Friends in low flying places
I lived and worked in Oman for a number of years and loved the experience. The events of this week reminded me of an experience I had there visiting the Officers’ Mess in the ORAF. These guys worked hard in a volatile region and they certainly played hard. Nothing changes I am sure. Stay safe chaps.
One of my customers in Oman was the Oman Royal Air Force and I was dealing with an Omani Officer who was a Wing Commander and effectively the ‘Number Two’ in the ORAF. A lovely man who spoke fluent English, having been educated at Oxford, he invited me and my wife to the Officer’s Mess for a dinner.
Now we were not to know that women guests were not usually allowed in the Mess, and we arrived for the dinner as honoured guests. The Omani pilots we were sitting with had not been expecting us and so we were somewhat of a curiosity. The evening went incredibly well, and I have never seen alcohol consumed in the quantity that was being downed that night. The finale of the evening was to be entertained by several traditional belly dancers!
This was 1994 and the first Gulf War was recently over (1990-91), so tensions in the region were still at a high. We learned that the pilots we were drinking with were on operations the next day, many practising low level flying over the Empty Quarter deserts of central Oman. We experienced incredible hospitality and were honoured to be sharing a meal with incredibly talented pilots.
I remember thinking that my sales career had granted me some amazing experiences, but this was surely a highlight!