So I puked in the helicopter. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Our time here at Camp Taji is coming to a close. I've got a half dozen stories and took about 800 photos. The Airmen here have been fantastic in helping us get what we need, whether it's a place to crash, interviews, a vehicle, whatever. Much thanks to Tech. Sgt. Rico and Lt. Col. McNerney. And to the dining facility that always had Cocoa Puffs. They're my new comfort food out here. Not the healthiest of snacks, but it's got the riboflavins ...
Our job here was to cover the Airmen who are assisting the Iraqis as they get back on their feet. We spoke with guys working on the mission support side of things and they really seem to have things together. On the operations side, where they're flying helicopters day and night, things are a little slower to progress. But there's promise. All in all, it's been a pretty good mission, with good people, quality stories and a room with a bed instead of a tent with a cot and 20 other people in it with all their gear and no way to lock up our belongings so you never know if you'll come back to find your stuff gone or sold on eBay. I've heard stories ...
So really, I'm not in a rush to leave. In fact, had a couple of moments I'll never forget. While talking with an Iraqi lieutenant, he asked me how I could help him start a base newspaper. He wants to be able to get information out to his troops. Told him I would talk to some folks and see what we could do. But there's no Air Force public affairs presence here; it's an additional duty given to one of the gunnery instructors. But that's a different issue altogether ...
A day later I'm having lunch and next to me is one of our own lieutenant colonels reading Stars And Stripes while he eats. So I ask him what base he's from and if he reads the paper back home. "Oh, no, absolutely not," he tells me. Which I find intriguing, considering how he's pouring through his copy of Stripes. After talking with him a bit more, for him it's a credibility factor with his base newspaper back home. With Stripes he knows he's getting reporting from the Fourth Estate instead of "What the wing commander wants me to know about." Which puts me in a really difficult place, and I don't mean the back of a Volkswagen ...
On one hand, an Iraqi officer wants an avenue to communicate via mass media with his troops. On the other, one of our officers only wants news and information from an outside source not part of the military. So if what we, in our career field, try to communicate to our own internal audience already has a bias against it, how do we get past that bias and reach people? I really don't have the answer, but really, I just found the dichotomy of my conversations good food for thought. Funnily enough, tastes like chicken ...
We're getting ready to head back to our home base. We tried to get back Sunday night, but ran out of gas and had to come back to Taji. Where I had aformentioned room with bed still waiting for me. Yeah, I was real broken up about it ...
The back of the Mi-171 helicopter was hot and the exhaust from the engines was blowing inside. We spent the first 90 minutes practicing maneuvers, so lots of ups and downs and banks and whatnot. I'd never thrown up on a flight before. But there I am with the little plastic bag, desperately trying not to spew all over my body armor or anything else. I'd made it three hours just feeling horribly nauseous. I was trying to keep my mind off it, but it's funny when you feel queasy how memories of other times you felt that way come flooding back. Like that night after too much rice pudding at the Lebanese restaurant in Doha where Major (now Lt. Col.) Dave Honchul wouldn't stop to let me buy a new shirt before we went through the checkpoint to get back on base so I had to sit there with sick all over the front of me ...
So the plan is for us try to get out of here in the next few days. We'll see how that works out. Honestly, I could stay here for another month and be happy. Except that I have care packages waiting for me and I really would like to be someplace where I'm not paying $20 a week for Internet access. So that's the pot at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately, however, it means we have to go back through Baghdad. This time I'll remember to bring breadcrumbs so I can make it back from the latrine instead of accidentally walking into someone else's room. They're called door locks, people ...
So really, I'm not in a rush to leave. In fact, had a couple of moments I'll never forget. While talking with an Iraqi lieutenant, he asked me how I could help him start a base newspaper. He wants to be able to get information out to his troops. Told him I would talk to some folks and see what we could do. But there's no Air Force public affairs presence here; it's an additional duty given to one of the gunnery instructors. But that's a different issue altogether ...
A day later I'm having lunch and next to me is one of our own lieutenant colonels reading Stars And Stripes while he eats. So I ask him what base he's from and if he reads the paper back home. "Oh, no, absolutely not," he tells me. Which I find intriguing, considering how he's pouring through his copy of Stripes. After talking with him a bit more, for him it's a credibility factor with his base newspaper back home. With Stripes he knows he's getting reporting from the Fourth Estate instead of "What the wing commander wants me to know about." Which puts me in a really difficult place, and I don't mean the back of a Volkswagen ...
On one hand, an Iraqi officer wants an avenue to communicate via mass media with his troops. On the other, one of our officers only wants news and information from an outside source not part of the military. So if what we, in our career field, try to communicate to our own internal audience already has a bias against it, how do we get past that bias and reach people? I really don't have the answer, but really, I just found the dichotomy of my conversations good food for thought. Funnily enough, tastes like chicken ...
We're getting ready to head back to our home base. We tried to get back Sunday night, but ran out of gas and had to come back to Taji. Where I had aformentioned room with bed still waiting for me. Yeah, I was real broken up about it ...
The back of the Mi-171 helicopter was hot and the exhaust from the engines was blowing inside. We spent the first 90 minutes practicing maneuvers, so lots of ups and downs and banks and whatnot. I'd never thrown up on a flight before. But there I am with the little plastic bag, desperately trying not to spew all over my body armor or anything else. I'd made it three hours just feeling horribly nauseous. I was trying to keep my mind off it, but it's funny when you feel queasy how memories of other times you felt that way come flooding back. Like that night after too much rice pudding at the Lebanese restaurant in Doha where Major (now Lt. Col.) Dave Honchul wouldn't stop to let me buy a new shirt before we went through the checkpoint to get back on base so I had to sit there with sick all over the front of me ...
So the plan is for us try to get out of here in the next few days. We'll see how that works out. Honestly, I could stay here for another month and be happy. Except that I have care packages waiting for me and I really would like to be someplace where I'm not paying $20 a week for Internet access. So that's the pot at the end of the rainbow. Unfortunately, however, it means we have to go back through Baghdad. This time I'll remember to bring breadcrumbs so I can make it back from the latrine instead of accidentally walking into someone else's room. They're called door locks, people ...
Nice post, Buzz. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteYummy recycled food! Birds do it all the time ;)
ReplyDelete