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130฀ |฀฀ ฀ CHAPTER 5 Operation Support Hope B rigadier฀General฀Nix’s฀brief฀signaled฀the฀true฀beginning฀of฀Op-฀ eration฀Support฀Hope.฀Stan฀arrived฀just฀in฀time฀to฀get฀the฀main฀ ฀ body฀of฀JTF-A฀on฀the฀ground.฀To฀this฀day฀I฀am฀grateful฀I฀had฀ a฀sergeant฀like฀Stan฀Reber฀working฀for฀me.฀No฀one฀knew฀Zaire฀and฀ Zairians฀better.฀Stan฀just฀seemed฀to฀sense฀what฀they฀might฀try.฀Stan฀ did฀not฀like฀Zairians,฀and฀he฀was฀rapidly฀burning฀out฀on฀the฀country.฀ Ten฀years฀in฀the฀same฀place฀is฀just฀too฀long,฀but฀the฀knowledge฀he฀had฀ at฀his฀fingertips฀worked฀miracles.฀One฀of฀his฀gifts฀was฀that฀he฀could฀ still฀get฀along฀with฀Zairians฀and฀build฀a฀sense฀of฀camaraderie.฀He฀ understood฀how฀they฀felt฀toward฀the฀West฀in฀general฀and฀the฀French฀ in฀particular.฀That฀understanding฀served฀us฀well.฀French-Zairian฀ ฀ relations฀around฀the฀airfield฀were฀tense.฀The฀imminent฀arrival฀of฀U.S.฀ forces฀meant฀Stan฀had฀his฀work฀cut฀out฀for฀him. ฀ The฀French฀assumption฀of฀air฀traffic฀control฀had฀certainly฀made฀ the฀Goma฀airport฀a฀safer฀place.฀The฀French,฀after฀all,฀had฀the฀only฀ functioning฀radar฀that฀would฀allow฀night฀operations.฀Yet฀the฀manner ฀in฀which฀they฀simply฀took฀control฀angered฀the฀Zairian฀officials฀ nominally฀in฀charge฀of฀the฀field.฀It฀also฀reduced฀their฀access฀to฀the฀ bribes฀that฀kept฀them฀afloat.฀They฀were฀rarely฀paid,฀and฀when฀they฀ were฀it฀was฀in฀Zairian฀currency,฀hardly฀worth฀the฀ink฀it฀took฀to฀print฀ it.฀The฀tension฀had฀become฀so฀bad฀the฀Zairians฀had฀threatened฀to฀go฀ on฀strike—not฀that฀the฀tower฀officials฀did฀any฀work.฀But฀a฀stoppage฀ would฀affect฀aircraft฀handling,฀and฀there฀was฀an฀unstated฀threat฀of฀ sabotage฀of฀fuel฀and฀critically฀short฀cargo-handling฀equipment. ฀ The฀other฀bit฀of฀international฀friction฀was฀between฀the฀United฀ States฀and฀the฀French.฀When฀I฀had฀first฀arrived฀the฀French฀provided฀us฀ a฀small฀area฀within฀their฀compound.฀Davis฀brought฀in฀nearly฀twenty- five฀planners฀on฀his฀assessment฀team,฀all฀of฀whom฀needed฀a฀place฀ to฀spread฀their฀sleeping฀bags.฀Their฀numbers฀began฀to฀creep฀upward,฀ operation฀support฀hope฀ ฀ |฀ ฀ 131 and฀so฀did฀French฀impatience.฀After฀several฀days฀we฀noticed฀a฀trend.฀ Each฀morning฀the฀French฀headquarters฀commandant฀would฀come฀over฀ and฀get฀a฀head฀count.฀Every฀time฀it฀increased,฀he฀complained฀we฀were฀ encroaching฀on฀his฀limited฀operational฀space.฀Each฀time฀we฀had฀one฀ of฀these฀visits,฀one฀of฀the฀Pumas฀would฀spool฀up฀on฀the฀flight฀line฀one฀ hundred฀yards฀away.฀The฀pilot฀would฀put฀it฀in฀a฀low฀hover฀and฀drift฀ over฀to฀bury฀us฀in฀a฀sandstorm฀of฀red฀dirt.฀Five฀to฀ten฀minutes฀of฀this฀ and฀back฀the฀bird฀would฀go฀to฀the฀flight฀line฀to฀shut฀down.฀The฀U.S.฀ troops฀learned฀quickly฀to฀have฀their฀breakfast฀eaten฀and฀their฀gear฀ secured฀each฀morning฀before฀the฀commandant฀came฀to฀call. Cleared Hot to Land: JTF-A Comes to Goma We฀knew฀the฀JTF฀was฀coming,฀and฀Nix฀had฀given฀us฀a฀good฀idea฀of฀ what฀it฀was฀bringing.฀A฀water฀transport฀and฀reverse฀osmosis฀water฀ purification฀unit฀(ROWPU)฀were฀deploying฀from฀Europe.฀A฀battalion฀ of฀the฀325th฀Airborne฀Infantry฀was฀coming฀from฀Italy฀as฀security,฀ although฀we฀would฀only฀get฀a฀platoon฀in฀Goma.฀The฀USAF฀was฀deploying ฀a฀full฀airfield฀command฀element,฀and฀there฀would฀be฀additional฀ intelligence,฀medical,฀and฀support฀as฀well.฀I฀put฀Stan฀on฀getting฀us฀a฀ place฀to฀set฀up.฀He฀arranged฀a฀four-way฀conference฀with฀the฀UNHCR฀ air฀boss,฀the฀French,฀the฀Zairians,฀and฀our฀USAF฀representative.฀Stan’s฀ first฀breakthrough฀was฀getting฀all฀parties฀to฀agree฀to฀a฀pool฀approach฀ in฀handling฀aircraft.฀As฀the฀planes฀arrived,฀all฀would฀work฀under฀the฀ coordination฀of฀the฀UNHCR฀air฀boss.฀That฀eliminated฀the฀friction฀ between฀the฀French฀and฀the฀Zairians.฀The฀latter฀were฀so฀pleased฀with฀ Stan’s฀mediation฀they฀offered฀a฀one-฀to฀two-acre฀plot฀immediately฀in฀ front฀of฀the฀airport฀terminal฀for฀the฀Americans’฀use.฀The฀offer฀snubbed฀ the฀French;฀they฀had฀wanted฀the฀area฀for฀some฀time.฀The฀price฀was฀a฀ couple฀of฀hundred฀thousand,฀and฀the฀site฀would฀have฀to฀be฀bulldozed฀ to฀clear฀feces฀and฀bodies฀off฀it,฀but฀space฀was฀at฀a฀premium.฀JTF-A฀ now฀had฀a฀home฀courtesy฀of฀a฀U.S.฀Army฀sergeant฀first฀class.฀We฀could฀ escape฀our฀daily฀dirt฀bath฀from฀the฀French฀helicopter. ฀ Units฀began฀to฀flow฀into฀the฀airfield.฀TF51,฀the...

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