J-Bad Again...

On 10 June, the usual crew flew down to J-Bad to check out another FDD graduation. All went well until the helicopter came in early. Everyone rushed to get their gear on and we ran out to the LZ. I knew as soon as we got on the bird, (a NYARNG CH-47) that something was wrong. There were other dudes strapped in back. The flight was supposed to be a dedicated bird for the Deputy Minister, whom we were travelling with. Anyway, after the crew informed me that the final destination was Bagram, not Kabul it dawned on me that we boarded a regularly scheduled ring flight. We departed the aircraft, took stock of things which was, damn we are hungry! We ate chow and I secretly hoped that our helicopter was on the way to pick us up. Luckily it did.

A picture of Naseri and I on the CH-47. Naseri is our Terp and the Deputy Ministers administrative assisant.