This is an older photo but one I thought was a good one to end on. We had landed somewhere in the desert and I found a sage plant so I broke off a piece to take home with me. It's always nice to find those little things that link your present to your past. It's good to be home. Until next time - take care.

This is Brian and Tony hanging out in Bangor Maine waiting for our final leg back to Alaska. The people there were really nice - they had a big group there to meet us and hand out free cell phones and snacks.

These are some of the huge houses on the outskirts of the city. They are built in big development sections like a Kuwaiti version of our suburbs. I haven't figured out if they are single family or not. They appear way too big but there are a lot of wealthy people here.

This is Adkins, Sutton, Navy customs guy, and Tomlinson (L-R) relaxing before the final loading of the aircraft.

This is Barneby and Sena after a long hot day at the port. You can just see the blades from both aircraft stacked along either side of the cabin.

This is Geda at the port with some of our stuff we downloaded off the aircraft. We had to take everything off then load the blades, have customs inspect everything and put it all back on.

This is an aerial view of Kuwait City as we are heading into the port. The rest of Kuwait is pretty much open desert with scattered houses. As far as population goes - the city is basically the country.

This is me sitting on the ramp. You can see the harness I am wearing and the tail off the back hooks into a ring on the aircraft floor. The ramp is by far the best seat in the house and I sit back there any chance I get. Sena and I had a great time - it was actually more fun than flying (at least for small doses :)

This is Sena - one of our FEs. We are in southern Iraq on the way to Kuwait - there isn't a whole lot out there except scrub brush and sand.

5 Aug

The only thing left is a couple days of waiting and a long flight home. I flew out with our last two aircraft on the morning of the 1st just ahead of a dust storm. We got to work at 3AM in order to launch as soon as it was light enough to see. We departed at 5:15 and later learned that 10 minutes after we left the airfield visibility went to ½ mile. I was so glad we made it out of there – it is such an ordeal to get everything packed up that not leaving is pretty demoralizing. The flight down to Kuwait was uneventful (I actually rode on the ramp, which was even more fun than flying). We stayed ahead of the dust and by the time we stopped in Talill for refuel the skies were clear. We landed at Udari a little after nine and unloaded our bags, stripped off the equipment that stays in country and moved the aircraft over to the wash racks. By that time it was 11 and the temp was 129 in the shade. My crew and the other pilots were all about eating, taking a nap and starting on the aircraft in the evening but Potter and his crew on 168 wanted to get started so they stayed out there. We didn’t get much sleep since the A/C in our tent wasn’t working right and it was over 90 inside but at least it was out of the sun. We went back down to the aircraft around 6 and started working – it was still 112. In order to pass customs every thing has to be stripped out of the aircraft and washed to include the entire aircraft – all the nook and crannies, hidden ledges, under the floor boards - everything. As you can imagine after 13 months of living in the dust they collect a lot of dirt and it’s mixed with oil and hydraulic fluid but you can’t use anything but water – no soaps for environmental reasons. I spent the first hour on my back under the aircraft with a pressure washer. Once I was completely soaked with dirty water it wasn’t bad. The pilots worked until about 1AM and the crews stayed there all night – sleeping on the floor or in cots in a small break room. At nine the next morning we had our initial inspection and they pointed out all the areas we missed so we cleaned for another four hours and passed the second time. The crew members had the aircraft put back together by five PM – it was a couple of long hot days. The next morning we flew down to the port. We landed there at 11 and over the next 5 ½ hours we stripped the blades off and loaded them inside, had customs inspect all our gear then loaded the aircraft back up so they were ready for shipment – it was only 118 at the port. After eating we got back to our tents at 9PM. Yesterday was nice – I did almost nothing. The main body arrived last night so now we are packed in like sardines but it is only for a couple of days. It’s hard to believe it is almost over. We met some of the guys in the Blackhawk unit from our Battalion in Alaska – they are in Udari getting ready to head north. It’s sure starting to feel like a cycle.
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Here are two of the main guys responsible for getting all our stuff moved back to Alaska - Hale and Martin. It is a pretty thankless job because it is instantly obvious if you don't do something right but they have performed admirably. They are leaning on our little KA which is a great deployment car because it is something you don't ever plan on taking home. It was sent to us from Al Asad and is going to stay in country for the next unit.

