Baghdad, O Baghdad . . .

We left Kuwait on Sunday from Ali Asaleem Air Base. I’d like to tell you what the scenery was like, but where ever we went, we had to keep the curtains on the bus windows closed. I want to think that this was for the sake of keeping the bus as cool as possible, but probably not. Our ticket to Sather Air Base, part of the Victory Base Complex in Baghdad and adjoined to Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) was on an Air Force C-130 cargo plane.

My first photo in Baghdad. Here I am on the tarmac after getting out of the C-130 behind me.

The C-130 is a classic workhorse of the military and has been around since the 1950s. This four-prop plane can haul up to 25,000 pounds (or about 2 Humvees, plus associated gear), stop on less than 1,000 feet of runway, carry as many as 93 troops and prove to be really, really uncomfortable after about the first 30 minutes. Oh, and there aren’t any window seats.



For those of you that may worry, “did my luggage make the flight??” military aviation is the way to go! You and your bag ride in the same compartment. They even let you stack the aluminum pallet yourself, under the close eye of the plane’s load master.


Looking aft of the aircraft, with the cargo door dropped. You can see a pallet of seabags and not a ton of leg room here. The plane can be reconfigured without the seats for 100% cargo.

The load master is responsible for making sure the plane is evenly balanced and loaded in a manner that does not make it crash. He did a good job. And that is important, since the plane made a “combat landing.”
Which brings us to a new series I’d like to call “WORD OF THE WEEK.”

This week’s WORD OF THE WEEK is “combat.” Use this word as a prefix to any other word and you now have the “tactical” version of the word. You see it all over base.

Let’s compare civilian vs. military versions:
Landing: The part where you have to return to your seat, fasten your seat belt, touchdown and ultimately pass by a smiling pilot and flight attendant before you enter a raised passenger terminal with a Starbucks Coffee and Sam Adams Brew Pub.
COMBAT Landing: The part where you have to make sure all your body armor is on, your barf bag is nearby (for some), roller coaster descent, touchdown, ultimately hopping off the back drop door of the plane, while following a guy holding a glow-stick (if dark) into a terminal with wood benches and a concrete floor. No brew pub.

Take-Off: Turn off your cell phone, fasten your seat belt, watch the safety video, listen to the captain talk about the flight time and the weather.
COMBAT Take-Off: Put in your ear plugs, fasten your seat belt, listen to the crew chief talk about how hosed we all are if the plane goes down, apply brakes, rev engine to max, release breaks, go straight up.

Shower: A generally private affair without the need to wear flip flops, fear of a power outage or time limit
COMBAT Shower: A combat shower is water on, water off, add soap, water on, soap off, water off. 3 minutes. 5-7 strangers in adjoining stalls.

Parking: Pull-in, get out. Done.
COMBAT Parking: Back in, facing out, for quick get away (I guess . . . ?)

So I am safely in Baghdad. My boss, CAPT Brantley, greeted me at the military passenger terminal (or “pax” terminal). She hustled me over to the billeting office (run by, surprise, surprise, KBR!) so we could get my name on the waiting list for a CHU (containerized housing unit) and in the meantime, I found a bunk in tent city, a huge expanse of 80 person tents. Lovely. I got a tour of the base, which is large, and then started the administrative procedures of getting an ID card for the palace, checking in with the armory, checking in at the post office, etc.