The Free Big Trip. (Read 13,997 times)

After our trip to Incirlick AB, Turkey 18 months ago I mail a trip report to AMC on there comment form. To my surprise I received a nice reply and thank you for it. So, I decided to send another one for this Germany & England trip.  Will see if AMC replies to this one.

Here is a copy for your reading pleasure.

Trip Report: McChord AFB, WA to Europe & Back.

Last year my wife and I flew AMC Space-A to Incirlik AB, Turkey and back. The flight crews and AMC Passenger Terminal personal were just great. All and all an "Excellent Trip."

Our daughter's family were reassigned to RAF Lakenheath, England earlier this past spring. Our son-in-law is a active duty MSgt and our daughter is also a MSgt in the USAFR. We have 3 beautiful granddaughters that we love to visit. A new assignment and a country I didn't get to visit during my USAF active duty years called for another vacation by AMC and Space-A.

I watched the missions out of McChord AFB, WA for over 2 weeks and there was nothing going to Europe. Then one night I saw 3 missions to Ramstein on C-17's from McChord AFB. I'd signed up on the space-a list 5 weeks prior and we made the flight easy. The flight was smooth and relaxing, there was even space at the Ramstein Inn when we arrived. Got a rental vehicle the next day and we were on our Europe Vacation.

After traveling around Germany & Austria we returned to the Ramstein Inn and gave the rental vehicle back. I looked for flights from Ramstein to either Mildenhall or Lakenheath, England. For 3 days nothing listed so I got train tickets from Kaiserslautern, Germany to London. All the senior discounted tickets from Paris to London for that week were sold out except 1st class. So, Saturday I purchased the tickets for my wife and I at $940.00, it was that or sit at the Ramstein Inn and wait for God knows how long. Wouldn't you know it, Sunday night a mission to Mildenhall was added to the schedule. I told my wife, well the mission shows zero tentative seats, but we have seats on the bullet train, and we will see our granddaughters Monday evening for sure.

After almost 3 weeks in Germany and Austria, then over 2 weeks in England with our daughter’s family, it was time to head back home. So, I started monitoring the Space-A missions out of RAF Mildenhall Air Base by internet. There were no missions on the schedule, then one evening there was a mission listed for Thursday going to Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) in Eastern Washington State. Our vehicle was at McChord AFB in the western side of the state. That was surely close enough, but no seats were listed as of yet.

Then the next day which was Tuesday another mission was scheduled to depart Wednesday going to Travis AFB, CA with a stopover during the night at Bangor Maine. Forty seats were listed available for Space-A travel. Still no seats were listed for the Fairchild AFB mission.

Belinda and I talked it over and figured it would be best to take the Travis AFB mission even with the stop over night at Bangor Maine. We would just get a hotel/motel room for the night and fly onto Travis AFB the next day.

Later I figured I’d check with the Air Mobility Command Passenger Terminal via internet to see what might be the chance of a mission out of Travis to McChord. How fortunate can you get? A mission was listed to McChord for late Wednesday. That was great as we had planned for a hotel and airline tickets to Seattle. This military flight will save us a few bucks and get us home quicker.

Now, for the military flight, on a Travis C-17 military transport jet. The mission had a 0840hrs (8:40AM for civilians) show time for roll-call. Our daughter got us up at 0600hrs and drove us to RAF Mildenhall arriving at the Passenger Terminal just about 0715hrs. We processed in with military ID Cards and Passports, then paid for two in-flight meals which in my active duty days, we called them “box nastys” as sometimes they were filled with not so good stuff. The roll-call took place early and along with 6 other retired military couples we were taken out to the C-17 aircraft. Onboard we joined 7 activity duty Air Force Airman and the Flight Crew.

This was going great as it looked like a very early take-off. We sat for 30 minutes and then we were informed that it was decided to over-fly Bangor, Maine and go straight to Travis. We all thought that was great. We were never left wondering what was going on. We were always informed in a very reasonable time what was going on. We finely took off about 1100hrs on our way to Travis.

During the flight Belinda napped, read a book, and wrote in her journal. I slept a little, took pictures, and typed this on our laptop to pass the time. Europe to the west coast of the United States takes quite some time. A little over 11 hours is what we were advised to expect.