This it the terex loading up one of our last two containers. I am always amazed at the equipment they have over here and to think that they have these (actually multiples of these) at all the big bases and large forklifts at almost every base. These last containers hold most of our aircraft parts which we held onto as long as we could to keep everything flying.

The guy in civilian clothes is the TASM (theater aviation single manager) who handles all the equipment we sign for in country. Here he is inventorying the aircraft ballistic armor sets so we can turn them in.

Some of the flight guys laying out the aircraft armor sets so they can be inventoried and turned back in. There is quite a bit of stuff that stays in country and a unit will sign for it when they arrive. Mostly stuff that is only used over here so there is no reason to field all of the units with the equipment.

This is Tomlinson and Joice loading up the other aircraft. It is always a good feeling loading for the last time.

These are the two ISU-60s (don't ask me what ISU stands for) that will be loaded onto the aircraft. They contain a selection of parts (the ones that most often break) and all the tools we will need to prepare the aircraft for boat load and then to build them up again once they reach Anchorage.

This is a little village out by the Syrian border. I imagine these are more like an extended family but I'm not sure. Another one a few miles away had a full size combine like they use in the wheat fields back home parked in front of one of the houses. I have never seen anything growing out there that would require more than some grass trimmers or a couple of hungry sheep to harvest but maybe this isn't typical.

This is Barton - one of the new pilots that joined us a few months ago. We have tried to get these guys on the schedule more often to make up for the time they weren't here and as a result I have flown my last four flights with him. He does really well and is very entertaining - one of those guys who can quote endless movie lines.

This is on my last flight out west. We are a little farther south than usual and there some trees out in the distance. The only trees out here are ones that were planted. They are usually around a well and the people grow them like any other crop.

30 Jul

This will be my last entry in Iraq. The last of our containers were moved out today and we are packing the aircraft for the flight south. It is a little sad only taking two back with us. We flew our last mission a few days ago and the last couple of nights we have been shuttling people and aircraft between here and Balad (we had guys up there tearing down aircraft to load onto airplanes to be flown back to Washington and start reset). I flew my last mission last week and it was a good way to end. I got to go out by the Syrian border one last time and the whole mission went really smooth. Time is going slower now. It started on the 22^nd – the day we laid out all our gear we are shipping home so the customs people could inspect it. I think that finally made the going home real for me. The last few days have been a little hectic as far as emails go – I have been coordinating the timeline and method for the transition between Alaska and Egypt. Everything was pretty much worked out until yesterday when all the plans were reversed. Now it looks like I will go to the fixed wing course first then on to Egypt. That actually works out a lot better for us. It will give us more time to get things settled and give me a little more green time in between desert trips. As usual God is working everything out.

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Here are some pictures of my room before I packed up most of it for the trip home. The pictures on the walls are all from Alaska that have been a great help in reminding me of the other side of the world :) The rooms are actually quite nice for one person. They are a little tight for two people because of the way they are aligned. They are long and narrow with the door at one end so it's difficult to divide it up. It especially becomes a factor when the guy stuck by the door is on night shift and his roommate is on day shift.

You can see my recliner chair in the background that I bought off Werner when he left in May. It has been pretty nice to say the least but since I can't have it at home I am giving it to Brian.

I really like my tiger blanket.

This was another July 4th display that is a little more fitting. I offset it so you can see the Oregon flag in the background. In between holidays they put up all the states flags.

This is a toucan that was made for the July 4th display. Not too sure how it fits in but it was well done.

This was taken on the first day of test flights on 176, our last aircraft out of phase over here. The guy on the left is Martin. He is one of the lead guys on the day shift for the maintenance squad and here he is signing off the last write ups so we can go fly. On the right is Penley who was my flight engineer for the day. He is a former Marine crew chief on a C-130 who has given us a lot of insight on how the Marines operate.

