(Note: click on pictures to view full size) Click
Here for July, 2004 ; August 2004
Major Robert Parker is a Certified Professional
Controller with the FAA serving in Iraq with the Mississippi Air National
Guard.
Live from Iraq with Major Parker (Month of June, 2004)
Where is the Major. Here's pictures compliments of GN:
06/09/2004:
Hi Everyone,
Pic of me at the Civilian Passenger Terminal. My job here is to transistion the
airfield from what it is now, into U.S. Air Force standards then transition back
to the Iraqi's civilian airport.
Hi again,
These are pictures from Balad AB just north of Bagdad.
I was summoned to see my boss the one star general. These are paintings in the
old Iraqi fighter pilot's headquarters bldg.
I might take off early today (6:00pm) i am beat. I have been
out on the airfield most of the day working with contractors who are doing work
to get the airfield up to USAF standards in preparation to give back to the
Iraqis. There is a lot of dirt work, drainage, grass control, concrete, painting
of ramps, taxiways, runways, helipads, replacing the 30 year old Russian built
runway light system (it is just like a set of Christmas tree lights, if one bulb
goes out, they all go out. Real fun at 2 am), installing approach light system,
remodeling the tower, overseeing construction of new passenger terminal,
establishing a program to keeping bird strikes low (BASH program), developing a
flight line driver's course and that is just this week. Just kidding, about this
week i mean, the other stuff i am really having to do. It does keep me busy and
that makes the time go more quickly. A nice cold beer would really hit the spot
about now, heck even a luke warm beer would be alright. No, forget the luke warm
beer, it is just too hot here for that, i will just wait on that one.
It only got up to 102 today, i think a cold front must have gone
through. I have been running, no, not from the mortars, just for exercise. Being
around all the Army troops running all the time makes you get into it i guess.
Well, i better get out of here and go to the chow hall. I will send more later.
Robert
06/12/04:
Hi Everybody,
Sorry for not writing. We have gotten hit pretty hard the last few
days so i have been busy. It seems that the bad guys have been practicing and
their aim is getting better. We have been taking a number of rounds here on the
airfield. When that happens, i have to get busy getting the airfield back in
order. Just accounting for all of you people is a process in itself. The army
has started shooting back to try to discourage them shooting rockets and mortars
but they are persistant folks. It makes you realize what is going on over here.
You have to be real careful about slamming doors and such or you will find
everyone running for a bunker.
My commander is coming up today from Balad to look around. The
airport is looking great. We are making great progress here. I will send some
more pics as soon as i can.
Robert
06/15/04:
Hi Everyone,
It was a busy one here yesterday. We had a number of mortar attacks
on the airfield. As i was out checking the runway for damage, we got hit again.
I was out of the truck looking at a hole and the mortars started in again. I
made it to the truck and too a concrete bunker with explosions going off
everywhere. It only took a half hour for my heart to settle and my legs to stop
shaking so i could drive the stick shift. I got knocked out of bed early this
morning by another CLOSE mortar attack. Everyone was outside in the bunkers in
their PJ's all sleepy eyed. When it was over i thought that i might as well stay
up and get to work. I went to chow then came in. I hope today will be quiet.
I will have to get some of you cigar lovers to tell me what is good to
possibly send or bring back. I can get Romeo and Juliet #1,2,3's for about $4
and a Winston Churchill for $12. Let me know. I bet Mike Swift would know. Doug,
i know you would smoke anything Cuban with a little scotch. Every other night or
so we sit in the bunkers, have a cigar (it keeps the bugs away) and tell war
stories. Around here that means telling where you were during the last mortar
attack. Ha
I better get back to the war. Keep the emails coming.
