World Affairs Board - View Single Post - Some anecdotes-1990 Gulf war

pdf27 · 08-23-2007, 15:23 PM

Few courtesy of my one-time Gliding instructor, who was an Army Air Corps Lynx pilot during the 1990 Gulf War.

1) Prior to everything kicking off, the pilots helped out on the ground driving trucks and the like. This was largely done by night, using convoy lights (small white light shining on to the differential - only visible from behind and at close range). The pilots were equipped with NVGs, something the truck drivers were not - so one of them slowed down slightly until he was about half a mile behind the truck in front, then switched off his convoy light and floored it. Cue some very rude comments over the radio!

2) Also prior to things kicking off. When deployed, they didn't have enough lorries with them so were on the lookout for more. One day flying over the desert they spotted an abandoned, broken down US lorry. Landed next to it, took a look and figured out what they needed. Then promptly flew off to the nearest US base, asked for and were given the parts they needed. Flew back to the lorry, fixed it, and one of the crew drove it back to their base. They used it for the rest of the war, but were told to return it to the US before heading back to the UK. Naturally they sold it to one of the Saudis, who didn't seem to mind in the slightest that it was blatantly stolen property in a kingdom that chops your hands off for such things...

3) Towards the end of the war, with Iraqis surrendering left, right and centre. Landed to take the surrender of a couple of Iraqis in a set of bunkers. One of them was beckoning him to come into a bunker, so he got his pistol out, waved it around in an "if you try anything I'll slot you" manner and followed. Turned out the Iraqi had been saving his best uniform to surrender in, and wanted to fetch it and get changed. Once he had, he was more than happy to surrender.
Incidentally, he mentioned that the Iraqis were very happy to be prisoners in general - the coalition forces treated, paid, fed and housed them better than their own army.

08-23-2007, 15:23 PM	#16 (permalink)
pdf27 Contributor Join Date: 06-05-06 Location: UK Posts: 538 Country:	Few courtesy of my one-time Gliding instructor, who was an Army Air Corps Lynx pilot during the 1990 Gulf War. 1) Prior to everything kicking off, the pilots helped out on the ground driving trucks and the like. This was largely done by night, using convoy lights (small white light shining on to the differential - only visible from behind and at close range). The pilots were equipped with NVGs, something the truck drivers were not - so one of them slowed down slightly until he was about half a mile behind the truck in front, then switched off his convoy light and floored it. Cue some very rude comments over the radio! 2) Also prior to things kicking off. When deployed, they didn't have enough lorries with them so were on the lookout for more. One day flying over the desert they spotted an abandoned, broken down US lorry. Landed next to it, took a look and figured out what they needed. Then promptly flew off to the nearest US base, asked for and were given the parts they needed. Flew back to the lorry, fixed it, and one of the crew drove it back to their base. They used it for the rest of the war, but were told to return it to the US before heading back to the UK. Naturally they sold it to one of the Saudis, who didn't seem to mind in the slightest that it was blatantly stolen property in a kingdom that chops your hands off for such things... 3) Towards the end of the war, with Iraqis surrendering left, right and centre. Landed to take the surrender of a couple of Iraqis in a set of bunkers. One of them was beckoning him to come into a bunker, so he got his pistol out, waved it around in an "if you try anything I'll slot you" manner and followed. Turned out the Iraqi had been saving his best uniform to surrender in, and wanted to fetch it and get changed. Once he had, he was more than happy to surrender. Incidentally, he mentioned that the Iraqis were very happy to be prisoners in general - the coalition forces treated, paid, fed and housed them better than their own army. __________________ Rule 1: Never trust a Frenchman Rule 2: Treat all members of the press as French