Iraq war ends: what it was like on the last US flight out
| TALLIL AIR BASE, IRAQ
On the US military鈥檚 last plane out of Iraq Saturday night, troops on board are in a festive, if slightly skeptical mood.聽
The Air Force crew manning the C-17 cargo plane has been told on previous missions that theirs will be the final flight out of the country in which America waged war for 8-1/2 years.聽
鈥淭hey鈥檝e said it was the last flight to us three or four times,鈥� says Staff Sgt. Kristi Benton, reading a Dean Koonz novel.聽
But these had been false alarms, due to routine logistical swaps and tweaks.
Presently, however, the Air Force鈥檚 top noncommissioned officer in Iraq, Command Chief Master Sgt. Mike Hanning, boards the plane.聽
鈥淚鈥檝e been waiting for this day for a long time,鈥� he says, settling into a jump seat.
As a pair of two-star generals appear as well 鈥� the highest-ranking Air Force commanders in Iraq 鈥� the crew begins to believe it: They will be the last airmen on the last American military flight of this war.
Maj. Gen. Anthony Rock, in charge of the Air Force鈥檚 training mission in Iraq, climbed to the cockpit to tell the captains the news. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 know,鈥� he says.聽
When he informed them of this news, he adds, 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 believe it.鈥�
For General Rock and his longtime friend Maj. Gen. Russell Handy 鈥� the Air Force鈥檚 top officer in Iraq 鈥� the flight is both somewhat surreal and professionally profound.
It marks a poignant final chapter in a conflict that has spanned more than two decades of their careers.聽
As young captains in 1990, Rock and General Handy were in fighter squadrons in Langley, Va., with the mission of bombing this air base during the first Gulf war.
Handy, for his part, recalls the 鈥減esky SAM or two鈥� 鈥� surface-to-air missiles 鈥� that Iraq 鈥渉ad in this area literally for years.鈥�
Adds Rock, 鈥淲e were sure Saddam鈥檚 forces were coming.鈥�
In their most recent assignments, Handy and Rock have instead been shepherding the Iraqi Air Force, training them to defend their country from external threats 鈥� and to safely land aircraft. (After the last US airmen climbed out of the air-traffic-control tower and on to the awaiting C-17 Saturday night, it will be an Iraqi air-traffic controller who will guide the US plane for its takeoff.)
鈥淚t鈥檚 a 21 year story,鈥� says Handy, 鈥渁ll culminating in this operation.鈥澛�
Before the troops begin boarding the flight, Handy urges them all to take a moment and soak in the momentous occasion 鈥� the rare and welcome chance to witness a war鈥檚 end.
鈥淲hat I encourage you to do is look around,鈥� he says. Think back 鈥渙n the hundreds of thousands who have come before you. They鈥檝e been counting on us to bring this thing to an effective close 鈥� to a proud close,鈥� he adds.聽
鈥淛ust reflect a little bit on that.鈥澛�
Air Force Tech Sgt. Wesley Wooden, who helped instruct Iraqi security forces in this, his fifth deployment to Iraq, does just that.聽
He first deployed to Iraq in 2003, and 鈥渃amped out for almost a month鈥� in the area where this base now stands.聽
In a few days he will be back in Cheyenne, Wyo., reunited with his wife and three children.聽
鈥淭his is coming full circle for me,鈥� he says, adding that he believes for this base, at least, 鈥淲e鈥檙e leaving it a lot better than we found it.鈥�
US forces here have left behind office supplies, air-conditioning units, exercise equipment 鈥� "anything that would genuinely help the Iraqis鈥� quality of life,鈥� Sergeant Wooden says.聽
Troops are also leaving behind pool tables, flat-screen televisions, XBoxes, and even signed autographed photos of some bands 鈥� think Queensryche 鈥� that had come through on previous USO tours.
As they prepare to leave, some airmen grab boxes of chocolate milk out of a full, still-humming cooler, which troops will also leave behind.
Wooden takes a look around the room. 鈥淎s soon as we鈥檙e gone, this place is going to be flooded鈥� with Iraqis who will want to survey what they鈥檝e inherited, he says.
At about 9 p.m., word comes to the airmen to grab their duffel bags and head to the plane.
Sergeant Hanning urges them toward the flight, as he shakes hands and slaps the backs of the last of the gear-laden US military security forces and cargo specialists 鈥� who load their own bags and keep guard over the last of their comrades walking single file towards the runway 鈥� before hopping on the plane themselves.聽
鈥淟et鈥檚 get this thing loaded up,鈥� Hanning says. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to go home, but you can鈥檛 stay here.鈥澛�
