Iraq War Helicopter

In the Iraq war helicopter travel is one of the most-used modes of transportation for both military personnel and civilians.

The photo below is the view I saw after taking off on one of many missions from a base in Iraq over the past four years.

I have been on too many chopper rides over the past four years. A chopper ride can be scary your first time but also exciting.

The first thing you want to remember is to get yourself some hearing protection--you will need it. It is very loud in a military helicopter. You have probably watched TV shows showing people carrying on a conversation in the helicopter. This is not so. Believe me, unless you have a headset on, you cannot hear anyone talking, not even yourself...

During your Iraq war helicopter flight, the gunners will testfire their weapons--if you do not know what is going on you may think you are under attack but you are not.

Once the bird lands, the crewman will wave for you to come to the bird. In TV shows, you see people leaning over to enter the helicopter to avoid getting hit by the blades--you do not have to lean over--the blades are not going to get you while you load.

The less luggage you have the better--there is not a lot of room for luggage in a chopper.

If it is wintertime dress warmly. There is little heat since the gunners have their weapons pointed out an open window.

In the summertime, they fly with the doors open--this puts an extreme draft on the people inside. You do not want to have anything that is flapping like your chin strap on your kevlar helmet--it will beat you to death by the time you land--also make sure you have your sunglasses secured to your face or they will fly off--you will need some sort of glasses to protect your eyes.

(Yes, the Joe Cool below is actually me in a chopper, getting ready to fly from one base to another!)

The Iraq warbirds will fly fast and low over the landscape--they will have to pull up to avoid electrical lines and so on--and then they swoop back down to low flying.

To this day I do not know of any civilians who were riding to go on R&R or to return home who have been shot down. So sit back and enjoy the ride. I like to sit by the door myself so I can look out.

Relax and enjoy. The pilots know what they are doing. Get used to it if you are going to work in a warzone.

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