Day 53: Tales of Military Flights in Iraq

So, you may ask, how is it that I could manage to be stranded in a place
for 5 days, barring an invasion of the airport by rebel forces? Well, let me use a few true stories to illustrate why it is that many
call Air Operations "Demon Spawn".

1. One of the PRT old hands was at Baghdad, trying to get back to Camp Delta. A flight operations person came out and said, "Sorry, the flight has been cancelled -- come back later tonight (6 hrs later) to standby for a different flight." Since he didn't have anywhere else to go, he
stayed there in the terminal, while everyone else went to get something
to eat or to the PX. 5 minutes later, the crew chief ran in and said,
"Where's everyone? We're leaving!"

2. On my flight into Delta, my host, the Civil-Military Operations
Chief was going to pick me up and take me to my quarters. The flight
was delayed by two and a half hours. I felt bad, but there was no way
for me to contact him. We finally boarded and arrived around 4am.
There was no one waiting for me and instead I found out that the air
operations crew there didn't track the flight and had told him that no
more flights were coming in. When I asked what would happen if the
aircraft went down, they had no answer, since apparently, the outbound
and inbound terminals don't talk.

3. On the same flight, after waiting the 2.5 hrs, we finally got onto the C-23 Sherpa flight. It's a small aircraft, so weight limit is enforced. Apparently someone's math was bad because after the crew
chief rechecked the weight calculation, a poor translator trying to get
home got bumped after being seated in the aircraft. 5 hrs of waiting
only to be told to try again the next day.

4. I get manifested ("reserved" seating) on a Chinook utility helicopter flight. I show up one hour early as required. The flight is 2 hrs delayed. I wait, but 2 hrs later, the operations NCO announces that the flight is cancelled. I find a ride back and unpack everything.
45 minutes later, I hear the Chinook arrive. Again, air operations has
failed to do the highly complicated task of tracking where a flight is.

5. Another PRT principal is at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). He
needs to get to Liberty Camp, which is a satellite location. Since it
is only a 10 min flight, he stays on the chopper. The bird goes to
another base, stops there, then returns to BIAP. Then it takes off
again and goes to a different base (still not Liberty) and returns to
BIAP and refuels. By this time, he's paranoid and is convinced that
he's on the wrong shuttle. Finally, it goes to Liberty and he arrives
exhausted, 3 hrs later. The bus would have taken 30 min.

Lesson learned? Pack as if you were going to be stranded. Walk or ride
when you can. Carry a sense of humor and a book.