My friend Lawdog recently posted about 'Mike Mike Bravo Tango' on his blog. It made me chuckle - and remember a story from the buildup to Operation Desert Storm in 1991. I heard it from a friend in the Royal Air Force.
The RAF sent its Tornado aircraft to the Gulf as part of the international coalition against Iraq. Having many, many years experience of flying in desert climes, and a rich heritage of lessons learned in that environment, they were soon flying merrily all over the place, getting ready for the war when it eventually broke out. Their radio conversations were, of course, monitored by US air traffic control stations, who soon became intrigued at the RAF's method of indicating their position. It appeared that they'd erected a secret navigation beacon, because frequently, when asked their position, their aircraft would nonchalantly declaim, "Oh, we're over Mike-Mike-Foxtrot-Delta."
Word of the 'secret RAF navigation beacon' soon spread up the chain of command. In due course, it is said, a very senior US Air Force officer buttonholed a very senior RAF officer, demanding to know the operating frequency and location of their 'secret beacon', so that USAF aircraft could also make use of it. The RAF officer is said to have blushed delicately, and informed his interrogator that there was no beacon . . . Mike-Mike-Foxtrot-Delta, in the phonetic alphabet, stood for 'Miles and Miles of F***ing Desert'!
That's not the only lesson the RAF imparted to the USAF. Saudi Arabia was, of course, a 'dry' posting. No alcohol whatsoever. But strictly. However, US pilots landing at RAF bases (which they soon began to do on a suspiciously regular, nay, even eager basis) reported being offered unlimited glasses of 'shampoo and soda, old boy?' Intrigued, the USAF investigated, and found that the RAF had flown in rather more than a million bottles of 'shampoo' for use by their airmen. The contents of said shampoo bottles proved to be a rather more transparent amber than the labelling would suggest - and with a scent more reminiscent of Scotland than shampoo!
Ah, desert warfare and colonial tradition. What a great mixture!
Peter
Yep, I "liked" going TAD to the Brit bases during the 1st go round... :-)
ReplyDeleteDuring Desert Shield/Storm I supervised the many manhours of removing Islamic-prohibited meals from many pallets of cases of MRE's before shipment in-county. It was a tremendous waste of manpower, to be sure, but edict was that we just HAD to be politically correct and religiously sensitive.
ReplyDeleteHowever, once in-country. I worked in a trailer shared by other logistics types, namely a Brit outfit called The Muppets. Their cargo birds definitely did not limit their inbound wares to the approved list of items in either liquid or visual (video and magazine) form. They were a hell of a great bunch to be around.
There are several other stories of the Brits thunmbing their collective noses at the uptights of the area, but they'd best not be told until the parties involved are deceased. :-)
Listerine and Scotch have an almost identical color.
ReplyDeleteWe had very clean mouths!
Anon- and it was Chivas if I remember correctly... :-)
ReplyDeleteWell, one has to be careful about oral care. Not to mention the need to do a final sterilization of local water supplies. You can never be too careful, after all. ;)
ReplyDeleteLittleRed1