Page 35 - DFCS NEWS MAGAZINE 2018-2

Christmas in Iraq 2008
The Brotherhood of War
By Lew Jennings
Lew Jennings, ‘Wicked 33’, ISR and Logistics Pilot, Iraq, 2008.
“It’s 0500, Christmas morning, December 25, 2008. I’m in my “CHU” or Containerized Housing Unit at the combined forces base, Kirkuk, Iraq. It is cold and clear with temperatures hovering at freezing. The stars are glistening against a dark blue sky, silhouetting the before-dawn twilight. This is the quietest time of day.
The only interruptions to the silence are the melancholy sounds of calls to prayer being broadcast from the nearby mosque, and measured bursts of automatic weapons fire as the outgoing morning combat patrols “lock and load” making sure their equipment is in order before they head off into hostile territory.
A team of Kiowa Warrior helicopters swoops in low overhead. The Air Cavalry or “Cav” is returning from another night mission. One of our own planes
comes in for landing too. They have probably been working together with the Cav, finding bad guys before they can do bad things or catching them in the act.
Many here at this sprawling military base are either just getting in from their patrols or just getting up to do their part to help out. The whole place will be a living, breathing beehive of activity by the time the sun comes up, all focused on one mission: bringing freedom and peace to the Iraqi people... and staying alive in the process.
It’s my first time “down range”, the term soldiers use to describe being here in the “sandbox”. I’ve only been here two weeks and have already flown 33 missions with duty days up to 16 hours – like it was when I was a young combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam – except now I’m 62 years old, and this is Iraq.
I’m in a very select fraternity of pilots. Most are military retirees hailing from all the military services. All volunteers. All combat experienced and well trained. Most in their 50s. Some, like me, in their 60s and even 70s. (Our chief pilot is 73.) All are expert at what they do.
Our mission is to find the bad guys. And, at that, we are very, very successful.
I can’t tell you how we do it, or what kind of tactics and technology we employ. That’s classified. I can tell you we save lots of lives every day.
When you hear or read that insurgent attacks are at their lowest since the beginning of this war or that some key Al-Qaeda leader has been killed or captured, we probably had something to do with it.
My mission is flying support for our operations over here, ferrying people, supplies and equipment in and out of Iraq and to our bases around the country. I consider it an honor and a privilege and hope, in some small way, to help bring this conflict to a close and our troops home soon.
While I miss my lovely wife Anneke, my wonderful children and grandchildren, and holiday camaraderie with friends and family, this is where I need to be this Christmas morning.
Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Joyous Holiday Season. –Lew
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
36 / DFCS News Magazine / WINTER 2018