Convention leads to chance reunion.

The figure walking down the hallway at the National Defense Transportation forum looked familiar.

1st Lt. Doug Dickson, a C-17 Globemaster copilot, took another look.

"I know her," said Dickson, of the female Army general.

Dickson thought a moment--and he remembered.

She was the Army general he had flown into Afghanistan in late April or early May--the commanding general of the 1st Corps Support Command (Airborne), from Fort Bragg, N.C.: Ann Dunwoody.

"Your pilot that flew you to Afghanistan is over there at the Enduring Freedom exhibit," Dunwoody was told.

A short time later, the two were reunited--several months, and half a world away from where they had met on a flight from Qatar to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan.

"As I recall," said Dickson, "she had spent several days trying to get out of Jalalabad, but had been delayed by weather. Our aircraft was able to get us to her destination."

Dunwoody reacted warmly to the reunion.

"Amazing!" she said.

Dickson remembers the general because she was one of the few Very Important People, or VIPs, he has flown in the past year. Since the war on terrorism began, Dickson's cargo plane has flown some personnel into Afghanistan. Most of the passengers, however, were the operators of the vehicles in the aircraft cargo bay.

"The passengers usually drive the vehicles right off the plane," he said.

Dickson remembers Dunwoody well.

"We gave her VIP treatment," said Dickson. "We invited her up to the cockpit and gave her a set of headphones and an orientation of the aircraft."

He never expected he would see her again so soon, said Dickson, assigned to the 437th Operations Group, Charleston Air Force Base, Charleston, S.C.

Since the flight, big things have happened to both service members.

Dunwoody has conducted an inspection of logistics processes in Afghanistan, finished a two-year duty tour with the XVIII Airborne Corps, and initiated a tour of duty with the Military Traffic Management Command.

Dickson, 26, has now completed 40 flights into Afghanistan.

"We get cargo to Afghanistan within 24 hours," said Dickson. "Typically, one crew takes the cargo to the European area; a second crew then takes the same aircraft into Afghanistan."

The young air force officer has another claim to fame. He and his wife are both academy graduates. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy. She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

John Randt
MTMC Headquarters Alexandria