Stranded then upgraded Air Force-style

Travelling to northern Iraq for an embed is always a bit of a gamble because there are limited military flights and the weather has a habit of grounding them.
Fellow journalists have shared horror stories about being stuck en route for hours, even days, at a remote base called Speicher, waiting for a connection.
For me, the tidings for a trip up to Mosul last month were grim from the start.
Rain, a shortage of planes and a saturation of reporters had delayed the embed for several days, pushing me to the brink of postponing it altogether.
However, when a press officer confidently informed me that I was finally booked on a flight called the “Freedom Express”, I swallowed prior misgivings and packed my bags.
Showtime at BIAP, the main military airport on the outskirts of Baghdad, was 4am. This meant catching the Rhino, an armoured bus that ferries people there overnight from the Green Zone. It has no set departure time so involves long hours of waiting to make sure you don’t miss the ride.
Once at the airport (a series of large hangers for departures and arrivals depending upon whether you plan to fly by plane or helicopter) I trudged, bleary-eyed, to the check-in only to learn that not only was there no such thing as the “Freedom Express” but also there was no early morning flight to Mosul.
Depressingly, a plane was due to travel to the city at just gone 10am but it was full, meaning that I would have to wait until 7pm for the next flight and even then was not guaranteed a seat.
Resigned to further hours of discomfort, I took myself off to a far corner of the hanger, unrolled a sleeping bag that I had conveniently brought with me and did the only thing that was left to do other than cry, which was sleep.

Four miserable hours later, I woke up rather disorientated and surrounded by crowds of soldiers and diplomats. It was about 8.30am and the place was packed.
Suddenly overhead a loudspeaker announced the first flight to Mosul.
With nothing to lose, I ventured back to the check-in to ask whether any space had opened up for one more (relatively small and fairly light) person.
Seeing my disheveled sate, the woman at the desk took pity and managed to squeeze me onboard.
The plane, a C-130 transport aircraft, was due to travel from Baghdad to a military base in Tikrit, north of the capital, then on to Speicher, (aforementioned camp of journalists’ nightmares) before arriving in Mosul.
There had just about been enough space for me on the first leg of the journey, but more people climbed on than scrambled off in Tikrit.
Fortunately I got chatting to the captain while on the ground who mentioned that he may have to ask two passengers to move from the crammed, uncomfortable body of the plane into the cockpit to make room.
Moments later myself and a female soldier were relaxing on a comfy, cushioned bench-like seat behind the two pilots, engineer and a navigator.
The impromptu upgrade more than made up for the discomfort of the past 16 hours and also meant that I had an amazing view of the snow-topped mountains that fringe Mosul as we landed.
Therefore, a big thank you to Captain Jason Shephard, his crew and the alligator skull that he flies with (a good luck gift from his Florida-based parents).
I also lucked in on the way home. The navigator on that plane, David Reinke, invited me up front for the duration.
On our approach to Baghdad, the crew thought it would be amusing to have me announce our position to the control tower, which probably does not hear female British accents over the radio very often.
I dutifully adopted the role, using my best Queen’s English to say: “Kingfisher Hotel – Chrome 21” followed by a string of numbers and acronyms.
It must have gone down well because once we landed I was asked to do the sign off, which went something along the lines of: “Kingfisher Hotel, Chrome 21 is on the ground and taxiing to park.”
So thanks as well to David and the rest of the crew: Benjamin Smith, the mission pilot, Jeffrey Acosta, the co-pilot, Richard Anthony, the engineer and Rodney Huffer and Steven Caldway, the load masters.

[Picture 1: Fellow passengers stranded or waiting overnight at the airport;
Picture 2: Me after catching a few hours of broken sleep on the floor;
Picture 3: Finally on the plane, space was in short supply;
Picture 4: Captain Shephard and his alligator head, a good luck gift from his parents;
Picture 5: View from the cockpit as we approached Baghdad;
Picture 6: Me and engineer Richard Anthony flying back to Baghdad.]

Comments

[Mad Dog Ducati]

gotta love the British! Stick with it Gal!!

[Doug Santo]

Ms. Haynes -

You've got guts to go over there. Michael Yon suggested reading your posts. I will and I look forward to a new source of information.

Report facts, good and bad, uncolored by bias of any type and you will do fine. We get plenty of opinion.

Good luck.

Doug Santo
Pasadena, CA

[Cliff]

Looking forward to your upcoming posts. Best of luck over there.

Dayton, OH

[Dave Finlay]

Arrive at the correct place at the right time, (as directed). No one knows or cares. Sleeping is a good idea, beats waiting. Hey I did that in the (NZ) army 35 years ago.