19 Jul

Surprisingly enough this month has been going by quickly. I’m not sure why since I have been anything but busy (at least as far as work goes). We haven’t had a maintenance flight in weeks and yesterday was only my second flight of the month. We have been busy packing stuff up and figuring out how everything is going to get moved. I think we are in such a routine that the days all start to blend together. We are getting more missions but the dust is keeping us in check which is probably a good thing since we are getting low on hours. We are not going to have as many hours on the aircraft coming back with us as I had hoped but based on the latest boat date rumors they may not even make it back to Alaska before I leave there. Overall our morale is quite high – I really am amazed at how well we have worked together as a unit.
My flight yesterday was one to remember. We knew it was going to be a long day from the start since it was a two part mission with four hours of down time in between. The weather was supposed to be good all day but the dust started to pick up right after take off. Because of the type of mission we were doing we were approved to fly in worse weather than usual but it got down to those limits on our way to our destination and on our return home after completing the mission it got even worse. It was the worst weather I have flown in over here but at least it was during the day so it didn’t really bother me. It just makes flying more work. It was hard to get motivated to take off again on the second leg in the heat of the afternoon. Especially since the weather was only slightly better. It was still bad around our local area but we tried a different route farther out west to get to Al Asad and that was a lot better. We got back home right at sunset. It was a good feeling to be able to finish everything but I was pretty much exhausted. I had a good crew so that really helped to keep things relaxed.

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This is Dimon, our task force commander. I'm not sure I have posted any other pictures of him so I decided I better make sure I included at least one. In case you were wondering that isn't real beer on the table. It is the non-alcoholic type with all the bad taste and none of the effects.

This is Brian telling stories about his time at the Chinook users conference. Every year there is a big gathering of all parties involved with Chinooks in Huntsville Alabama. It is geared towards the military but a lot of private companies are there selling products designed to make our jobs easier. It is a good opportunity to discuss what is happening in the field and changes that are coming our way. Brian was able to schedule his leave so that on the way back over here he attended the conference.

You can't see any of the faces but I like the colors. We sat around talking until well after dark. L-R J.R., Morford, and Gray.

The man who keeps us all straight -1SG Hull standing next to Brian. Center right is the shops platoon sergeant Elmgren and on his left is the head electrician - Chaney.

Kidd (on the left), one of our fearless flight platoon sergeants did most of the grilling. Next to him is Ocasio (our other flight platoon sergeant), Chastain (the man behind the boss) and Friend in the background trying to decide what else to eat.

Some more of the guys enjoying the afternoon. L-R Ladzinski, Rigdon, Long, and Lopez

On our most recent maintenance day (24 June - no missions scheduled) we had a BBQ to celebrate July 4th since that will be just another work day for us. We got a bunch of food from the chow hall and grilled our own hot dogs and hamburgers. It was a good time and a chance to talk with people I don't see very often. The three in front are some of our crew members (L-R Potter, Roberts, and Pennley).

Three of the guys waiting outside the headquarters building for their turn in front of the promotion board (L-R Lambert, Gandy, Cunningham). To make E-5 and E-6 you have to go to the board. Based on how you do you are awarded so many promotion points plus after the board you are eligible for promotion if you have enough points to make the cutoff (the cutoff points change every month depending on your job). It can be a stressful experience.

2 Jul

Tomorrow will be the one year mark since leaving Alaska. I spent the last ½ hour reading through the first few months of this journal. It was interesting – it seems so long ago and my mindset is so different at the end of the deployment than it was at the start that it is almost as if it was someone else writing. One thing I did notice was how much busier I was. I did test flights almost every day and often multiple flights. Our aircraft are doing much better plus the dust has kept us from breaking much. We had another nice Mar’s day yesterday – not being able to see 50’ plus the nice orange glow. It cleared up a little this morning but not enough for them to fly until late this afternoon so they only did a couple of legs of the mission. Brian got back last week – it’s good to have him back. Not that we are swamped but it’s nice having him to talk to at work. On that note – a lot of the pilots switched from days to nights and vice versa. Some of them have been on nights for three months and since they don’t come in until 6:00PM I rarely see them, so it’s nice to see different faces and get caught up. Aside from people starting to pack up the only interesting thing going on is keeping track of where our aircraft are getting shipped to. The whole Chinook fleet is in flux with the new F models being fielded and trying to keep the D model units up to strength. We were just told that we will be leaving two aircraft in country to replace one the Germany unit crashed here and one the 101^st crashed in Afghanistan. So now when we get back we will be getting five other aircraft from around the country to build the unit back up. We already gave up two of the ones we left in Alaska to replace aircraft destroyed in Afghanistan earlier this year.

