Rock merchants lighten up tense times

  • Published
  • By Louis A. Arana-Barradas
  • Air Force Print News
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM --  When aircraft fly into Bashur Airfield in northern Iraq, some aircrews jump out of their plane to pick up a quick souvenir -- a rock or two.

A trio of airmen who work on the flightline saw one too many of the flightsuit-wearing warriors taking little chunks of what they consider their hard-earned real estate.

In classic GI fashion, they came up with a plan to exploit the situation plus get a laugh or even make a buck or two. In a matter of hours, they build a makeshift stand, put up a sign and went into business as rock merchants.

It was Staff Sgts. Cliff Oney's and Todd Jackson's idea. They recruited Senior Airman Luke Novak to help. All are part of the 86th Expeditionary Contingency Response Group from Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

"We saw all these guys jumpin' out of their planes and pickin' up rocks. So we thought we'd tease them a bit -- and maybe make a profit," said Oney, a crew chief from Greenwich, Ohio.

Oney was joking about the profit. That is not the intent of their venture.

"We're just messing with them," he said.

It is just another twist to the long-time, but friendly, battle between ground troops and fliers. In this case, the reward is the chance for rock merchants -- who work on the flightline -- to let off steam. The group's airmen on the flightline are quickly turning C-17 Globemaster III and C-130 Hercules cargo planes. During the day, it is a hot, dusty and noisy job. At night, the air chills to the bone.

In an armed camp where toilets, showers, televisions, radios and other comforts are a long plane ride away, airmen welcome any chance to lighten up a bad situation.

"This is good for a laugh," said Jackson, an aircraft generation troop from Danville, Iowa. "And the aircrews are always snapping a lot of pictures as they taxi by."

Novak, the junior partner -- an Air Force brat who calls Belleview, Neb., home -- does not rate a chair yet. He sits on the ground next to the stand, sleeves rolled up, getting a tan.

"I'm here for the sun, dude," he said. "We don't get much sun at Ramstein."

The trio set up shop on a dusty knoll overlooking the busy ramp -- prime real estate, said Oney. They are in plain view of their fellow airmen, who let off steam by picking on the rock salesmen. The trio does not mind the catcalls -- the accusations that they are nuts.

"They're envious of us," Jackson said. "They just wish they'd come up with the idea."

The trio did make one sale, to a somewhat gullible duo from the American Forces Network at Ramstein. They paid $1 for an Iraqi rock. To commemorate their first sale, the rock sellers taped it onto their makeshift sign.

"That's probably all the money we'll make," Oney said.