MEMO

File: aaaai_01.txt
Page: 01
Total Pages: 1

SUBJECT: MEMO

908 TACTICAL AIRLIFT GROUP
357 TACTICAL AIRLIFT SQUADRON
MAXWELL AFB, AL

CREWS
PILOT MAJ BOB CORLEY LTC WALLY DRAGE
COPILOT CPT GREG HEER 1LT ROGER WOOD
NAVIGATOR 1LT MIKE RICCI CPT JIM RICHBURG
ENGINEER SSG SHAWN MANNING MSG J.R. MELTON
LOADMASTER TSG DAVID GREER TSG MIKE MITCHELL
LOADMASTER SSG GEORGE RAMSEY SSG BRENT SOLOMON

THESE CREWS WERE PART OF THE INITIAL GROUP TO LEAVE ALCONBURY, UK, AND PROCEED TO THE IN-
COUNTRY BEDDOWN LOCATION AT SHARJAH, UAB. THREE AIRCRAFT CARRIED FIVE CREWS, 100 PEOPLE AND
MAINTENANCE AND SUPPLY EQUIPMENT TO SUSTAIN A THREE AIRCRAFT OPERATION. THE CREW WERE PLACED
INTO CREWREST AT APPROXIMATLEY 1900 HOURS WITH AN EXPECTED ALERT TIME OF 0700. ACTUAL ALERT AND
DEPARTURE DIDN'T COME UNTIL LATER IN THE EVENING, AROUND 2300 HOURS. AFTER FLYING FOR ELEVEN
HOURS WITH INCREDIBLY POOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL COMMUNICATION, THEY ARRIVED AT SHARJAH. AT THEAT
TIME MANY HAD BEEN UP FOR MORE THAN THIRTY HOURS. HOWEVER, THEY HAD ARRIVED AT A " BARE BONES"
OPERATION AND THERE WAS NO TIME TO REST. THE HANGER WHICH THEY WERE TO CALL HOME HAD NOT BEEN
USED FOR SEVEN YEARS. THERE WAS NO ELECTRICITY, AND ONLY ONE PRIMITIVE TOILET FOR ONE HUNDRED
PEOPLE. IN SPITE OF THE STIFLING TEMPERATURE (100 DEGREES AT MIDNIGHT) AND THE UNEXPECTEDLY HIGH
HUMIDITY, THEY HAD TO OFFLOAD ALL THREE AIRCRAFT- BY HAND. THERE WAS NO MATERIAL HANDLING
EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, THE HANGER HAD BEEN INFESTED BY HUNDREDS OF
PIGEONS FOR YEARS, AND THE HANGAR FLOOR WAS LITERALLY ANKLE-DEEP. MAJOR CORLEY'S CREW DID THEIR
SHARE OF OFF-LOAD AND CLEAN-UP, THEN ENTERED CREW REST IN ORDER TO FLY THE FIRST 94 PTAS RESERVE
MISSION IN-COUNTRY. THAT NIGHT, BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T MATTRESSES, THEY SLEPT ON THE WIRE SPRINGS
OF THEIR COTS. UPON RETURN FROM THEIR MISSION, THEY BECAME PART OF THE WORKGROUP THAT LABORED
TO PREPARE THE LOCATION FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE REMAINDER OF THE 94 PTAS. BY THE TIME THE 94
PTAS REDEPLOYED, LTC DRAGE HAD FLOWN THE MOST SORTIES FROM THE FORWARD OPERATING BASE AND
MAJ CORELY'S THE SECOND MOST.