Robert
06/16/04:
Hi Everyone,
Well another day is coming to a close. I need to get out of
this office. I have been here since 6:00 am and it is now going on 8:00 pm. I
know Gus, what else have i got to do anyway, right?!? Anyway, today was
quiet. I don't want to speak too soon but only 2 mortars today that landed off
base. It was 108 today with a nice 10 knot breeze. It feels like a convection
oven. I drink about 2 gals of water a day and still feel thirsty. We have a lot
of VIP's that come in here. I will have to tell you about them Monday or so.
I just found out from a local guy that works on base that Mosul is
near the ancient town of Nivia sp?(Nineveh) There is a temple that i can see from the
control tower where they say that Jonah was buried. You know Jonah and the
whale. There is a lot of real history here. Too bad i will not be able to see
any of it. Well, i better get out of here and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going
to be busy.
To my NATCA brothers, thank you for your help. Chuck, Patrick, East
Coast and others, thanks again. I am going to download some pics from the tower
so you can see the city that surrounds us here. Talk to everyone later.
To all the people who wanted sand. There really isn't as much sand
as you would think here. Since i am close to the river, there is just this very
fine dust, like powder. We call it "Moon dust". I will bring some of
that back.
Hey Mike Swift, let me know about the cigars...
PR
06/17/04:
Here are some pics. Me in my shelter after a hard day at work
fighting for Iraqi Freedom. The other is of one of the mortars that hit the
taxiway. Just after i took this pic is when i got in the middle of the next
attack. More pics to follow from the tower.
Pics from the tower. It was a little hazy so you cannot see Nivia (Nineveh). More to
follow..
Here are pics taken from the tower. It was hazy. You can see the mountains to
the north and northwest on clear days.
21 June 2004
Hi Everyone,
I
am sending this as an attachment because I tried to send this a little while ago
and the Army page timed out. You only have a few minutes to do your thing then
it cuts off. It has been a busy last few days. We have taken a lot of mortars
and rockets on the base. None of my folks have been injured but there have been
a number of injuries here. We have had a few close calls but so far so good.
Because of all of the inbound rounds, we are wearing full battle gear most of
the time. I am sending a picture from a few days ago when I was in my PT gear on
my way to run. Speaking of that run, I went out about 8:00 pm, it was still 98
degrees with a strong wind. I had been about 2 miles and was getting hot. In the
distance I could see a water truck coming down the road. Over here, water trucks
spray water on the roads to try to keep some of the dust down. It helps a little
for a few minutes but when it is 110 with a 25 knot wind, the water doesn’t
last long. Anyway, I see this truck spraying water, coming my way. I start
thinking how I would like to just lay down the in middle of the road and let the
truck just spray me down as well. I
came out of this thought as the water truck passed me giving me just a hint of
cool mist. The pleasure of the mist was quickly replaced with this realization.
I now understand what they must do with the dirty water from the bathrooms. Note
to self, stay away from the water trucks.
Today I have been running around like crazy. I met with the base
commander to talk about having different people move equipment out of the runway
clear zones. We had to drive a Hummer around the ends of the runways, dodging
helicopters, telling people to stop migrating toward the runway approach ends. I
was also out looking for sandbags for fortifying the tower. I found a bunch of
sandbags all stacked up on a pallet, now I just have to find a way to move them.
After that little sweating trip around base, I met with a local Iraqi by the
name of General Mohamad. Gen Mohamad, is a former fighter pilot with the Iraqi
Air Force. I met him when I first got here and we have become pretty good
friends. He and I talk about flying as you might imagine. When I got promoted,
he noticed the change in my rank when he saw me on base and sent me a large
fruit and desert tray with some great stuff on it. He is the Iraqi that is going
to take charge of the airport when we leave, whenever that is. Since I am the
Airfield Commander, I try to include him on anything that does not involve
direct contact with US forces. Today, I met with him about allowing the Military
Police to use the old terminal building to do drug and explosives dog training.
It is really a diplomatic dance I have to do. I have authority to do what ever I
want but I like to get him involved with anything I can. I think he likes it as
well. I think we both like talking to someone different. Besides, I keep
thinking that whoever is shooting at us might not shoot me if I am with him.
