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First Mission To Balad, Part I
I was on the first mission to Balad. It was a moonless night with clouds, rain, and only ten percent illumination. The base was hard to locate even with NVGs. The beacon was the only navigational aid, and I think it was out. We navigated by NVGs, following the bend in the Tigris River to the edge of the field.
— Capt. Paul Szweda
First Mission To Balad, Part II
Balad had no DME. We updated the INS, but the route was a demanding, rugged route at night and the INS in the C-141 tends to drift. The group commander got antsy. I told him, "No problem, sir. We've got it wired." We had handheld GPS, but it was not integrated into the aircraft. Balad was the most heavily attacked airfield in Iraq. Getting in there was sporting. We knew the procedures. We knew the tactics. But we also knew nobody was going in there unless we did it the first time. We made it. The C-141B, though, didn't receive much glory for completing the mission.
— Lt. Col. Jim McGann
 Baghdad Express
We were not flying in-country during the shooting war. The TACC told us to take three crews and two C-141s and set up a Baghdad Express in early May. We got to Ramstein five days later. Soon, we were flying three days a week into Baghdad. We flew into other countries the other four days of the week. We did that for a month and then we stopped flying to the other countries. We were originally told we would be deployed for a month. We were there from 7 May to 22 November.
— Lt. Col. Eric Wydra
Not Just Another Load Of Stuff
The first night in Balad, some Army officers told us that we had saved lives that night. It was a feeling that we had done something vital. It was not just bringing in another load of stuff.
— Capt. Phil Brown
Balad's First Internet Café
We carried a large communications trailer with a transmitter on our first flight into Balad. We had to get shoring built to an external ramp to get it off. We flew to Charleston [AFB, South Carolina] and loaded the trailer. We flew this trailer and twenty-seven pallets to our operating base and then on to Iraq. It took four loadmasters working together to get it off. On the seventh mission to Balad, we delivered an Internet cafˇ.
— Capt. Phil Brown
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