Trent Ruble's Blog: The Other Way It Is - Posts Tagged "20th-mas"

From 1980 to 1984 I was an aircraft loadmaster assigned to the United States Air Force's 20th Military Airlift Squadron in Charleston, South Carolina. From there, our C-141 Starlifter crews delivered people and cargo to airports and air force bases all over the world. Occasionally, when visiting these exotic locations, our crew members would run afoul of local procedures with which they weren't familiar. I previously wrote of the International Incident (November 4th, 2012) I nearly caused in Berlin, but that wasn't the only one.



Another of our trips was a routine passenger mission called the "Eagle," which staged in Frankfurt and Athens. Staging meant the aircrew would rest while the plane continued with a new crew. Then, usually the next day, the original aircrew would pick up another plane coming through, already loaded, and continue on. After staging in Athens, an Eagle crew would take the plane to three stops in Turkey and return to Athens in one day. We called that day the "Turkey Trot." One of those stops was at Izmir Air Base near Istanbul, Turkey.



Because Izmir was our first stop in Turkey, we were always met by Turkish customs agents. It was their job to ensure we weren't carrying any of the items prohibited in Turkey: pork, Coca-Cola, or pornography. Any US military aircraft or vessel is considered by the United States to be sovereign US territory regardless of where it sits and, therefore, not subject to search of any kind. But, rather than cause unnecessary conflict, we used a more diplomatic approach. Upon our arrival we always offered the agents coffee and American snacks and they, in return, would not ask us to drag our bags. It was a nice arrangement that worked well.



It was part of a loadmaster's job to make sure there was enough coffee and food on board for the sometimes very long and crowded flights. Unfortunately, on one of the Eagle missions to which I was assigned, we were running low. Upon our arrival at Izmir, the agents came on board as they usually did and started to pour themselves coffee. I stopped them and explained the situation thinking that, based on our long history of cooperation, they would understand. But, they didn't. The agents became unreasonable insisting that we remove all of our personal luggage. The Aircraft Commander gathered the crew and asked if any of us had any of the prohibited items. None of us did, unlikely as it was. So, at the commander's order, we removed our bags and allowed the customs agents to search them. When they were finished we loaded the bags and continued with our mission. The international incident was diffused. But, because I was perceived by the rest of the crew to be the one who allowed the coffee and food to run low, thus allowing the situation to unfold, I was not the most popular guy the rest of the trip.

More recently, a fellow loadmaster with whom I flew several missions, a loadmaster who'd made the job his career and is still flying today, told me that all crew members on USAF cargo planes now fly armed (in the 1980s we usually didn't) and no foreign nationals are allowed on board the aircraft. He said there have been incidents in which crew members have had to draw their weapons in order to prevent customs agents from coming on board. I'm glad it didn't come to that during my encounter, especially since we weren't armed. Oh, how the world has changed.