The following is from "OCONUS Consolidated Guidebook for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) Area of Responsibility" and details travel arrangement for personell carrying weapons. Added here more for the GIANT CAUTION – travelling through the UK (or not as they prefer) with weapons. The guidebook is dated Oct 2004 so things may be different but isnt it a bit worrying that even with this guidebook 22 incidents occurred with 50 weapons at Heathrow but no major reports of them have been made public? or that the airline companies, even in such heightened times, dont seem to talk to each other or to the airports?
1. Military have taken weapons to the AOR via both MILAIR and commercial airlines. All weapons should be in a locked box for either means of transportation. For MILAIR, there should be no problem. When traveling via commercial airlines, upon check-in at the departure, airport notify the agent that you have a weapon and be prepared to unlock the box for inspection and relock it before checking it as part of your baggage. If you have any questions, consult the specific airlines before you go to the airport.
2. Giant Caution: It has been recommended that if alternate routing can be selected, military personnel traveling with weapons should NOT go through the UK (or France) and should go through Germany (Frankfurt) to avoid potential customs difficulties en route to OIF/OEF support by traveling through Germany instead. Problems have occurred because of lapses in procedures by the US airlines, not because the Service member did not follow procedures. Background: The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) London Special Agent-in-Charge dispatched an e-mail 13 Apr 04 stating that since the fall of 2002 there have been 22 separate incidents (50 individual weapons) in which US military members transiting through Heathrow had their weapons seized. By UK law, weapons being transported through Heathrow must first be identified prior to arriving in the country and the plane must be met either by a UK Customs Officer or a member of a security company bonded to handle weapons. The officer or security member must physically take custody of the bag containing the weapon and transfer it to the connecting flight, so the bag is not left in an uncontrolled area with normal luggage.
The weapons were all seized because they had not been previously identified to the UK-based airlines or UK Customs, and they were subsequently found while the bags were being scanned prior to being placed on their connecting flight. Every piece of luggage that comes off a plane and is transferred to a connecting flight is scanned. As neither the police nor UK Customs was aware of the weapons being transferred through Heathrow, they were subsequently seized.
In every incident to date, the US Military member properly followed procedures in the US and declared their weapons to the US-based Airlines upon their initial check-in. However, in each of these incidents, the US-based carrier failed to notify their UK or Heathrow based operations that a weapon was in-bound on a particular flight. Thus, neither Customs nor the police was aware a weapon was expected to be in any baggage that would be scanned. In these cases, the weapons are held by the police as potential evidence for a criminal prosecution against the Airlines for failing to follow UK law with regards to the handling of weapons. There is not a single thing the U.S. Government can do to get those weapons out of custody. They are held in evidential custody until some point when the police make a determination whether or not to bring charges against the airlines with the Crown Prosecution Service. If the prosecution service chooses to bring a case forward, the weapons will then be sent to a forensic lab for testing, etc. This process will continue for some time.
Check out Cryptome for more info and the full guide.