BRIGHT STAR

[HossHarris]

Gents --

BRIGHT STAR (an exercise in Egypt) is coming this fall.

For those that have been, how was it? what should folks expect for flying, living, off-duty, etc.?

For those that are coming, what have you heard?

I'm not directly involved (yet), but if you're coming out call me at 010-102-1429 (inside Egypt).

I'll open the Air Force bar in Cairo for you!

Edited August 15, 2009 by HossHarris

[Guest SATCOM]

Went years ago. Great time working with the Egyptian Airborne Corps. Go see the usual tourist stuff if you have time, but beware of the thieving little bastards that frequent the Pyramids etc. You might get pick-pocketed. What we did was "hire" the absolute biggest, ugliest, meanest Egyptian Army Jump Master to literally beat those kids away from our group. We gave him a full carton of American cigs and IF he was successful, he would get $50 at the end of the day.

Oh, he was VERY successful. Used a riding crop......

[Toro]

Open the bar!

[itsokimapilot]

I went to Bright Star in 07. We had a great time. We stayed at the Marriott in the Zamalek district downtown. The food on the property is pretty good and there were restaurants nearby that were really good. We had enough time to arrange a tour of the standard tourist spots. Very true about the friggin kids around the pyramids. Beware of the camel rides (sts) at the pyramids. They'll charge you ten bucks for the ride and they take you a couple miles out, get you off the camel to "take a picture" then tell you it’s twenty bucks for a ride back. The flying is pretty good. They pretty much leave you alone once you're away from the city. You can precoordinate low level routes with the MILGRP. We staged out of the international airport in Cairo. FYI, they have no idea what an overhead is. Great trip, would definitely go again.

[HossHarris]

I went to Bright Star in 07. We had a great time. We stayed at the Marriott in the Zamalek district downtown. The food on the property is pretty good and there were restaurants nearby that were really good. We had enough time to arrange a tour of the standard tourist spots. Very true about the friggin kids around the pyramids. Beware of the camel rides (sts) at the pyramids. They'll charge you ten bucks for the ride and they take you a couple miles out, get you off the camel to "take a picture" then tell you it’s twenty bucks for a ride back. The flying is pretty good. They pretty much leave you alone once you're away from the city. You can precoordinate low level routes with the MILGRP. We staged out of the international airport in Cairo. FYI, they have no idea what an overhead is. Great trip, would definitely go again.

Were you guys there on toursist, official, or diplomatic passports? What sort of transportation did you have? Did they let you drive or were you bussed around?

[Guest Barbarian]

You won't get a DIP passport just for the exercise. It would probably be best to have an official since it makes the locals happy, but tourists will more than likely work too.

[HossHarris]

You won't get a DIP passport just for the exercise. It would probably be best to have an official since it makes the locals happy, but tourists will more than likely work too.

Keep the info coming ... I'm already in Egypt and not really playing in the BRIGHT STAR, just providing good ole' american alcohol.

This is the first BRIGHT STAR in 2+ years so the corporate knowledge amongst the folks that are/may be coming is pretty low. If you have any experience, even dated experience, share it. If you might be coming, ask the questions!

[itsokimapilot]

Were you guys there on toursist, official, or diplomatic passports? What sort of transportation did you have? Did they let you drive or were you bussed around?

We all went on official passports. If I remember correctly, there is a higher visa fee if using civilian passports. Verify with the MILGP and EXORD, but I think you can travel on a military ID for BRIGHT STAR (I remember some MX personnel without passports). We coordinated for vans with drivers. Painfully slow service. "They are just right around the corner" equals we'll see you in two hours. I've driven in a lot of different countries and I would never drive there. They drive a lot worst than I have seen elsewhere. The guy that provided the trans service also got us 10 cellphones for us to issue to the different groups of our party. The MILGP recommended the transportation service stating that they were far better than the rest of the services. Apparently, that is the culture in Egypt. So make sure you ask for your trans early and hope for the best.

Keep the info coming ... I'm already in Egypt and not really playing in the BRIGHT STAR, just providing good ole' american alcohol.

This is the first BRIGHT STAR in 2+ years so the corporate knowledge amongst the folks that are/may be coming is pretty low. If you have any experience, even dated experience, share it. If you might be coming, ask the questions!

As far as drinking goes we were are G.O.1 for "Good order and discipline." No drinking or gambling at the casinos...Boo. It was addressed in the EXORD.

[HossHarris]

As far as drinking goes we were are G.O.1 for "Good order and discipline." No drinking or gambling at the casinos...Boo. It was addressed in the EXORD.

Did you get the impression that it was primarily a CENTCOM organized, run, and sponsored exercise?

(and driving here isn't THAT bad ... you just have to realize there are no rules ... ever ... for any reason)

Edited August 17, 2009 by HossHarris

[Marco]

Have fun, we (125th FW) were slated to go, but word came down last week that we won't be.

[Gov]

We didn't do the whole exercise in '07, just the campbell-cairo drop and a few of the "friendship lifts", but I have a couple notes. In lieu of passports we got some f-ed up sticker from the Egyptians that went on the back of our CAC cards (I think it ruined all of them when we tried to take them off afterwards). We got all that done during some of the briefs at Campbell. I would push (I think it was in the EXORD) to stage out of HECW vs. HECA. Trying to do any formation or non-standard arrival, to include time control, is a nightmare at a busy international airport. I did one of the full up Bright Stars back in the day, and HECW worked much better, and it's not that bad of a drive into town - you can get the drivers to race. The no alcohol/gambling was some AMC weenie's idea of control, no rhyme or reason - we just went over to the Hard Rock to do our drinking and gambling. I thought the vans for each crew was a great deal, if you coordinated the day prior. We would use our guy for a specified 3-4 hour block each day, and take taxis to dinner, drinking gambling on the other times. Have fun.