F e a t u r e s Into the Unknown DETACHED Flight Lieutenant Simon Beckett T
repidation, apprehension, nausea, fear. Some words that could describe your feelings as you board the C130 Hercules aircraft
to fly into Basrah for the first time. On the final approach into Basrah Air Station (BAS) all aircraſt internal and external lights are extinguished and the order comes across to don body armour and helmet. Darkness envelopes you and all you can hear is the drone of the four Herc engines.
I was detached to Air Traffic Control, Basrah, but before we go on, let’s go back. Even before you reach the aircraft you have gone through extensive, sometimes intensive, pre- deployment training preparing your body and mind for what lies ahead. Some personnel will inevitably have worse experiences than others but you always hope it is not going to be you. Stories make their way back to units in the UK, telling of rocket attacks from insurgents, roadside bombs and Camel spiders the size of footballs that attack at the slightest movement.
At the time of my detachment, Basrah and the goings-on there did not feature in the news much, but by the time I returned the British public were far more aware of what the Service personnel were going through on a day-to-day basis. This unfortunately was mainly as a result of an upturn in the number and severity of injuries and fatalities suffered. The main news agencies had spent time broadcasting from BAS and
patrolling the streets of the city, alongside the Army battalion based at Basrah Palace. The reports sent back to the UK for public consumption were not pretty. They provided an insight into the reality of spending 4-6 months in Iraq and for families and friends of deployed personnel there was little to protect them from the horrors loved ones were experiencing.
The First Day
Meet the bosses, peers and subordinates who you are to share a lot more than just time with over the period of the detachment; Attempt to make your corner of the tent as homely as possible and unpack your kit into an orderly and ready state; Receive an issue of morphine, field dressing and tourniquet, to be carried at all times in case you have to administer to yourself, or to you by someone else; Collect Osprey body armour, heavier than the standard issue type with attachments to protect neck and shoulders. Fortunately, remaining inside the wire we didn’t have to attach all the extras, unlike those driving out of the gates every day or night for routine patrol or operational tasks. I always wondered what horrors they would face; the threat of a roadside bomb or sniper shot must have played heavily on their minds.
The Day Shift
Up at 0500hrs, start the day off in the gymnasium. Well equipped with aerobic machines and weights, although the majority of equipment is becoming worn out and in need of a service or replacement. Sand and grit get into the mechanisms and slowly grind it to a halt – sometimes mid workout! Work. 0700-1900hrs, normally quieter during the day, mostly civilian aircraft arriving and departing. Maybe it was intentional or
8 Spring 2008
maybe coincidental but rocket attacks were less while civil movements took place. The majority of military aircraft use the cloak of darkness to make their approaches to the airfield. The RAF Regiment patrol outside of the airfield boundary for each military move, sweeping the area to protect against the possible threat of shoulder launched surface- to-air missiles. I was ‘fortunate’ enough to accompany a Regiment patrol outside the base, delivering football shirts to local school children, promoting the ‘hearts and minds’ ethos of building an improved Iraq.
Air Traffic Control is totally different in Iraq compared to controlling in UK airspace and there are no civilian light aircraft flying in the skies of Iraq. The type of aircraft differs too. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to bomb- laden fast jets and helicopters, passenger aircraft arriving from Syria, Jordan or Kuwait and sometimes the odd movement from Tehran. Who would want to fly here and who can afford it?
The helicopters based at Basrah Air Station, operated by the RAF, Royal Navy and Army, seemed to fly continuously. Re-supplying the surrounding units plus regular trips over and into the city, the crews faced the prospect of machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades every time they took off for a sortie. There were Iraqi air traffic controllers during the day training to reach international standard and in the future to take over responsibility of the airfield. (that is to say, when they were not intimidated by members of the militia threatening to kill them or their families for working alongside the British).
Airfield inspections were a daily requirement to ensure the runway surfaces were intact and safe for aircraft to take-off and land. A pack of wild dogs roams around the airfield, often sheltering in disused buildings when dust storms blew into the area. On one occasion while I was conducting an inspection the pack appeared quite angry for having a vehicle horn beeped at them and decided to chase the pick-up truck I was driving (I was attempting to shepherd them away from the runway for arriving fast
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