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Bat-60


tinyclark
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Wasn't Bat 60 the callsign we used while flying embassy duty in Saudia Arabia from Rhein-Main (435 TAW) back in the late 70's early 80's?

Their was also a wall painting of it in the old barracks, I have a picture of it I'll see if I can dig it out.

That is what I remember as Bat 60.

73, Rex

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Yes one month rotations, trash haulers, and the per diem was good along with the flying. At that time the Saudi's only allowed 150 US military personel

in country at any one time, also the Saudi AF was transitioning from F-86's to F-15's, an extreme change there. I did a rote in Feb of '81 and we were hauling lots of mail all around country, mostly Christmas packages.

Had an engine change and had to change out the LOX converter.

73, Rex

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I did a bunch of them in the late 1970's/early 1980's with the 37th. Spent the Bi-Centenial 4th of July at an American Consulate party in Dhaharan drinking Heineken beer.

Bat 60 was actually a huge bootlegging operation -- delivering diplomatically sealed containers full of booze to the different USMTM detachments all over Saudi. Great flying!!!!

I also remember loading up the airplane with empty whiskey & beer bottles & dropping them in the middle of the desert. Hundreds of years from now, that'll drive the archeologists freekin' nuts.

Don R.

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This picture was on one of the walls in the barracks, probably in the "recreation" area.

As Don R (DC10FE) mentioned a pretty good bootleg operation was in action.

As I recall a C-5 with cargo came into Dhahran on Thursdays with mail, fresh fruits and vegetables and some white metal containers, the white metal containers were sealed with aircraft seals and padlocks, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was in them.

73, Rex

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  • 9 months later...

During Christmas the squadron on rote to mildenhall would pick up the Bat 60 mission, at least they did in 1983. I spent Chistmas 83 in Dharhan (sp) as the team chief for the maintenance crew. Took the crewchief spot for 1 days mission. The stuff in the plywood boxes was referred to as "Tea". Those stationed out in the far reaches had several coolers, they would put thier shopping list in 1 or 2 of them and send it to Dharhan, there some one would take them to the commissary and put the order in the coolers and Bat 60 would deliver them. I was a fairly new SSgt then, 8 years later (almost to the day) I landed there to head up a TDY wash team during Desert Storm.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I did a few rotes to Dharan myself in 1982-83. I had the room at the north end of the second floor. I got really bored one night and drew a C-130 mural on the wall with some El Marko's I found. (I remember that some genious decided that astro-turf around the pool was a good idea). I also made a Bat 60 stencil that we applied to either 0944 or 0550 I think. The stencil was a takeoff on the bat artwork on the Ozzy album "Speak of the Devil" with arabic "60" numerals. I know it lasted at least a month or two until the plane left for PDM. I'll see if I can find some pics.

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AAAAA BAT 60, the money run!!! d

I remember the first 600 or so times I seen the Bat 60 bird; I was a nose pickin tire kicker (or so the pointy heads always said) on AWACS (you know, Hellen Keller) doing rotes to Riyahd in the early 80's.

For four years they brought me the mail and jet parts, then in the late 80's, I was delivering the mail and parts to those same sorry guy's stuck in that crappy assignment.

We had the "Bat Plaque" that we would put into the window of the bird, yellow with a batman symbol on it; also the "Batmobile"; it was like a 79 impalia station wagon with no brakes, no shocks and "some stearing capabilitys". Man the batmobile was fun, it was sooooooo dangerous we were not supposed to take it off the base but hell we drove that POS to Bahrain one night, even had the yellow light on top spinning the whole way :)

Every missed meal was 75 clams and since we wernt allowed in the USMTM chow line all meals were missed, that was one fun money making trip. If you wanted to get a drink you just went across the compound to the GUTs Club.

About a third of the cargo was "Tea", and in the compound the Saudi govt paid for anything you wanted to do. They had a broadcast station down in the basement and if you didnt like what was on the tube you called the little guy up down stairs and yelled at him to put on something else.

They had a full ceramics shop, with instructor, a full photo development shop (I used that one a lot), a leather shop and they all had instructors, whaterver you did was free, supplies and all.

Man lety me tell you, BAT 60 was the best deal going until the gulf war, not its a sh*t deal with no money or goodies involved

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sam, I'm pretty sure this thread is referring to the Bat-60 mission in Saudi Arabia supplying the USMTM troops with "tea." The airplanes usually came back to Rhein Main with a camel painted somewhere on the airframe.

Don R.

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