BAGHDAD – The loadmaster’s voice pierced the engine roar.

“Make sure you’re buckled up,” he said. “We’re going to land in about five minutes.”

From my seat aboard the C-17 Globemaster in the skies above Iraq, I could see out one of the side windows. We were still easily thousands of feet in the air.

And it didn’t even take the full five minutes to land in Baghdad.

The cargo jet – operated by a crew from Charleston Air Force Base – began its descent by dipping its wings to both sides. The pilot then pointed the nose toward the ground, and the plane shook as it picked up velocity. It flattened out as it approached the runway, and soon we were on the ground in Iraq.

The last-minute preparations in Kuwait have a way of wearing people down. I shared the flight with dozens of members of the Pennsylvania National Guard’s 56th Stryker Brigade, 28th Infantry Division, many of whom hadn’t yet deployed. Even as we were making the descent into Baghdad – something that one would think would create some jitters – almost everyone aboard the jet remained asleep.

ARMY LIFE SUPPORT AREA, Kuwait – No truer test of patience exists than trying to fly military air from Kuwait into Iraq.

Here’s how it works: An official at the base in Kuwait processes your passport and arranges for visas. The next day, after the passport is returned, you sign up for a flight to Baghdad or Mosul or Qatar or whatever your destination might be. You are then put on a list that gives preference to people who signed up earlier. A projection screen shows the flights leaving the airbase, when they’re leaving and how many seats are available. All those details can change; flights are routinely added and canceled, and the number of seats varies.

There are also two “accountability roll calls” per day. If you miss one, the Kellogg Brown and Root employee that runs the system assumes you’re not interested and removes your name. People quietly cheer when people at the top of the list don’t show up.

When a flight does become available, they begin reading the list. If you’re not there, you don’t get a spot. The contractor reads all the names until either the list is finished or all the seats are full.

The lists never seem to end.

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