Stranded then upgraded Air Force-style

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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.

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admin @ March 9, 2008