Is it really the 16th anniversary of that momentus day already? Me and my "rectangular" mate were soon to depart eastern Saudi Arabia on the roller coaster sortie of a lifetime. Are there any (exciting or otherwise) "first night" moments that PPrUNers would be willing to share with us, that haven't already been mentioned in the numerous books already written on the subject?

I took my clubs with me!

Earning £1000 a week building F100s in Amsterdam.

Nailing Hercs together at Lyneham as fast as my little cold-numbed fingers could fettle them.

Leading 3 x VC10Ks plus 8 x Tornados on the first attack mission against (I think) Talil.

Whilst avoiding inbound Scud embuggeration!

Sat with the SH Force in Al Jubail, I think. I am sure it was the next day I drove my first ever 4 tonner (no HGV licence to this day!) for 23 hrs up the MSR.

Still better than getting in a twin tub though.....!!! (JOKE!)

Wondering how to make best use of the three condoms that the SMO Shawbury had given me some two weeks earlier.

Double shifting on the VC10 minor team to get the jet out sharpish!

No 2 of a 4-ball carrying JP 233 into Al Taqaddum. Waste of time as the sodding thing failed to work and we ended up ditching it 2-3 miles off target!! Very interesting 200ft egress with no nav-kit and manual e-scoping from the pilot. If he's reading this, bloody well done mate

Also at Al Jubail -

Training 33 Field Hospital on loading and unloading stretchers from my helo.

Then hour after hour flying up and down that b****y MSR!

As Alanm, allthough I thought we had allready deployed the Chinooks to the site between KMC and the Iraqi border by the time war was officially declared.
I know the kite I was supposed to fly on had an aft transmission change before a few of us could join the rest in the desert. SENGO accused us of being cowards and not wanting to leave Al Jubail, but when EFDC had analysed the bits of bearing on the chip plugs they informed him that the gearbox would have failed aproximately 15 - 30 minutes into flight.

Sitting 90 feet under North Dakota monitoring 10 of America's big sticks and watching CNN.

Not exactly a player..................................

Just finished a night sortie in NI, the execs were having a dinner night in the mess. I walked in and told them what was showing on Sky News and the dinner night ended there and then...

I was locked out of my room in Gibraltar in just my pants, when the block NCO with the spare key told me the war had started

Watching TV in a police control room on a night shift hoping all you folks would get back safely.

watching it all on CNN in my bedroom....

Sitting in a wagon on the downwind end of Dhahran Military having dispatched 4 CAP aircraft (F2's) watching overloaded Kuwaiti skyhawks only JUST get airborne.

Bobbing around the persian gulf on the back of a Dutch auxillary wondering what the hell was going on.

Watching it on the telly in the Mess at Finnigley thinking I'd missed my chance by a matter of weeks........oh how that thought has come back to haunt me!

Watching it hit the fan on CNN while fielding calls from a mad Australian ex SF bloke wondering how to make some money out of it.

Stood in the Mess at Odiham when the 3-ringed Padre came in, took one look at the telly, and said after a short silence: "We should nuke the f**king lot of them!"