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Troops in Iraq get beer for the Super Bowl

It took three planes to get free beer to troops in Iraq in time for the Super Bowl.

U.S. troops in Iraq will be allowed to drink up to two 12-ounce beers apiece for the Super Bowl, after the U.S. commander in Iraq, Army Gen. Ray Odierno, issued a waiver of the U.S. military’s strict prohibition on alcohol imbibing in the war zone.

The Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers square off at 2 a.m. Iraq time.

More than 15,000 cases of beer were shipped to Baghdad for the occasion, said Judd Anstey, spokesman for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service. It will be served in the dining facilities during the game and will be free to the troops.

The Army’s 4th Infantry Division ordered 3,034 cases of beer, including Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite, Budweiser, Bud Light, Heineken and Guinness Draught.

Multi-National Force-Iraq ordered 12,207 cases, including Coors Light, Guinness Draught, Heineken, Miller Genuine Draft, Miller Lite, Budweiser and Bud Light.

Anstey said the beer flew from the AAFES Giessen Distribution Center in Germany to Baghdad on three planes — a 747, an Airbus 340 and another aircraft that took three pallets.

Although no beer went to Afghanistan, where the brief waiver apparently does not apply, troops in Afghanistan are getting some of the 2,000 pizzas sent by the nonprofit group Pizzas 4 Patriots, in an effort led by retired Air Force Master Sgt. Mark Evans.

His group sent Lou Malnati’s Chicago pizzas to Camp Victory, Iraq, and to Kabul, Afghanistan. In addition, more than 6,000 bottles of Schlitz beer went with the pizza to Iraq.

The joint effort was undertaken by Pizzas 4 Patriots, Malnati’s pizzeria, DHL and Louis Glunz Beer Inc., a Lincolnwood, Ill., beer distributor. DHL managed the delivery, including re-freezing the pizzas at points along the way to make sure they arrived fresh for the troops.