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This is Ortiz in deep thought as he waits to load the aircraft. Sauer found this toilet in the dump (it was new) and brought it back to the flight line so Potter decided to bring it along for a flight. It was quite a hit with the passengers.

This is Potter doing his rendition of the crane. The guys in the back are always working to amuse themselves just to keep things interesting. In this picture the aircraft is configured to load cargo with all the seats up. At every stop it is a constant adjustment of seats up or down depending on the cargo/passenger mix.

This is flying across the desert out west. I liked the color contrast.

This picture was taken on a lake north of us. I was intrigued by the one remaining hill in an otherwise flat area. It must have had some good cap rock on it.

This is taking off from a LZ closer to the Euphrates River, hence all the trees. You can see some of the old bunkers amongst the houses and other buildings in the background.

I have added a couple more chow hall sculpture pictures. The mother and child one was put up for Mother's Day. All the faces have an Asian heritage which makes me even more curious about who makes them. The tree and parrots in the back ground was part of a spring motif that included a lot of other plants, most of which are now gone.

This sculpture of two swans has been up for months (since around Easter I think). They must be pretty proud of it plus it isn't very big so it can hang out without attracting much attention.

History

I finally got around to tracking down this short history of the air base. It is some pretty interesting stuff, enjoy:

Origins - Al Taqaddum Airbase (TQ) was built in the mid 1980’s to replace the aging and obsolete airbase at Habbaniyah- which was built in the 1930’s by the British to house both fighters and sea planes. Known under the Saddam Regime as Tahmmouz Airbase, TQ was constructed by Yugoslavian contractors who completed 24 trapezoid hardened aircraft shelters prior to 1985. The base had various defenses against air attack, namely Russian SA-2 & SA-3 as well as French made Roland anti-aircraft missile batteries. The underground chemical weapon bunkers housed on base were defended by ZSU-23 & ZSU-24 anti-aircraft guns, tanks, and Special Forces infantry. It is of note that since the 1970’s, the areas around TQ were strictly off limits to anyone not a member of the ruling Baath party.

Pre-Desert Storm - TQ’s fighters and bombers flew frequent missions off the base in the war between Iraq and Iran. TQ was bombed by Iran, although the airbase at Habbaniyah was bombed more heavily because it was the more established base. It was during this period that IL-28 Russian made bombers based at TQ were used not only against Iran but also against various Kurd uprisings. Also, at this time TQ housed chemical and biological weapons. Intelligence reports there was at least one underground chemical storage bunker aboard the base and this was logical given that one of Iraq’s two largest chemical / biological weapons factories was located in the adjacent town of Habbaniyah. Chemical weapons used against the Kurds in the 1980’s were delivered by planes launched from TQ. It is interesting to note that the MIG-25 fighter aircraft based here were actually controlled by a Soviet Union military contingent stationed at TQ during the Iran-Iraq war.

Desert Storm - TQ was a priority target for the Coalition during Operation Desert Storm. The base was attacked by F-117 stealth fighters as well as other Coalition aircraft throughout the engagement. Targets attacked on the opening night of the war were: what was thought to be the chemical weapons storage bunker, aircraft (some being Russian TU-22 supersonic bombers), the Iraqi Air Force Operations Center, GCI radar facility, and command, control & communication bunkers. The IAF were able to launch only two aircraft from the base against Coalition aircraft during Desert Storm. One plane had to abort it’s take off due to intense Electronic Counter Measures, and the other hit a runway denial mine before takeoff. The base was hit again during follow-on strikes and was never to play a role in Desert Storm. The IAF flew 97 planes to Iran- many of them top of the line MiG-29’s and French F-1 fighters based at TQ. Iran never gave the planes back.

