My thanks to Melanie for her comment posted yesterday. She provided a link to a recent edition of the 3ID newspaper that tells the story of Rocky the mascot. Check it out so that my entry of yesterday doesn’t leave you confused. Now let me continue the story where I left off yesterday.
My last entry ended with me still at the Liberty helicopter pad. The Blackhawks arrived around 0200 as scheduled. Their original flight mission called for them to pick up some passengers and take them to nearby FOB Washington. They would then return to Liberty to pick us up and head to Balad. Instead, the helicopters shut down and there was a flurry of activity. It turns out the copilot on one of the birds had passed out from dehydration. He ended up being ok but in the meantime we waited while the medics administered IVs. Ultimately, the original flight was cancelled as a precaution. Our original fear was that we’d be stuck at Liberty for another day. Fortunately, another two Blackhawks were dispatched from Balad to finish the mission. They finally arrived around 0400. By the time they got back from FOB Washington it was closing on 0500. In the meantime I had to endure a terrible movie about tap dancing starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. Then it got worse when someone put on “The Jackal” starring Bruce Willis. I couldn’t go to the other tent to wait because the TV there was blaring one of the worst movies of all time – “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson (I really hope none of you are basing your Revolutionary War history on this piece of shit movie). Wait, where was I… Oh yeah! The helicopters returned around 0500. We loaded according to plan. The Major and Captain were in the lead bird and I was in the trail. On board with me were two Special Forces operators, an AF NCO, another Army NCO and a civilian. We took off but it was immediately apparent we weren’t headed to Balad. Instead we flew to BIAP – flying time all of two minutes. Then the helicopters completely shut down again. We all looked around in the “what the fuck” manner. The crew chief said something about being unable to fly through sunrise so we’d have to wait for the sun to come up. One of the SF guys asked what we were all thinking, “why did we even take off from Liberty?” Well the answer became apparent very quickly. There was an AF DFAC near the BIAP pax terminal and the flight crew wanted to eat breakfast. So we all walked over and ate. After breakfast we were treated to a spectacular sunrise over the BIAP civilian terminal (across the tarmac from us). Finally, around 0645, we took off for Balad.
It’s very different to fly over hostile territory in daylight. At night the helicopters fly in total blackout. It’s almost impossible to see them from the ground. In daylight you can hear them and see them from a long distance. The whole flight the Blackhawks flew low, fast, and continually banked and swerved. I’m glad I don’t get airsick. Actually, I’m surprised nobody did. By 0800 we were landing at Catfish Air. I was smoked. I got back to my room and just started dropping IBA, rucksack, and clothes as I crawled into bed. I slept until 1230. My intent was to take the rest of the day off but when I went to the office I was immediately engaged by people who needed my help. Eventually things calmed down. The latest episode of Sopranos arrived (one more to go). I worked out, ate supper, watched Sopranos, and hit the fart sack.
Oh yeah, I’m back in LSAA. It’s only temporary though. I told you June would go by fast.
My last entry ended with me still at the Liberty helicopter pad. The Blackhawks arrived around 0200 as scheduled. Their original flight mission called for them to pick up some passengers and take them to nearby FOB Washington. They would then return to Liberty to pick us up and head to Balad. Instead, the helicopters shut down and there was a flurry of activity. It turns out the copilot on one of the birds had passed out from dehydration. He ended up being ok but in the meantime we waited while the medics administered IVs. Ultimately, the original flight was cancelled as a precaution. Our original fear was that we’d be stuck at Liberty for another day. Fortunately, another two Blackhawks were dispatched from Balad to finish the mission. They finally arrived around 0400. By the time they got back from FOB Washington it was closing on 0500. In the meantime I had to endure a terrible movie about tap dancing starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. Then it got worse when someone put on “The Jackal” starring Bruce Willis. I couldn’t go to the other tent to wait because the TV there was blaring one of the worst movies of all time – “The Patriot” starring Mel Gibson (I really hope none of you are basing your Revolutionary War history on this piece of shit movie). Wait, where was I… Oh yeah! The helicopters returned around 0500. We loaded according to plan. The Major and Captain were in the lead bird and I was in the trail. On board with me were two Special Forces operators, an AF NCO, another Army NCO and a civilian. We took off but it was immediately apparent we weren’t headed to Balad. Instead we flew to BIAP – flying time all of two minutes. Then the helicopters completely shut down again. We all looked around in the “what the fuck” manner. The crew chief said something about being unable to fly through sunrise so we’d have to wait for the sun to come up. One of the SF guys asked what we were all thinking, “why did we even take off from Liberty?” Well the answer became apparent very quickly. There was an AF DFAC near the BIAP pax terminal and the flight crew wanted to eat breakfast. So we all walked over and ate. After breakfast we were treated to a spectacular sunrise over the BIAP civilian terminal (across the tarmac from us). Finally, around 0645, we took off for Balad.
It’s very different to fly over hostile territory in daylight. At night the helicopters fly in total blackout. It’s almost impossible to see them from the ground. In daylight you can hear them and see them from a long distance. The whole flight the Blackhawks flew low, fast, and continually banked and swerved. I’m glad I don’t get airsick. Actually, I’m surprised nobody did. By 0800 we were landing at Catfish Air. I was smoked. I got back to my room and just started dropping IBA, rucksack, and clothes as I crawled into bed. I slept until 1230. My intent was to take the rest of the day off but when I went to the office I was immediately engaged by people who needed my help. Eventually things calmed down. The latest episode of Sopranos arrived (one more to go). I worked out, ate supper, watched Sopranos, and hit the fart sack.
Oh yeah, I’m back in LSAA. It’s only temporary though. I told you June would go by fast.
No comments:
Post a Comment