Just a thought.
I better go. I have a VIP inbound and I have to be in the
tower as he lands. I bet you can watch it on CNN tonight. Thanks for the
Father’s Day wishes everyone. If things go well, I may be on my way home about
Labor Day or so. Talk to everyone later…
Robert
25 June 2004
Jo,
Thank you so much for all of the cards. As you can see, i have used them
to decorate my room. I read each one and i will be bringing them home with me. I
was surprised to see one from Jay Willingham's son. They were all great and i
cannot thank you enough. Even these big tough guys got a little emotional seeing
all the cards. Thank you again.
Robert
25 June 2004
Mosul, Iraq
Hi Everyone,
I guess by now everyone has heard about all of the trouble here in Mosul.
Yesterday was not a fun day. At about 9 am a bomb exploded about a mile north of
the tower. I was in the office just below the tower and thought that it hit
right outside the door. I went to the tower and saw the large plume of black
smoke. Since I saw that it didn’t happen on the airfield, I did not have to go
out and look at the runway. About 15 minutes later, a second blast. This one was
much larger than the first. We found out later that this was the blast that
destroyed the Iraqi Police Station. Someone drove a tractor trailer truck
through the gate and detonated a truck packed with explosives. That blast over a
mile away, almost took out the tower windows. I cannot imagine what it must be
like to be any closer. Three more explosions rocked us within the next two
hours. Later there was a lot of automatic gun fire on the north end of the base.
It makes you wonder if they are coming over the fence.
Once
all of the explosions were done with, I got a call from a guy who just flew in
from Bagdad to meet me. His name was Cliff Russell, and he is the Senior Advisor
to the Ministry of Transportation for the Civilian Provisional Authority.
He wanted to get some information on how the Iraqi’s were going to use
the airport after we turn it over to them. I picked him up on the south end of
the base and started the tour. I first took him to the old civilian terminal. We
went up on the roof so he could survey the entire base at one time. He was
filming the whole thing to take to Bagdad so this took a while. The old terminal
is really not that old. It was built in 1994 in an effort to keep the airport
open during the American imposed “No Fly Zone”. During this time, the
airport could stay open only if it had civilian flights. As a result of this
rule, Sadam had the Iraqi Airline Company start flying into Mosul. The south end
was turned over to a civilian with instructions that he was to keep all civilian
activity on the south side only. The military still owned the north side. As you
can see from the pictures, it was a nice building in 1994. Marble counters, a
long staircase leading up to an observation lounge. The other picture I am
sending is of me on the top of the terminal building. Gen Mohamad said that when
the city of Mosul fell in March of 02, looters striped the building. You can
still see its beauty. After the US Army took the city in Sept, the 101st
Airborne Div used the terminal as a Headquarters building. They were not the
neatest houseguests.
After we finished in terminal, I took Cliff out on the airfield. He asked if I had any maps. Did I have any maps?!? Are you kidding me, I have about every kind of map there is. Now he had a map. We then went to the north ramp to continue the tour. Before getting there I stopped and put on the rest of my full battle gear, helmet and all. The north ramp is not the best place to be most of the time. I introduced him to Gen Mohamad and Col Jamal. Gen Mohamad is the future airport manager that I have spoken of previous. Col Jamal is his business partner and a retired full Col from the Iraqi Army. You cannot sit down with these guys without getting the full hospitality treatment. Cold drinks, ice water etc. After a few minutes, he had one of his people bring us a hot drink much like eppresso. It was good, but I am not sure that I could have passed an alcohol test afterwards. We spent about an hour and a half with both of them. Gen Mohamad told Cliff that he and I talk often about American and Iraqi foreign policy. I will have to sit down and write about all of our talks. He talks to me about some of the mistakes the US has made here in how we have dealt with the Iraqis. One of the things that Gen Mohamad talks about is how the US made a mistake in disbanding the Iraqi Army. According to him, overnight, the US put 650,000 people out of work. He goes on to say that most of the problems we are having with security would not be going on if the Iraqi Army were still in place. He said that we are also making a mistake by hiring all foriengers here on base, Turks mostly. He said the major problem is that the US Govt is taking the advise of a man who has not lived in Iraqi for over 25 years. According to the Gen, bad advise from this guy is the reason there is such a resistance. He said that most people in Iraq are glad that Sadam is gone. It is interesting to hear what he was like as a leader responsible for 25 million people. The Gen said that Sadam was a good leader, provided for his people, kept the roads in order, all of the infrastructure going in the cities and such. He said Sadam’s downfall was his reluctance to take advise from his advisors. Gen Mohamad said that Sadam’s invasion of Kuaitt was a real bad idea and turned the world against him and Iraq. Gen Mohamad was a Wing Commander, flying Mig29’s at the time and said that everyone knew this was a bad mistake. The feeling of many Iraqi’s is that Kuaitt set Sadam up by tempting him to do it. That was an interesting conversation. I could write a book just on the stuff we talk about. We still find time to talk about flying as well.
