US Marines, Pakistani soldiers build friendships on the flightline

Photo By 1st Lt. Kali Gradishar | A U.S. Marine waits as fuel is pumped from a fuel truck to a 10,000-liter fuel bladder on the flightline at Pano Aqil Air Base, Pakistan, Sept. 25. The Pakistani military provides fuel to the Marines, who then provide fuel to military aircraft flying flood relief missions in the Sindh province.  

PANO AQIL AIR BASE, PAKISTAN

09.29.2010

Story by Staff Sgt. Kali Gradishar 

United States Air Forces Central     

PANO AQIL AIR BASE, Pakistan – U.S. Marine Corps and Pakistan Army service members are working cohesively at Pano Aqil Air Base, Pakistan, keeping aircraft fueled and ready for flood relief missions in the Sindh province.

Since arriving at Pano Aqil Air Base, Marines have been learning how to cooperate and communicate effectively to ensure U.S. and Pakistan military aircraft are available to transport relief supplies and evacuate people from flood-torn regions throughout Pakistan. While working together sometimes presents challenges, the two services are doing their best to get the mission done and build friendships at the same time.

“The language barrier is definitely an issue sometimes as far as trying to get the mission accomplished, but [Pakistani soldiers] work with us pretty well,” said U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Ian Dougherty, a 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit bulk fuel specialist deployed from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, Calif. “We draw pictures sometimes when we don’t understand each other, and it works out.”

On the flightline, U.S. Marines and Pakistan soldiers have developed an efficient process for getting aircraft gassed and ready to go. A Pakistan fuel truck, called a bowser, pumps fuel in the Marines’ 10,000-liter fuel bladder. When aircraft land at the air base, they pull up to the bladder, receive fuel and are off again for another mission.

Dougherty works often with Ashiq, a Pakistan Army fuel technician.

“He gives us the fuel to issue the aircraft, he’s a friendly man,” said the lance corporal. “He keeps track of the numbers and makes sure that we’re doing our job.”

Together, we’re “refueling the aircraft (and) trying to help out the best we can,” said the lance corporal, a native of Pittsburgh, Pa. Some of the aircraft that receive fuel at Pano Aqil include the “CH-46 (Sea Knight), CH-53 (Super Stallion) and C-130 (Hercules), and the Pakistani military have their aircraft come through here, too.”

Dougherty and his fellow Marines have befriended the Pakistani soldiers they work with on the flightline, and have taken the long hours as an opportunity to learn about their traditions and words in Urdu, their local language.

“They speak English fairly well, and none of [the Marines] speak any of their language,” said the lance corporal, “but we’ve learned the basics – please and thank you… They’re already friendly people, but they just become more relaxed once you start getting more familiar with them.

“This is the fourth place we’ve been in Pakistan, so we’re always meeting new people, building relationships,” he said. “Every time we go somewhere new, we learn how to communicate better.”

• Date Taken: 09.29.2010
• Date Posted: 09.29.2010 13:46
• Story ID: 57195
• Location: PANO AQIL AIR BASE, PK