LOCAL AIR FORCE SERGEANT PART OF ASIAN JUNGLE DRILL

KORAT, Thailand -- There aren't many things David Meier can relate to in this Southeast Asian jungle that resemble anything he's used to seeing back home in Cape Girardeau.

King cobras as long as a car, scorpions the size of Havana cigars, insects carrying diseases most Americans have never heard of and traffic that would paralyze a New York taxi driver are just a few of the rude awakenings he's faced.

Meier, 33, son-in-law of Ron and Sharon Forester of Cape Girardeau, is an Air Force staff sergeant who recently spent a month in a joint U.S.-Thai training exercise dubbed "Cobra Gold." The assignment was designed to test rapid deployment, cross-training and humanitarian efforts in the largest Pacific military training exercise of the year.

More than 17,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen from units in Hawaii, Okinawa, Guam and Washington state worked with 9,000 Royal Thai counterparts for two weeks of small-unit and individual training followed by a five-day field exercise. It was all capped with an action-packed combined forces live fire exercise.

Meier is an aircraft maintenance specialist with the 74th Fighter Squadron at Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina.

This year's "Cobra Gold" exercise not only stressed combat scenarios in a fictitious setting but also focused on solutions to area problems. An engineer unit from Fort Lewis in Washington state, built a library in the small town of Ban Tha Takjan, and 24 medical teams dispersed throughout the region providing medical and dental care to needy villagers.

A Special Forces psychological operations team trained for the exercise by distributing health information and pamphlets that gave villagers an idea of what the exercise was about.

The U.S. Space Command provided satellite imagery of the dense jungles and difficult terrain.

"Ultimately, we worked to improve our already good relations with Thais and we also worked to learn from each other so there would be a mutual benefit of making us better fighting forces," said the 1980 Jackson High School graduate.

For many airmen and soldiers involved with "Cobra Gold," the most challenging element was the location. Thailand is an exotic land with a lush tropical climate and unfamiliar animals, insects, language and culture.

"I'd say the most memorable thing about Thailand is the weather because it's one of the hottest places I've ever been," Meier said. "But the people are extremely friendly to all of us and make every effort to make us feel at home."

Meier now has returned to his unit at Pope. There, he is a "dedicated crew chief," which means he only works on the squadron's flagship F-16.

Meier and his wife, Shari, have two children, Chad and Krysta.