Needless to say, Cliff meeting Gen Mohamad was a real find for him. Gen Mohamad works for Gen Kaream who is on the City Counsel of Mosul and a very succesfull businessman. Both of these Generals stand to make a lot of money if things turn around for Iraq. Anyway, Gen Kaream has had a tough couple of weeks. He and Gen Mohamad were going to Damaskus to get on a flight to somewhere for business. At the Syrian border, they were stopped. They told Gen Mohamad that he would not be allowed into Syria and they arrested Gen Kaream and took him to prison. He was in prison for 14 days. Three days ago they blindfolded him and dumped him on the Iraqi border. I talked to him yesterday and I told him that I was glad he was alright. He said he was a little sore but would be fine.
Alright, back to Cliff. We left Gen Mohamad and went back to the tower. I got Cliff all hooked up with Power Point Slides on the airfield, studies on the airport’s economic impact and more maps. Cliff asked if I had thought about coming back to Iraq to work as a civilian. He said that since I worked for the FAA and with my military background, I would be hired quickly and put in Bagdad. I told Cliff it would have to be a REAL sweet deal for me to come back and work as a civilian here. He said he would email me something.
I finally dropped Cliff back off, loaded down with enough airport information to start his own airport and went back to the tower. I just walked into the tower when I was called on the command radio to report immediately to the RAOC (that is Army talk for the Rear Area Operations Center). Considering how close the mortars and bombs have been, I wonder about the term “Rear Area” other than the fact that is what I need to cover. Anyway, I went to a commander’s Intel Briefing. There are some things I wish I did not know. Oh well, I guess that is why they pay me the big cash. After I got the **(#$@&# scared out of me, I had to meet with my senior staff and brief them. Sharing all the good news with them takes some of the load off of me. I never expected that I would be talking to my air traffic controllers about establishing firing positions in the tower building. We have moved in two large pallets of bottled water, cases upon cases of MRE’s (military Meals Ready to Eat), concrete barriers for the front door and pallets of sandbags for making firing positions on the two balconies and the tower roof. If Memphis Tower ever needs that kind of experience, I have it now. Interlocking fields of fire and all. Phil Gooch at Memphis would be proud. Phil, I have also inherited four Army STRYKER guys as well as 5 Army SEN Comm guys from Muscle Shoals, Alabama National Guard who are providing my computer SIPR and NIPR stuff to the radar site. Don’t worry Phil, I am taking care of them. We had to dig foxholes at the radar site since it is in the wide open. You dig a square hole with a slope to get down in it, then put sandbags around and a metal top with more sandbags for cover. I hope we never have to use them. With all that was going on, I slept with my uniform on, my boots unlaced and my body armor and helmet close by. Even considering that, I slept well. I have to sleep with the command radio next to my head every night. It is amazing that I hear my callsign in the middle of the night. I guess it is like having a baby in the house and hearing that. I never really pay attention to the other chatter just mine. Whenever there is an attack, I have to call in to the RAOC with accountability of all of my folks. We have developed a system for helping us find everyone. We have small signs on our doors that say, Work, LSA, DFAC, GYM or what ever. I got everyone small radios for accountability so following an attack, everyone checks in on the small radios as quickly as possible.
