ABOARD A C-130 HERCULES, Iraq – Plan C came to us via a two-way radio.

"Highlander Delta, this is Highlander Alpha,” the crackled voice said. "We can get a flight to JBB, but you need to be at the pax terminal in 10 mikes."

Everyone stood frozen for a few seconds. And then we made a mad dash to pack our gear.

We – the group of eight of us who visited the ruins of Ur near Tallil – were sitting in our tent. Our flight to Joint Base Balad had been grounded because of a sandstorm. We put our names on the standby list (Space-A, in milspeak) and hoped for the best. About 40 people had already submitted their names for about 20 spots. We weren’t hopeful.

Plan B to return to Balad had already been set up. We were going to ride with a battalion of the Texas National Guard on its Mine Resistant Ambushed as it convoyed between Contingency Operating Base Adder and Balad. But that was going to leave the next day and take about 16 hours. So we were killing time in the tent, mostly by playing cards or listening to music.

That’s when Maj. Joe Hammiel’s voice came over the two-way radio. He checked the standby list, and the flight had room for us. The only catch: We had 10 minutes to make the roll call at the passenger terminal and get on the flight.

=> Read more!