In March 2009 our three helicopters arrived at the military base in Afghanistan via one gigantic cargo plane — a Russian Antonov AN-124.
Even though we had cautioned our military contacts on site that we would need a crane and forklift to unload our equipment, we ended up offloading the aircraft and spare parts ourselves with a small John Deere tractor that we had purchased in Canada and sent over on the plane.
Cargo aircraft require a PPR, which stands for Prior Permission Required, to land at any military base due to the constraints on parking spaces. They are granted a space for a designated period of time — usually between one and four hours. We had to hustle to get all our stuff off in time.
Our cargo was to be offloaded on a huge concrete pad called Golf Hammerhead, an area very near to where we had been given permission to park our helicopters until we had all the proper authorization to depart to our assigned FOB — Forward Operating Base.
Naturally, Golf Hammerhead was closed when the Antonov arrived, so our machines ended up at the far end of the runway, which required us to tow them two miles or so to where we could park them overnight.
Welcome to Afghanistan! Nothing is easy here, especially for a bunch of civilian pilots and engineers who didn’t, and still don’t at times, understand the military way of doing things.
We had been awarded a contract to transport personnel, cargo and US Mail in one of the most dangerous places on earth. And we were happy to be there! A bit confused, but happy. Now that our machines had arrived, it seemed as though we truly were living the dream!
When we finally flew to our FOB we contacted Air Traffic Control just as we would in Canada, using our civil registration as our call sign — Charlie Foxtrot Alpha Brava Charlie, for example, which stands for C-FABC. All Canadian aircraft are registered either C-Fxxx or C-Gxxx.
Of course, that’s quite a mouthful when you come and go from an airport about eight or nine times a day. And the local Air Traffic Controllers arranged a meeting to discuss that very issue. You see, in the military everything has a code name and/or acronym. We work in an AO—Area of Operations. We’re part of the OEF — Operation Enduring Freedom. We have a POC, a Point of Contact, and the soldiers don’t wear uniforms, they wear an ACU — Army Combat Uniform. Every Aviation Unit had a code name to use when they call ATC, and we were going to be the same.
Of course, we hadn’t thought of any cool code names — “Maverick” and “Goose” came to mind, but we didn’t verbalize that. The American controllers suggested something Canadian, like Canadian Club. But we found that too difficult to say, too many syllables. The Russian contractors were known as Absolute, after a vodka. We would soon begin calling them “Crazy Ivans”, but that’s another story.
We needed something simple and snappy, and obviously alcohol related. And the only other thing the American controllers knew about was Molson beer. “What about Molson?” they asked. “Molson,” we said in unison.
And since that day, we’ve been affectionately known as Molson Air—a quintessential Canadian aviation icon in Afghanistan.
Photo Credits
All photos © Allan Cram, All rights reserved.
I loved flying with you guys! Some of my fondest memories of Afghanistan involve riding in y’all’s Bell 212. I love how one pilot called it the Harley-Davidson of helicopters because of its unique sound and characteristic vibration!
Surfing around the internet I get to find this site and of course I have to contribute with it by speaking out my mind. I am also a rotorhead and I can only agree with some previous comments, the guys and gals at Molson are the best bunch of people I have ever met, having fun and doing the best from every situation, allways with a smile. It’s not an easy place at all and getting things done can be very challenging at times, but their way of life and attitude is trully inspiring. Funny to see the 212 fits perfectly in the Antonov, we had so much work with the bigger helis… Please keep up the good work and don’t change.
Cheers and best regards from Bulldog.
P.S.: great blog by the way.
Hi Heather, Diana, Allan and Todd,
I hope you are all fine. After 6 months in Afgh. I´am back now in Germany. It´s cold and rainy.
Nice! I´am so glad, that I was allowed to meet you, working together and having some fun during my service at Camp Marmal.
Heather and Allan, I was very sad about missing your last out so that I couldn´t hug you, because I was out now before you came in again in March.
This is now to say I´am sorry and that I wish you and your families and crew all the best and come back every time in one piece.
Just think of the old phrase:” Every landing you can walk away from, was a good landing”
Your old Ex HUEY Frontseater from Germany
Harry
Thanks Harry,
We were disappointed to find out your freedom flight had left early, but of course we were happy you got home sooner than expected.
But now you’re back! Come visit us in the zoo!
Ciao for now,
Allan
Molson Coors Canada is proud that you’ve selected “Molson”…and we’re proud to continue to play a small part in supporting our troops around the world…hats off to all of you who serve our country and best wishes to our military abroad and at home for a safe and joyous holiday season…( twitter @MolsonFerg )
Thanks for your holiday wishes and continued support–we all appreciate it!
Allan
can anyone tell me where can i contact Molson Air in Afghanistan?
Hi JJ,
This is not the place for divulging that kind of information, but since I’m the Job Manager for Molson Air I am probably the one to contact.
If you leave contact information with the editor of Life as a Human, Kerry will pass it on to me.
Cheers, Allan
Allan,
I am a civilian contractor in Afghanistan and everyone I know prefers to uses Molson Air to travel whenever possible. Quite frankly, I have never met a more professional, dedicated, friendly bunch of people! Whenever we need to go FOB hopping, we always check with you guys first.
I am a rotorhead myself (been flying aircraft and designing and repairing avionics for nearly 30 years) and I just love you guys. Stay safe and take care!
Dr. Jeffery A. Swan
Mantech International Corporation
P.S. Awesome job at the Olympics!
Thanks, Dr. Swan,
We like what we do and we try to have fun at the same time! Make the best of a crappy situation so to speak.
Be sure to drop in and say hello. You stay safe as well.
Cheers, Allan
Hi Allan,
My good friend Ross Holloway is a very gifted singer/songwriter and he recently released a few new songs. One of them is called Mankind’s Attitude and it is dedicated to the troops in Afghanistan.
I thought I would share a few links in here for you and your readers.
This is the link to his Biography page, with information on who Ross is. http://www.ontracmusic.com/bio.asp?id=2
Once there click on the Discography page in his Artist section which has the Dedication to the Troops. You can see his message to all of those who put themselves in the line of fire for all of us.
This is the link to his Multimedia page with pics, songs, and a funny video of Ross playing a huge drum that was filmed in Hawaii. (Watch in full screen). http://www.ontracmusic.com/artistsmultimedia.asp?id=2&artistid=2
Now that your in Ross’s Artist section, you can click on his Purchase page to download the free professional music charts, and also links to purchase the MP3’s or the actual hard copy CD Single.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Gil
Or maybe could have been Maple as in Leaf or Syrup or Flag.
Maple Air?
Joan