good story

here a good story to tell about what it is like around here and how fast the weather can change.
wednesday we were flying one of the missions and we had some VIP pax that needed to head out east from bagdad. when we started the mission we briefed, the weather and it was supposed to be hazy but clear. that is normal for bagdad so we didn't flinch. we flew down to the big airport in bagdad to refuel before we picked up our VIPs and there were no problems there either. hopped over to the place that we were picking up our VIPs and got them all loaded up. when we left there it was hazy like it was forcasted and so we didn't even think about it. but we started flying east to where we were supposed to be dropping people off, and all of a sudden it is sandy all over the place, and the visibility is getting worse. we start to take heed to the fact that we can't see as far as we used to, but we only need to be able to see a mile to continue on... well as we kept going through it kept getting worse and worse. the Lead pilot called that if it got any worse that we were going to have to go back to where we came from. no less than about a minute later they called that we were going to turn around. we were flying about 800 feet and we could barely see the ground. it was very sandy and a little bit nerve racking not being able to see very much of what is going on. so we went back to the place that we picked the VIPs up from did some weather checking to see if we were going to be able to get them to where they needed to be going, and when it came back that it was going to be too late for us to do anything we flew back home.
one of the more entertaining things to look back on now, was the face of the 1 star admiral that was sitting right next to me as we were getting deeper and deeper into the sandstorm. as the visibility got less and lass his face started dropping and he started looking more and more worried. and when we turned around, i let him know by writing a little message on my clip board with a dry erase marker, and when he saw that we were going back he was definatly relieved. when we got out for a little while all he could say was "you made the right choice" it was a little comical to say the least. specially because this guy was about 6 foot 6 and made me look like a midget.
well, i should be getting to bed. i hope that everything is going well for you back home!
Signing off