Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of three posts by Tech. Sgt. Jerome Baysmore's about his recent trip to Afghanistan. Sergeant Baysmore is a member of the 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs Office.
We had an extended layover at Ramstein AB, Germany, and we got to see a lot of the local attractions and sample our share of schnitzel and bratwurst.
During our stay, we also ran into a mix of people while sipping coffee in the hotel lobby.
One morning as I was enjoying my first sip, there was a small commotion going on at the front counter. A young traveler was lamenting about a break in last night. I couldn’t help but overhear the conversation because she became more and more animated as she told her story.
She began her complaint by talking to the staff about the loud talking tourists in the hallway until she said something else happened—someone had broken into her and her husband’s room while they were sleeping.
She reiterated that someone had come in, used the restroom and continued into the suite. The intruder then, sat on the bed and talked to her for about 15 minutes, in slurred German, until he politely excused himself to use the restroom again.
I was all ears by then…
Next, she said, the gentleman returned, sat down on the bed, held her husband’s hand and started talking with the couple again.
After about 15 more minutes, she said, he got up, bid them goodnight and in English, said, “Hey, is this my jacket?” and tried to make off with the husband’s jacket.
The staff was appalled and asked if she would like to lodge a complaint with the police or were there any signs of forced entry…The young lady replied calmly, “No, we forgot to lock the door.”
In short, I bolted from the lobby trying to stifle my laughter… My attempts were futile, and I doubled over right outside the main entrance.
Later, we got the news that our flight from Ramstein to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, was coming up, and we had to get to the terminal—and quick.
We made the showtime and boarded the March Air Reserve Base, Calif., based C-17 Globemaster III – an aircraft with about enough interior room to allow any NFL quarterback and receivers ample space to go through limited pre-game warmups.
Although we didn’t see any of that going on, we were directed to the seats along the sides of the C-17’s fuselage. There was so much cargo in the main body of the aircraft that we couldn’t clearly see the Aeromedical Evacuation team on the other side. There were various cargo pallets stacked neatly inside; row after row.
As we were seated, the loadmaster quipped with both hands raised, palms skyward, “Behold, over 100,000 pounds of cargo.”
We all shared in the laugh, and knew this would be another great flight.
The journalists took turns viewing the flight deck, and I found somewhere to stretch out next to bundles in the cargo bay.
Several hours later, we touched down at Bagram ready to begin the second leg of our journey.
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