[QuarterBoreGunner]

From Just Another Soldier (http://www.recognizant.com/myiraq/) a journal of a National Guardsman deploying to Iraq.

Our hero is boarding a charter flight from Fort Drum to Fort Polk:

'You think getting crammed in coach sucks? Try doing it while wearing body armor, a load-bearing vest full of pockets, canteens, bayonets and all manner of G.I. Joe garb while carrying an assault rifle and a carry-on.

Hearing the stewardess (yeah, that's right, I said stewardess. If they were male, they'd be stewards, dammit!) say, "Please remove all bolts from your weapons. Please place all squad automatic weapons in the overheard compartments and place rifles on the floor or pointed barrel-down by your side please." was priceless.'

Ok you guys in the service- is this really how you guys get around? You just board commercial contracted aircraft with a full kit?

Amazing.

[El Tejon]

Or a UPS cargo flight!:D

[Dorian]

I'll let you know in two months!

I guess noone would be STUPID enough to try and hijack that flight so removing the bolt wouldn't be a problem for me :)

[OEF_VET]

That's exactly how I got to Kosovo. Or more correctly, to Macedonia. We flew contracted, commercial air from Ft. Campbell, KY to Skopje, Macedonia, with a refuelling stop in Shannon, Ireland. We were allowed to disembark in Shannon, but had to leave weapons and all sensitive items onboard with a guard. From Macedonia we flew into Urosevec (Ferazai), Kosovo on CH-47's.

When I went to Assghanistan, it was MILAIR the whole way. C-5 from Ft. Campbell to March AFB, CA. 12 hours later, same C-5 to Anderson Field, Guam. 8 hours later, same C-5 from Guam to Diego Garcia. A day (and several Heinekins on the beach) later, we flew from DG to Kandahar aboard a C-17. One nerve wracking flight I'll tell ya. Kind of scary knowing that people liked to shoot at the inbound aircraft.

Frank

[artherd]

Here's what I'd like to hear:

"Make sure your seat back is in an upright and locked position, and legally armed civillians, please make sure your G17s are chambered, and holstered. Please keep ARs fully loaded with the chamber empty, and good access to your charging handle. Remenber to watch your background. Your seatbelt may be found..."

[MatthewVanitas]

No joke. I flew over to Kuwait in the beginning of 2003 for the build-up. We took a civvy airliner (Hawaiian Air I believe). We didn't remove bolts or anything, but they collected all our loaded mags before boarding and locked them up in a chest for the flight, reissued on landing. We laid all the rifles along the floor, muzzles outboard, and slept most of the way. The medium and heavy machineguns were shipped over, don't recall what we did with the SAWs.

We didn't do the following on my flight, but my buddy had to give the "Anti-Hijacking Brief" to his flight after they boarded. He said it was the most ridiculous thing he ever had to do in his life. There was nobody on the plane except for Marines, and in the off-chance that someone decided to hijack the aircraft, they'd have been beaten to death with M16 buttstocks in a matter of seconds by a dozen lance-corporals hoping to get a medal.

[bogie]

Guys, while you're bitching about that 24 or so hours flying crammed into that aircraft, remember the guys in WWII...

They were crammed, in roughly the same density, on troop ships, which were excellent moving targets for German U-boat commanders. They didn't go all that fast either.

[mtnbkr]

in the off-chance that someone decided to hijack the aircraft, they'd have been beaten to death with M16 buttstocks in a matter of seconds by a dozen lance-corporals hoping to get a medal.

ROTFLMAO!! :D :D

That struck me as funny. :p

Chris

[AJ Dual]

Guys, while you're bitching about that 24 or so hours flying crammed into that aircraft, remember the guys in WWII...

I don't think they're bitching so much as commenting on how surreal flying in full combat load on civilian airliners is...

[Ed]

I've done both, But I'll tell you one thing I don't complain as much anymore after sitting crammed into a C130 in the middle of the summer with a 100 poubnd Rucksack in my lap and people throwing up on each side of me knocking knees with the guy facing you and some USAF reserve pilots decideing to use their 2 weeks of summer flying time NApe of the Earth flying over mountains. Makes Comercial airliners seem almost ok.

[Andrew Rothman]

My National Guard buddy flew with full kit to his deployment in Bosnia.

No kidding, he kept his rifle, but they confiscated his nail clippers. :)

[cdbeaver]

It took my troop ship three weeks to go from San Francisco to Sasebo, Japan in 1952. Ship was filled with sick, puking GI's. I never go seasick, but did have a real urge to upchuck when I went into the head one morning and found a GI barfing in every stool and lavatory.

Sleeping wasn't much fun, either. Place was crammed with probably a couple of hundred sweating, stinking sojers, with puddles of partially digested meals sloshing on the deck.

Same deal on the return trip of my all-expenses-paid cruise from Japan back to the States. No wonder I didn't re-enlist.

[Bravo11]

In the late '80s we flew to Germany on Reforger in full gear w/ weapons on a commercial/contract airliner. 'Stewardess' and all. It was some off the wall airline(don't remember the name) and the aircraft looked like a throw away from a major airline. It wasn't that bad compared to the trip back in the rear of a C141.

[Bravo11]

I just read some of Just Another Soldier (http://www.recognizant.com/myiraq/) . It makes for some interesting reading.