Travel

The good news: I was selected to attend a three-week series of meetings at Central Command’s Forward Headquarters (CFH) in Qatar. This means getting out of Baghdad and Iraq for new sites and experiences. The bad news: getting to and from Qatar means using in-theater travel “at no cost to the government.” Imagine the worst day at any major US airport (delays, changing schedules, cancelled flights, disinterested personnel at check-in desks) and magnify it tenfold. Getting to theater with my group of other Navy augmentees last November went smoothly enough due largely to the fact that large groups of human cargo have some actual priority. Small groups or individuals who wish get from point A to point B have very little. After all, this is a war of logistics and military airlift is the primary means of getting Important Gear to where it belongs. When possible, Humans are stuffed in between cargo on uncomfortable seats on military transport aircraft.

Because flights and priorities change so much, reserving space on a flight can’t be done until one or two days before leaving. I was traveling with a group of three other officers who I work with on a specific project but who are not co-workers. I made a reservation, or in military parlance, a space-block, on a flight leaving in two days out of Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). Next, I had to make arrangements to get our party from the International Zone to BIAP. There were two ways to get there; one is via the Rhino Runner, the armored bus convoy that makes several trips per day and the other Catfish Air, a space available helicopter service. Fortunately, a flight was available that met our schedule. This saved us the trouble of having to take a bus to BIAP after being dropped off by the Rhino.

On 8 March, the four of us made the short walk to LZ Washington from the Embassy and caught the Space A helicopter to BIAP. It was short flight, only about ten minutes. From BIAP, we walked two hangars over to the Air Mobility Command (AMC) building and found out there was space available on earlier flight than the one we were originally manifested on. Even better, the earlier flight would be on a jet-powered C-17 instead of a prop-driven C-130 which meant a shorter flight.

Even though the flight left earlier, we still had a six hour lay over. We stashed our body armor and bags in a Navy trailer and walked over to the DFAC near the air terminal. Every DFAC has its own particular rules and procedures however they all are a variation of washing (or sanitizing) your hands, showing some kind of ID, and getting food. Back in Baghdad, our DFAC is guarded by contracted security from Triple Canopy and are all Peruvians. At BIAP, it was a different security contractor and they all appeared to be African, maybe Ugandan. We had lunch and then walked over to the PX area which consisted of several trailers, one for the actual PX and several more serving fast food. A set of tables and benches sheltered by tent overhang gave us a place to lounge as we waited for our flight.

Towards evening, we walked back to the terminal, re-manifested, and boarded a C-17. This is a relatively modern medium sized air lift plane flown by the Air Force. The central cargo area was dominated by two very large, wheeled electrical generators. The four of us, along with five other Air Force officers, sat along the aircraft fuselage wall in fold down seats. The flight was pleasant; the temperature in the cabin was blessedly normal (not always the case on flights like these) but was quite noisy (everyone travels with ear protection).

We landed in Al Udeid Air Force Base, in Qatar, two hours later, cleared a perfunctory customs area maned by a sleepy Qatari official and boarded a SUV for transport to Camp As Sayliyah. The trip out here wasn't nearly as bad as we thought it would be. Of course, there's always getting back...