Thursday, September 10, 2009

Helicopter Ride - Baghdad to Taji, Iraq

We were ordered to report to the helicopter pad at 2320 (11:20pm) for verification of id's and check-in. The verification process just involves scanning of our military id cards and verifying our itinerary. This evening I was flying from Liberty Pad at South Victory, Baghdad Iraq to Camp Taji, Taji, Iraq. Taji is only about 11 miles north of Baghdad, but due to the danger of riding in convoys, KBR does not have any employees in outside the wire convoys unless necessitated by mission. So, when you get your spot on helicopter, which can take anywhere from 1-5 days depending on mission activity you get a "show time". They do not give an exact flight time until about 30 minutes before your flight.

After I showed at the PAX Terminal (slang for an old tent setup alongside the helicopter pad) you wait. There is a movie playing, some weird Sigorne Weaver show about colonial people. Very strange. Anyways, we waited there until about 12:45 am. The terminal operator came in the room, took a roll call and notified us our approximate departure time would be around 1:20 am and for us to "gear up" and line up by the blue light on the helo pad.

I put on my ballistic vest and ballistic helmet, got my gloves and jacket buttoned up tight. Loaded up my backpack and computer bag and went to get in line. I should note, that there is a mix of about 15 people waiting. About 10 americans, the rest were Bosnians, which are quite common here. Thought it was worth mentioning.

We went to the helicopter pad and lined up, I was number 8 in line. It was pitch black for the most part. We waited for about 15 minutes and then heard the jackals off in the distance. There are packs of them that roam the base at night, out looking for their evening meal. The Iraqi Jackyl is a bit larger than a coyote, similar animal I think, scared of humans, etc. We heard them howling for a while and they ran off in the distance. If I hadn't known better it would have been quite scary. There are soldiers all around in the towers with night vision and weapons of course, which you can't see at night, so we were safe.

After another 30 minutes I was freezing, it was about 20 degrees F outside. A bunch of us left our gear on the pad and went inside the PAX terminal to warm up. Waited for about 3 minutes, just enough time to take the sting off and then we heard the helo's in the distance. We moved orderly back to the helo pad and lined up.

The blackhawks landed, they travel in 2's. It is quite a site seeing them land. Waiting there with their rotor blades humming, knowing that you are going to climb on. It is quite exhilerating. The passengers onboard off-load then the helo commander comes to the chalk commander to take a roll call to be sure they have room for everyone. Each helo holds approx 11 personnel with bags. After the last departing passenger off-loaded we proceeded to our helo. We bunched in together, buckled up then the gunner shut the door.

The gunner took his post manning his M60 machine gun, one on each side of the helo. You can see the tip of the gun in the pictures below.

From there, it's really like riding in a gondola is the best way I can describe it. You feel like the rotor is where the gondola connects and the body of the helo tends to move about that point. We travelled uneventfully from Baghdad to Taji, about a 15 minute ride. Very neat seeing the darkness, all of the fires that the Iraqi's set to keep warm.