Memoirs of an Outlaw: Life in the Sandbox

Chapter 5: The Flight

What a horrible flying experience. Whatever could have gone wrong the day we left, happened.

Our company was split into two groups to load onto two military cargo planes, C-130s. Each group was set to leave at a certain time from Camp Lejeune via bus to go to Cherry Point, NC.  From there, the group of Marines would load up onto a plane to begin the journey to Iraq.

I was in the second group. This was probably the only good thing that occurred that day. The day we left happened to be payday. Since we were leaving later in the day, I left early in the morning to run down to the PX so I could buy a new Gameboy and some games for the ride and deployment, things that would keep me busy during my down time.

By the time I got back, I found out that the first group had already left. Since I had nothing else to do, I went back to my room to make sure I had everything.  I went through my mental checklist of gear and when I was sure I had it all, I lay down on my bare mattress and took a quick nap.

About an hour or so passed when I was awoken by some guys talking outside of my door. I listened to their conversation to see if it was anything important. 

“This is fuckin’ bullshit,” one of the Marines said.  “We pack up, head out there, and not twenty minutes go by before they send us back here.” He seemed pretty pissed off. “Then we get back and I’m about to drop my pack when they tell us we have to head back out. Halfway there, they turn us around and tell us there’s a possibility that all flights will be cancelled. I hate this hurry and wait bullshit.” The conversation continued on for a few more minutes before they left.

I could understand the frustration. I would have been just as pissed if I were in his shoes. Everyone was already on edge because we were leaving and this nonsense was just agitating people further. The rumor that all flights would be delayed until the next day wasn’t helping, either. When I heard that last bit about all flights possibly being delayed, I became a bit ticked off. I had no phone, all my gear was packed up into my sea bag and carry-on, and I had nowhere to sleep. I sure as hell didn’t want to take everything out again just for one night’s sleep.

A few hours passed and our group received word that we were going to give it a try. We threw on our gear (rifle, MOLLE pack, and MOLLE harness), grabbed our carry-on bags and sea bags, and loaded onto our bus.

The ride to Cherry Point was about twenty minutes. When we got there, we were guided into a building where we had to wait around some more. This was the military’s motto at its best: hurry up and wait. We rushed like hell to get everywhere, and when we got there, we sat around forever.

After about an hour’s wait, the company executive officer, First Lieutenant Earlie Walker, had us all get into alphabetical order to be weighed. We all needed to be weighed with our gear on to ensure that the plane did not exceed its maximum carrying limit. I walked up to the scale and watched the scale numbers climb. With all my gear, I weighed 260 pounds. Normally, I was only 180 pounds.

Shortly after I got weighed, the word finally came down that the flight was going to take off as scheduled, so we lined up single file outside of the hangar to board the plane. From the outside, the C-130 looked as if it might provide a decent ride for us, but as the saying goes, never judge a book by its cover.

The pilot and navigator, both Air Force officers, were welcoming us aboard. I was way in the back of the line, so I could only imagine what the inside looked like. I had never been on a C-130 so by the looks of the outside, I was imagining a huge interior with tons of room to stretch out my legs.  Boy, was I in for a shock. I stepped onto the plane, turned right, and realized I was in for one hell of a ride.

The plane was split down the middle by a cargo net fence. On the left and right side of the plane were cargo-netting benches attached to the wall. The benches also came out of the cargo-netting fence. Fan-freakin-tastic. Nothing like riding coach.

There were about a hundred Marines in my group. I ended up halfway down the bench on the middle left side of the plane. Since we had very little room, each Marine had to interlock his legs with the Marine to his front. So basically, we all had our legs in each other's crotches. There was no aisle room anywhere.

As if things couldn’t get worse, there was a huge temperature variation on the plane. Those toward the rear of the plane near the cargo door and those in the front of the plane near the cabin had no heat at all. It was absolutely freezing. Most of them went into their gear to take out their black bear pullovers or poncho blankets to stay warm. Luckily, everyone was so mashed together that body heat was able to provide some warmth. The middle of the plane was a different story. It was a sauna. This was where I was. Most of us had taken off our camouflage blouses so we could cool off in our t-shirts.

From the outside, we must have looked like a mess. Everyone was jammed together. Rifles were poking into people’s legs. Some guys were nodding off on someone else’s shoulder. Someone somewhere was snoring. A couple people were eating snacks; others had taken out portable DVD players or video game consoles. Once in a while you could even catch a guy pissing in a bottle because he didn’t want to cross a sea of legs to get to the front of the plane. Honestly, we were an absolute mess.

Once the plane took off, I tried to make myself as comfortable as possible given the situation. I stripped down to my t-shirt, pants and boots so I could cool down a bit. Trying my best not to elbow the guys to my left and right in the face, I rummaged through my carry-on to get my Gameboy and one of the games I purchased.

“Whatcha playin’?” a Marine to the right of me asked as I settled down.

“Madden 2004,” I responded. “Just picked it up today from the PX.”

“Cool,” he said, looking over my shoulder trying to get a better view.

“When I’m done, if you’re still bored, you can borrow it. I didn’t get much sleep last night so I’m just playin’ til I pass out,” I said. 

“Sweet, dude. Thanks.”

I played for about thirty more minutes before I could feel the exhaustion start to set in. My eyes were half slits and my head was slowly drooping down. I was about to put the Gameboy away when I remembered the promise I made.

The Marine who I had spoken to earlier was reading a book so I nudged him with my knee. 

“You still want to play?” I asked.

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” he said as he put down his book.

I handed him the Gameboy and a couple other games and then went about the process of forming my camouflage blouse into a makeshift pillow. It only took a few minutes before I passed out.

Six hours after departing from Cherry Point, we arrived at our first stop, some small airfield in Newfoundland. Everyone thought of it as a weird place to land first. We all believed we were going straight to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

It was about five in the morning when we landed, and snow covered the whole airfield. We offloaded and rushed inside the building, where we were let loose for an hour to do what we wanted. I went to the small restaurant to have a nice, warm breakfast. Others flocked to the phone centers or small stores, and others just sat around and slept or smoked. Once the hour was up, we were all herded back on board for our next stop, Ramstein Air Base.

We landed in Germany about eight hours and one hell of a backache later. This time we were told we had two hours to goof around, which was more than enough for us to cause a little trouble and feed our faces. This base seemed to be better equipped for a horde of starving Marines. There was a mini mall with a Burger King, a Pizza Hut, and a few other small places to eat. There were also a few shops and a phone center. Some Marines flocked to shops and food stands that had women working there. Somehow they believed that since they wouldn't see a woman again for seven months, they might be able to get a little action before they left or maybe even a number. Typical Marines.

I went with a group of friends to get some chow from Burger King and then headed to a store to buy another game for my Gameboy. Hell, I thought this was the last time I would be able to buy something to entertain me. Eventually we all headed back to the airport facility to wait around for the signal to load back up. Some guys nodded off for a few minutes, and the rest lined up near the phones to get in one last call.

About a half hour later, we got the word to load back up. We all packed in like sardines and went back to sleeping, video games, movies, and reading. No one really knew what was in store for us.