03 September 2007

What I did on my Summer Vacation

I got to take a pretty cool helicopter tour of Baghdad several days ago.

I’m sure any number of you will defecate masonry upon hearing this – largely due to your media-fed misconception that somehow flying in Iraq is way more dangerous than driving around – but I flew over Baghdad twice, during daylight, without a single problem.

The reason I’m staying Kuwait longer than the rest of the Brigade is that I will be managing part of the property paperwork for my company. Right now I am signed for 20ish Strykers (I don’t recall the going price for a Stryker these day, but it’s well over $1 million), and will soon be signed for all of the communications gear for the Company as well. All told I’ll be responsible for upwards of $40 million worth of gear – all personally signed over to me.

As part of this detail, I had to attend (“had to,” in this case, means that I was required to by persons higher ranking than I, not that it in anyway related to my ability to accomplish my mission) a meeting on a different FOB in Baghdad. I knew the FOB already, as it was where I waited for my flight to Baqubah, back in June. Since the two FOBs, Taji and Liberty are so close, just across Baghdad, and as I’ve said before, flying is faster and safer than driving, we took a couple Blackhawks.

Considering it was Army transportation, it was remarkably hassle-free. The birds arrived on time and we loaded up quickly. On the flight over to Liberty I sat on the outside facing forward (there are two rows of four seats, one facing fore, the other aft), which, whenever I’ve been on a Blackhawk in the past was a great seat to be in – good view, a little wind in your face. This time, instead of flying with open doors, we flew with closed doors, but without window. This, evidently changes the aerodynamics fairly significantly, turning that seat into the end of a 200 KPH wind tunnel. With eye pro and eyes closed I was still streaming tears out the sides of my eyes. Inconveniently, even if I had been able to see, my seat was on the wrong side to see much of the city. I was facing out to the country. Pleasantly, it was morning, and the air was still in the 90s, which when it is blowing at you 200 KPH with a little moisture, is quite comfortable.

We had our meeting, sat around, walked around, were generally bored. I got on another Blackhawk (or perhaps the same one) and began my trip back – this time with an inside seat, facing rear. This time though, I could see the city – pretty well since we were flying under 200 feet. This flight lasted a while longer as we made a stop along the way, and I could actually see during the entirety.

My entire experience of Iraq proper has been in Baqubah – a small city north of Baghdad that, before the war, acted a sort of a retirement community for former Ba’ath party members and high-ranking soldiers in the Iraqi Army. It is a much smaller city that lacks freeways or many buildings over four stories. Baghdad is huge – when I was in the center, it spread as far as I could see, crisscrossed with freeways, taller buildings and impressive mosques. As a whole, it looked different than any city I had seen before, but taken as pieces, it, like almost all modern cities I’ve been in, it was very familiar. It had parts of Los Angeles (short, sprawling, smoggy, on fire) a little Albuquerque (heat, surrounded by conquered desert) and little bits from others I can’t place. An interesting city, a city I wish I could have hung out in a bit more, lived out in, worked in, driven through, seen up close. There’s always ’09.

posted by Interested Soldier @ 07:20