keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew

Well! I guess it's been just over two weeks since my last post... sorry for the delay! There have been a few things going on, but we should be getting to the cool part of my IZ trip: the flight.
Above, you'll see the sign for the Washington LZ, which is the heliport in the IZ. We showed up there, and kindly asked to get on a bird, and they obliged! Cool!
Like everything in the Army, we were forced to wait for several hours awaiting our flight. I took a nap. Soon, though, we were roused from our sleep, and marshalled onto the flight line, ready and eager to take to the skies. Our craft for the day would be a Sikorsky S-70, otherwise known as a UH-60 Black Hawk.
The seats are little, and you buckle in using a four-point harness with a rotary buckle in the center.

I was lucky enough to secure a "window" seat. I emphasize window, since there wasn't one. They had removed all glass with the exception of the cockpit. That's my buddy Billingsley, by the way. He's from my old unit in Cincinnati.
After takeoff, we flew up and over the IZ on our way back to Liberty. There were lots of cool sights, which I'll take you through now!

Some of the streets of Baghdad.

This is the Iraqi Monument to the Unknown Soldier. I have a short clip of us driving by it, but I haven't figured out a way to post movies yet. It's a neat monument. Really cool architecture.

I have no idea what this building in the foreground is, but it's pretty cool. My intent in the photo was to catch the construction in the background. This is the site of the old Baghdad Airport. You can still vaguely see the remains of a runway stretching off into the upper left. Anyway, the construction is for the "Saddam the Great" mosque, which, if it ever gets completed, will be the largest in the world. I don't think it will get completed, at least not without being renamed.

This is the outskitrs of downtown Baghdad. We're staring to come out of the central districts, near the Tigris, and into more of the suburban sprawl.

No idea. It was a neat looking building with a spiral Iraqi flag.

This is one of my favorite pictures. This is the al Rahman mosque, which is only slightly smaller than the Saddam the Great mosque. I hope they finish this one, simply because it's already so grand.

Here's another shot of the al Rahman mosque. I think it gives a bit of perspective to the size of it all. The foreground buildings are all about two stories tall.

More of the streets of Baghdad. It's a fairly ordinary city. It's very comparable to suburban America in the fact that nothing really exceeds two stories, with the exception of government structures and the city center.


This is one of those quintissential "Army at War" pictures. I had to get a couple of shot of the Black Hawks flying, and this was one of them!


This is Camp Victory. Note the al-Faw Palace on the left, and far in the background is the Victory Over Iran palace, on Camp Slayer. We hit that with a cruise missile on the opening night of the war, thinking that Saddam was there. It hasn't been repaired.

This is our helicopter!


And, lastly, me and Billingsley after our ride. I was excited, and he was his usual stoic self. Now all we had to do was find a way home to Striker...

I'll take you where the green grass grows

Hey everybody! Welcome to day two of the IZ adventure!

After we woke up the following morning, we decided to begin taking a look around. We gathered up our equipment, and journeyed off in search of breakfast. After turning in our linens and asking where the DFAC was, we headed in the right direction and stumbled upon a pool! It's fantastic!

This was one of Saddam's pools, of course. It's pretty lavish. Kind of kidney-shaped, it boasts twin diving platforms and a well-appointed pool house.

We're going swimming when we go back, needless to say.

Anyway, after marvelling at the pool, we moved over to the DFAC (which is the large white building at the back of the first pool picture) just in time to get a quick bite to eat. It seems as though the food is even better here that at Striker or Liberty. Unfortunately, we didn't get to eat in the really nice room you saw in the last posting.

After that, we decided we'd better get a move on looking for the Consulate's Office so we could get our passports processed.

The Republican Palace, as I said before, was Saddam's largest. It was where he did most of his business, his office was there, it overlooks the Tigris, and now it is the home of the US Mission in Iraq. We wandered around the grounds for a spell, taking in a few photo ops as we went along.

one of many palace entrances

me at the palace!!

We wandered around the palace for a while, and it seemed as though no one knew where the Chancery of the Consulate was. It turns out that it's actually in another building, about a mile and a half away. Not knowing really how to get there, we started walking.

There are some neat sights along the way, like this bombed out building that I imagine was hit by a cruise missile. You can only partially see it in the background.

We walked a little farther, and continued toward the Chancery. We passed Ibn Sina Hospital, where they filmed Baghdad ER, and another cool building.

ibn sina hospital grounds

not exactly sure what it is, but it's kinda cool

There's also a whole lot of arches built in the city. I'm not too sure why, but they are really neat.

cool arch

this one's next to the building hit by a missile

Finally, after going through many gates and seeing many guards, we arrived at the Chancery! And, of course, what we imagined to be a day full of beauracracy and paperwork, was merely fifteen minutes to sign a form and be on our way.

