor. Unfortunately, my years as a hospital chaplain infected me with a touch of gallows humor, an ironic wit handy for hopeless situations. Nevertheless, 10 years ago, I took that humor on a 90-day deployment to Panama with the Red Horse Squadron from Nellis AFB, in Las Vegas. Red Horse is the Air Force version of the Navyâs storied Navy CBs (Construction Battalion). Both are trained to bulldoze the ground in a warzone while simultaneously defending the same ground with an M16. We were in Panama as part of Operation New Horizon, a humanitarian project to build schools, clinics and playgrounds. The endeavor also gave our airmen the experience theyâd need to build a barebones base in a battle zone.