Viper Pilot_ A Memoi..

societies. Restrictions upon these activities are essential to preserving U.S.
host nation relations and the combined operations of U.S. and friendly
forces.
Just to be clear—we weren’t on holiday as guests in another country, so the
“host nation” statement was always bullshit. We weren’t there to promote
democracy, save souls, or make friends. Oil, economics, and politics aside, we were
in the Middle East because Saudi Arabia and Kuwait couldn’t protect themselves.
They were frightened enough of the Iraqi threat to beg our help and, for many
reasons, we gave it. Do you really think any of them would protest the personal
conduct of the soldiers who were saving their wealth and way of life
I don’t either.
Most of the Saudi officers I knew drank more than we did, and, during the war,
Cairo was full of Kuwaitis who were content to party while the Americans
protected their country. The British and French military also had a large presence
in the region, and they didn’t inflict similar restrictions on their people. In fact, the
Brits loved Jell-O parties. They’d put the stuff in ice trays, mixed with vodka or
gin, and slurp it down. During twelve rotations to Southwest Asia, I never heard of
one alcohol-related incident.
By the way, the civilians working for oil companies, like Aramco, drank like
fishes. So did the U.S.-government types assigned to Saudi Arabia. Drinking isn’t
that important to me personally and it was certainly no hardship to do without. In
the Army’s case, it’s not a bad idea to keep booze away from minimally educated
kids with guns. However, regardless of the pros and cons, our government’s rush to
placate people who weren’t in a position to object rubbed us the wrong way. I
mean, if you have the biggest stick and you’re waving it in everyone’s face, then
why be afraid to use it Appeasement nearly always has far-reaching security
ramifications and this was no exception, as we shall see.
Aside from being away from home and civilization as we knew it, these weren’t
really tough deployments. We lived in decent conditions, had lots of time to work
out, and very few distractions. Some guys took classes for the master’s degree
required by the Air Force for promotion beyond the rank of captain. Others
indulged in hobbies. I know one guy who made stained-glass windows from bits of
broken glass he found around the compound, and another who trained for Iron Man
competitions. Some guys chased skirts and others built toys for their kids. You just
never knew.
Tactics took up most of my brain bytes. We all knew there would be a