[Gillian]

Great Blog. Just read all your posts in one go and they brought back many fond and sad memories of Iraq in equal measure. Just remembering the whole Iraq travel experience is making shudder as I type. I look forward to your future posts.

[Aimen]

Iraq and Iraqis are both great
but guys the problem is with the situation and the abroad agendas
Thanks Debbie for reminding me and many people of Iraq

[RR]

Travel in the most dangerous parts of the world is difficult and believe it or not, saftey is paramount, what would you rather a scheduled daily flight/bus at the same time that can easily be shot down or blown up leaving you dead or a tougher unpredicatble journey that you survive?
Your slight discomfort kept you alive, we as soldiers have to go through this daily and often get delayed when we are home bound to see our families.
You have no right to winge!

[taji]

what is the big deal! I waited days for a flight there.. You gotta roll with it and not complain.. Inconsistant flight keep you safe.

[Hannah]

Everyone else seems to have some kind of deep, intellectual objection to this post. I'm still busy chuckling at the name of the plane.

[v]

My god some of you are touchy.

I was a soldier once. Not an American soldier and not in Iraq.

One thing I learnt pretty quickly is that soldiers love to bitch. About anything. That dosent mean we wont do our jobs to the highest standard. And it also means that we only bitch to fellow soldiers, certainly not to civilians.

So let the poor woman complain. After all she is merely recounting an experience.

[v]

oh yea and as another gentlemen above pointed. another thing you might want to get used to is learning how to sleep. anywhere, anytime you have spare downtime.

it always helps with the delays and waits.

[Mike Roberts]

Perhaps the Times should consider investing in spelling lessons for their journalists! Hanger = what you put clothes on; Hangar = what you put aircraft and journalists in! Or has the Queen's English changed since I was at school?

[Mark Meyer]

hope you went for a post flight bev.. ;-)

take care debs!!

x

[Bob Murphy]

Funny they moved the two girls to the cockpit. Slick move "guys"!!...lol

[John Petersen]

The reason you were squeezed onto the full flight and the reason the pilot and navigator moved you into the cockpit is one and the same: you are a young, attractive blondish woman in a war zone filled with horny guys. They weren't having mercy on you for having to hang out in the airport for a few hours. Instead, they wanted to please you in hopes that you would someday return the favor.

[PGRider]

Good post-good people!

Thanks, MY!

God Bless.

[Sheryll Sanderson]

Thank you so much for your report Deborah. I honestly don't know how some folks got the idea that you were whining. Sounded like good reporting on what you went through to go where most people would never consider going. You have my respect and prayers. I am a big fan of Michael Yon. Any endorsement from him is huge in my book. Keep up the great work and thank you for bringing some honest reporting to those of us who want to know.

[andrew holden]

There's quite a few British Royal Air Force females flying (C130, C17 and Merlin) in Iraqi airspace so the accent should be no real rarity.

In fact one (very pretty) female pilot recently got a gong for gutsy flying on IRT medivac - see:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/
DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/
MerlinPilotIsFirstWomanToReceiveTopFlyingHonour.htm

[Doug & Jane Shephard]

Thank You for the update and the pictures of our son, Captain Jason Shephard.We do forgive the misspelling!
It is good to see him, as we miss him so very much!! So glad the alligator finally got some exposure too, and by the way to those who think the females got special attention,it is because our officers are indeed Gentlemen!

[Michaelanne Huffer]

It was so nice to have our guys get some recognition for being decent, hard-working men. These guys are over there all the time & in harms way constantly. Thank you for mentioning the Loads in the back. The really tall one is my husband.

[Gregg]

Deb...great work. As a Vietnam vet I care more about the general content of the dispatch; not picking it apart for a literary prize. Don't worry about those sleazebags that have nothing better to do than be critical. I chuckled throughout your post as I remembered my later years living and traveling in Saudi Arabia. I look forward to more of your dispatches.

[Greg Janney]

Well done Ms. Haynes:

I appreciate your reportage and persistence. During my 2nd embed in Iraq in Mar 08, I was blessed to be in "the zone" where we had almost no down time in our connections. My 1st embed had lots of more wasted time. Hey, it's a war zone - we just hurry up and wait.

Journalists' hardships are nothing compared to what our brave service men and women have experienced during this challenging time.

Everyone should support and encourage them during their deployment - If not for volunteers, there would be a draft!!!

Keep up the great work.

Greg Janney
Iraq blog 2008 allyouneedphotography.blogspot.com