There's actually quite a lavish garden next to the building, but they don't allow pictures of it. I don't see how photographing a garden could be seen as a possible terror act, but I guess it is.
Soon after, we walked back toward the embassy, and caught a bus to take us on a tour of the IZ.

See for yourself!

new construction (and a stryker)

nice bathrooms at the consulate

the new us embassy...590 million big ones

more of mr crocker's estate


14th of July square...that's Iraqi independence day


the Baghdad clock tower


blown up!

the tigris at the 14th of july bridge

There's a black Mercedes rollin' through the combat zone

As you well may know, the fourth of July has come and passed. Most of you, I presume, got to grill out, drink beer and watch fireworks. I mainly worked, slept and then took a little trip! I was able (finally) to go down to the International Zone and get my passport. It was a really neat trip, and I'll show it to you guys in three installments. This is the first, the night we arrived in the IZ. There are many ways to travel about Iraq, the two most prevalent being helicopter and truck. We took the latter from Camp Striker to the IZ on a vehicle called the "Rhino Runner." Built by Labock Technologies in Florida, it is an up-armored bus built completely from the ground up. It's pretty tough.

the rhino runner-courtesy of labock technologies

inside the rhino

As consistent with many things here, there is no actual schedule for the Rhino. One simply signs up on a roster to go, and waits for the bus to arrive. When it does, it's kind of a whirlwind adventure. The convoy comes tearing in the parking lot, and within minutes they're unloaded and reloaded with the new group of passengers. Moments later, you're tearing down the road towards the gate.
Once outside the gate, there's really nothing much to see. Like many municipalities, the Baghdad Airport was built out in the country, so there's not a whole lot of development close to the base, with the exception of Abu Ghraib village and the Palace Complex.
After about ten minutes or so, a few buildings begin to pop up and you're in Baghdad. It's kind of difficult to see, because it's night, for one, and the highway, in many sections, is lined with blast walls.
Before you know it, you're parked somewhere in the middle of the city, and you get out. The luggage is unloaded with the same quickness that it was loaded, place on-line, and then sniffed out by the dogs. Then you're free to go about your business. Our business was to find the Embassy.
After asking a few questions, we made our way to a gate off of the main drag and wound up on the grounds of the current home of the United States Mission in Iraq (the Embassy), which was the former Republican Palace. It's the largest of Saddam's former palaces, and even now it's quite grand.

the republican palace

Since it was about three thirty in the morning, there wasn't really anybody around to tell us where to go. We were trying to find the transient billeting office to get a bed for the next few hours. it's kind of funny how we're labeled as "transients." It makes me feel very Dylanesque, like I should be wary of the persons sleeping around me, and trying to make deals with them to get ahead in life. Good thing that's not the case, since we all can wake up, enjoy a good, hot, free meal, and go on about our day.

Anyway, back to the story. We were wandering the grounds, and decided the most prudent thing to do woul dbe to enter the palace, and see if anyone was around to help us. When we entered, there was really nobody at all, save the guards.

After proceeding through a security checkpoint, we arrived in what appeared to be a dining facility, and boy do they have it good there. Chandeliers, actual chairs and tables, with tablecloths, and real flatware. We took a couple of pictures, of course.

a palatial chandelier

embassy dining hall

Still trying to find some direction, we wandered the palace a bit more, only encountering the occasional pack of Doozers (thanks, Dan, I use it all the time!) getting the place ready for the day. For additional info on Doozers, click here. Here's a few more shots of wandering in the palace:

B and R against the gilded door, and if you look real close you can see the SCUD mural on the back wall

the ascension of mohammed, perhaps?

Both of those shots were of the great dining hall. There is a huge mural of missiles taking flight on the back wall, which I think is a recurring motif in Saddam's decorating style. Oftentimes his throne was placed against it, but now the whole room is partitioned off with temporary walls for office space. I'm pretty sure it's the Inspector General's office.

What's really funny, however, is how superficial these palaces really are. Once we found someone that knew where we should be going, he took us through a few back cooridors and out the rear of the palce, to find the billeting. The "behind-the-scenes" experience reminded me a lot of my theatre experience. Everything in the auditorium is nice, and gilded and very ornate, but as soon as you go backstage, it's very utilitarian. We passed through a set of nice, ornate wooden doors, and then it was nothing but drywall and beams and wires. Obviously, Saddam spared no expense. He had some nice tapestries, though.

ze tapestriez!

After leaving the palace, we eventually found the billeting office and were able to secure bunks for the night. Unfortunately, the transient tents were on the front side of the palace, so even after we signed for it, we still had to walk all the way around, but it wasn't too bad.

the back side, all lit up so nicely

The next day was exciting, but more on that later.