Post-Desert Storm to OIF - TQ was heavily damaged during Desert Storm, but was then cleaned up and used heavily by the IAF because of its geographical location as one of a handful of bases that were not located under a UN clarified “No-Fly Zone”. It was during this time Saddam started his most controversial tactic of “saving” his Air Force- the disassembly and reassembly of his aircraft. Planes were routinely torn apart and put back together to hide them from UN inspectors and save them from the potential of future air strikes. As of 2002, Saddam had a mistrust of his Air Force because an Iraqi MIG-23 flown from TQ (there is some debate about whether this plane instead flew from Balad) attacked one of Saddams palaces near Lake TharThar by attempting to bomb the palace. Before the pilot succeeded, the plane was shot down by Saddams guards and the pilot captured after he ejected. The pilot was interrogated by Saddam himself, and brought before base commanders. The pilot was burned alive in front of the command, and then all commanders at the base were executed. During this time, it is believed Saddam acquired and stored approximately 100,000 tons of various ammunition and weapons aboard and around TQ. Some items were useless such as the 6,000 pound Chinese aerial naval bombs as the IAF did not have a plane that could deliver such a bomb.

Operation Iraqi Freedom - The IAF was non-existent during OIF. The last plane in the IAF flew March 19, 2003 (the beginning of combat operations under OIF). On that day, most IAF aircraft were hidden or were in the disassembly stage as no order was given to reassemble the planes for combat. It is suggested that Saddams intentions were to save his Air Force from flying in a war where they would have no effect and could not be turned over to a new government once captured. If the war had gone his way, the aircraft would then still be available for use once unearthed and reassembled. The first note of Coalition Forces entering TQ was by Australian SAS. They discovered approximately 50 planes hidden under camouflaged netting. TU-22 supersonic bombers were discovered in their revetments destroyed, still there from the opening night of Desert Storm some 12 years prior. The discovery of buried aircraft came from a tip from a local national and at TQ alone totaled 30-40 planes.

Today – Since the initial capture of TQ by Coalition forces, TQ has been under the control of various commands- mainly the 82nd Airborne and U.S. Marines. Most damage to TQ came during Desert Storm since an OIF primary strategy has been to not destroy key infrastructure or facilities with the intent of later use. In 2003 and to the present this has been easier to accomplish because no Iraqi air threat exists and technological advances in weaponry have allowed a greater degree of precision in targeting and acquisition. Today, TQ is home to several American force commands. Multi-national Force units transit or are tenants aboard the installation and its twin runways are capable of supporting strategic aircraft as well as tactical fixed wing and helicopters. TQ is a central hub in the Multinational Force areas of operation and directly supports combat operations throughout Al Anbar Province.

21 June

The last couple of weeks have been dominated by dust. We have had a few clear days but for the most part it is the same routine – it is clear for a few hours in the morning but then the wind picks up and the dust starts blowing. I was on a test flight Monday and we were able to get off early before the winds really started. I climbed up to 2000’ where the dust ended and above that it was perfectly clear. So it’s not caused by weather fronts moving in but by the top layer of soil being picked up by the wind – kind of what I imagine the dust bowl areas were like in the 30’s. The last three days have been clear and I have stayed busy. I finished up the post-phase flights on 169 two days ago, flew a mission yesterday, and did 176’s pre-phase flight along with a bunch of training for the crew members in the back. I decided to change my schedule and get up a couple of hours earlier (4 instead of 6) in order to have some time in the morning before work. I started it today which wasn’t a real good choice since I spent almost all day on the flight line and it got up to 114 today. It was just about unbelievably hot in the cockpit and by the end of the day I was pretty tired and maybe just a little but irritable. On a different note, I found out yesterday that I was selected for the Army fixed wing course. I won’t be going until after our year in Egypt but I think it will be a nice change of pace.

