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Guest Column

What It's Like on the "bird"

By Mark Wojciechowski
Monday, March 6, 2006

Tikrit,-Iraq- …Your flight lands and sends an intense rush of wind and sand against your body. The crew chief waves you on to approach the "bird"; you lumber towards the ramp at the rear of the aircraft in full "battle rattle" and all of your equipment. If it is cold outside your body goes beyond a shiver to a jaw clinching brace.

You take a giant step up and past the machine gun mounted on the ramp.

The sound is ear shattering (ear plugs are essential) —the dull whips of the two very large rotor blades combines with the shrill blast of the engines and sends your adrenaline through the roof.

It's very dark, only a faint light from the instrument panels stars from the cockpit providing enough illumination for you to see the silhouettes of your fellow Soldiers from the previous pick-up zone lining the walls on the bench-like seats of the CH-47 Chinook. After ensuring all weapons are pointing downward, the crew chief does his thing to prepare for liftoff.

As I sit in place listening to the methodic whine of the engines, I say a prayer for our safe flight and thank the Lord for all he has given me. I also check my watch for the time and date, subtract nine hours and wonder what my family and friends are doing back home.

Some pilots ease the "bird" off the ground, while others liftoff as if there was a race to break through the darkness. In any case, you are now airborne placing your trust in God, the pilots and three gunners protecting the aircraft. If you are close enough to a gunner, you can hear the slap of the feed-tray cover as they lock the linked bullets in place.

The tail gunner lowers the ramp and deftly takes his seat, straddling the M240 machine gun. It is amazing! The seat resembles a bucket seat out of a sports car, but is highly functional for their trade.

Scanning the ground below with night vision goggles, they look for any muzzle flashes or signs of engagement.

As you look right or left, depending on what side of the "bird" you are sitting on, the view into the night sky is surreal above Iraq. You see neon-green mosques and very faint, flickering-amber lights that to the untrained eye could be confused with small-arms fire.

As you fly over populated areas, thoughts race through your head wondering if the sound of the aircraft is alerting an insurgent to dig out his AK-47 or rocket-propelled grenade.

Then there are areas of complete darkness…wide-open desert, perfect for a "test-fire" of the machine guns. If you are the type of person who can sleep anywhere and you happen to be catching a "cat nap" and a "test-fire" occurs, it will make you swallow your tongue, cough it back up and almost pop your eyes out of your head. I don't take "cat naps" on "birds" anymore.