We had been in the air for 9 hours and the clouds finely started to break up over Canada. I got a few photos of Canada and hoped the clouds would break up more as we got closer to the U.S. & Canada Border. We are still 2 hours and 10 minutes from touchdown at Travis AFB, CA.

About 45 minutes before landing the loadmaster asked everyone to gather-up and pack our things for landing, then she announced that the mission leaving Travis for McChord in 3 hours was delayed until the next morning. After landing we signed up for the flight to McChord and obtained a room in the Base Inn to rest and relax for the evening.

Our wake-up call was very early the next morning 0315hrs. Roll Call for the flight at the Military Passenger Terminal was 0520hrs, and I always plan for possible changes and or delays with taxies, etc.
I called for a taxi and requested it at 0415hrs at the Travis Inn. I discovered that all three taxi cab companies were booked until 5:30AM with limited taxies in operation that early. I explained our problem with the flight check in time and that we could not walk the 2 or 3 miles to the terminal with our luggage and my wife having a knee replacement 4 months ago. Belinda and I were just about all packed and ready so I asked, "Is there any chance we could get a taxi now in about 5 or 10 minutes?" The dispatcher said, "We have one near your location between calls and if you can be outside the Travis Inn in 5 or 10 minutes he will quickly pick-you up and get you to the terminal." We agreed and he was there within minutes of us stepping outside.

We arrived at the Terminal at 0400hrs and checked in for the flight to McChord AFB. It was a U.S Air Force Reserve C-5 aircraft. Only 3 retired couples and 2 active duty military members checked in for the flight, and there were 40 seats available. Two of the couples were on our flight from England and they need the flights, one couple had a death in the family and another were going to see their son who contracted Westnile virus and was in the hospital in Oregon. We felt for these two couples.

It wasn't very long and our flight was called, we had already processed our luggage, so we went to the gate and went through the TSA Inspections. We boarded the bus and out to the aircraft we went for boarding. At the C-5 aircraft we all waited in the bus for about ten minutes. When the driver returned she informed us we were going back to the terminal. My thought was, "Another C-5 broke again." But then, she said, "Aircraft is on a weather hold for weather at McChord." This was a relief, as Belinda and I had been vacationing for 6 weeks and had a strong desire to get home. The other two couples needed this flight much more than we did.

Back in the terminal we were advised the weather hold would be two hours. We were advised that we could leave our carry-on bags in the TSA Inspection Room and they would be secure and watched over by an Airman. We could used the restrooms, get some food, or just walk around the terminal if we wanted. Belinda and I went and ordered breakfast burritos and mocha coffee. A pilot was also ordering food and I asked if he knew anything about the weather at McChord causing delays. He pulled out his iphone and connected to the internet and informed us that the area was fogged in. About 15 minutes later our burritos we given to us and the coffee would take a few minutes. I unwrapped the end of my burrito and just as I was about to take a bite our flight was called for boarding. I secured the foil wrapping and quickly got a refund for the coffee and off we went back out to the C-5 aircraft.

We got onboard and secured. Take-off was fairly quick and as we reached cruise altitude we ate our burritos and drank some water and milk, then reclined our seats. I remember thinking how nice it was for the Travis Passenger Terminal Staff to keep our carry-on bags secured and provided a guard to watch over them so we could get do whatever we needed in the terminal building without worry. All that was required was to leave our ID cards with the guard as a pass to allow us to get back into where our bags were. I remember thinking how great that service was, they provided. Then we both fell asleep I guess.

Next thing I remember was waking up and looking for something to do to pass the time. We had a few post cards left over from Germany & England, so I decided to write and address them. I did only two cards and the Loadmaster announced that we needed to get ready for our approach into McChord. Our 6 week adventure in Europe (Germany, Austria, & England) and visiting our Daughter's family had been perfect and wonderful. Looking forward to our next trip to England and Ireland next year with air travel provided by AMC.

Flying AMC Space-A many not always have the flights you need on the days or weeks you would like them, but it sure beats flying the cramped civilian airlines, the crowds at airports, and the long lines and hassles by TSA.

Thanks again to AMC for providing fantastic service.

Gary H. Price, USAF Retired
4363 Beaver Valley Road
Port Ludlow, WA 98365

This was a great Christmas Show.

Glad Belinda chose it.