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This is Palmer (one of the crew members). He is a lot of fun to fly with and I have never seen him without a smile on his face, which usually means he is up to something.

Down time at one of the bases while the cheerleaders were doing their thing. It was a good opportunity to take a nap. Armstrong is on the right and Wells (one of our new pilots) is on the left.

This is Madeline (at least I think that is how she spells it), one of the Eagles cheerleaders, sitting in the jump seat of our aircraft. Halfway through the flight she told us that in general she really doesn't like flying but a helicopter was actually fun (my thoughts exactly).

This is one of the famous MRAP vehicles (the long version). We see them all over out here but this is my first picture of one.

This is of the more impressive cement plants (at least I think that is what it is) still in operation out west. Every time I fly over it I admire the landscaping efforts - it seems so out of place.

This is what used to be a resort town for wealthy Iraqis wanting to vacation on the lake. A lot of the big buildings are still there and you can see the parks and landscaping they did but it is pretty much abandoned now.

These are some of the decorations in the chow hall that put up for Memorial Day. They really go all out but I have no idea where they get the designs for the statues. They have had some very interesting ones on the various holidays.

7 June

The days are just clicking by. It still seems like a long time before we go home but the days aren’t long. Everything is going very smooth at work. The weather is still causing us problems but the aircraft are doing great. It is rare that an aircraft comes back with anything more than a minor problem that is fixed within hours. It’s a combination of getting the problems worked out of the aircraft and the maintenance guys being good at what they do. Yesterday we finally got 174 back up from the collapsed aft landing gear but for the last month and a half we have been flying the same mission load with six aircraft (usually five because one was in phase) as we were doing with eight. As I have said before maintenance usually goes in cycles but I hope this up cycle lasts until we leave. I did the first flight on 170 out of phase today and after it is done we only have two more. We should be all done with phases around the first of July. I’m not back to doing a lot of exercising yet but I am back flying missions. Yesterday was a fun mission – we flew a group of the Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders around to different bases out west. They had a lot of fun flying with us and it was nice to talk with someone over here that isn’t associated with the military. It was a long day but anything a little different is always nice. The last group of people went on leave today – another milestone on the road. More and more pilots are getting their follow on assignments and it looks like a lot of us will be leaving within a couple of months of our return.

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Jim took this picture as I was flying overhead on one of my test flights today. What I think is much more interesting is the collection of old Russian bombers. There are old planes all over this base and this was the place all the buried aircraft were found after the war. There is a brief history of the base that I read several months ago - I will track it down and post it in the next couple of days.

24 May

I am officially back at work now (which basically means I don’t have an excuse to sleep in any more). I spent my first two days back (22^nd & 23^rd) taking 168 out of phase. It was a nice reintroduction to maintenance – long, hot, frustrating days that culminated in flying right before sunset. The thing is 168 is a good aircraft and the whole process was relatively smooth. I was anxious to get back into the missions so yesterday I volunteered to take Jeff’s spot on the mission today. It wasn’t until I got home and relaxed a bit that I realized how tired I was and that doing a long mission in the heat wasn’t a very smart idea so I gave the flight back to Jeff. It was a good decision because this morning I went in and did a short test flight and by lunch I was beat. I guess I still have a ways to go to get back to 100%. Today was our first real taste of what summer has in store for us. It was 111 F and the wind was developing that nice blow dryer quality. Brian went on leave yesterday. I am going to miss having him around but it was good to see him go – he needs the break. I have been doing a lot more reading lately. For some reason I have to be continually reminded how much I enjoy it. One book I just finished is A History of Iraq. It’s not an encouraging book – history is definitely not on our side, at least as it relates to our current goals.

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This is Mike of our flight guys who gave up flying for this deployment to be a TI. Here he is relaxing with his ever present can of Red Bull. He pretty much lives on Red Bull and sunflower seeds. I don't know how he does it.

This is a picture of me reading. Not a bad life really except being away from home.

This is Brian in his usual movie watching pose. I think he sits that way because it allows him to see who comes in the door but still pretend he doesn't if it is someone he doesn't want to talk to.