Unarmed and Unafraid
There are no escorts of any kind when the Herc's (or helicopters for that matter) fly around. We relied on tactics and one inch of plate steel on the floor of the cockpit and under my seat cushions to protect us. We really didn't fear a guided missile as much as an RPG (which we did get shot at with one night) or ground fire from AK's or other small arms (also seen up close and personal). An RPG will ruin your whole day pretty quickly since they can be modified to explode on contact or proximity. We flew low and followed the terrain as much as possible...day or night. At least at night on NVGs, you could see the tracers or the infared heat heat a rocket made...during the day, you couldn't see much unless whatever was fired your way produced a smoke trail. But you were also looking for all the other airplanes, UAVs, Drones, helicopters, from our military and other nation's. Quite a few times we had to turn to avoid hitting something. It was some pretty busy airspace.