Well, I guess I need to get out of here. I finished my Power Point briefing for tomorrow. I have to brief the base on Airfield Operations every Sat at 1400. It is my weekly “Dog and Pony Show” with great airfield pictures. I am the airfield Nazi. “Move that stuff off of the airfield, NOW!” I better get my gear ready for tonight. Friday’s are usually active with mortars. The locals go to church all day on Fri then get home and shoot at us. Amen. I guess God is on their side. I will try to send more pictures when I can. Being that I am not getting outside of the fence, there isn’t much more for me to photograph but I will try to be creative.
Thanks for the emails. I really keeps me in touch with the other world back home. Thanks again to my coworkers at Memphis. I really miss you guys… well, most of you guys anyway. I an looking forward to getting back and being subjected to the never ending “Major Mortar”, soldier boy, ugly camel, camel spider and Army chick jokes. You guys had better write them down so you won’t forget them. Really though, thanks, guys I really appreciate all that you folks are doing for me. Thanks Gus! I am really getting out of here now. I will write when I can.
Robert
29 June 2004
Hi Everyone,
Well, I have gotten a few emails that have said I have been neglecting my email updates back home so here goes. It has been really busy here as you can imagine. One Monday morning, we started getting secure message traffic that the handoff of power was going to happen as early as 1000. All forces were put on full battle ready alert with battle gear and minimal movement around the base. There were continuous warnings to the troops not to mistake celebratory gunfire with an attack. As a coincidence, there was a memorial service scheduled on Monday at 1400. As a part of the service, there was going to be a 21 gun salute. After the mornings events it was decided to not do the salute at 1400 since we have a number of people who might hear gunfire on the base and react appropriately. Good thinking.
I have been working the last two days on painting the entire airfield to bring it in line with FAA and International Civil Aviation Organization standards. I feel really good about what I am getting to do here with this airport project. There are few jobs over here that could affect the real, long-term economy as much as working on this airport. I saw Gen Mohamad yesterday and gave him the update on the latest airport projects. To say that he was happy is an understatement. When it is done tomorrow, I am going to take him out on the taxiways and runways and show him his new airport. I have also been working with the contractors who are doing the civilian terminal remodeling project. The work on that terminal starts Monday. It is going to be nice. They also have plans for a new Control Tower but that will be started long after I am gone. Just reviewing requested construction projects to see if they conform to airport restrictions is almost a fulltime job alone. I have to get out on the airport at least twice a day just to look for any new, unapproved construction. I am the airport Nazi. The army is bad about seeing an open spot and parking a truck, tank or fuel trailer. They don’t understand anything about this airfield thing. Now they cringe with they see me coming. I always have an airfield diagram with the clear zones drawn as well as my digital camera.
30 June 2004
I guess I need to finish
this and send it sometime. I am still doing the painting project. It will last
at least until Friday. The transfer of power still seems mostly peaceful. We are
still having some shooting but not as much as before. I hope things calm down
soon. Wearing this battle gear is hot. I received a real neat care package the
other day from a girl I work with back in Memphis. Dorothy had a picture of me
and Joshua blown up to almost poster size, and sent it to me. I have it hanging
on my wall near my bed and look at it often. I miss him a lot. Hopefully I will
be back in time for a few trips to the lake with him before fall. Alright, time
to get back out there. I am planning to finish this today and send it. I will
have to see what pictures I will send with it. I am now back in the office for
just a minute. Heck with it, I am just going to send this. I will write more
later.
Robert
Here are some pics of a few of the shops on base run by locals. Kinda cool.
