Your guess which one We flew down with the newly re-constituted Iraqi AF on a 40 year old C130. Yay! We flew down with the PSD and strap-hangers for the DPM of Iraq. Those guys had some pretty trick Kalashnikovs and mostly wore 5.11 clothes with IZ made plate carriers and kit - kind of a stange dicotomy. Our first attempt was during a shamaal (sand storm) and the new Najaf International Airport is VFR (Visual Flight Rules) only. On appraoch the senior C130 Pilot, USAF Advisor had them pull out as they could not see the runway due to the sand. The MAJ said that it was a good thing that we didn't know how close we were to snuffing it. Thanks. for. that. Yay again! More below the fold.

The next day we loaded up to do it all over. This time we made it down there in spite of the lingering shamaal, and were greeted with a red carpet, banners and brass band for the DPM. It was the most horrible brass band I have ever heard. I don't know if it were because they were all hungry from their Rhamadaan fast or if they had just never hear of Souza, but it sounded like they were bashing croaker sack full of cats against a tin roof. RAPIDLY. Really. We then sat out on the tarmac and roasted while he visited a certain peace loving cleric. The poor IZAFSF guys were trying so hard to fast. Unfortunately with those vests on in the hot sun, watching the spoiled kaffir Americans guzzle wather, avoiding drinking water has FAIL written all over it. Our friends from the government returned to a madhouse of media attention, and we promptly took to the air. After we landed they hauled ass again and we trucked it over to the PAX terminal to score a Blackhawk ride home. Yay!

Zombie 1SG:

@ Najaf IAP

The the DPM in the belly of the beast:

Away you go:

Watching the bird land:

Failing to fast:

Belly of the beast  looking in - yes its an Iraqi C130.

The rest of the boyz - IZ C130 @ NIAP

Guys with guns:

Posted by: Misha Moriarti at 07:03 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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