Iraq Enterprise
One enterprising maintenance guy in Baghdad sold Iraqi money, flags, uniform buttons, stuff like that. He operated his little souvenir shop out of a helmet bag. All the crews wanted that stuff and so did the people back at the bases. He had quite a business. I asked if he was planning to claim his earnings on his taxes. He just laughed.
     — TSgt. Alexis Richardson

Familiar Faces
We carried some nineteen-year-old special forces guys who didn't know what they were getting into. The special forces guys tend to be more mature. We were a lot better informed about what they were getting into. A lot of people had flown with us before and knew some of us by name. A lot of guys were sad to see us go back home.
     — Maj. Kevin Nicholson

Warm And Cold Welcome
The locals appreciated us. They liked us. We preserved security in their city, in their streets. Learning to communicate was interesting. The only ice I got over there came from an Iraqi boy, who ran out to meet me with a glass of ice water.
     — TSgt. Joel Byrd

Moats Even
Flying into Baghdad, we could see these two huge palaces near the airport. They had to be as large as city blocks. These weren't like rich movie star mansions. They were huge, museum-like buildings. They even had moats.
     — Capt. Bob Manning

Ruling Council, Part I
Moving the Iraqi Ruling Council to Madrid for a donor conference was an indication of the trust in the C-141. They could have moved them on a C-17. Of course, the C-5 is the biggest and has seats, but it is not a 747. But they chose a C-141 to go in daylight hours. We transported four ambassadors, twenty American support personnel, and eighty Iraqi Council members. Anybody who was anyone was on that flight, and we flew in broad daylight.
     — Lt. Col. Jim McGann

Ruling Council, Part II
We fed the ruling council in flight. We got hoagie sandwiches at Ramstein. They were Muslim, so we had to make sure they got roast beef and not pork. A couple of them went to the back of the aircraft at sunrise, faced Mecca, and did their prayers on the cargo ramp. They had their prayer mat and the stones they place in front of them. Once we got to Madrid, we were met by a lot of media. The president of the Council needed to get off the plane first. Everybody else lined up in rank order. The procession took at least fifteen minutes to get organized before the president stepped out. Three days in Madrid was great. At the hotel, we turned on CNN and saw one of our passengers shake hands with Colin Powell.
     — TSgt. Karl Eckberg

Newbie Skills
I was the last pilot to get here from training, arriving in April 2002. I was combat ready in October. By January, I was flying into a combat zone. I felt more challenged in training than on some of the missions we flew over there. We were all well prepared and I never felt backed into a corner. I was inexperienced, of course, but I had learned so much in training and was well prepared for combat.
     — Capt. Taj Troy